Author Topic: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192  (Read 416681 times)

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #400 on: June 08, 2015, 07:50:49 AM »
I have to admire the dedication of Mr Katou !!
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #401 on: June 08, 2015, 08:54:05 PM »
I was just hinted having been unauthorized in properly and/or precisely quoting/crediting the original owners of text and pictures of the discussion regarding the DDDAC1794 on the DIY-er site in the past... (quotes:) “Just because it's on the internet does not give you the right to use my picture/text…” and play “copy cat"… (end of quotes)

…to correct this, I apologize for my stupidity… Thanks to the member of the DIYer site and “owner” of those pixes and textes who pointed it out to me: stijn001

I have deleted all corresponding contributions that I could find. If there still should be any more, please tell me, and I will gladly delete them as well…

« Last Edit: June 08, 2015, 09:11:27 PM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #402 on: June 09, 2015, 02:54:44 AM »
...here are some links regarding the work of Mr. Ishii, of which I thought you might be interested in, you remember, the former Technics and acoustic engineer...

http://www.ishii-audio-lab.com/room_ishimura1.html

...not only in audio, but as well regarding home cinemas...



...it is all only in japanese, but there is some translation-machine, and you may scroll up and down and look for ishii-lab and related anyway...











...or you may want to have a look here...

http://www.ishii-audio-lab.com/concept2.html








« Last Edit: June 14, 2015, 03:27:08 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #403 on: June 09, 2015, 11:18:09 PM »
…the next day, Sunday, was the hardest day of all… of course we were all rather tired anyway, being some 12-16 hours on the road every day, by railway, by car, by metro, by foot, whatever…

...but this was still to top with an 18 hours ride from Toyama to Morioka and still quite a lot further to the north, and back to Tokyo at 23:06, to visit and listen to one of the greatest collection and arrangement of vintage systems and vinyls I ever encountered…

…and so we started early in the morning already at 6:19 by train with the Shinkansen “Kagayaki 500”, leaving Toyama to Omiya, changing Shinkansen “Hayabusa 5” to Morioka, and then rode still one hour further by car…

…to somewhere in the mountains, a wintersport area, some 1.000 m high, to some very kind and friendly and hospitable and exclusive HiFi-aficionado…

…I was informed having been among those rare selected visitors who ever had the chance to access this multi-room-large-system-collection and –arrangement at all… and in addition Jean Hiraga told me that he had already tried three times to visit these systems but so far without success…

…although we were allowed by our host to take pictures for our personal use, we had to swear during lunch to keep related photos of the systems and arrangements only for ourselves… neither were we allowed to send related photos even to one of our most intimate audio friends, even in low size - poor definition format – through the internet, magazines, facefook etc.

...how serious this attitude is practiced till this very day by our host becomes clear latest when learning that even Mr. Ishii, the acoustic architect designer - whom I introduced to you already at Mr. Odagi, our first visit - who cared for the whole acoustic treatment in all rooms, neither has obtained the right to publish any photos of these systems as well…



...the two books of Mr. Ishii...

…Mr. Ishii tried to publish some of these system photos in his second book on acoustic as one of his best designs, but the owner refused. And so all the four of us had to swear not to publish anywhere, not to spread any photos of this very day even to close friends in the Internet, and to strictly keep related photos for ourselves. I was even informed that behind our host there is in his family one of the strongest group of lawyers in Japan...

...so you understand, I have to respect the decision and privacy of our host. He said about publications "ZETTAI DAME", meaning in Japanese: "the publication of any photos taken by us that day is absolutely prohibited". I was told that this happens from time to time as well with owners of other superb systems …

…of course I will not name anyone nor publish any pictures, but there is freedom of speech, and I will try my very best to bring you there just like in a dream and post pictures only of stuff that is official, that cannot be forbidden…

…after arriving at Morioka station…



…we were fetched by a kind and friendly guy already waiting for us, he drove us for an hour or so to our destination somewhere to a quiet place up above in the mountains…

…passing some still active volcano..



..it was somewhere here…
 


...and after arriving we were very friendly and heartily welcomed by the family with father and son, both are more than passionate music- and HiFi-aficionados…

…Mr. Ishii was already waiting for us, and Jean gladly explained to him and showed to him our yesterday’s adventures…



…and the impression grew on me that Mr. Ishii was quite impressed to see all these spectacular things…

…lunch was already prepared for us – and oh, what a joy – fine linen table cloth, crystal wine glasses, knives and forks and spoons for us, but as well Japanese chopsticks, a bottle of red Bordeaux-wine from Domaines Cordier, A.O.C. Margaux, was already opened…

...I didn’t trust my eyes and tongue: absolutely fresh and gorgeous croissants like from Lenôtre in Paris, slightly salted raw milk butter, baguettes which I rarely get better in France… Kobe beef with vegetables and broth, like the Japanese practise it, it was indeed everything that fine and tasted so well, that André meant: “It is like at home…”

…and I was told that the really superb 5 way system with one of the biggest flat TV-screen in the immediately appending room was just for watching television and DVDs and Blurays, and not for music… alone with this system and video most of us would presumably be very happy, but – as I said – this is just to watch tele… the things to listen to music are just to come…

...so, as we are all “blind” now, let me guide you through the labyrinth… that what this HiFi-aficionado has as listening-room(s) the most of us do not have as home or villa… it is simply incredible, and I have to admit that I got some sort of envy regarding  t h a t  much space for the HiFi-waves being able to correctly spread out…

..imagine the man having his listening room(s) in an appendix of his “normal” house, i.e. living room, television room, kitchen (completely professional equipped, with a cook of course) and so on…

...so nobody is getting disturbed when music like life on stage is being played, and trust me, it is like life on stage… well, if one is not used to these levels of loudness – but we as visitors are all horn aficionados – one might get really surprised, the room is there to be filled fully and very pleasantly with music – as good as the sources and amplifications and speakers allow…

…to get you to know “where” we are: all “toys” are "bought", the vintage ones as well as the new ones… and name me a highest-end brand that is not represented here, that would be rather difficult…



Mark Levinson LNP-2L pre-amp... formerly I had one as well, one of the very first three to ever come to Germany, and it was indeed good at the time...

...nearly uncountable and all kinds of McIntosh, for example the MC3500, but there were many others...



credit to: http://oestex.com/tubes/Mac/MC-3500.html

...EMT 927Ast with pickup EMT25





credit to: http://www.westernlabo.com/88_3848.html

 and quite a lot of other turntables with other pickups..., Accuphse, PWR Master…, but as well new ones like Esoteric...



...credit to: http://www.audioaficionado.org/esoteric/16300-esoteric-k-01-sacd-player.html

...Fairchild 245, C7 Line Amplifier and C7 Equalizer Amplifier... without ending, nothing but the very best…

...all those - maybe some fifty units or even more, amps, CD/SACD/DSD-players, channel deviders, frequency adjustments in all rooms - are carefully led together to several self-built (the only self-built from what I got aware) connecting-consoles (there where needed) with possibilities for loudness, treble, high and bass adjustment... but it is clear, the focus is definitely and without a doubt on JBL, vintage and anew...

...even digital streaming via mobil MAC-book and mobile and whatever in all sorts of resolution is commonly in use - at least by the son of the house, a very nice and friendly young man, asking him for his profession, he told me: "I am nothing but an engineer..." … but as far as I could see there is no (real) DIY, i.e. no developments on its own, just the usual soldering and so on …

…let me begin with the listening room(s)… you may have noticed that I am always talking about the listening room(s) and not "the" listening room… well, when you enter this “sanctuary” you are immediately struck in awe…

…imagine entering an 8 m x 10 m room with some 4 and more meters in hight, rather right in the middle of the 8 meters… then you are right in the big center of all this HiFi-nirvana with a group of very nice and generous black leathered chairs with brown arms and a low brown, some sort of oval table to be invited to sit down for listening…

…but this very room is not “closed” by walls, it is open one half up to the first floor and further on into the roof, and one half each beginning immediately to the left and to the right… so if you look to the left and to the right, the total length horizontically is something like 20 meters (!)… and above across the whole line two huge chandeliers are hanging from the roof...



...you may take Mr. Odagi's execution done by Mr. Ishii as an inspiration for the arrangements of the floor and walls there for here, only that the multi-layered wooden "stripes" here are white, and the blue absorbing "stripes" very light brown, interspersed with those some 20 cm thick old dark-brown wooden beams... beams, that are to be found as well on the ceiling, well, on those parts of the rooms, where there was a ceiling... these beams on the ceiling were interspersed with some more "white acoustic beams" reaching nearly completely from the left to the right angle of the ceiling...



..the floor - to my impression - is the same as with Mr. Odagi...

...needless to say that the new professional JBL monitor speakers from Mr. Odagi are here represented as well, in the listening room to the right... only that they here look as some sort of a side-product, glad to belong to the whole bunch and be presented at all...

…to the left and to the right two other listening rooms join in immediately of which the walls are reduced backwards to the half as well… so everything within the whole listening-unit is “open” and extensively, and the whole floor, wall and ceiling treatment all around is created by Mr. Ishii, you may theoretically compare to the room of Mr, Odagi, our first visit… so you may have an imagination how it looks like…

...before I enter into the description of the single rooms and their equipment, let us go upstairs… in the listening room to the right in the middle of the rear wall is a door leading to some back space for HiFi-equipment, general power supply, soldering corner and such, and in addition a stairway leading to the first floor where there is one of the most extensive collections of vinyls on the walls i ever came across...

...all walls are full of vinyls, painstaikinly lined up, all first rate, all first editions, first pressings (what else?)... for example "Blue Note", the company exists since 1939 if memory serves me well... well, here you find the complete collection in the very first edition, what ever they have published till now, all first pressings, without any gaps...

...and this is only one brand... they have others as well... and it is understood of course that every single vinyl has some sort of kling-film protection as a caution when being heavily in use...

...needless to ask: Do you have...? ... they have, of course... thousands and thousands and thousands of records... I was told that our host was the owner of 9 (in words: "nine") original pressings in mint condition of a recording of Satchmo from 1959 (a recording of which our other hosts are very proud owners as well - I showed you already), a very very much sought after recording - globally - and especially in mint condition...

...well this information made it into the internet, and within the next days several addicted interested appeared in front of the house, even from America, to ask for a record... and this the owner - I presume - does not want to experience again...

...by the way from upstairs in the middle where there is a vast collection of vintage amps and speakers and turntables and arms and pickups from nearly every brand of nearly every decade back to the 1930ies, you have a wonderful view, up to the roof and downstairs just to the entry and half of the central listening room...

...all the rooms and walls and ceilings and the roof as well are regularly and regarding the needs of acoustics interspersed with wonderful antique dark brown-black wood beams... impressive, really very impressive, and very finely and tastefully executed all around by Mr. Ishii (I told already), without a doubt... I could live here...

…so back downstairs having just entered when you turn your eyes to the left side back there is a very passionately established and comfortable large bar with several stools, with everything needed for that purpose, fridge, glasses and so on, and of course a vast collection of finestly selected spirits, some estimated 100 different sorts of vintage whisky (more than I am aware of), some are ten, twenty and even more years old, and other alkoholics… it becomes immediately clear that the owner is as well a very passionate and knowledgable whisky-aficionado…

..not to forget that all comfortable "sitting areas" with their arm-chairs and low tables are additionally underlayed with very precious and suitable big old carpets to further reduce reflections and resonances and standing waves...


…so, to start with the main room, this is equipped with JBL / Ampex horn loaded cabinet w/ dual 15's from the early 1950's, also called T500, at least in the Westrex lineup, about 6' wide and 6' tall, so arranged, that they fill the whole rear wall of the center listening room…





credit for the drawing to Steve Schell http://www.audioheritage.org

...a little later there was as well out a "Jim Lansing Theatre Sound System" of 1954, "also manufactured as Westrex T550 and Ampex 6000C"... so, to give you an impression of what a system that was you might have a look here...



credit to http://www.audioheritage.org/html/history/jbl-pro/beginnings.htm

...the only difference to the system that we listened to is just two vertical bass chassis and just one tweeter per side...



...just scrolling through my library I found this in an older JBL-book to better illustrate to you...

...but, don't worry, this system illustrated to the left produces effortless a loudness that most modern systems by far cannot reach... it easily fills a room of 100 square meters...

...and the tweeter in use, sitting on top of each unit, is the theatre system driver "No. 375 High Frequency driver with No. 537-500 Koustical Lens - Exponential Horn Assembly"...







credit to: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/350717889706832470/

...for a closer and more precise look you might go here a little down and enlarge...

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/history/jbl-pro/beginnings.htm

...on the main system is a JBL SG520 as preamplifier in use...



http://test.audioheritage.org/Web_Pages/02_History/02_History_and_Legacy_of_JBL/03_Thomas_Era/TE_Frame.html

... two McIntosh MI 200 care for the power supply of the Ampex/Lansing 537-500&375 "Use High"...



credit to: http://www.sound-pit.jp/vintage/amp/mcintosh-mi200/product.html

...as do two Viola Bravo for the Ampex/Lansing Theatre Box 150-4 "Use Low"...



credit to: http://www.hifido.co.jp/KW/G0104/J/0-30/C11-61468-21750-00/

...in combination with JBL/Ampex N500 deviding network, "Use Low" and "Use High"...



credit to: http://www.soriaudio.com/index.php?document_srl=12930087&mid=audio

...for more pixes you may go here...

http://www.westernlabo.com/2_4713.html

...the whole system is powered with two lines of 6 KVA each...


as oprerating system for the main system (in use for: Jazz main) there is

1.   Linn LP12 with SME3009inp and Shure V15 III going into JBL SG520 …

2.   Linn Klimax DS



Credit to: http://www.stereo.de/downloads/

going into Line Amp QUAD eight…

3.   Esoteric G0-Rb Rubidium



Credit to: http://www.esoteric.jp/products/esoteric/g0rb/

for a manual you may go here:

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/532682/Teac-Esoteric-G-0rb.html

4.   as well as Verdi Encore SACD&CD…



Credit to: http://audiofast.pl/main.asp?idm=1&ids=240&idsu=633&wersja=1

5.   going into dCS Elgar D/A Converter for DSD



Credit to: http://audiofast.pl/main.asp?idm=1


going into Line Amp QUAD eight…







« Last Edit: June 19, 2015, 07:31:54 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #404 on: June 12, 2015, 09:09:28 PM »
...sorry, but because of size length I had to cut...

...in the listening room to the right (for classical music) there are the afore mentioned JBL studio monitor speakers that Mr. Odagi owns as well, and some more traditional Westrex Altec 211 (A4) 2080/2090 X 2 horns (in the back of the picture) from 1975, with Kanno Lab 597 as additional tweeter...



credit to: http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/catalogs/1975-pro/page_5.jpg

...as operation system for the Westrex/Altec 211 (A4) system is running:

1. in the midrange: McIntosh MI-200

2. in the bass: McIntosh MC3500

with self made and/or Westrex B1722 A channel devider at 600 Hz...

...this all is fed by:

1. Nottingham Hyperspace turntable...



credit to: http://www.head-fi.org/t/371631/fs-nottingham-hyperspace-with-ace-space-arm

...with two tone-arms: Ortofon 3012R, SPU with Western 616B and Ikeda DST62 with Neumann BV33 and

2. EMT 927 with Klangfilm Klv-009 with T41 input trs

into McIntosh C22 Phono Equalizer,,,



credit to: http://digilander.libero.it/pasqua49/COLLEZIONE%20HI-FI/MC%20INTOSH%20C22/McIntosh%20C22.htm

into line amp...

,,,into

...Accuphase DG38...



credit to: http://www.topas-highfidelity.de/ebay/accuphase_dg-38_1.JPG



...and last not least in the listening room to the left in the center in all its glory stands a vintage JBL Paragon from 1957…



...for more about Paragon, you might go here…

http://audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/paragon.htm

...and to the left and to the right in the corner there are placed JBL Hartsfields…



credit to http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/hartsfield.htm



...we did not listen to every speaker/system installed, but to the three very best...

...time was way to short, but what fun, what a joy, what a priviledge, what an experience?

...thanks a million...


...some of the music being played...





Rosemary Clooney with Harry James - Hollywood's Best (1955)





J. R. Monterose - The Message [1959]



...the original of course, no reprint, no remaster, nothing but the originals...



Miles Davis - Live Around The World [1996]



Kenny Drew - Kenny Drew Trio [1956]



Duke Ellington - Duke Ellington Indigos [1958]



...and of course Ella & Louis could not have been missed...



..like Oscar Petersen with his "We get requests"... well, this is one of the first recordings I ever bought in my life, and it is worn out since.... and I opted for the next vinyl edition, and the CD, and the remastered, and the K2HD-version, and the HDtracks-version, and lately the SACD done by Steve Hofmann...

...and the favorite track (not only mine but - completely independent as it much later turned out - Jean's as well) to test everything out till this very day remains "You look good to me"... with its triangle (here you always have a superb possibility what your system can do for you regarding resolution) and the stroking of the acoustic bass strings... well, we all have bass, and we all know how it sounds, but the criterion to concentrate on - to my ears - is slimness... the bass is not 1 meter broad or even more, if you get it precisely and all coherently it is just some 15 cm...)

...and yes, last not least, this is the new turntable of the 21st century...



...and Jean gladly inspected and tried it out with exactly this version of Oscarello, his favorite track on this record...



« Last Edit: June 12, 2015, 11:45:27 PM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #405 on: June 12, 2015, 11:57:40 PM »
…well, the next day was some sort of "holiday"… it was all "work" of course, but no far riding, not that early up, not that late back home... but although we came back to Tokyo late in the evening before, we still had to drive by Metro to Asakusa and there by foot to our hotels…

…but this morning we had a date in Kamakura… so you might think, Kamakura, that is not that far from Tokyo, o.k., this is just around the corner… well, but even if you know the name where to go, there first is the map guide where to go, please have a look for yourself…



…of course, one hardly does understand a single word, so thanks again to our “leading duck”, Jean, under his well orientated guidance we rather quickly reached our aim precisely and just in time... otherwise we would have been completely lost... once again...

...so it was "only" 1 ½ hour ride through Tokyo city with the Metro and then still about half an hour ride by bus… but imagine, the same way back + lunch + listening session... and the day is done...

...but please, don't you think after having reached our aim being in some sort of smaller suburb or so, no, no, all busy, all still city, big city...



...arriving at the station of our destination...



...I didn't trust my eyes, an absolutely gorgeous offer of all kinds of things to take-away: fish, meat, drinks, sandwiches, patisserie, chocolaterie - like in the best parts of Paris - incredible, simply incredible...

...and all absolutely fresh and painstakingly hygienic and open and free for everybody to see in the making...











...even with finest chocolaterie from french/belgium Godiva... who would have thought that ?



...and getting outside we became immediately aware not only of a railway running high…



...but as well of one of Tokyo’s big religious monuments



...entering the bus and driving with utmost joy...



...we were already awaited and heartily welcomed by Mr. Koichiro Akimoto and Mr. Saburo Degawa, you remember, the retired audio-engineer with more than a dozen patents...



...leading us...



to our final destination...









...a society producing tone-arms, loudspeakers and tweeters, situated in an as unusual house and surrounding (basically streching into a former mountain) as are their products...

for more informations you may go here:

http://www.vivaudiolab.com/home-j.html
















...André and Jean inspecting and examinating the tweeter's "rigid oily" acoustic suspension...



...in the nearly ten years of existance VIV Laboratory has already won quite a lot of prizes and received many awards...



...for their tweeters and especially their tonearms in different sizes and lengths...









...the very specific speciality of all these tone-arms, no matter what size, is the fact that the suspension is not fix or fixed, but some sort of "swimming" in "thick oil"... and so they are called "Rigid Float/Ha (7”/ 9”/ 13”)"...

...with of course exact scientific mathematic/physical calculations and drawings within the computer...





...you may presumably have noticed that a certain amount of our hosts, for example Mr. Odagi and Mr. Degawa, are already heavily "using" one of these tone-arms... and indeed they were that convincing on the vinyl-aficionados among us and made especially such an impression on André that he immediately bought one on the spot... and we all had to scratch our liquid currency in japanese Yen together so that André got it paid and could take it with him (he was going back to France early next day)...

...the developer, Mr. Akimoto, adjusting André's tone-arm, that he is to take away with him, precisely...



..from what I just got to know from Jean, this "Rigid Float" tonearm is already installed at André's home and just exactly perfect running to his biggest delight...

...and you may see for yourself, regarding this delight there was no language barrier in spite of japanese, french and english and whatever... delight is delight, no words needed...



...altogether now...




...some of the music being played...



...thanks a ton for the hospitality and kindness and all these technical and listening experiences...


…well, after having visited VIV-Lab we entered the very nice city of Kamakura with all its tourist attractions…





…and having finished our sightseeing we felt hungry, and so we entered a small local restaurant…





…and had a very nice typical Japanese meal with frying the meat in the center of the table…











…especially the very much favoured Kobe beef…



…it was all very fine and tasty… and afterwards we went back home to Tokyo…





« Last Edit: June 19, 2015, 07:57:58 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #406 on: June 14, 2015, 04:50:21 AM »
…the next day was free for all, and this was planned way ahead… and everybody did the things that he wanted to do, resting, sightseeing, visiting, shopping…

…well, I did this as well, but to a much smaller extent… as I had met Mr. Shinichi Tanaka from Goto-society at Mr. Katou’s house I asked him if it would be possible to visit him on this (our free) day and have a listen to his system…

...to better experience what Shinichi for example is advising, exploring, generating and developing in detail till the finishing is "done" within other systems aroung the globe you may have a look here (his new internet-address is now valid)

http://audio-lab-tnk2.sakura.ne.jp/page009.html

…and he immediately agreed and had me heartily welcome, and allowed me to prolong his invitation to the other members of the gang, but Jean said, that he would already know his system, and the others refused having other things to do…

…and so it happened that they missed out an absolutely superb system that my ears enjoyed extremely… I told you already that Shinichi had lured me already quite some time ago with his saying “having the best system in the Tokyo area”, and, being there now, I could of course not resist, sightseeing and shopping to or fro…

…getting very kindly advised and instructed by Jean how to reach Hino in Tokyo, but although
theoretically top informed, I was for the very first time completely “alone” in Tokio with the Metro…
…my, oh my, what an experience…

...already when entering Asakusa station I was completely lost, not able to “read” anything indicated although I exactly knew where I was and where I wanted to go, but I was not able to find out any direction nor platform nor train…



...a little bit enlarged so that you can see a little bit better...



...and then - you might imagine - normal users (thanks Jean we had a general Metro-pass for one weeik) you have to buy a single ticket from some automatic machine with similar unreadable signs on it...

…and standing there and being that lost for some ten minutes because of all those for me
unreadable and not understandable signs – just thinking of giving up and Shinichi a call that our meeting would not happen – some two very nice young ladies from the Metro service without being asked talked to me from behind if being able to help me…



…not in Japanese, but in very good English, better than mine, no doubt… and in the first moment I couldn’t believe what happened… but after having assured myself not being in a dream I said to them that I wanted to go to Hino-station (as exactly so indicated on Shinichi Tanaka’s website)

…but as it came out, Hino-station is that far at the surroundings of Tokyo and that small a station that it admittedly is not named within the official plan of the Metro, and so it was neither to find at first sight for my two young ladies…

...but they did not give up, they accompanied me into their office and had a closer look into the computer, enlarged the complete map, and – voilà – Hino station appeared just very far out at the other end of Tokyo….

…my ladies equipped me with a map and signed in “Hino” where there was no “Hino”, explained the platforms and the trains to me… and me, glad all over, deeply bowed in Japanese style, admired their fantastic English, and thanked them a million times… and “happily” made me on my way…

…but hey, I was still very unsure… I entered all the stations and trains and platforms that were named to me and like in a labyrinth I noted precisely every name where the trains made a stop and where in addition I changed trains, just in case being totally lost, being able to ride back exactly the same way I had come…

...and I indeed felt some sort of strange, being all the time and everywhere surrounded only by people who did not speak to each other and/or were lost in their mobiles and/or wore mouth-protections and/or earphones and/or were asleep...





….huh, but as it turned out, the bigger stops were all precisely indicated and after some 1 ½ hours I indeed arrived at Hino station…



…entering a taxi to drive me to Shinichi, the taxi-driver drove, but didn’t find it… my, oh my, he spoke only Japanese, and me only English… but as if I had foreseen a situation like this I had begged Shinichi akready at Mr. Katou's to write down his name and address and telephone number onto a piece of paper, and this not only in latin words but as well precisely in Japanese writing…

...and thank god the taxi-driver could read and had a mobile with him, and he called Shinichi, and he was advised to come to a certain corner that the taxi-driver knew, and there Shinichi was already waiting to fetch me…



...imagine how glad I was, finally... what a relief... but meanwhile it was already noon…

…we walked for several minutes and then entered Shinichi Tanaka’s home which is just getting renovated...



...and went immediately downstairs into the cellar into his listening room, maximum 13-15 square meters, not more, but wonderfully equipped and extremely well composed and adjusted…



...all five way active Goto driver system, with original Goto-horns for Supertweeter, Tweeter and Mid-range... Shinichi built the low-mid and bass horns by himself while having adopted the general principle construction from Klaus, i.e. doubling the input for low-mid and doubling the input for low bass...



...flip side of the bass horn, loaded with bags filled with sand to calm down its own frequencies...



...you know Shinichi already from the system of Mr. Katou, and so you may remember that this construction has been fulfilled by him after formerly having made a model, and this is valid of course for his own system as well, so please, have a look...









...amplification is as well all Goto... Goto-pre-amp, Goto power amps, active Goto-cross-over...
 


...as CD/SACD player Shinichi has an Esoteric in use...



...Supertweeter SG-160BL, yes the beryllium version... and as tweeter SG-370DX-BL, beryllium version as well...



...double bass SG-38WNS x 2...



...double bass SG-38WNS x 2 and mid-range SG-505TT x 2 as well...



...twice Goto mid-range drivers SG-505TT on each side...



..front view into the low-mid-horn equipped with 2 x SG20 on each side...



..to the left and to the right side on the wall low and above (here is the wall to the right) constructions are put on the wall to reduce reflections...





...and here is the wall to the left...



...all busy table with all kinds of music-sources... among them still copies of CDs being played...



...by the way, Shinichi "swears" on Furutech power connections all around on the walls for all his HiFi-units to be connected with...



...mmmhhh, I don't know anything about the interna of the Goto-amps, but presumably there is no regulated power supply, so I think this might help him to get there where regululated power supply already is...

...to get the most out of his system Shinichi is already for years involved in own recordings - continuing the tradition of Mr. Seiya Goto to do his own recordings (and then play it back on own systems)...

...for that reason he has himself equipped - like Mr. Katou - although not as a professional, with quite a large armada of units for recording, i.e. professional microphones, mix-desks, Korg-DSD-recording- and playback-facilities...













...Toshiba Bluray-player and Korg MR2000S professional 1-Bit DSD-Studio Recorder...



...for more you may go here...

http://www.korg.de/produkte/fruehere-modelle/mr2000s-produktinfo/mr2000s-produktinfo-1.html





...from one of the sessions Shinichi donated me a recording as a present...





…well, it was all very exciting, but listening to direct DSD - and on this system - was the most, and indeed, Shinichi hadn’t promised too much having said having “the best system in the Tokyo area – it is immediately that convincing and definitely the way to go... I simply do not need to listen to other systems regarding this specific topic…



…I was extremely surprised what a wonderful fat and realistic and natural sound with deep bass without distortion Shinichi has reached in such a small room like this, and it goes really deep down (well not to the absolute extreme like with Mr. Katou’s system, but really deep down, there is hardly anything to be missed)…

… I had the same impression already in Mr. Machida’s room (you might remember) which had nearly the same size, but was completely differently equipped with other units from other societies, so this result, I mean  T H I S  result has obviously nothing to do with the products of any society at all, but with the finely combining and tuning of all units together to some sort of a higher degree and get them coherently play… in both cases I was highly impressed, yes, really highly impressed, no matter whatever standard is set…

(Tuyen, the conditions at your home came immediately to my mind, having never ever enough room and space… but it clearly came out that "bigger" is not inevitably necessary… you would be  t h e  king in your room with a system like this and have all your needs satisfied…)

…and as we felt quite hungry after so much “working”, Shinichi invited me – after having asked me what I would like to eat - to some very fine Sushi-restaurant close by, which had this on offer…









…and on my request the Sushi-master proudly showed me his special sushi-knife made exactly out of those sort of japanese steel that the swords of the old Samurai are made of, with which you have already a cut only by viewing…

...and on my further request to inspect it closely and pass it over to me the Sushi-master just jumped back, totally afraid, and didn’t pass it on to me… as Shinichi explained to me: honor of profession…



…well, it became immediately clear that I later on had to get one, or two... for myself, of course…





…in spite of some initial troubles getting there, it was an absolutely fantastic day and event with lots of new experiences for me... so, thanks a ton Shinichi...

...as we now know each other for more than some fifteen years, I may say “my friend”, thank you for all your kindness and greatness and modesty and hospitality…

...you opened my eyes once more still a little bit further on our path in High Fidelity, on the "Goto-race-track"… and it was utmost joy…

...hope to see you again soon for another listening adventure wherever it may be… there are great things to come, promised…

 “domo arigato” and “kampai”…


...aaahhh, just for those who want to scroll a little up and down on the site for professional sushi-knives in Asakusa, you may go here:

http://www.kanesoh.com/app/categorygoodslist/index/GoodsCurrentPage/2/selChangeOrder/1/hidCurrentPage/1/CateGoodsListPageMode//CategoryId/1/hidMemberNo//hidUrl//hidBuyingDisplayType/0/TokenKey//

...you will be asked if you want your knives sharpened by hand...


« Last Edit: September 03, 2015, 01:42:52 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline treblid

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #407 on: June 15, 2015, 11:29:31 AM »
What an epic adventure.....

Thanks for sharing...

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #408 on: June 17, 2015, 01:10:08 AM »
…having returned to Asakusa (the temples here date back till the 6th century)...











...well, I took some photos which do not belong to HiFi but to sightseeing, but I thought that you might want to see some of them without any big report…







Some locals…

..the highly appetizing window displays regarding the internal offer on food, for which there is an own profession creating the meals, exactly as they are served within the restaurant, remarkably real, made out of wax or something and painted with heat-resisting colors…



..the very toxic Fugo-fish (I don’t know if it is the same name in English) for which the chefs have to have a special training for several years and a certificate to be allowed to hold them in bassins and prepare meals of them… here is some in a bassin in a window to the street with double glass isolation….







...of course, rikschaws not to be missed...





...and the skyline with the new television tower...



...and registered earthquakes as per 2015-05-20 with different degrees...

« Last Edit: June 21, 2015, 11:45:09 PM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #409 on: June 17, 2015, 05:34:27 AM »
…an imperial affair…

..well tuesday was really “free” as well, i.e. with no obligation for any HiFi-meeting… André went back early this day to France by airplane, and the rest of us had no special plans but to visit the very center of Tokyo with no specific aims but Emperor’s Palace and Sony Center and in the afternoon “Electric City”…

..while Jean-Laurant did some special shopping for his family and some rare vinyls (chasing for Three Blind Mice and so on) which he bought and sent to his home in Brussels/Belgium for the next LencoHeaven-meeting just to come this weekend with participants from all over the globe… you may have a look here…

http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=17780.270
no. 270

…Jean and me went to central Tokyo, leaving Tokyo Central Station being more than 150 years old…



…surrounded by skyscrapers of all kinds…







…heading…



...we reached the surroundings of the palace just wondering why there was so much police and busy action and everything so extensively sealed off, and cars and lorries controlled…



...and I was just thinking: my oh my, what much ado about nothing, it is all under control, such an exaggeration…

...and so we just took some pictures of the plan…



…and the surroundings…









...Jean and me in front ot the "Wadakura-bori Moat" of the Emperor's Palace...

...and alongside...



...heading for the direction of the Palace's main entry...



...we got aware that there was something special going on... right in front of our eyes...



...and we were ordered by the police where to stand and not to move but backwards... and Jean asking in japanese what is going on, he was told that the Emporor with his wife is just about to leave the Palace...



…all painstakingly kept under surveillance by a helicopter… to consecrate a building being televised...











...late in the evening when watching some tele I indeed happened to see the Emperor and his wife cutting a band with scissors... (unfortunately everything was in japanese, even the inserted characters, so I could not find out what it exactly was...)

..when they had driven past us, I asked Jean if it would be possible to "visit" the Emperor's Palace... I told him of a german television report already some years ago of the inside of the Palace showing some 42.000 pieces of silver cutlerey... and he said: no, never ever... the only person he knows of having ever entered the Emperor’s palace was his father... Jean’s father was an artist, a famous painter for special Japanese drawings, and he indeed sold some of his works to the father of the actual emperor, to Hirohito…


« Last Edit: June 18, 2015, 12:30:31 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #410 on: June 17, 2015, 08:48:20 PM »


...this spectacle being over - according to plan you might get an impression of what an area the Emperor's Palace covers within the absolute center of Tokyo... "more" Tokyo hardly ever seems possible...



...we headed for the Tokyo International Forum with the Audio- and HiFi-Fair area some 500-800 meters away, in the middle of the international surrounding ultra-shops like Gucci, Chanel, Hermes...









...as you might know, Jean is a regular visitor and reporter of the International Audio Fair in Tokyo since its existence in 1978… and he told me that the development especially within the last years has become that exponential that the some ten year old-new fair-buildings meanwhile by far no longer are sufficient regarding space… and that to a quite large extent the exhibiting societies had already to move to the surrounding hotels…

...just across the "street"...



...we visited Sony-Exhibition-Center... this is an ultra-modern and -appealing "house" with a lot of floors, and you are guided by foot from the top downwards in some sort of a spiral going down (you can move to any floor by elevator that you like of course, but we wanted to do the "whole" tour)...

...passing everything, really everything indoors and outdoors, that you ever can imagine regarding audio- and video-technology, including drone photography and video, up high in the sky and/or deep down in the water...





...shooting pixes never ever seen before... brand-new and as well vintage in a "small" museum which very impressively shows the development of the products year by year starting from 1946 onwards... everything is interesting, and there are crowds and crowds of people of all ages on every topic to inspect and try the products out...

...for me the focus was of course clearly on HiFi and video... what I had to constate - especially after having watched the development of the historical product line that there is - for years meanwhile - no analogue technic to be found at all, neither in HiFi, nor in video... all is digital, and what a digital...

...within the last years the industry has very strongly forced digital tele and video and corresponding products because of the mass market and billions and billions of dollars to be earned, and officially being with 4 K now on tele and photo- and video-cameras nobody wants anything else any longer than this... and with 8 k to come presumably even less…

..no, unfortunately 8 k was not yet exhibited - sharper than the human eye - I very much would have liked to see it... but Jean told me, that he has had already the pleasure to see 8 k, a prototype in the development area of Sony during his stay at the Tokyo International Audio Fair in spring this year... and you should have seen his face when telling about that... turning eyes like completely collapsing in love... and anyway, there is no doubt, the trend goes to large...



...even for home use...





...but back to basics, there is no more any analogue and no more tubes, neither in Video nor in Audio… and I presume that analogue and tubes never will come back again - as happened to films  in analogue photography and video some time ago)

...the only thing that till this very moment still has not yet been fulfilled is the "same" level in digital audio as it has already been reached in video... something "sharper" than the human ear... (but with DSD we at least come very very close, to be tested out further of course...)

...and obviously not Sony or other corporations are working on it, but we do... and as it seems with really spectacular results... I just got two pictures of André's personal DAC in which he has already integrated the new parts that he got from Mr. Degawa (you may remember)...





...and I just was told, that André has completed his DAC with symmetrical output (after replacement of many and many TDA 1543 connected in parallel and that his unique DAC circuit offers very unique advantages. The first one having a direct connection between I2S and TDA1543 with its analog output directly connected to RCA jack, this without output capacitors and without any current to voltage conversion...

...and I was further told that André followed to 100 % important matter of listening digital files without errors and without CD media... and that perfect errorless ripping improves considerably the sound quality when compared to a CD media, even when listening to a high grade CD transport...

...and then I was told, that André demonstrated all these improvements which are all very important, but that they are mostly NOTHING when compared to incredible improvements offered by his last DIY DAC working without output capacitors and without traditional current to voltage conversion circuit. The improvement was so important that André decided to use, for the moment, just one TDA1543 instead of several dozens, as before...

(please don't blame me, if I have not reproduced everything just right, but I tried my very best...)

...and so it becomes evident to me, that we have to do all these things by ourselves, and that a "total" DAC-shootout is more and more inevitable...

« Last Edit: June 18, 2015, 05:39:38 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #411 on: June 18, 2015, 08:32:14 PM »
...and in the afternoon…

"Electric City"… t h e  paradise for DIYers and others…

...well, if I would not have seen this, I mean  T H I S  with my very eyes I wouldn’t have believed it…Cologne in Germany (where I live) is not that small a city with more than 1 Mio inhabitants, and it has a nice inner center from just after the birth of Jesus Christ till the Middle Ages, some three till four kilometers in diameter… and you may imagine, so is "Electric City", just a part of Tokyo, nothing but electrics and electronics, infinitely…



…arriving at the station…

…and this is the “new” look everywhere and all around, no matter if young and dynamic...





...and/or traditional with Kimono and sunshade (some 33 °C here at the time)...



...hardly anybody is without modern technology, mobile, pad, cameras and so on…



…but this "look" will obviously be just a temporary thing... lately I saw a report regarding ultra-technology which is to come in the near future – no joke – it is already running, not only in tests…

...the prognosis for 2025 will have overcome all these actual “outfits”... no need to say: all digital...

...then we will have a small 2x2 mm chip implanted in the skin on our head, connected with some nerves, doing all this for us just by thinking, and within the corner of our eyes there will be a small monitor showing all for us, and we will be able to "focus" on this "monitor" within our eyes just like when we have a close look onto something…

...no joke: with this technology medicines already have made lame "walk" and blind "see" !!! this newest generation of chips is no longer pushed off by the human body (that was the greatest problem so far), but adapted...

...and although the medicines are not able to connect two interrupted parts of a single nerve, they are nevertheless able to "combine" "interrupted" nerves putting such a chip in between... and this way the human brain is "able" to learn totally anew how to "walk" and how to "see", the "connection" is there again...





..with quite a lot of barkers with big bright shields on the pavements…



...before my trip to Japan I got already several inquiries, even from abroad, if I would be able to bring certain electronics back with me which are not available over here, but I refused, not not willing to, but just simply being overtaxed… you may have a look for yourself...

















and in between all these modern things, some vintage stuff, very vintage, some Bugatti, from the 1920ies or so... I didn't trust my eyes...



...immediately vanishing into some small garage...



...and electronics, electronics, electronics...













« Last Edit: June 20, 2015, 03:23:33 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #412 on: June 21, 2015, 11:56:07 PM »
...the next day a look at Yahoo's weather forecast for Japan showed the following...



...clear blue sky all over Japan, some 33 °C, and the next Taifun to come right in front of the door...



... this time we were kindly fetched by car from our hotel by Kazumasa Oguri, a marine biologist (to the right), and a friend of his (to the left) from Tokyo University, both very friendly and ambitious (and DIY) vintage HiFi-Fans...



...Mr. Oguri is working with "his" submarine deep down til 6.500 m into the sea doing scientific research...



…and Jean Laurent Veys took his three shopping bags with newly acquired Three Blind Mice- and so jazz-vinyls with him to sent them by post...



...this is the official japanese sign for "Post"...





...to his home in Leuwen/Brussels/Belgium just right in time for the Lenco Heaven festival which was to come rather a short time ahead… and they look like this…



…picture credit to the Lenco Heaven site… http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=17780.270

…riding through Tokyo for about more than an hour to Kanazawa Bunko in the southern area of enlarged Tokyo, near Yokohama, this time not underground with the Metro, but on lifted inner city motor highway, we got a small impression of greater Tokyo, its port and the southern surroundings…













…shortly before arriving at our destination we had lunch in a small restaurant recommended by our hosts...



…with a special breed of beef…



…Misuji… which looked like this… and which tasted like this...



...and when arriving at the home of Mr. Oguri we were kindly received by the family...



..entering the home we were immediately led into the DIYers paradise...



...with precious equipment to measure all kinds of things regarding audio...



...and all the addtional necessary units to "play" with...











..while this professional self-restored and personally tuned EMT 930 turntable with TSD15 (and of course a second tonearm and several other pick-ups) is already running within the owner's system...





..the second tonearm being locked and adjusted by some bicycle race equipment, working wonderfully and precisely...









...with some self-built LEDs to control and adjust the stroboscopic effect...





...via as well self-built remote control for 33, 45 and 78 rpm... my respect, that works fantastic and very precisely...



...some tonearm weighing...



...and you may guess what is in the making here... right you are...



...as speaker system there is a Siemens reference double unit from the 1940/50ies from a former radio station running...



..the flip side...



..with - of course - self-built tube amps...



...and another set of self-built tube amps...



...and some very very rare and extremely expensive german Rhode & Schwarz equipment for tuning in professional radio stations... FM Monitoring Demodulator 87,5 - 108 MHz FKDL, Rohde & Schwarz VHF Relay Receiver Type EU 6201 and Rohde & Schwarz VHF FM Relay Receiver Type EU 201 which at the time were that sophisticated that the german broadcasting stations calibrated their sending frequencies according to these measurement-equipment... here in this system in combination with Denon Network CD/Media Player DN-700C...





...and one of the very first (professional) headphones ever, from Western Electric, patented 1918/07/23...





...one open ear-phone...



...with corresponding amplification of the time...



...and in between all our inspection and listening Kazumasa hosted us with delicious cold drinks and some refreshing orange dessert...





...and the proud owner...



...among others played the following music for us...



Sir John Barbirolli, Mozart, Symphoni No. 41, 'Jupiter', Symphony No. 29, 'The Magic Flute Overture, Hallé Orchestra, 1956-1959



...Andrés Segovia, The EMI Recordings 1949, EAC 60166, Mono...



...Astor Piazzolla y su Quinteto Tango Nuevo, Tristezas de un Doble A, 1987, Live


« Last Edit: June 26, 2015, 09:28:40 PM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #413 on: June 23, 2015, 11:14:47 PM »
…in between our trip on Thursday before, after having visited Kanno Labs and the 100 year old trees of Japan unfortunately my camera went out of power… but I still managed to combine some pixes of my own that after all I still found, really a few, with some information taken from the net… so if you like to see... we went in just for a cup of coffee and to have a listen to the HiFi-system here...




http://www.sansou-murata.com/

…as one might read on their site – no panic please, it is as well in English - Sansou Murata is situated in the hot springs area of Yufuin, Oita Prefection in Kyushu Island, and this particular place ranks 3rd in Japan for the amount of hot water. It was built in 1992 at the foot of Mount Yufu… see the general plan here…



...the main Ryokan building and some twelve guest houses were brought in here intact as they were in the Northeastern Region of Nigata Prefecture where they had been used for over a hundred years...

...unlike most of these historical and traditional Japanese houses and other ryokans with low ceilings, here the ceilings are high and supported by old, thick and strong wooden beams...

...the speciality here is the perfect marriage of old and modern architecture creating synergetic effects...



...Sansou Murata is unique in Japan... there are uncountable hot springs in Japan, but here guests can enjoy hot spring bath at any time in their own room…

…but we were not in for vacancies or relaxation, we were only guided in here by our hosts because of High Fidelity and a really wonderful cup of coffee, just to get an impression and to listen for half an hour or so to the superb system in the bar, "Tan's Bar"...



...and then move on on our way to the next meeting…



..well, seeing all this, listening to all this, it becomes immediately clear that the owner without a doubt "must" be an "addicted" vintage HiFi-lover and great Jazz-Fan... and so “the” High Fidelity "here" finds its expression in a very large, extended and superbly with comfortable armchairs equipped room of some 120 square meters with a very high roof… there is no ceiling – it is going up some estimated 7 – 8 meters... and above an old running chimney on the wall is just “hanging” a superb Western Electric WE16…



..no need to ask for further equipment… everything is in the same league as the WEs… and although we could not “see” everything, it seemed to be the most natural thing in the world all things being connected to quite a large number of vintage tube amps, sourced by - what would you have thought - the great studio EMT 927 record player with EMT TSD15 adjusted…



…all way to short to inspect and to listen to in detail, but with the coffee we were in at least for quite some time into Miles Davis – Kind of Blue, from 1959 – and yes, no question, what else... the original mono version…



...you may especially enjoy the wonderful show of pictures covering nature during the whole year...

http://murata-voice.jugem.jp/

..on the bottom there are several pages to click on to continue...


« Last Edit: December 23, 2015, 10:31:49 PM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #414 on: June 25, 2015, 12:04:13 AM »
..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 ?…”

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk</a>


...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...


« Last Edit: June 29, 2015, 03:39:57 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline shooter

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #415 on: June 27, 2015, 01:01:20 AM »
rhlauranna, FYI you should hang the calligraphy the other way around, because the words are upside down!

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #416 on: June 27, 2015, 04:20:57 AM »
rhlauranna, FYI you should hang the calligraphy the other way around, because the words are upside down!

thanks a ton, now you have an impression how I felt in Asakusa station...

I have turned it... here as well...

« Last Edit: June 27, 2015, 04:44:50 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #417 on: September 17, 2015, 03:32:00 AM »
o.k. here it is, for all those DIYers who understand and are interested, the long kept "secret" of the circuit of the Goto power amp with 30 watts which I just got from Shinichi Tanaka

http://audio-lab-tnk2.sakura.ne.jp/page009.html
(this is his new address)


« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 04:21:07 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline rhlauranna

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #418 on: July 30, 2017, 11:38:04 AM »
Well, long time no see, and I am glad the site is running again…

So, here is some news… you might already have heard or read that Stefano some weeks ago returned from his HiFi-trip to Japan with Jean Hiraga testing out a dozen or so of the most superb systems on the planet…

I very much would have liked to hear and read (much much) more about the experiences he has made and about his “listening results”, but so far he still is rather shy and reticent regarding his hosts… and has only published some “snapshots” … but what snapshots ! …anyway, he has promised that there is more to come, so stay tuned…

…as I described Kato(u) San’s full range Goto system two years ago very much in detail ( Reply #399) and because he is using a DDDAC 1543 DAC with 60 chips from Doede it might be interesting for those who are curious about Stefano's results (and pixes) which he shares here:

http://twogoodears.blogspot.de/2017/05/1.html

you may see and read for yourself…

"this system is the best, the VERY best system I ever listened to in my whole life, period"

as well here:

http://twogoodears.blogspot.de/2017/05/japan-random-pixies-and-thoughts.html

… not to tap on anybody’s feet – and I hardly dare – but let me quote him, Stefano, one of the greatest vinyl (more than 10.000…) and tube and tape machine (Studer, Stellavox, Telefunken M15A…) afficionados I am aware of – but it is always the result that “counts” - with his conclusion here:

“Tubes are cool, sought-after... but solid state is able to sound much better, in some systems.”

I know, quite a lot of HiFi-enthusiasts will disagree, but Stefano definitely confirms my personal long time impressions and experiences…

« Last Edit: August 03, 2017, 12:58:57 AM by rhlauranna »

Offline yarhevarhe

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Re: DDDAC 1794-NOS 24-192
« Reply #419 on: August 04, 2017, 10:12:20 PM »
Does this DAC sound as good as the KillerDac?