audiophile equipment

[Ciao]

hi everyone, new to sg. Looking for a good audiophile shop, any recommendation ?

Thanks

[JR8]

Burlington Square
http://www.commercialguru.com.sg/projec ... uare-19208

That's where you find the arguably geeky little high-end audiophile shops.


[I'm a Naim-geek myself lol].

[rajagainstthemachine]

what JR8 said plus there are some shops in sim lim square

[zzm9980]

Not an audiophile, but I've always seen a lot of shops (and recommendations on this forum) for the shops in the Adelphi across from Funan:

http://www.commercialguru.com.sg/projec ... lphi-20285

[JR8]

Come over to the dark-side ZZM ....

http://www.naimaudio.com/naim-experience

[zzm9980]

Come over to the dark-side ZZM ....

http://www.naimaudio.com/naim-experience

I can't imagine the typical Singapore 'concrete box in the sky' being conducive to good acoustics and worth the investment. I used to buy high end headphones though, until I realized the DSP in most of the devices I owned (laptop, iphone, ipods, etc) were the weak link. All the headphones did was help me realize the electronics inside sucked.

[JR8]

I can't imagine the typical Singapore 'concrete box in the sky' being conducive to good acoustics and worth the investment. I used to buy high end headphones though, until I realized the DSP in most of the devices I owned (laptop, iphone, ipods, etc) were the weak link. All the headphones did was help me realize the electronics inside sucked.

Interesting point you make. It lead me to wonder how you trial a particular configuration of a system in a shops 'demo-room'. After all they're usually smaller than the average lounge here.

As I recall these rooms are decked out in soft furnishings, and the customer might not notice this, or consider how it changes the experience. The hi-fi shop where I used to hang out years back, it's demo-room had the walls lined with heavy floor-to-ceiling curtains, the floor was carpeted, and the ceiling covered in acoustic tiles... you probably won't have anything approaching that back home* (though some people do, if they have a dedicated 'multi-media room'!). So you need to keep it in mind.

What you can get in a 'concrete box' is something you could call 'bass roll-over'. That is when the bass notes are bouncing around off walls, and hence you're hearing them reflected back over the current notes/chords, almost like an relatively weak echo. It can bugger the overall definition. You don't get that if the bass can't reflect off soft-furnishings.

Another point one might wish to consider is that a purist would never desire to have knobs to alter the sound balance, i.e. bass, treble and so on. The thinking is that a good system will reproduce the recording, precisely as the artist intended, at what ever volume, and 'who are you to wish to start messing about with that?'

What with modern life and space, people tend not to have space for speakers and their required stands, (with spiked feet), to bring the speakers to the level of your head, when you are sitting enjoying the music). You also have the challenge of spacing the speakers so that you get the correct stereo separation. When I view a property in which to live, I honestly have to spend some time considering where the hi-fi might go. It is very difficult here, (especially if you also own a large Japanese staircase chest that can only sit one way into a corner! You know you're going to compromise).

So yes, this is all very challenging for someone who is going to living in said 'concrete box in sky'. But on the plus side some of these higher-end brands (Linn, Naim, and so on, there are many more, but I'm out of touch with what's on the market these days) are built to last a lifetime. So what might not be working to it's full potential here, perhaps will when you're back home and have more space. The only thing I would consider is that SG could be a good place to buy such a system what with the potential VAT disparity vs say the EU. Systems also take some time to burn-in. That simply means leaving it on for a few months. In fact often such systems don't even have 'Power' buttons, they're left permanently on, as you'd never want to be playing music over (the horror of it) a cold system would you hehehe...?

It can be pretty silly at the extreme (if you think the above isn't already silly enough!). Just look at all the glitzy-fancy speaker cables that you see on offer. The purist would argue that they're selling a lie, and you should have your cables custom hand-made to match your system. My own are on each side, like a pair of 3-core mains cables, bonded side by side into a fat ribbon like strip. 'Nothing must limit what the musicians recording is trying to do!' But it is true, the system will render only up to it's weakest point, so you can't spend lots on the components, and think of skimping on the likes of the cables and connecting plugs.

I remember one time following a discussion on a hi-fi forum about how one should cut a 6" disc out off your average supermarket plastic bag, and have that on a record deck, on the platter below any record as 'it far improves the rendition'. Yes, it was a serious discussion It is an example of how super-anorak some people get.

It is a subject that is almost unlimited in seeking perfection. I can't think of many areas where people might get quite so purist and geeky. On the plus side once you have a decent system, you should be set for life (my own is nearing 20 years old now. I bought it as a gift to myself for surviving my first stint posted here). And ironically as the system components are considered to burn-in and only improve with age, the sale or trade-in value can be very high. I've traded-in/up and got 100%. It wouldn't surprise me if I could sell the whole stack for more than I paid for it...

Just some food for thought from a one-time hi-fi geek


* Similar to going to an art gallery, showing an interest in a picture and they take you, and it, to a viewing room which is totally black. They put the picture on an easel and turn up a halogen spotlight on it, just a little, and the picture explodes into life. And they leave you there on the black couch for 10 minutes for you to 'sell it to yourself' lol. But you don't consider that you'll never view it in such conditions back home...

[BillyB]

Adelphi centre is the best place in Singapore.

Avoid Sim Lim like the plague!

[BillyB]

Come over to the dark-side ZZM ....

http://www.naimaudio.com/naim-experience

I can't imagine the typical Singapore 'concrete box in the sky' being conducive to good acoustics and worth the investment. I used to buy high end headphones though, until I realized the DSP in most of the devices I owned (laptop, iphone, ipods, etc) were the weak link. All the headphones did was help me realize the electronics inside sucked.

Condo's are generally an acoustic nightmare. Reflective surfaces cause havoc with sound waves - most here have big windows and marble floors, and also peculiar layouts with plenty of corridors off main rooms that suck the sound all over the place..

Audyssey & other room adjustment tools do help, but it's a long and tiresome process to get speaker & sub placement and the calibration to an optimal level.

[curiousgeorge]

[quote="JR8]
Another point one might wish to consider is that a purist would never desire to have knobs to alter the sound balance, i.e. bass, treble and so on. The thinking is that a good system will reproduce the recording, precisely as the artist intended, at what ever volume, and 'who are you to wish to start messing about with that?'

...[/quote]

I am both a hi-fi geek and 20 yrs of experience in professional audio reproduction.

This amateur notion that the audio signal path should proceed uninterrupted was one that Linn pushed heavily in the early days (and long before DACs). Somehow it seemed to catch on.

They're correct in that Bass/Treble controls are insufficient, but in pro audio the whole point of a graphic EQ is NOT to adjust the source output - but to balance the system to the acoustics of the space you are playing in. You use mics placed around the room to listen to various different test frequencies played in the space (similar to the way some systems compensate for delay).

In pro audio reproduction, we recognise that every room is different and that you can't adequately re-create the same space used by the guy who did the final mix-down. Which is why we use technology to compensate.

Still can't figure why the home consumer hi-fi community hasn't figured this out...

[Strong Eagle]

Still can't figure why the home consumer hi-fi community hasn't figured this out...

Actually, quite a few home theatre systems come with a mic and and equalizer to do exactly what you said... balance against room acoustics.

[JR8]

Still can't figure why the home consumer hi-fi community hasn't figured this out...

Do Naim Audio offer this? If not I'm not biting

p.s. Bass/treble etc are filters, that ultimately only detract from the final resolution.

I rarely wish for an adjusted sound. When I do it's usually because I bought some dodgy $10 AC/DC CD in a Spanish street-market, or similar. That's one thing the higher-end hi-fi can shock you with, CDs you've loved-long-time and then you put them in your high-end rig and they sound absolutely crap.

99.9% of people aren't qualified to 'equalise' [filter] each individual recording. I find it's better to stick to good quality pressings and just leave your trust in your rig and the recording studio, with no adjustment and no degradation via filtering.

[zzm9980]

Still can't figure why the home consumer hi-fi community hasn't figured this out...

Actually, quite a few home theatre systems come with a mic and and equalizer to do exactly what you said... balance against room acoustics.

An Onkyo home-theatre-in-a-box that I bought 5-6 years ago for about $500 USD even did this.

[JR8]

Bet you don't find 'Onkyo' doing the in-car audio systems for say..... ooh.... I don't know... [random suggestion] the likes of Bentley.

But wait, http://www.naimaudio.com/naim-for-bentley

[zzm9980]

Bet you don't find 'Onkyo' doing the in-car audio systems for say..... ooh.... I don't know... [random suggestion] the likes of Bentley.

But wait, http://www.naimaudio.com/naim-for-bentley

No not at all and that is exactly my point. It was a cheap low-to-mid grade consumer set for a rental. But it still had the feature mentioned above.