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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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Prices listed in CA$. PureAudioProject speakers are offered through an interesting business model: the company sends you all the speaker parts and you assemble them. It’s a kit. But the speaker is an open-baffle design, so it costs less in parts than a conventional speaker, and since there are less parts, and they “snap” into…
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Prices listed in CA$. Like in all the other rooms, the Motet room was playing music when I walked in. I waited to take the seat dead center and when I did, I slipped on my critical listening hat. Right after the song that was playing ended, as luck would have it, the next two…
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Prices listed in CA$. Passion Audio’s demo was fronted by Wolf von Langa’s 12639 SON speakers ($27,000/pr). One can already see a lot of this speaker’s potential strengths on the spec sheet. First, its tweeter section is a dipole design which, in my experience, tends to give you more sense of space in the soundstage.…
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Prices listed in CA$. Magico and Linn need little introduction to audio aficionado. Both brands are formidable forces in the audio industry, and products from both these companies were being demoed in the Audio by Mark Jones room. Those products were the Magico S3 Mkll speakers (62,000/pr), whose frequency range is rated as 24 Hz…
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Prices listed in CA$. At the Montreal Audiofest, there were quite a few rooms with systems costing in the six figures. The system in the Audio Group Denmark / Wynn Audio room wasn’t one of them, despite sounding like it could cost that much. It included a pair of Børresen X6 loudspeakers ($30,000/pr), a 100Wpc Axxess Forté…
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Bowers & Wilkins 800 speaker series has a long history, and the D4 is the latest line in that series. According to the company’s own description, its flagship 801 D4 is the most advanced 801 it has ever produced, and its “Signature Series” version ($55,000/pr)—the one demoed at the Audiofest—is an optimized version of it. Driving…
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Prices listed in CA$. I loved the ArtistCloner room, the simultaneously industrial, psychedelic, and archaic decor, the whimsical outfits of the two hosts, designer / owner Sylvio and his colleague / wife Isabelle. ArtistCloner stood out, not just aesthetically, but sonically. Their room sounded amazing. The sound was warm yet tight. It was colourful, fast,…
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Prices listed in CA$ unless otherwise note. When I first heard Audio Physic speakers (the Classic 15) at Audio Element in Pasadena, California, I was immediately impressed. They were featured in PMA Magazine’s “Best Audio Systems For $10,000” series. I couldn’t believe that speakers costing less than US$ 5000/pair could sound so accomplished or have…
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Prices listed in CA$ dollars unless otherwise noted. SVS is a company almost exclusively known for its subwoofers. So I was surprised to learn that they also make speakers. Doing its Canadian debut in the Laliberté Électronique room at the Montreal show were the Ohio-based company’s Pinnacle Ultra Evolution speakers (US$ 5000/pr; Canadian price TBD).…
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And what you can do about it.
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“This is the most stupid thing I’ve heard in my life” This was a comment posted in a Facebook audio group referring to a piece I wrote for PMA Magazine. To my surprise, I wasn’t offended by it. But I would have been several years ago. Why then and not now? Because I’m better now…
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First impressions are mostly right, except when it comes to Magnepan speakers. On first audition, their sound may not grab you like that of conventional speakers. They’re certainly not flashy-sounding. But that is part of their allure. And it’s one reason why I’ve been living with Magnepan speakers for over 10 years. Mine is an…
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How AGD Productions’ transistor-based tubes cast a spell on me.
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In Part 1, I mentioned the phenomenon of thinking overpowering listening as the main culprit that diminishes our music-listening pleasure. Three kinds of thoughts are most detrimental to our listening experiences, and they start with A, D, and E respectively. They are: Aversions, Desires, Expectations Let’s explore each. 1. Aversions Maybe you find the bass…
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With this technique, you could have the most fabulous listening experiences even if you don’t have the most fabulous audio system.