Recently, I did a thorough hifi "Spring cleaning" exercise before the arrival of my wife and son. Many of the fellow audiophiles in HKG may think that I was crazy and too quick in the changing of gears. Yes, I admit to a ceratin degree. The problem with Hifi equipment is that you will need to have a continuous listening period before you realize whether you like the system or not. This is, in my personal opinion, the main reason why so many of us keep changing our sets as our taste changes as well as the listening condition is different from that from the shop where we audition.
I have sold my LS3/5A as I have decided to keep one set (I have several in the past) for reference as I have decided to try out large speakers. I tried the Altec 604E but it was too "sharp, and metal" for my taste. Thus, the search for Tannoy has began. After searching for a long period of time with many sleeples nights, I finally found one Tannoy Chartsworth 12 inch gold monitor in original cabinet which sound beautifully.
"Unfortunatle", one week later, I was offered another vintage Tannoy...this time a Tannoy Canterbury in corner unit with red monitor. It was an offered I could not resist as one could not find such speakers in such good condition often. I was happy doing a AB comparison with the Chartsworth having more "energy yet relaxed while the Canterbury having a "more relxed feel and romantic mood". Knowing that space is my concern, I have decided to put the Chartsworth on R33 secondhand sales section "to try" to sell. In my mind, my plan was: if the speakers was not sold within 3 days, I will keep both set and send one set back to my Singapore home. I could therefore, tell my wife that I have "tried selling" but was not successful. Unfortunately, it was sold on the same day that I have advertised, which has reflected the strong brand image of vintage Tannoy and its strong demand in the market!
For the pre amp, I have used a pair of Fisher 80c monoblock pre amp for a while. When I was at my fellow audiophiles (should be master Sifu) John's house, I was immdiately captured by the sound from his Fisher CXII. This has prompted me to search for a Fisher 400 CX or 400CXII. Searching for the "Fish" was not an easy task as such Fish are so rare that one has to find it by chance. For those who do fishing will definitely understand what it mean to be fishing. I was at another friend's (another Master Sifu) Richard place to listen to his Fisher CX and the sound was fantastic. I was very tempted to take it straight away. However, his own invention 27M was even better which has prompted me to wait for his product to be launched later this year.
However, as mentioned in my previous blog, yesterday was a strange night where the Fish just swam quietly straight into my home.....
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