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Jonson Lee
As an audiophile and a voracious listener of all kinds of music, Jonson believes that the experience of being immersed in music is often something spiritual. Born and raised in Korea, he cut his teeth on western music mostly through the music of the 80s and the 90s. As of today, names that make his heart beat a little faster include Vladimir Horowitz, John Coltrane, Youn-Sun Nah, Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein, Tannoy, and Magnepan. Jonson also runs a podcast and a YouTube channel about language learning, called SpongeMind.
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Jonson claims he’s off the audio gear merry-go-round. His wife and son don’t believe him, but this time he insists it’s real. After 20 years of perfecting the “gear game” and the “room game,” Jonson is now turning his focus to the elusive “mind game”—the deeply personal aspect of audio shaped by perception and mental…
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Jonson Lee visits three music-listening spaces in Korea where silence is enforced, and the sound system—not the customer—rules. These venues offer a rare escape from choice overload, immersing visitors in pure, communal music appreciation.
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Can pop music compete with classical’s sonic precision? Jonson Lee delves into recording techniques that make classical music a benchmark for audiophiles seeking pure sound.
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After a visit to My Little Bar in Seoul, South Korea, writer Jonson Lee contemplates the enduringly strong relationship South Koreans have with McIntosh gear.
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Jonson Lee explains that several factors determine the quality of our listening experiences, with sound quality being just one of them.
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“What I’m going to say now with 100% certainty is that I had never heard these two recordings sound better than they did in that room.”
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I’ve listened to many audio setups over the years but I only recently heard a “cost-no-object” system. It happened in the Focal-Naim showroom at Montreal Audiofest 2024. Its cost? Close to $1 million dollars if you include cables and acoustic treatment. My verdict? Mind-blowingly good, and I’m not someone who would naturally equate higher price…
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Impressions of South Korea’s thriving audio show, along with a handful of Best-of-Show rooms.
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Prices listed in CA$. If there had been an award given out at the Audiofest for “Most Vintage-Looking Component”, the Fyne Classic Fifteen speakers ($50,000/pr) in the Villeneuve Audio Vidéo / Marchand Audio Vidéo room probably would have won it. The design is a point-source system whereby a bass/midrange cone is coupled to a high…
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Prices listed in CA$. Gorgeous finish! That’s what I screamed inside my head when I first saw the standmount Apertura Forté speakers ($9999/pr) in the Innuos / Asona Ltd room. The Forté’s have a high 93db sensitivity thanks in part to the neodymium magnet circuit used in its two 18 cm mid/woofer drivers. Atypically, both…
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Prices listed in CA$. I have fond memories of the Technics brand name. My dad’s very first turntable was the Technics SL-QX300—the first turntable I ever touched. As a kid seeing a record player for the first time, I was mesmerized by this foreign device and intrigued by how it was able to make sound.…
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Prices listed in CA$. I heard a classical orchestral piece in the Audio Note UK room (I will tell you what it was later) and noticed three things: 1. Timpani sounded like an explosion instead of a real timpani2. Decays sounded like an applied reverb instead of natural hall ambience3. The instruments sounded all over…
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Prices listed in CA$. This was probably the most different room from the others of the entire show. There was no stack of electronics in sight, just a small Wattson Audio Emerson Digital network streamer ($2095) connected to all-in-one speakers outfitted with every signal input you can imagine. One component made up 90% of the…
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Prices listed in CA$. This room looked more inviting to me than most other rooms I visited at the show. It looked like a private living room with plenty of space, so people waiting for a seat could just stroll around inside instead of waiting outside in the hallway, which was a relief. But it’s…
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Prices listed in CA$. As always when I enter an audio showroom, my eyes fall first on the speakers, as they did in the Corby’s Audio room. And the speakers there looked stunning. I would put them in my living room even if they made no sound. But they did make a sound, a glorious…