..unfortunately I cannot present pixes from three other very interesting HiFi-events because my cam went out of power… and there where we have been there was no possibility to acquire an additional power supply… so, let’s hope that one of the other members of the gang might help us out…
..but nevertheless in the end of the Japan trip you may allow me some personal words on my own… so if someone should not be interested in my unqualified, non-scientific, non-DIYer incompetent nonsense, then please don’t read any further, it’s just my opinion, I do not want to convince anybody else but share what I have experienced…
o.k. that being said, for those who are interested from where I come from, HiFi-wise… having already quite some sophisticated units at the time (EMT record player with TSD15, Audio Research, Marc Levinson, Crown DC300A, heavily modified Klipschorns – but not yet active), I got a “how-to-live-better-at-your-home”-magazine in my fingers, in octobre 1978… some 40 years ago (in words: forty)…
...I had just married, and you know the women with their congenital inner urge to ameliorate the own nest then – then we males hardly do have any chance, no, not a single one to be honest… and so my wife wanted me to fetch especially that magazine… and of course I "obeyed", I simply did…
…and what ?... to my greatest delight and as well to my greatest shock after scrolling through the pages all of a sudden I stumbled upon this... it took me my whole life to get over this, and I am still not totally done with it… it is still “shocking” (me) today, but please, imagine and keep in mind: we write 1978 in the year of The Lord… (no, we did not visit this system, unfortunately…)
…this man had already done exactly that what we at the time were just dreaming and jokingly talking about: building one's house around the stereo system…
...I nearly collapsed, I was not able to go home, I was breathless, speechless, motionless, I don’t know what else… and I still have a little bit of that feeling today when I only see these pictures… but it was clear within less than a second that I had to have something like this, immediately knowing that it was not possible, at least not quick like a flash of lightning...
No 1 in HiFi-Japan in 1978
...and I am still pregnant with this ever since...
…this is Mr. Kobayashi’s system in 1978, president of a great Japanese steel corporation, and at the time the No. 1 in HiFi in Japan… view from the garden with the 6 meter long bass horns and twin bass drivers outside in the green….
…view of the twin bass drivers YL-1250D on the beginning of the horn to the mouth-opening of the house which with both horns fit the whole wall inside…
…opening mouths of all the horns from the inside….
…so if you have a close look, nothing of what we here ever did in the following decades was new (digital aside)…
...not really big bass horns (here 6 meters in length and because of the reduction ot the mathematical “normal” mouth opening of times four to compensate the loss in sound pressure doubled in input with two YL-1250 D compression drivers), not compression drivers, not active crossovers, not multi-amping… it was already common and quite natural in use then, there, in Japan...
…and I have to admit: till this very day we did not that what Mr. Goto began to practice and Mr. Kobayashi continued: we did not record anything by ourselves and did not play it back on our systems (at least not with really professional equipment)…
...but I was told by the reporter of the story whom I called immediately the next day, that Mr. Kobayashi did… he played drums and he had a complete arsenal with every corresponding thing to complete his drum set…
...but he played drums only for sound testing… and I was told that he sat on his chair and played drums and recorded himself with a Studer A80 two track with 78 cm / sec directly, i.e. without mixing console, and played it immediately back on his system… in 1978 !!!, hey, come on... how "ultra" was that then ?
…and as the reporter told me, Mr. Kobayashi was just not satisfied with the very highest tones coming from the super tweeter… and that he was just beginning to try out some FANE tweeter coming from England…
...please have a look at the collection of different triangles for comparison purposes to test out high tones in nature and in reproduction...
...and actually Mr. Kobayashi was just trying out the new Goto horn SG-150 - at the time still the 150 cm long version with small mouth input for the former driver versions...
...which exactly 11 years later - after multi-amping - became my very first Goto horn that I still have in use today to my utmost delight...
...and nothing has changed between then and now... already then an armada of different turntables and pick-ups was in use to test out - at the time - vinyls...
...the second house that I ever saw from the inside having been built around a stereo-system was the Goto-system of the famous japanese pianist Shigemi Takayo… you have already seen it with Mr. Katou’s system… here are just the pictures… and yes, it was in the same magazine, the pages that followed... in 1978 as well (although the building of this system itself dates back to 1970...)
...the mouth opening of the bass horn admittedly finishes with the opening in the ceiling, but the prolonging of both the corner-walls on each side are used to prolong the bass horn physically... and so they were able to enlarge and deepen the frequency spectrum and measure down to some 28 cycles within this room...
...view from above...
...the tape-recording corner with professional (deep down below in the corner) and several semi-professional tape recorders and a bunch of vinyl players with different pick-ups (already in 1970 !!!)...
...by the way I was told by Shinichi Tanaka that in the Goto-Lab there still exist quite a lot of recordings from Mr. Takajo, which till this very day are used by Mr. Seiya Goto as a reference when it comes to finely adjusting and tuning the drivers...
...so you may imagine that after having seen this, I was completely shattered... but I had already in hands what I wanted to have, I knew this, and the earlier the better... exactly this... or something comparable... and so I started to work on it... all the time...
...you know the rest... all done, all active, all multi amp, all class A, all Goto horns, all Goto drivers, all highest end, all beryllium (as far down as available)... and on top digital, I do not mean the "normal" digital, but the digital that we have...
...dreaming of course in between all the time to go to Japan and have a visit and a listen by myself, but as is in life, being not a millionaire, with quite a lot of other obligations, and a family, and children, and a house, and a car... yes, you know... and so the system had to some sort of wait, i.e. to grow only step by step - as is with you now Tuyen - but it is all very well worth it, you will see...
...and in the end it was good having waited for so long with the advantage now being "totally" prepared and equipped with all our informations and experiences for that "battle", and it showed...
...I got to know precisely on what level the japanese High-Enders vintage and anew are with now not only having read about but personally heard nearly every system and driver that was still lacking in my personal HiFi-life, and where is our, resp. my position...
...and what ? done everything just right, no need to change anything... wow...
...but now you might ask me for the "best" system, the "best", the "very best"...?
…o.k., just my two cents…
…there is no doubt: HiFi-wise we were in the Himalayas, way above 8.000 meters up in the sky… and you can indeed totally enjoy all the different and beautiful and fantastic systems that are playing all around, here, and there, and everywhere…
…and like in the Himalayas every “mountain” up above 8.000 meters has its own personality, its own charisma, its own “flair”, its own characteristics… vintage and anew… it is simply wonderful and a great pleasure, and yes, privilege and honour, having experienced all these one after another…
…on our trip we had some 15 systems to evaluate, and it was absolutely sublime… the other day Jean told me that he knows of and has already visited and mostly reported about some 400 or so different systems of this caliber or comparable… and some absolutely superb ALE- and Goto-systems without having the permission to publish them… what an experience is this please ?
…anyway, my greatest respect and admiration goes to all our visited Japanese HiFi-friends, who hosted us like kings, every single one of them is totally ambitious and striving for perfection and synergy with greatest passion, huge ambition, utmost care und infinite love to detail and… yes, indeed, they are tickeling out the most of every single unit and system… bravo !!!
…”sufficient” volume (for a live performance) is given in all systems… “sufficient” sound pressure is there as well… synergetic effects add even more… there is no more discussion necessary regarding these topics…
…but different systems for different kinds of music in different rooms…???... I know of several HiFi-aficionados even over here in Europe, when I asked about their HiFi-dreams what that would be, several totally independently told me for classic system A, for jazz system B, for rock and pop system C and so on… well, o.k., but personally I have had and still have my biggest problems with this point of view … I would not want this, and… I do not need this…
…from my experiences I thankfully must not share this view… of course I do know, what they mean and what they want and what they are looking for, sure, but for me just one single system has to be able to “handle” all these different kinds of music… it is all about frequencies… no matter what they put together in the end - and when a system is really “precise” it is indeed able to handle all this properly…
…to answer the question: What is the “best” system?… well, there is no “best” system – they are all valid “competitors”, and without a doubt everyone of us could very splendidly live with just a single system of these…
..by the way: ”best system” ? what would that be after all?... this would be comparable to the question: what is “the best car”? Porsche, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW….?
…same with wine… what is the “best” wine ?... and indeed HiFi reminds me a little of wine tasting… you have a really good bottle, and you have ten tasters, and… yes, right, afterwards you have 11 meanings…
...and you think, hey, they are all not just tasting one wine out of one bottle, they all are tasting another wine… everybody smells and tastes something different… and you are lucky when the one or other smells or tastes something like you… the same seems to be valid for HiFi-systems and/or single units and components - and nowadays especially with digital stream…
…well, I think the question regarding the “best” system cannot be answered this way… the individual “better” and “worse” signs of performance become pregnant just in immediate comparison… with cars it is the same, they all drive absolutely superb, but it is you to say what you really want and need… because it is your demands with every single specific peculiarity… and in HiFi this is the room, the wife, the money and so on… we all know about that… and… are we ever able to escape out of this?…
…and then different countries, different people, different customs, different habits, different tastes, different rooms, different systems, different units, different sources, different music… to be honest, you do not really expect me to bring all this under one hat, to one solution, to “the” solution ? no, not really, do you ?
…nevertheless let me try… the “best” system to me is to hear “no” system when you listen to music… there where we have been some listeners tried to “reach” this level of condition by closing their eyes…
…but “the best” system – in my opinion - is not only to hear “no” system “but no system with eyes wide open”… at whatever loudness level – with definitely n o need to turn the loudness level down, not only longing but indeed reaching that level till it is just right, i.e. natural…
...that may be different for every listener within his own system and surrounding… but in reality we never ever have any influence on “a” level… think of a thunder, a choir, a single voice, a triangle or whatever…
…even in these highest end systems it appeared quite often that the loudness level had to be adjusted, with hardly ever an exception always downwards (according to the “feeling” of the one or other listener), mostly always exactly there where from my impression upwards would have been needed, but was generally felt as "disturbing" – to reach exactly that “level”, the optimum “range”, to play within a certain room with a given system…
…we all know that, because we all have “our” own room and “our” own system, and we know of “this point” in our system very well… but to be able to enlarge or reduce the volume without “loosing” that “perfect level” that i s the most for me…
...in all my HiFi-live – till lately - I some sort of “suffered” from not always getting "really" into the music because of not having reached that certain level in loudness that is just exactly “right” and “necessary”, but at that point simply was felt as not “pleasant”…
…and when it became really “interesting” the system and the components still could play, but not on that level of satisfaction that I had on “the” lower optimum volume… so, to reach this (personal) optimum volume without any derangement, that’s it what we are heading for, don't we? …well, at least ultimately I have found it for me…
(mmmhhh, did I manage to transport to you what is cooking in my head ? ...not that easy..)
..well, that’s about the “best system”… if you ask me about the “best sound”, the “very best” sound - well, that’s a different thing (for me)…it still doesn’t exist from what I have heard so far and listened to, but theoretically I have it in my head… and I would be able to build it, but I cannot afford it… neither do I have the room for it… so it presumably will remain a dream forever…
…but for those who can… generally speaking: it would be some sort of my system from 80 cycles upwards with the low bass and upper bass horn construction and principles adapted from Klaus equipped with Mr. Katou’s Goto highest end bass arrangement (this was the most simply regarding the ease in sound pressure in that low and lowest frequency range way down - exactly there where most of the other systems have hardly anything to offer...)… something like this… and to be tested out of course… if I had the money and the room I instantly would do it…
…but hey… “dreaming” of something is the one thing, and “having” one thing the other… and if I really stop and think about it, the older I get the more Konfuzius comes to my mind who said (what I formerly did not that really understand, but now do – I think at least): “The way is the destination”…
…as is with digital… digital streaming… I am convinced that here the “most” can be realized regarding sound amelioration… I said it elsewhere, it is like cooking: what you do not put in, you cannot get out… so, nothing new, you know the discussions and the results all around…
...and yes, yes, yes, I know, some will crucify me, again and again and again… it is the generation of the squares, the transportation of the squares, the amplification of the squares and the reproduction of the squares that (for me) create “the” wanted sound…
...and exactly this – and I repeat – exactly this - is clearly to be heard, at least in all those systems where there is a connection to digital streaming… unfortunately there were only very few…
…to realize these very few was rather disappointing for me… especially those sophisticated vintage systems with tubes and turntables have so far completely refused and if (with only single exceptions) then mostly shabbily neglected the implementation of digital into their systems… (but contrarily everywhere the biggest flat screens with up to 4 K hang already on the wall…)
...my expectations were completely different… I had expected that in exactly that country where “digital” has been invented the implementation and the making use of it already would have reached that level that I found so incredible some forty years ago with those otherworldly horns and (money plays no role) active multi-amping…
…but no… as Jean prepared me to bring some guest presents with me for our Japanese hosts quite a long time ago I thought o.k., some souvenirs from Cologne, Cologne Cathedral in small as a key-holder or something like that, but then it came to my mind, hey, we are visiting music lovers with superb systems, so some music, no not “some” music, but the "most" of what musically is possible (and available so far) has to be "the" present and would make them glad … and so I choose some of my very very best and absolutely highest end tracks as FLACs and put them on USB-sticks… and offered them as present…
…but hey, what do you think ? … they very kindly and politely thanked for the present with repeated japanese bowings, but looked at me and the USB-stick as if I would come from another planet and offer something "forbidden" of which they definitely have no clue of…
...and even after Jean kindly had translated what it was all about with the USB-stick, explaining "Master-Tape", they admittedly were amazed, but looked even more disbelieving as before… no, I will not name them, but I feel obliged to deliver an explanation via Jean in japanese of what to do with FLACs… (well, o.k., we all once started, didn’t we?)
…and yes, this digital – to me - it is the icing on the cake in HiFi (if done right)… and my stomach lets me feel that an implementation like Chanh for example lately has already realized would absolutely perfectly fit into the absolute High-End-HiFi-Nirvana… I’m burning to hear this one day… hopefully soon…
...so, and last not least let me thank all those fantastic and superb and international HiFi-addicted aficionados who not only in Japan but on the long run hosted me, pampered me, cared for me, guided me, informed me, explained to me (as no DIYer), inspired me, showed me, advised me, had me a (repeated) listen… and of course endlessly Jean Hiraga, who made this all so uniquely perfectly possible for me/us...
...what a trip !!! T h e HiFi-trip in my life...
...it was – and still is - all like in a never ending big life long puzzle, with tiny bits and pieces to more and more fill in the whole… and this is still to be done… and ha, what a pleasure !!!... each and every day…
…and in the end of the trip let me leave you with that what “nerves” me most in my life:
“Music was my first love, and it will be my last”…
…with one of my favorites:
“where are we ?
What the hell is going on ?…”
...and a handmade calligraphy from Hito Katogatoku Tanoshinu from a World Culture Heritage...
...translated something like this: "Everybody can find his pleasure in life"...
...well, I found, and the calligraphy has already found as well a nice place on the wall of our diningroom...