One sub is not enough....not matter how big
your speakers are, trust me.. RK

While just one subwoofer is enough to enjoy movie sound in 5.1 or 7.1 (or casual music on a Bose SoundDock), two subwoofers (or full-range loudspeakers) have always been required for serious Hi-Fi reproduction of stereo music.

While low frequencies are less directional, and the direction of a low-frequency sine-wave point-source may be less perceptible, critical to fine music reproduction are low-frequency interchannel phase differences present in true stereo recordings. When reproduced properly with stereo subwoofers (or two full-range speakers), these phase differences are critical to reproducing the sound space of the original concert hall.

Critical even to casual listeners is that if you sum the low frequencies of true stereo recordings into mono by using only one subwoofer, low-frequency interchannel phase differences partially or completely cancel each other, reducing or eliminating low-frequency output levels!

Try jamming a stereo bass signal through one mono subwoofer and you lose a lot of hall ambience as well as bass level.

True stereo recordings are usually classical and other proper acoustic recordings made with pairs of microphones. Most "stereo" pop and jazz recordings are really just multi-miked mono, with each mono mic "panned" someplace between left and right. Pop recordings rarely have low-frequency interchannel phase differences, although they usually have bass information panned one way or another that also should be reproduced through stereo subwoofers if you demand the most accurate reproduction.

Putting the math aside, the best way to demonstrate this is to swap between one and two subwoofers with a real stereo recording, and it will be obvious.

Music reproduction is quite different from motion picture sound. This article addresses the reproduction of fine music at home. I will touch a bit on motion picture sound because, while a mono subwoofer works well for casual movie sound, only two will do for serious music reproduction.

While low frequencies may radiate less directionally from a source, this is completely different from our ability to recognize the direction from which a low-frequency sound comes. Stars also radiate light nondirectionally, and we certainly can see their direction. Even if we might not be able to localize a very low fundamental, I'll show why we usually can hear exactly where a mono subwoofer is placed.

Even for mono recordings, doubling-up on subwoofers more than halves distortion and usually evens-out room response.

I'll first explain how mono subwoofers wrongly got popular for stereo music today, then I'll explain the details and specifics of why high-quality stereo music reproduction demands two subwoofers and lastly I'll go over how to hook up your own stereo subwoofers in your system.

Perspective

1920s

In the old days before stereo, music was most often reproduced at home through one large speaker.

In the 1920s the speaker was often a large full-range horn.

1940s

In the 1940s these single horns evolved into one large DC-electromagnet woofer in a very large cabinet, with a large high-frequency horn tweeter on top.

1950s

The 1950s brought us 15" horn-loaded permanent-magnet woofers with huge multicell horn tweeters, epitomized by Altec's A7 "Voice of the Theater."

Some music lovers brought these home, while most serious home hi-fi systems made due with big coaxial speakers in huge boxes.

Stereo became new next big new thing in the late 1950s, and music lovers had to go buy a second matching huge speaker for stereo.

1960s

If it wasn't a horn tweeter, it was electrostatic. When I was born, my dad had a pair of 15" horn-loaded woofers with huge electrostatic panels sitting on top.

1970s

The 1960s and 1970s brought us smaller acoustic-suspension speakers, with only a 12" woofer in a small 2' x 1' x 1' box that could get bass as deep as the 15" woofers of before.

These speakers, like the KLH 6 and AR-3, weren't as efficient as the huge reflex boxes, but more amplifier power was available now, so no problem. A pair of KLH 6s or AR-3s got down to 32 cps ("Hz") clean and strong with no problem. Good times!

In the 1970s, not everyone could afford or had the room for a pair of AR-3axs, and other people wanted solid response down to 20 cps or below, not just 30 cps or 35 cps.

To answer this, subwoofers first became popular in the 1970s, exemplified by pioneers Miller & Kreisel (M&K) with their self-powered subwoofers.

A subwoofer is a specialized woofer that operates below the range of a regular woofer. A subwoofer crosses-over to your full-range speakers at around 50 Hz to 100 Hz, and has response down to 20 Hz or lower. If it can't go as deep as 30 Hz or 20 Hz cleanly, it's just a regular woofer, not a subwoofer.

When subwoofers first became popular to lovers of organ music in the 1970s, they were exotic and expensive. In order to sell these expensive oddities, subwoofer makers convinced music lovers that they could get by with just one subwoofer. This was usually the case in the 1970s, since most people's recorded music at home came from LP stereo records.

On LPs, out-of-phase or stereo information makes the needle jump up and down vertically, which causes problems at low frequencies since the needle can jump out of the groove! To solve this, most LPs had been mixed with the lowest frequencies mixed to the center (mono). Summing the bass to mono can be done later in mastering, but it's better if it's done in mixing.

Turntable rumble is also strongest in the vertical direction, so reproducing an LP with the low bass summed to mono eliminates most of the rumble and loses little or nothing that was on the LP in the first place, so single subwoofers were great in the 1970s. Again, good times for the recordings available to most people for reproduction at home.

LPs aren't happy reproducing extremely low frequencies, even in mono, because they also tend to make needles jump left or right out of the groove. The large wiggles require more space so they reduce the playing time on each side. Rumble leaves very little signal-to-noise ratio at very low frequencies.

Even if one bought prerecorded 7½ IPS reel-to-reel tapes, or had one's own original 15 IPS masters, the analog tape from which LPs are cut could never record much lower than about 20 Hz to 30 Hz anyway. At the higher tape speeds used professionally, magnetic effects called "head bumps" limited the ability to play back very low audio frequencies. Analog tape has limited maximum output level at very low frequencies, and even if not, modulation noise could get nasty. Regardless of if you could reproduce it at home or not, and regardless of if you could record it on an LP, recorded sound wasn't happening below about 20 or 30 Hz with analog tape recordings or masters.

1980s

Digital recording changed everything.

Digital cheerfully can record straight down to DC, and the new digital "Compact Discs" (CDs) allowed anyone who could afford a CD player to have perfect sound forever.

In practice, if the analog path is up to it, actual digital recorders and home CD players usually have distortion-free and flat response down to 2 Hz or less.

For the first time in 100 years of electronic sound reproduction, consumers have access to recordings with unlimited deep bass. Since there is no point in mixing or summing the bass to mono, bass has been in stereo in our homes since the introduction of the CD.

Even if your old recordings had their bass mixed to the center on the original LP, even the silliest old original recordings usually have their bass in stereo. When released again today, the bass again is in glorious stereo. Even something silly like Burl Ives' "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" from 1965 has the bass panned hard-right most of the time. Go ahead: you can hear this right now over Amazon's preview if you have a stereo bass system or headphones connected to your computer, iPad or whatever.

As of the 1980s, everyone has needed two big speakers for stereo as always, or two smaller ones with two subwoofers for stereo.

But then home video came along.

1990s

Some time around 1990, Tom Holman invented the 5.1 channel system for film sound with its "0.1" Low-Frequency Effects channel.

As you can read at Bass Management, the 5.1 system adds one subwoofer purely for very loud "booms" as a special effect for telling stories as a part of a motion picture. Each of the other five channels also has low bass, and movies today have a lot of multichannel bass information if your system can reproduce it.

Video and movies replaced music as the predominant form of recorded home entertainment in the 1990s. Everyone brought home some sort of "surround sound" system. These systems make do with only one subwoofer. Even the most elaborate home A/V systems rarely have five huge speakers, and instead have five puny ones and just one subwoofer.

2000s

Women love it: men's big stereo speakers are gone, and only tiny little Bose speakers hide in the corners with one subwoofer hiding someplace else. Women have no idea how lucky they are; what passes for a "subwoofer" is usually only a wimpy replacement for one regular woofer, a fraction of the size of just one real speaker or subwoofer. Even the most elaborate 5.1 A/V systems rarely have anything other than their subwoofer with any more than an 8" woofer.

For most people, movies, DVD, Blu-Ray, Roku, Netflix and Tivo are the main event, while music has been relegated to background ambiance.

2010s

As of today, only serious music lovers (and the ocasional confused audiophile) have dedicated music listening systems.

Music lovers and audiophiles have forgotten the proper ways of music reproduction, honestly mistaking movie-soundtrack-inspired 7.1, 5.1 or 2.1 systems as the best solutions for formal stereo music reproduction.

Stereo Music Reproduction

For casual music enjoyment, 5.1 systems sound great playing stereo (2-channel) music. Even serious listeners can can enjoy stereo music playback on 5.1 systems immensely, even if 5.1 is a film sound, and not a music, playback format. It's always about the music, and never about the equipment, but using only one subwoofer and small speakers is never optimal for serious music reproduction — even if 2.1 systems are ubiquitous even with audiophiles.

You need two subwoofers for stereo bass. It's got to be at least 2.2, 5.2 or 7.2, not 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1. (For music reproduction, Tom Holman has advocated a 10.2 system, with some of these speakers above the listeners to reproduce reverberation.)

Summing the bass to mono is not optimum for stereo music reproduction, unless you have a recording that already has had its bass summed into or mixed as mono. Most music recordings have been released with stereo bass since 1982.

Also as you can read at Bass Management, while 5.1 SACDs may have 5.1 channels, all of those five main channels are full-range, and each deserves a big speaker — or use five + one = six subwoofers! That's how it's monitored in Hollywood.

Why We Need Two Subwoofers

Bass has been released in stereo ever since 1982 on CDs, DVD-As, SACDs, and even in 5.1 movies, and we can hear the difference.

I checked with a friend of mine who's one of the top lacquer mastering engineers in the country (he probably cut your favorite audiophile LP) to ask what's up with stereo bass on today's LPs, and he confirms that, "Hell yes, everyone should have stereo subwoofers for LPs!" Unlike the days of old when most bass was mixed to the middle for LP release and turntables rumbled like crazy, today the LPs he's cutting are loaded with stereo information in the lowest bass, and turntables have much less rumble.

Even if we can't hear the direction of the lowest 32 Hz fundamentals themselves, we very much can hear the difference in phase between the two channels, and in stereo recordings, out-of-phase bass information would be summed to zero in a single subwoofer. With stereo subwoofers, any out-of-phase bass information in a true stereo (acoustic) recording is reproduced properly at full level, adding immensely to the perceived width and depth of the room in which the recording was made.

If you sum the bass to mono and try to squeeze it through just one subwoofer, all the out-of-phase information cancels, and reduces the level.

While a pure 40 Hz sine wave can't be localized, subwoofers almost always produce some higher-frequency distortion products that can. Subwoofers generate plenty of harmonic distortion (higher frequencies) which are easy to localize, and vented subwoofers have higher-frequency wind noise as they are pushed harder.

Even if your subwoofers are perfect, your crossover probably isn't. A 12 db/octave crossover at 80 Hz doesn't stop sound above 80 Hz; it only merely starts attenuating it above 80 Hz. A 12 db/octave 80 Hz crossover attenuates 160 Hz by only 12 dB, and attenuates 320 Hz, which is a very localizable E above middle C, by only 24 dB. 24 dB is equivalent to turning your volume only halfway down, and you can hear that very well.

In my own tests on myself, in order not to be able to localize a subwoofer, I can cross it over at no more than 60 Hz at 18 dB/octave. I can hear exactly where it is when crossed over at 80 Hz at 18 dB/octave.

In order truly not to be able to hear the location of a non-distorting subwoofer, cross-over at 60 Hz or below or 18 dB/octave or more.

At 80 Hz with a steeper slope of 24 dB/octave, a THX standard, ought to prevent localization, but you still have the problem of only getting mono bass and losing all the hall ambiance. Bass wavefronts propagate all over a hall, and even with the basses on the right, you'll hear bass on the left and all around as it bounces around. You want to reproduce all of this accurately and not merely sum it into one confused-sounding mono woofer.

Not being able to locate the subwoofer is good, but summing low bass into mono is always a bad thing for true stereo recordings.

This all applies to true stereo recordings, which means most classical recordings. With popular music, there is rarely a concert hall involved, and having stereo bass is mostly a matter of where the bass effects are panned.

Even with recordings with mono bass, having two subwoofers offers the benefits of less than half of the distortion, since each subwoofer needs to output only half the power. Woofer distortion more than halves every time you halve the power output. As you approach the limits, distortion climbs quickly. For the same distortion, you of course get twice the output with two subwoofers.

With two woofers, even if they are reproducing the same signal, their different positions will help even-out frequency response in a real room. Each will have somewhat different response in the room, and the net effects are smoother response.

How to Connect Stereo Subwoofers

Summary and Recommendations

When quality matters, crossover at the lowest frequency you can. It's always best to run as much of the music through the main loudspeakers and to keep the deleterious effects of the crossover (phase and frequency abnormalities) as far away from most of the music as possible. With a dedicated crossover and good speakers, you can usually crossover around 40~50Hz instead of the more common 80~100Hz. For public address and concert sound where maximum power is more important, people crossover higher to put more of the mid-bass into the ample subs and away from the mains, but for home hi-fi, crossover as low as you can.

A trick for nearfield audio is to crossover to the subwoofers at a frequency below room resonances. In my small office, there are horrible peaks at 50 Hz, so using big desktop speakers that make it to 40 Hz let me drive the subwoofers only below 40 Hz, so the 50 Hz room modes aren't excited!

I got my first M&K subwoofer in the 1970s, and upgraded to a stereo pair of 18" JBL B460s in the 1980s. Stereo subwoofers, or two full-range speakers, make a huge difference in soundstage.

While a mono subwoofer in an x.1 system can sound great for pop music, they cannot reproduce the ambience and out-of-phase bass information in true stereo acoustic recordings necessary for doing a great job of reproducing the actual sound of the concert hall.

Even most pop recordings and movies have significant stereo bass information, so if you genuinely desire to reproduce as much of it as possible, you owe it to yourself to run two subwoofers for stereo, or at least two large full-range loudspeakers. Sorry, two puny B&W Diamond 805s on stands with just one mono JL Fathom f113 isn't high-fidelity, unless you're only listening to mono recordings. Speaker makers love selling you these little speakers, since you're getting a fraction of the speaker for not much less money than full-size speakers.

Forget subwoofers?

Better than one subwoofer is two big full-range speakers!

I haven't covered how difficult it is to get a crossover to work well with the bizarre realities of how real speakers perform in the frequency range over which we cross them over. We potentially lose a lot attempting to cross over in such a delicate region if its not done correctly. A pair of big speakers like B&W 801 is a far better idea for music than using one subwoofer, or even two subwoofers if you don't do it right.

If you only have a common 5.1 home stereo A/V receiver with one subwoofer output, you may need something better, or a dedicated crossover, to accomplish bass management appropriate for stereo subwoofers. A/V receivers, designed for movies with music capability provided only as an afterthought are rarely are setup for stereo subwoofers. No worries, most active subwoofers today have built-in crossovers.

Personally, the wife has a Bose system for watching movies, and for my hi-fi I have a dedicated stereo system with an active crossover feeding my subwoofers. I don't bother with an A/V receiver for music; everything is dedicated 2-channel stereo. 

KR

Dr Khairul system...

Dr Khairul's system,

If I were to bring "bbnu" to listen to this setup, I'm sure they will say their system is much better😄.

The more you listen to high end audio setup, the more you will understand what about high quality audio system music reproduction.

The system deliver in great neutrality without emphasize in any frequency spectrum. Everything is just right...

Vocal was life like not over blown in propotion (big mouth). But when full scale music demand for dynamic, it will deliver in spades.

When the system plays old recording first pressing, the real no1 pressed lp, the sound like we were transported back to that session...maybe it just a placebo effect....but if it's good, why not.

RM1.7m sound system if anyone ask.

Audio and more...

Howdy folks!

1- Do you believe in AC power supply will effect your playback system?

Well, maybe someone of you may not but many audiophiles will definitely invest into this. Power supply needed to drive your sound system, from the source to the amplifiers, to the speakers, originates from the AC signal coming from the wall. The quality of that power can quite dramatically affect the ultimate performance of your components. Try not to feed more than what is required for your system. I strongly believe and has experienced myself in feeding stable current and required voltage is the most important rules in the audio system. In a good system the sound can become 'hard' or aggressive if over fed and if you did not notice anything, you still doing the good thing :).. In my system I have use a balanced power supply which will eliminate the external noise from entering your rigs, You will immediately notice everything is quieter. My home equipped with 3 phase power supply and I'm using 1 phase just to power my audio system alone. The best I can do.

2- Proper isolated earthing

Having dedicated 1 phase power supply into the audio system is nothing if you are not providing dedicated earthing for your audio. This is a must if you have dedicated supply and I got it done before I moved in. The best earthing is to use the trench method, wheres the copper rod buried horizontally in 1-metre depth.  This will maximise the effectiveness of grounding the copper rod.

3- The room

Get a room folks!, If you are unable to get one try to find a symmetrical balance space. Whether in the living room, family hall or whatnot, adjust accordingly so that your system can be placed as good as possible. Give attention to the sides wall, it has to be balanced. Try as close as you can and get the listening room treated acoustically. The same setup of the system will sound differently in a different place or room.

Exit Leben, Enter Accuphase

I've been using Leben CS600 for nearly 5 years and I love the sound very much. Tubes amplifier that doesn't sound slow, mellow but it was fast with dynamic and slam.  well, I must say it matches very well with my Zu Druids MK4/08 and Zu Soul Supreme speakers.

All this while since I enjoying 2 channels audio for 28 years, I always been tempted to own a very good design solid state amplifier. Mark Levinson, McIntosh, Accuphase, Gryphon and few others are always in my wishlist and for tubes that I've used in the past are diy tubes amplifier to high powered VTL MB250 monoblock. Lush midrange, seductive vocal are the forte for almost all tubes amplifier and believe me many audiophile will listen to only what their system can deliver. With 15wpc diy tubes amp, it can drive my druids very well and was not bad at all. The VTL with 22 tubes in total gives more power and scale, but it was a headache to maintain those tubes. The Leben with 32wpc on 6L6GC was the best tubes amplifier I have ever owned. It was fast, dynamic, best vocal/midrange and can go with any music..my music diet are quite diverse.

Back in 2002 while I was in Fukuoka, I managed to listen to a few of Japanese brand product like Luxman, Accuphase etc. I don't have any friends that use those brand back home and I have no idea how is the sound like and my expectation was high, the price tag should justify its performance. To my surprise, those brands are boring to listen to, the sound was flat and nothing to excite me. It doesn't have the quality that I used to listen in my system and my perception towards Japanese audio products are sterile and boring since then.

In the past few years, I have been reviewed/listen and home visits to many high end systems, none of them are on tubes. The experience of listening to a great solid state design with variety of music that deliver everything with ease really make me thinking, this is "the sound" for music should be heard. Yes, I do listen to high end tubes base system but the music selection are not really into my liking. Most of them using the same slow mellow vocal oriented track for a demo...no rock, pop, progressive jazz etc.

I know that tubes are full of distortions, it is not accurate for sure and the bass while some consider it as big and deep, but it is actually flabby and wobbly not tight. It is like a sugar-coated candy that attracts children who doesn't know the ingredients but only the taste. Well, taste that matters almost to everybody, that's fine. 

Earlier this year, I went for a home visit of my friend who is using Accuphase monoblock in his system and I liked it very much. In June, I purchased Accuphase E600 (RM37k retail price) while maintaining my Leben just to ensure that I don't make any mistake by selling off Leben if the Accuphase E600 is not up to my expectation. For 3 months I've been listening to both amplifiers, swapping back and forth to find the short coming, the extras on each of them. The Leben is no slouch and I can live happily with, but the Accuphase gives the extras that I didn't notice all this while. Some are subtle but if it was there in the recording, I want it to be heard. The scale of sound staging is bigger, the ambience is nicely layered and the background is darker. 

Being a 30wpc in Class A, Accuphase rendered vocal as good as tubes amplifier but I have to give an extra notch to Leben on this, not by much. Most tubes amp just like Leben are emphasize on midrange and that's the nature of many tubes amplifiers...not the flattest response, perfectly imperfect. Accuphase gives me as accurate as playback sound can be achieved in my system. All elements of music are presented in mature manner, elegent full of grace. Accuphase does not emphasize midrange and it has coherent sound throughout the range, from the very bottom to the upper treble unlike the Leben or most tubes amplifier. Accuphase presentation is rich, open, fast, dynamic performance with a lot of drive and there is no emphasis on an attack phase, there is no exaggeration, just the way it is.

After all, it is one of highly respected Japanese product standing for 46 years and still going strong. Something special must be in their philosophy when designing their products and they have received lots of accolades from respected magazines and reviewers.

The longer you listen into high fidelity audio, you will find that accuracy in audio reproduction is essential. Accuphase sound is for mature or seasoned audiophile, and experience is truly invaluable on how to gauge sound quality. So many fake news in this world today, so let the music flows truthfully :)

Accuphase = Accurate Phase

Your boring is my accurate, so it certainly floats the odd vessel for me. Of course your interesting is my horribly colored, so I think we're even.

what's the frequency kenneth...here is the missing frequency

Using a subwoofer for two channel audio is not a favourable option to the most of the audiophiles. Not arguing with that but rather to state the fact that we have been missing the essence of full music all this while. A popular belief, on paper at least that there is nothing much of music below 60hz of frequency but why many high-end speakers were designed to go down to 30hz or even 20hz?...because there is so much more than music down below. 

The sub bass provides the first usable low frequencies on most recordings. The deep bass produced in this range is usually felt more than heard, providing a sense of power. Many instruments struggle to enter this frequency range, with the exception of a few bass heavy instruments, such as the bass guitar which has the lowest achievable pitch of 41hz. Depending on music you listen to, if you listen to big band or orchestra there is more low frequencies instruments can enter the sub bass range. Thus, sub woofer is essential.

It is hard to explain why by adding a subwoofer the overall presentation became fuller, image density much bolder, the air of the venue much more presence and the body of instruments are more prominent, especially the piano as there is more bite on the keystrokes and in some best recording you can feel the body of the piano breathe!.

In one my home visit listening to Magico M project which the frequency specs down to 20hz, the owner still add on a magico Q-Sub which go down to 15hz. The integration of the system is seamless and smooth. A 20hz speakers by right is enough to render full musical spectrum but why still a subwoofer?

Most of the speakers being set up for best stereo imaging and sound staging, but not necessary at that position is the best for the low frequency to deliver and you may find that certain speakers designed came with a separate box of woofer cabinets to be positioned according to room acoustic. There are also speakers with multiple small drivers at the main box with separate woofers being positioned accordingly.

For Instance, these three albums are hardly being listened to or always been skipped to the best tracks. It is not because of the recording but something that I am not really into it, something is lacking for live recordings. The CDs being neglected for quite some time, and I pick up the cd again just to listen casually. To my surprise I have listened to the entire CDs non-stop without skipping any track, it is so much to enjoy. Yes, I'm a picky music listener.

I have added subwoofer in my system and tuned to the closest possible best integration to the main speakers. It doesn't exaggerate nor adds unnecessary bass to the system and sometimes you feel the bass a little too much on the certain recording, but that is what you have been missing all these while. It's in the recording, they just resurface for justice of music. Detail seem to emerge better from the mix that left unnoticed  before subs were added.

What subwoofer?, it is GoldenEar FF4, from a company which has won many accolades firing down to 14hz. Did I mention I am using two subwoofers?, Yes, a stereo pair is even better than just one. Didn’t Confucius say, good things come in pairs? :)

Home visit..some music

System 1

This photo was sent to me via whatsapp by the owner, long time friend of mine way back in year 2000. I forgot to shoot some as I was so "into the music" with this setup.

At first spin of Dire Sraits (why worry), there is nothing "special" in first 60sec. Then the sound slowly draws you into the whole mix of the song. This system doesn't "grab" your attention immediately but it let you fall in love slowly and you'll hook not to let go (first time I forgot to take some photo).

Nils Lofgren live acoustic solo guitar sounded never edgy as in many digital playback. Piano instrumental on evita soundtrack was like real life presentation...piano infront of you. The low key rumble...the harmonic of the hammer struck the strings was so distinct. Lyncoln Mayorga and friends was so real live studio jamming.

Carol Kidd (when I dream) was so soothing. She's got very special voice and the delivery in this system makes her performance even better..it really connects with you.

The soundstage created is great..the depth and ambience of recorded music is truly makes you thinking..this is the most natural sound reproduction you ever heard.



System 2

One of the best digital playback I have listen to.  Ed Sheeran (the shape of you) on Tidal MQA was delivered with tremendous clarity. MJ (dangerous) Evita (dont cry for me argentina) Adele (live in royal albert hall) was on cd and this system throw excellent image of sound...breathtaking!.

Lounge and Copla phono stage combo...

I got the opportunity to audition budget phono stage that base on LCR schematic, It is Lounge Audio together with Copla step up. My expectation was high as I always wanted to have LCR base phono stage even better with tubes.

A friend lend me the units for few days at home for me to evaluate with my system which currently running on Puresound P10 tube phono with Cinemag 3440AH step up. 

This is not the only audition for Lounge phono as I did 2 more sessions with friend's system. I will summerise the outcome and as brief as possible.

I power up the units for about 1 hour before the analysis and while doing that I listen to P10 for A B comparison. The music used was Kenny G live, YES 90125 and Halie Loren. 

The bass is the most prominent for you to notice. It goes deep with grunt and the midrange a little forward. After few minutes of listening I start to find the weakness of Lounge and it was obvious. 

The tonal balance is not well proportioned, the kick bass is detail though but the energy was not distributed well as what I used to listen to many systems. The hump on bass is actually covers it weakness. The mid range is just cluttered in heavy mix music. The separation?...almost nowhere to be found especially with lots of musical instruments. It just a chunk of sound in the centre and I tried hard to do the "separation" mentally as it is on my very familiar tracks. Please bear in mind this evaluation is between lounge and puresound. The perfomance ratio between them.

The vocal a little coarse when Halie Loren track been played. The feel of live recording stage were missing, the stand up bass lost its organic pluck and body resonance. It just plain bass. 

The Lounge induced higher gain noise too and that mistakenly heard as excitement in sound by many. This is not for me and I got a little frustrated as it doesn't do well in my system especially when its blue LED glow in the dark.

Maybe Puresound and cinemag combo a little tough for Lounge and the following second audition was done at friend's place. He is using Thorens TD166mk2 with Nagaoka MP110, NVA amplification and Schiit Mani phono.

I have seen and read about Schiit phono review in the web and I guess this is a fair head to head fight with Lounge phono. Lets begin...

Lounge phono sounded bass heavy as usual but it was not as refine as schiit. The sound staging schiit delivered was way better...it was big but believable with fine detail. The Lounge suffered of being trying too hard to impress. The important part of music being truncated along the session. With Schiit Mani the music sounded easy with greater sense of flow. It will let you listen to music without being nitpicking.

The depth in presentation of Schiit is nowhere to be found in Lounge. Schiit is a great little phono and value for money too at usd129. I must add that the Schiit Mani power supply has been upgraded using Swagman Linear power unit, a definite gain in its performance. The dynamics and transients are great, the bass is not deep but very articulated and controlled and there is no graininess or obvious rolloff.

The third session was between Lounge and cambridge phono. Bass?..I"ll skip that.

Noise a little higher than the cambridge. The vocal of Adele was very good on cambridge and laid back while Lounge shows smearing, forward and not refine as cambridge. 2 pairs of ears during the demo, so trust me...😂.

post script: Imagine if you looking at two design of houses. The first one with solid foundation direct to the ground, bricks wall and tiles roofing. Looking robust with windows and front door with solid wood.

The second one is elevated wooden floor, wooden walls with glass windows and wooden front door with glass panel. Not as robust as the first one but looking good and you can still see what is inside the house through the glass windows and door.

That is the analogy between the Lounge and Schiit comparison that I could gives. It's the matter what you looking or listening in sound reproduction.

Magico M Project, an instant rare...

This is my recent home visit to one of the most interesting system so far own by Mr Shahril. He is a well known high end audiophile in Malaysia and since he acquired a pair of Magico M Project has made him the only person using these speakers in Malaysia. There are only 50 pairs world wide, an instant rare!.

We met "unofficially" in FB as fellow music lovers and during last KLAV show we bumped into each other and he offered me for a visit aka listening session and I took the offer recently, long delay due to unfavorable working schedule. Arrived at his mansion in the evening and was greeted by him, very friendly and humble person.

His listening room...wow!..what can I say. It is the best looking, lovely ambient so far in my home visit. The room is large, acoustically treated at its best with small section of music gallery....coffee machine too...nice!

First on the Clearaudio Statement's  platter was Diana Krall. The room filled with lush sounding, contralto voice of her with piano tone that has a life like in the room. Bear in mind that piano tone are complex to reproduce..the hammers, the strings, the pedals, keyboards and the body itself. Not just the sounds its produced but the mechanical things that happen before, during and after it creates the sound.

Next on the platter was Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughn. I can't really say much on this.. it was truly awesome sounding track. Stevie's guitar tone was dry (in a good way) but as clean and refreshing as sparkling water. Stevie’s fierce playing style was the key to his distinctive sound, but he was also very hard on his equipment and that can be heard in this room as if his very best...the BEST!.

Soulution Series 7 amplifier  - 2 x 701 monoamplifier

Muddy Waters - My Captain from Folk Singer album has been an audiophile staple for years. It always gets into many playlist at hi-fi shows. It's a no doubt being one of the most popular demonstration track but never before has it sounded like this. Mr waters voice are so raw..great resonance with rich vibrant tone. Sometimes pleading, whispering, chanting and occasionally shouting, tells the whole story of the lyrics.

Hugh Masekela - Stimela from his live album Hope is another track that I've listened at many home visits. Bring on the whole concert into the room!...yes that was the feeling. The system can convey the airy, the feels of the venue convincingly. It was breathtaking experience as the drums, the bass blends in into the track. Masekela's voice again has distinct vibes in this track...Stimela on the right track!

Hydra power supply system

The whole system being augmented by Magico SubQ-18, the bass response in this system is truly amazing. Frank PowerBank storage also being used in this system, it sounded huge and I like it very much.

Dr. Rashid's system

I was invited by Dr Rashid, a dentist who has high passion in music to his place in Kajang. Very nice customized room with all the acoustic treatment made this is one of the best hifi room I ever been. It even has a computerized locking door!.

The heart of the system are the explosive combo of FM Acoustics pre and power amplifier. I have experienced with this combo with Naim SL2 speakers, Naim CDS3 and Roksan Xerxes/Aro few years back and this combo throw everything at listeners faithfully...dramatically...100% musicality.

Looking Dr. Rashid's FM Acoustics combo,   roughly I now what sort of performance that I would get from this session. This is follow by a pair of JM Lab speakers that can deliver excellent low end bottom grunt with lightning fast speed. You can see many high end audiophiles using this speakers as their choice.

He got 2 set of turntable to play with, the Air Force One by TechDas and Vertere turntable. He demonstrated the excellent technology of AFO that has an Air bearing / Disc suction / Air suspension. When the stylus on the records with the disc suction in place, you can tap the record without any noise coming out from the speakers...dead quiet.

From Malay recordings to jazz, rock, pop musics. The room become alive when music starts to play.

Overall the presentation is very dynamic. The system is transparent enough to get into the recording.

As for me i feel that not only listening but see how the musician play. Maybe it just my preferences of presentation...dynamic.

The FM Acoustic amplification is the star of the system as mentioned. I have listen Jm lab with few other amp..but not as dynamic as this.

Between AFO and Vertere...both got their own strength. Musicality on vertere is hard to beat while the AFO offers the accuracy and bag of detail..but vertere is no slouch. Value for money..i pick Vertere.