This is a compilation of what I felt were the best-sounding rooms (in random order) at the recent WAVE AV Experience held at Eastin Hotel.
Statement Systems
Terry of Statement Systems loves big systems and big rooms. As usual, he brought out his best — , Vitus SM-025 monoblocks matched with the SL-103 Linestage, Marten speakers and a turntable that looked so grand and impressive that it turned heads even when it was not being played.
His room was full whenever I popped in and the audiophiles were there to listen to the big rig even though the small rig comprising Devore Fidelity Orangutan speakers, Phasemation valve amp and Lumin streamer wasn’t exactly entry-level.
Perfect Hi-Fi
The Nagra Reference series were extraordinary — both in terms of performance and price. The system was performing at a very high level which was aimed at the top one per cent. Those from the M40 income group stayed for a while since the demo sessions were free — the AV show offered free entrance anyway — and enjoyed themselves before grudgingly moving to other rooms with more affordable systems.
Begins Acoustic
Begins Acoustic had two rooms, but it was the one with the Luxman integrated amp and Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined speakers that sounded better.
Earlier Kenix Chua had held a demo of the Luxman and a pair of Audiovector R3 Arrete speakers in her showroom in Puchong, but the pairing at the AV show was better.
JW Speaker Lab
Joseph Wong had two rooms — one for stereo listening and the other for his home theatre system.
Both rooms sounded impressive, but I liked the stereo demo system just a little bit more. With his system featuring his own speakers and sub-woofers, a Tsakiridis valve amp and a Lumin streamer/DAC/preamp, the music sounded well-integrated, dynamic and full.
Victoire Enterprise
This was the surprise of the show. The speakers looked like the Devore Orangutan as they were very wide and, frankly, I thought they looked quite ugly.
But when Tan Chong Tat played some songs I was surprised by how good the speakers sounded. The speakers were designed and made by Lee. Since he distributes Scanspeak drivers and Mundorf parts, drivers from the top Scanspeak range and Mundorf parts were used to make the crossovers.
The sound was smooth, full-bodied and rich.
Stars Picker Audio Library
Stars Picker had two rooms — one on the third floor and the other on the 15th floor. They had DALI KUPID speakers on both floors and the official launch was held on the 15th floor with the small speakers driven by a Cayin valve amp.
The DALI KUPID speakers are entry-level models but they can compete with speakers costing two or three times more. On top of that, they come in five colours which should attract the Gen Zers. Priced at RM1,795 a pair, they will definitely be the speakers to buy for The Affordable System.
SPECIAL MENTION
CMY Audio & Visual
CMY did the same thing that they have done for the past few AV shows — having a row of big demo systems which were played according to a timetable. So audiophiles had the chance to hear various combinations since CMY offers a wide range of products.
This time the room acoustics were better and the sound quality of the demo systems was a step up from previous shows.
TechX Home Audio and HiFi
TechX deserves to be praised for setting up an audio department store. Thiban booked a huge function room and roped in numerous dealers and distributors to show their products. He even roped in Star Link to promote their services and even had a sandwich and coffee stand.
