Nordlys

So I suppose this is going to shift to more of a home theater set up rather than music oriented "sound system"?

I forgot what the prices are for those but they should fit your budget depending on how much you'll allocate for speakers.

Denon

http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/4171.asp

http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/4170.asp

Aura design note series (formerly owned by B&W)

http://www.auradesign.co.jp/jp/products/index.html

Both are sold in Thailand, Denon by Mahajak Development and Aura by KS & Sons. Both have showrooms in Paragon. I have an Aura's integrated amplifier from the time when it was still owned by B&W and for how small and cheap it was it sounded great. That said, I never really liked the distributor KS & sons.

http://www.mahajak.com/webm2009/home.php

http://www.kssons.com/

Most of the hi-fi shops in Amarin really looks as if they've closed down - they're properly cleared out the stuff because of the protests near there.

Is DECO (outlet shop) open? They haven't delivered me the Nordost Brahma AC cable I've paid for almost two months ago.

The most important thing for me was - the ability to replace the need for separate CD, DVD, SACD, DVD-A and Blu-ray players,

without compromising too much on either audio and video. I chose the SE part, for the simple reason that the extra 10.000 baht

was cheap considering the alternative of buying a separate SACD player - and what 10.000,- baht SACD player would I be able to

get anyway?

How do these Marantz and Denon's top end universal players compare with OPPO?

http://us.marantz.com/Products/2936.asp

http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/4760.asp

I bet you're not paying for brand with these models? They sell for close to 200K baht in Thailand. Heard their SACD playback is pretty good, yet they are still considerably cheaper than my 2 channels, SACD/CD-only player. Problem with those universal player is that they take too much time in discerning what disc you've inserted. My Pioneer LX-52 doesn't play SACD or DVD-A but it takes so much time from when you insert the disc till anything appears on TV. And takes too much time from when you turn the power on till it is ready to receive any command by remote.

It's a common side-effect of any filters and noise-reducing components whatever price to have a negative affect on the musical dynamics when plugged in. Ok, it may remove some fuzz but at the same time it takes something away (just like Dolby NR on cassettes...remember that?!).

Not the non-filter, non-current limiting type noise purification device like those, supposedly.

http://www.richardgrayspowercompany.com/products.aspx

http://www.quantumqrt.com/default.asp

http://www.psaudio.com/ps/products/descrip...les-accessories

When I inquired that Danish sales rep from Nordost who was demonstrating QRT's QX-4 about the use of QRT product in conjunction with my PS audio line conditioner (Duet), he flatly denied all line conditioners of any brand and recommended that I remove it from my system, claiming they're nothing but a compromise and whatever positive it creates isn't worth the negative side effects. I still think my system merits from it and I like how it sounds better with it than without. That said, my power amp AC cable goes straight into the wall outlet, with PS Audio Noise Harvester in the other socket.

The idea sounds similar to what's called "regenerator" (shouldn't be confused with conditioner or filter). It converts AC to DC and DC back to AC. PS Audio used to sell a device like that (at price tag close to 100K baht!). Can you tell the difference as compared to when you plug the AC cable directly to the wall socket? Do you feel your system has lost dynamics after you started using UPS?

Isn't an inverter considered a big noise source?

Put it in the bucket I was given, a pink one, why does Thailand have only pink buckets?

They seem to have it in every color that is color of taxis.

Isn't it supposed to be auspicious to have Tokkay in the house!?

Lucky you you got such a close look. I never thought they look so charming.

I don't suppose you shot this in Bangkok? I could hear them in Bangkok when I was a kid. That's no more.

Nice. How have you configured the wiring? Does your Marantz have pre out to bypass its power or are you using two amps (bi-amping) to drive the Contour?

Other places include Hi-Fi center near Big C opposite Central World (Isetan) and Seacon Square but selection also limited. If you already know what brand you're looking for it's easy to find Thai distributor through manufacturer website. DECO 2000 in Amarin is also a big distributor dealing in quite a few high end brands but they don't have a showroom and most of what they sell are in their auditioning room which can only be visited by appointment.

Where is 4D digital now? They used to have a showroom at Ploenchit Center, where did they move to and what brands do they distribute now?

I don't know about other countries but many high end audiophiles in my country do actually assemble their own speakers, especially the older generations who love horns. Super Tweeter is also becoming something of a norm for many audiophiles, probably more so than sub woofer.

I wouldn't know what grade audio cables they use in recording studios. And it seems so unfathomable if not irrational why changing AC cables at the last 2 meters or so of the current downstream makes so much difference when the power line from power plant, cable from the pole mounted transformer to your house and electrical wire in wall conduit (from circuit breaker) remain untouched. But we all know it does. But regardless how good it is I think it should still be treated as an accessory for tweak and no more than that. The high end set up I've auditioned for Nordost cables demo two weeks ago sounded far better than mine even with Nordost's cheapest cable. In my opinion changing wall outlet to AV grade (or hospital grade) is far more cost effective way to improve sound (and visual) than cables. That said, I find changing interconnect cable from unbalanced (single ended = RCA connector) to balanced (XLR connector) tend to be a big bang for money if your components are designed on balanced circuit.

I very much question the ability of the human ear to hear the difference between good and standard cables, and between a wooden cabnet and a pressboard cabinet; my feeling is that whats good about nice cabnets is the way they look, not the way they sound.

I've never really compared the difference the rack makes (but I can easily tell the difference between speaker board and no speaker board) but it's fairly easy for me to tell the difference in cables, I know Benjie would disagree but even digital cable like HDMI. At AV fair in Bangkok just two weeks ago a sales rep from an American premium audio cable manufacturer Nordost has demonstrated the performance of their various cables step by step, beginning with their most affordable cable to their top-of-the-line cable costing over a million baht (ODIN) and second in line half a million Baht Valhalla (both AC, interconnect and speaker cables). The difference was overwhelming. I've spent some 200,000 baht on various audio cables and I've home auditioned most of them before I bought them (and many more I haven't bought). I wouldn't have spent that much money on cables if I couldn't tell the difference. That said, the question of whether you like it or if it's worth your money is another matter altogether. It doesn't make so much sense for me to buy a speaker cable costing close to 1.5 million baht that I've auditioned two weeks ago when my entire system costs less than that. But I'm sure it does to a few.

I'd say everything makes difference. Sometimes I wonder if even the weather might make the difference. I can tell my stereo doesn't sound all that same when I play it, mainly depending upon the quality of the AC mains. I live in a condominium and I can tell when on long holiday like new year and Songkran (when half the residents spend holidays away from condo) the sound quality is significantly improved with less noise contamination in AC mains. That is, even though I use a line conditioner and other power purification device regularly.

Your budget should be divided in a similar fashion 30% source - 30% amp - 30% speakers then

the other 10% for stands and cables

It's funny Neverdie said in another thread that the front end component (CD player, turntable, etc) matters the most while others say 90% of your budget should go into speakers. But I tend to agree with astral. I never intended to follow those rule of thumb when I started upgrading my 150,000 baht stereo to now-over a million baht set up over the span of some 6 - 7 years, starting first with amp (integrated to separate) then CD player and then speakers. I'm still in process of slowly upgrading piece by piece, but when all the component upgrade was finished I realized their cost was almost equally divided in three (separate amp 300K baht, SACD player 300K baht, speakers 280K baht). I never really intended to spend that much when I started the upgrade with the amp, but then I wasn't really happy with the sound yet it never stopped till I replaced them all (with the exception of the speaker cables). The only difference is I spent far more than 10% of the entire cost of the set up on cables, rack, isolation device, power purification devices and other accessories for tweak.

believe MBL distributor is KS & Sons.

Does Piyanas sell anything from RGPC (Richard Gray's Power Company)? It doesn't seem to be listed on their website...

haha... aren't we all biased toward our own system? There was no question the demo set up sounded far better than mine (albeit the demo amp was integrated) but I kept thinking to myself "millions of baht and only this good?". True, it was really hard to judge the quality in that environment with all that noises, chatters, gears contaminating mains and home pro-grade wall outlets. I guess you ultimately have to home audition to determine the quality and I guess that's part of why I didn't buy XRT QX4 regardless the discount was so tempting it seemed like too good a deal to pass.

Yeah that Nordost sales rep had really strong Scandinavian accent it wasn't easy for me to understand him. Wonder what's with all that unprecedented bargain on high end gears? I wonder if that's because of the economy in US and elsewhere that has surely hit the market and slowed the sales that they are dumping products in markets outside U.S., Europe and Japan? Do you know Hovland (distributed by DECO 2000) has gone out of business in this recession?

So did you get anything yesterday Carl?

I spent almost entire afternoon there but only at 3 DECO booths, one of them dedicated only to Nordost products with a Scandinavian sales rep from Nordost giving presentations and doing demo on both their cheapest AC, signal and speaker cables comparing it with their top-of-the-line Valhalla and a million baht Odin series cables. I'm not that big a fan of Nordost but was very keen on auditioning their Quantum Resonance Technologies QTX4 (power purification device) which they were selling for 100,000 baht with their power distribution block (power strip), which would normally sell for more than 158,000 baht a set. It seemed like such a good deal (cheaper than U.S.) that I almost took advantage of the promotion but ended up against it as they only gave 20% discount for QTX4 alone (didn't find a need to have 50,000 baht power strip) and upon multiple auditioning I've determined it's not such a big bang for money albeit numerous positive reviews. It just didn't exceed my expectation. I actually went there to buy Ayre AC cables, but upon learning there's no promotion on Ayre accessories I've ended up buying 60,000 baht's worth of Nordost Brahma AC cable and 12,000 baht's worth Nordost Silver Screen HDMI cable (2m). Couldn't resist 40% discount!

AX-7e can be upgraded to MP. I did the MP upgrade on my K-5Xe (pre) for 16,000 baht. There was significant improvement in sound quality that it was much better worth for money than tweaking with accessories costing more.

If you're looking for integrated amp you should also consider Ayre AX-7eMP.

Probably as good as Accuphase and McIntosh (if not better) while most likely cheaper. Accuphase is way overpriced in Thailand and McIntosh distributor really sucks. AX-7e used to sell for 120K baht but they should have raised the price since the MP upgrade.

http://www.ayre.com/products_detail.cfm?productid=12

You will appreciate the weight of the SLR pressed against your head to steady it for the shot.

...while it's getting harder and harder to appreciate the weight of it on your shoulder and neck...

Does this model have a clip on view finder for the top of the camera?

It does, both the EVF and optical view finder (both optional).

What is HT??

Nice speakers JackA. What brand is it? DynaAudio?

I thought Schroers & Schroers is made of acrylic rather than glass.

The high end audio/visual distributor DECO 2000 sells U.S. made Stillpoints and Japanese made TAOC racks. I've paid 45,000 baht for this TAOC (picture below) that I use for both the TV and HiFi components. It's base price is 36,000 baht but I've paid extra for spike and spike plates and ordered longer lower shelf columns so that the power amp have more overhead clearance for better heat dissipation as standard column only gave 7cm clearance for power amp. Stillpoints is suspension type acrylic rack and do not have wide racks like TAOC for flat panel TV and way more expensive than TAOC (80K baht or so for most basic model).

Here's the link to TAOC A/V racks (in Japanese only).

http://www.taoc.gr.jp/products_rack.html

ai ai! 11-14 March is the hi-fi and AV show. This year at the Ambassador Hotel, Sukhumvit 11 (avtat.com). If anyone wants to meet up and go for a couple of hours let me know.

Is this the "What Hi-Fi" show? Do you know what distributor is participating the event? DECO 2000? I might go on Sat.

Depends on how you define "top brand" but I use Aerial Acoustics and it is one of the few high end brands that manufactures speakers for both pure audio and home theater application (and a bit more expensive than BOSE). The distributor is Deco 2000 and its showroom is in Amarin Plaza with direct access to BTS Chidlom station.

http://www.aerialacoustics.com/products/index.aspx

I believe there is a Bose shop at Siam Paragon Mall.

Yes, BOSE showroom on the 3rd floor of Siam Paragon in the row of high end audio/visual shop showrooms on the south side.

but I thought you're half way there in that direction...

And are you sure your investment and upgrade will stop with 7D and 24-105F4L?

You might soon find 30,000 baht to be a small fraction of your total investment in camera gears.