GuiGuang's Beautiful Blue El34s

Intrepid valve explorer, Vanch Carroll, has returned from another journey to China with something new out of the GuiGuang factory. Beautiful Blue EL34s.

I haven't heard them yet, but in the meantime I am listening to the fabulous GuiGuang black glass 300B which Vanch brought back from a previous trip. They are the most wonderful valves I have ever heard. They have this beautiful hard edge on them that is so unlike Chinese valves I have heard before. There is no smear, clarity is stunning the tone is pure beauty.

GuiGuang have also being trying to reproduce the legendary Western Electric 300B. Vanch reports that GuiGuang's production has slowed on this valve. GuiGuang is having problems with sourcing all the ingredients they need to make it work. Must admit that I admire this company. They are really taking it to the market, and clearly will not release valves unless they believe they have it right.

You can buy the GuiGuang EL34s from Vanch on Ebay:

PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC- A User's Experience of Creating "The" Music Server

The diabolical and extraordinary Melbourne writer, Paul Haines, is also a digital closet audiophile. He's just "come out" and published his experiences with the brilliant and expensive PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC and the PS Audio Perfect Wave Bridge which allows the DAC to work as a music server. Paul Haines, being the great dude he is, has given me permission to republish his experiences on "Adventures in HiFi". So here we go.

Paul writes:

For those who know me well, you will know that I am heavily into music. Can't play an instrument to save myself, although I used to be very good at playing the penis. There are some who know me that may equate 'heavily' with 'obsessed'. It's probably true, it is my biggest passion in life.

Several months ago I became interested in the concept of the Music Server as several audiophile technologies started to hit the home market. Now this whole area is still in fledgling days, as the audiophile geek now has to shake hands with the computer/network geek and normally these two geeks haven't been seen in the same shop, most damningly behind the counter trying to sell you Music Server technology. My experience with it all so far is the audio retailer really doesn't have much of a fucking clue about what all the music geeks are doing with MP3/FLAC and other compressed/lossless formats on their pcs.

Though the sales pitches delivered promise this is no longer the case. But it is.

So I started ripping my cd collection on the 14 June 2011. I have now offically, as of right now, finished ripping my collection on the 2 November 2011. Four and a half months. A labour of love. An incredibly boring task, though a task that I have been able to do as I am home every day, and even as debilitated as I have been over the last few months, a task I can actually perform successfully.

On the 26 June 2011 I purchased an 8TB RAID-enabled USB 3.0 external harddrive and a fancy router that could support it and make it look like a NAS-drive. Oh, the technical glitterati! Don't worry, I hate all that shit as much as you do. And then found out that Windows XP can't read that big a volume on a drive, so I had to remove two of the drives, then I eventually managed to format and configure a 4TB RAID-enabled drive. What that means is I have 2TB of storage, while the other 2TB is automatically used to back up the data. I'd hate to have to spend another 4.5 months ripping the collection in case of drive failure.

I originally started ripping as WAV (the format of a CD) but found I couldn't tag them (assign band, album, year of release etc like MP3 files can) so I converted them to FLAC instead (a file lossless audio codec) which is a compressed version of the cd, but if you have the right software or hardware, it can played decompressed at runtime and is exactly the same quality as the WAV. And FLACs are roughly a 1/3 of the size of a WAV so my 2TB of storage would now comfortably fit my collection ripped to FLAC. (WAV would have been to big). Why did I not go MP3 as I could fit heaps more on? Because MP3 is the death of music, folks. Avoid if you like music, avoid if you want to be kind to your ears.

So my Music Server consists of a massive external hardrive hooked up to my network (ie router/modem/internet) and a piece of black stereo equipment called a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter). The DAC spends its time trying to make the sound of your music as fantastic as possible and is often a piece of equipment installed between a cd player and an amplifier. Basically, it's trying to make the cd sound as deep and warm and smooth as vinyl. I'm using a PS Audio Perfect Wave, which acts as a normal DAC, until you put the Bridge inside it and hook that up to your network so it can see your external harddrive. The Bridge is really a glorified sound card for a pc/mac, but that's probably doing it a huge disservice. Together the DAC/Bridge combination sounds magical.

So why a Music Server? Plenty of reasons.

1) It Sounds Better
A CD spins in a CD player, and the majority of magic inside a CD player is trying to correct any errors that arise from this spin - it's called jitter. Take away the jitter, it sounds better. Stick it on a harddrive, no spin, read the file, and spend the majority of the magic in making the file sound like magic, instead of trying to remove the shit that jitter introduces.

2) It Sounds Even Better
Now that the limitation of CD has been removed, in particular how much info a CD can hold (about 700MB right?) you can have much more depth of information delivered in the sound file. A CD, for example, uses 44.1khz as its sampling rate, so often there is a loss of dynamic range on a cd (ie the loud bits vs the quiet bits - and these days most CDs just try to be loud, and if it is all loud? Well, there is no loud or quiet, is there?). But the sound files can come in higher resolutions, so instead of 44.1 you can have it as 192. What does this mean? You can hear heaps more in the music you couldn't before. Files get pretty large though. CD file size now equates to DVD file size.

3) My wife is extremely happy that I don't have wobbling stacks of CDs littering the lounge anymore. And I had stacks. And stacks. Our house appears to be neater without my mess. This was the major selling point for my wife to allow me to pursue this. She can now hear Reasons (1) and (2) now though.

The solution is not without its fair share of frustrations though.
1) I had to buy an iPod touch to use as my remote control because PS Audio don't ship the DAC with one to access your music collection with. That pissed me off. It should come free with the DAC as it costs enough.

2) You also have to buy an app for the iPod - PS Audio's version of iTunes. It's as buggy and unstable as all fuck. That pissed me off. It should also be free.

3) The Apple device (iPod) and the non-Apple device (my pc-networked harddrive) often have synchronisation issues, particulalry if I start copying files to the harddrive and still want to listen to my music. The iPod app drops out all the time when this happens and you can no longer access your music collection. It is more than a little frustrating as it can be out of action for an hour or two. It pisses me off still. Though now that I have finished ripping the collection, this will largely be an issue of the past. And my CD player is a backup to that problem (and it is also hooked up to the DAC too).

4) It doesn't play Gapless. Gapless? What the fuck is that? Yes, Mr Retail Audiophile man, who laughed at me when I asked him whether said gear could do this, and then blustered his way through the "it just does it" because he had no fucking idea of what I was talking about. Think of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". Side One is pretty much a continuous piece of music, though it is made up of several songs. When you play the album you hear each song, but you hear it all in one big track. The Perfect Wave loads each song as it goes and cannot do it fast enough so there is a discernable break in the sound, sometimes up to several seconds between each song. It's very jarring. It pisses me off. The solution was sold to me after being stated that it could do gapless. It can't. So for those who like electronic music, or progressive rock, or classical, or, fuck, you name it, as half of my collection NEEDS gapless playback due to the sequencing and transitions required of the music on said fucking album, it can be rather annoying.

5) On those big lovely 192khz high resolution files, the Bridge can't always handle them, so microskips are introduced. On my system it's not so bad as it doesn't sound like a CD skipping, rather the beat has, for just a microsecond, skipped and change.

Points (4) and (5) are currently being addressed by having a PC/MAC hooked into the solution and running some software to do it. Though you don't really want a computer to hooked in as well, as it really needs to be standalone. And in another room so you can't hear it. And on. And chewing through more power than you'd like. PS Audio are also building a Silent Server/Magic Box which is a little black box that will fix those problems and it will plug inbetween the DAC/Bridge and the network. It should come free, but it won't. And that pisses me off.

Now, I normally avoid bleeding edge technology, but I am in a situation where I may not live long enough to see it mature and become stable, so I had to plunge in now and accept all the drawbacks and frustrations.

Apart from all that whinging, the system has me sitting back sometimes on the sofa, eyes closing, smile on lips, and sounds amazing. It makes you want to sit there and listen to music.

Well, who'd a thought I was also such a music/tech geek and an audiophile snob to boot? I'm not much of one really, as any real techie could probably tear apart half of my explanations but I've tried to make it simple enough so that it can be understood by people who just don't care about any of this. Those same people who didn't read past the first paragraph.


Paul Haines blog is at Paul Haines Live Journal.

Paul Haines's brilliant collection of short stories "Slice of Life" can be purchased internationally from Morrigan Books, and in Australia from the Mayne Press.

Margule's Audio from Mexico- The Magenta ADE 24.1

This is a wonderful black box from Mexico that turns CD into something it should have always sounded like. It works on the analogue feed out of any DAC, the one inside your CD player or the outboard one that cost $1000. Julian Margules who created the product would be the first to say that it wasn't designed to work with a $3000 to $4000 DAC, but for everything else we are talking about a very special product. It makes CD sound beautiful. And this is saying something for a guy who loves his vinyl.

Barry Willis recently wrote an article for Hifi News in the UK praising the Margenta ADE 24.1. It's in the November 2011 issue , which goes from October to November and is out now. It has generated lots of interest and some reckless controversy. But some more of that later.

I first came across Margule Audio and the Magenta ADE 24.1 when I bought PS Audio Digital Link III DAC on the secondhand market. A quick Google to find reviews about it got me this review by Barry Willis:

http://www.avguide.com/review/ps-audio-digital-link-iii-trio-p-200-preamplifier-and-trio-100-amplifier

Some people screamed at the time that he didn't really review the PS Audio DAC so much as promote the ADE 24. I read that article in a different way. Here was a combination of components that would make your digital system sound better.

To cut a long story short, I have the Magenta ADE 24.1 in my systen combined with the PS Audio Digital Link III DAC and the combination is exceptional just as Barry Willis has described.

GuiGuang Are At It Again - Western Electric Replicas

Vanch Carroll, intrepid valve explorer that he is, recently alerted me to the fact the GuiGuang are producing their own replica of the famous Western Electric 300B. This is hot on the heels of GuiGuang developing their own black glass 300B to rival the ShuGuang treasure series.
Having purchased a pair of GuiGuang's black glass 300BS-Z from Vanch, I queried him on whether the Western Electric replica was just an idea or a reality. His response was that it is a reality and he sent pictures to prove it. So here they are on Vanch Carroll's dining room table, direct from the GuiGuang factory in China. When I asked Vanch what they sounded like he simply responded: "More. More of everything."

As far as I know neither of these valves have been released onto the open market as yet. Vanch has the black glass 300BS-Z for sale on Ebay. They are beautiful valves.

And if you are really hanging out to hear what GuiGuangs WE replica can do, then you may need to catch a plane to China and visit the GuiGuang factory like Vanch did.

The Frugel Horn Project

I've been a fan of full-range speakers for several years now, having completed the Madisound build for the Fostex 6.5" FF165k driver and another build for the Fostex 4.5" FE126e - both of which I thought sounded just wonderful, especially the purity of the mid-range. During this time, I have followed the amazing design work that has been going on over the Frugel Horn Project site. One of the aims of that project was to produce a well-designed, but simple flat-pack that could 1) be built by just about anybody with a couple of sets of clamps and clue, 2) didn't cost a fortune in wood, and 3) really let full-range drivers demonstrate why they are just so, so good.

Given the beautiful complexity of the designs the Frugel Horn Project have showcased over the years, I had some doubts they would ever get a such a solution. But they did, and the pictures with this post show my own build of the Frugel Horn Project's flat-pack. It's different to the other full-range cabinet builds I have done. Firstly, it's a rear firing horn rather than front firing, and secondly it was much easier to build.

But there is a third thing that makes this design different, and so special. It was developed by a bunch of highly skilled enthusiasts and like all enthusiasts they aren't necessarily in it for the money; they want others to get to hear just how good full-range speakers are. To that end, they have effectively made the design open source, with some small copyright acknowledgements required, and are encouraging people everywhere, who have the required equipment, to produce the cabinets locally for sale.

In Australia, this is being done by Ben Arends in Geelong, Victoria. Check out his Sound with Style website for further details. Ben is selling the cabinets for $299 inclusive of shipping in Australia, and he will CNC machine the panels to match just about any 4.5" full-range speaker available.

I completed my build with Fostex 4.5" FE126EN drivers, which replace the older 126E models, Neotech Teflon coated 20AWG 7N solid core UPOCC copper wiring, and Eichmann cable pods. I tried to source as much as I could from Australian suppliers to finish the build. In the case of the Neotech wire, yes, it's made in Taiwain, but I sourced that from myself as I sell it in Australia. The Eichmann cables pods are from ETI Technologies, designed and made in Brisbane (and they are brilliant).

Sadly, it didn't work out with sourcing the FE126EN drivers in Australia. I was quoted a price close to $170, including shipping for a pair, which I was willing to pay, but a waiting time of nearly six weeks, which I thought was pretty ordinary. Instead I bought them from Madisound for $148 including shipping and received them within a week. Ah, Australian retail when will you guys get your act together?

And what do they sound like? Sadly, I'll need to leave that for another post, but suffice to say for the prices involved in making these speakers, nobody could be disappointed, and most people should be damned excited, because that is exactly the sound they deliver. Exciting, and also as clear and as transparent anything.

The High Price of the Michell Tecnoarm in Australia

I use a Michell Tecnoarm on my modded Rega P3 turntable. It's a beautiful arm, performs wonderfully and looks great. I purchased mine from Trichord Research in the UK about five years ago. At the time the retail cost was $1,299 in Australia and the total cost to buy from the UK was around $700. Thats a huge difference in price and only a small amount of it can be justified by additional shipping costs. Somebody, somewhere must be making a huge profit.

Now I would have expected, with the exchange rate for the Australian dollar being so good and the ongoing squealing from Australian retailers that online stores overseas are killing them, that we may have seen the price of the Tecnoarm become more competitive. But no, it's recommended retail price is still $1,299. A quick Google search shows that this is pretty much a universal price across Australian retailers. Now to be fair if we take GST out of the equation that price drops to $1180. Also to be fair the price in the UK, has now risen to £457.50 ex vat, or $693.15. To be even fairer lets say it costs $50 postage for the Tecnoarm to be delivered from the UK to Australia. So the total cost to buy from the UK today is $743.15. That is still a price difference of $436.85.

Why? There is no import duty on tonearms, so the reason has either got to be that retail selling in Australia costs much more than it does in the UK, or profit margins on much Audio gear sold in Australia are excessive. I have doubts too that excessive profit margins are all going into the pockets of the retailers. The Australian distributor of Michell Tecnoarms is Amber Technologies. Amber Tech is a large company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It distributes home and professional audio visual equipment. In the case of the Michelle Tecnoarm it has sole distribution rights, which means that Australian retailers can only buy from them and are unable to seek alternative and cheaper distribution from overseas. It also means that Amber Tech can set the retail price and then sell at a discount from the retail price to the retailers. This allows the retails to make a profit, but there is nowhere in this equation that allows for competitive price setting. Hence the price in Australia is $1,299 and that's it.

Little wonder that many people will be buying directly from the UK.

GuiGuang Black Glass 300BS-Z

With the McChanson 300B amp up and running again, I've been pretty much lost in listening to the music it makes. The McChanson 300B (designated marzEt by its maker) is truly an exquisite amplifier for the price Eric charges. I think he could charge three times as much as he does and the buyer would still be totally satisfied.

Even better has been the opportunity to get the GuiGuang Black Glass 300BS-Z fully "burnt in" and hear what they can really do. They are exquisite valves: open, spacious and every instrument sounding clear, dynamic and exactly where it should be in the soundstage. Unlike some other Chinese valves I have heard in the past there is no sense with the GuiGuangs of the "full bloom" or what could be called a warm tone being added to the music. These guys are sharp and totally refined in their sound presentation.

As far as I know GuiGuang still hasn't released these on the retail market, but are letting a few out via direct factory sales. Possibly to see what reaction they get before they go in to full production? I bought my pair from my-hi-fi on Ebay Australia. The seller contacted me last night and advised that GuiGuang had shipped him several more pairs. You can check out the sale here.