Baoling Alternative Audio

04/03/2019

Dear Friends,

Last Friday, I had a very nice listening time.
The system is based on a two ways horn speakers. It is bi-amplified. The owner uses both a digital source and a turntable. As you will see on the photo, both digital drives comes from France (kool) : the Audio Aero on the left and the Metronome Technologie on the right side. Under, you can see a JMF DAC. For the phono pre-amp, Hubert uses a Phasemation EA1000. The pre –amp is a Trinity Reference Preamp.
After listening the system as it used to be, we first exchange the Phasemotion with the D3A and then exchange the Trinity Reference Preamp with the 10Y silver.
And the result ?
Well, a lot of woahs and big smiles!!!! - the most important!!!!
Time passed by too quickly. Both, the D3A and the 10Y unlock the potential of the whole system - a great show !!!. I think, I will go back soon to this man cave with my Thomas gears…
Thanks Hubert for those 4 hours !!!!
Stay tuned :)

Emmanuel

25/02/2019

Hi,

Last Friday, I went to a friend's place to listen music, have a good coffee and a good time!!!

Doctor Lee kept searching how to improve his audio system. He did many changes but there was always something missing. Recently, I proposed to Doctor Lee to try the Thomas Mayer 10Y line stage copper version. With the other changes that Doctor Lee did, the 10Y brought to this system what was missing: high definition, naturalness, coherency and swing - a great pleasure to listen !!!

The 10Y will replace a Wavac pre-amp. It will drive one pair of local made 300B. As you can see on the photo, Doctor Lee uses one pair of PureAudioProject that offer an amazing ratio performance / price.

Emmanuel

18/02/2019

Thank to find a link of a Tobian mono block fully equipped with ELROG and in particular the new ELROG ER242.

I have many customers who use the ER242 on Audio Note or Kondo amplifiers. None of them would like to exchange their ER242 with any other 211/242 triodes including the best NOS. Lucky owners of KONDO 211 (Ongaku, Kakura), Audio Note 211 or actually any nice 211 amplifiers; do not wait, the ER242 will releases the real performance of your machine !!!
For more information, thanks to contact me !!!

Emmanuel

https://www.facebook.com/452842488458630/photos/pcb.539026439840234/539026009840277/?type=3&theater

17/02/2019

Hi,

Yesterday was a busy day. Many visitors came to the showroom to listen the Hadron. Today was my day and the sofa was just for me!!! I took also this opportunity to do some changes on the acoustic of the room to improve it. The Hadron continues to break in and open up. I do not want to imagine what could be the result with the Thomas Mayer 46 amp…
This afternoon, I picked out from my LP box the sonata KV306 from WA Mozart. In this recording, Ingrid Haeler is at the piano and Henryk Szeryng plays violon. I have the chance to have a test LP. It is noisy and got a lot of pop but oh my god, the music is here. The grace and the phrasing of Ingrid Haeler is amazing. With the Hadron, we are able to follow any inflection of tone. Really impressive. Since I use the Hadron, I realize how important is the capability of a speaker to follow the micro modulation of the music. Not so many speakers are actually able to do it…
Hadron is still in North Point. Do loose the chance to listen to it and see that Hadron works also in a small space !!!

Emmanuel

15/02/2019

Hi,

I am continuing the experimentations on the Hadron. Yesterday, we tried them with a legendary Audio Note Kondo amplifier, the Neiro. The Neiro is a single ended amplifier based on 4 2A3 that are in parallel. It produces around 8 watts per channel. The result was just gorgeous. The voices were so delicate and colorful. Do not think that it was slow and mellow – absolutely not, it was super-fast, articulate and could push really hard when needed. The sound stage was deep and wide with – and it is rare – a real 3-dimensionals rendering. My mean is that with the Hadron and the Neiro, the instruments and singers occupy a very realistic space. In short and to tell you the truth, I left this listening room this morning; it was 3 am….
Hadron got the speed, the coherency and the transparency of the best planar speakers. Dynamic is on a different scale and the bass can be really punchy with amazing textures and tone. Listen to the Hadron for the first time can be quite disturbing because they redefine so much the limits on many criterias like the richness of the tones, the speed and transparency. Disturbing for sure but also super addictive !!!
Do not hesitate to come and discover the Hadron !!!

Emmanuel

02/02/2019

Dear friends,

The Hadron are finally in North Point and the auditions started yesterday. The richness of the tones, their incredible speed really surprised people who listened to them. Hadron is special, really special and Charles has created here a master piece.
We will hold a presentation beginning of march – stay tune for more information’s.
By the way, I have received the new ELROG 284. The new design of the plate gives a great visual effect. The quantities I have received are already sold out. Therefore, people who would like to buy them will have to pre-order!!!!
I take the opportunity of this message to wish to all of you a nice Chinese new year celebration!!!

Emmanuel

24/01/2019

Hi,

After many problems with the transportation company who messed up with the cargo containing the Hadrons, everything is on track again and we should receive them next week – hopefully before the Chinese New Year. Hope that the rest of the journey for them will be smoother!!!
For those who own nice single ended amplifier, Hadron will be the perfect match.
Hadron is not only efficient (101 db/m) but got also an easy load. Single ended got also lower damping factor than solid state amplifier and it is also one very important characteristic that has been taken in account during the conception of Hadron.
Hadron is definitely a 46, 2A3, 300B, 211 lover !!!!

Emmanuel

21/01/2019

Dear all,

Thomas Mayer’s customers are first music lovers and you will find them more in concert hall than on audio equipment forum like Audiogon.
Nevertheless, sometime our friends cannot resist to post their comments about their equipments. I thank Nick for his feedback concerning our phono pre-amplifier D3A.
I remind you that the phono pre-amp that Nick has tested is the model one. There is 4 levels above. The model one costs only 87500 HKD. It uses a LCR network which is the ultimate way to implement a RIAA correction. For more information’s, do not hesitate to contact me.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/koetsu-blue-lace-onyx-vs-coralstone/post?highlight=mayer&postid=1678100 #1678100

Emmanuel

11/01/2019

Hi,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnezplX1zlc

Quite interesting video.
In this video Kenji Hosoi of Kenrick Sound compares different types of resistor as well as an auto-transformer when they are implemented in a speaker crossover. In this video, he uses a multi tap transformer which is king of compromise but give versatility. Nevertheless, the result is very interesting.

Charles uses autotransformer in the Azzolina speakers. They are custom made for him by a small company specialized on non-compromised audio transformer.

Emmanuel

KENRICK SOUND ケンリックサウンド Website http://JBL43.com We**am http://webcam.kenricksound.com/CgiStart?page=Single&Language=0 Customer review from abroad http://jbl...

09/01/2019

Hi,

To continue on the previous post….

In a speaker driver, the magnetic operating point of the different elements (magnet, pole pieces, air) are determined by the permanent magnet only when you do not use the speaker. This operating point defines the magnetic field strength H and the magnetic induction B in the different area of the driver.

Nevertheless, when a current goes into the coil of the driver, this coil creates also its own magnetic field. The global resulting magnetic field therefore will be the sum of the magnetic field coming from the permanent magnet and the one coming from the coil.
The first thing to know is that: higher the current going throw the coil will be, bigger will be the part of the global magnetic field generated by the coil. For some drivers used in professional speaker where the current can reach 10A, the part of the magnetic field coming from the coil can reach 30% of the total magnetic field. This is obviously a source of non-linearity of the force applied on the membrane of the driver and a source of distortion. Even without talking of problem of heat dissipation, this is one of the reason why we should always try to choose a speaker with the highest possible efficiency. The Hadron for example have an efficiency of more than 100 db and will be able to play super loud with less than 1 watt…

This is also a good new on the amplification side because for an equal quality, a 15 watts amplifier will cost you much more than just a one watt amp. If it does not, do not dream, it just means that some compromises has been done on your 15 watts amp. Thomas have the 46 amp which produce 1,25 watt. It is more than enough for the Hadron and also for speakers like the Avant Garde (wonderful combination with Thomas Mayer 46 amp between us). The mono block 46 in its ultimate copper version costs 245 000 HKD. The equivalent with a 211 instead of the 46 reach 423 000 HKD…

The second thing to know is that the magnetic field created by the moving coil also modifies the operating point of the permanent magnet. What does it mean? It means that the magnetic induction of the permanent magnet that is supposed to be constant is actually modulated by the current going through the coil. In other terms, the music that you are playing modulates an electric signal but also the magnetic field of the permanent magnets attached to the drivers of your beloved loudspeakers!!! This phenomenon is also one cause of distortion. It does not exist when this permanent magnet is replaced by a field coil and it is certainly the main reason of the superiority of the field coil technology.

We will organize some listening sessions with the Hadron and I invite you to come and listen to them without pre-conceived ideas. The field coil thing is only a tiny part of what makes them so special so be curious and
ready to be surprised !!!!

Emmanuel

07/01/2019

------------ Field Coil Speaker -------------

Since I started to talk about the Azzolina Audio Hadron and the version that we will receive which is equipped with field coil drivers instead of permanent magnet, many people keeps asking me what is the benefit of using field coil driver?
Field coil technology was used during the early age of loudspeaker because at that time, the permanent magnets that were available were just not strong enough for this audio application. As soon as magnetic material became available to create suitable permanent magnets, the audio industry started to move to permanent magnet. Permanent magnet got two main advantages. First, it is much easier to produce as there is no need for external supply. The second reason actually is linked to the first one: it is just cheaper and permanent magnet that we can find nowadays on modern drivers including Hi-End ones are super cheap. So why choose this old technology instead?
Well, the first answer could be the possibility to adjust the intensity of the magnetic field and therefore the efficiency of the driver. When it is about to perfectly integrate a speaker in a listening room, it can be useful. The second reason which is the main reason why we decided to go with field coil technology is just because it sounds better!!! The field coil technology brings more tone colours, better sound separation and globally the feeling of a lower distortion. When we put side by side the same speakers with only difference the type of magnet (permanent vs non-permanent) they use, the difference is really here and it becomes very difficult to keep on with the version which use permanent magnet…
Therefore, the question that immediately comes to mind when we got a scientific background is why? why do we have this difference in term of sound quality?
It took me some time to find the explanation or at least some parts of the explanation thanks to a French thesis that I found talking about magnetism. I will not come up with the explanation in this post as it would be too long but stay tuned and you will get it soon !!!!

Emmanuel

27/12/2018

Hi,
Thanks to have a look on the lasted production of Thomas. It is a 300B amplifier mono block. The driver is our ELROG 801A. I personally really like the combination of the smoked eucalyptus enclosure with the gold colour of the top plate. Looks gorgeous !!!!
Emmanuel

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