Centre Circle Audio have stepped up the hifi game with a new addition of 2 listening rooms to the one existing in their outlet in TTDI. Taking up the floor above, CCA have set up full Roon environment in 2 new listening rooms and also to the existing one downstairs. Completed sometime in December, CCA was also not spared from the MCO as it is quite restricted to get audiophiles to come and enjoy this new addition to the listening rooms.
HiFi ROSE RS150
Primarily, I went to have a listen to the HiFi ROSE RS150. So, I spent a good 1 hour listening to various tracks where the ROSE was used as a streamer cum pre amp to an Audia Flight FLS4 power amp, driving a Boenick W8 speakers.
This set up reveals rather a big sound for my first impression. The RS150 is one heck of a machine. The ecosystem which is based on Android is very stable. The unit of course have all the bells and whistles to play a wide selection of streaming platforms.
Here is a sampler form this system:
Mola Mola Tambaqui, VAC and Living Voice
I was then brought up to the upper floor into the first new listening room comprises of Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, VAC Master pre and Signature power amp and Living Voice speakers. Source was from Roon ecosystem placed in the main listening room. This brought my experience up a notch from the room downstairs.
The deco of this room is really relaxing and reminds me of the house I used to live in UK back in my time there. The Living Voice speakers looks like a typical British design, basic and boxy.
Here is a sampler of this set up:
Avant Garde, WADAC and VAC
This room was the ultimate experience of the day. It was good that we started off with the room downstairs and slowly build up the excitement for this. I personally have always been skeptical about horn speakers given the few times I heard it in the KLIAV show. However, recent 2 experience with Avant Garde speakers in Melaka, told me other wise.
This was the same experience. These speakers and the room was set up pretty darn good that I wish I had more time here. Good solid bass impact. Sweet melodious highs. For this set up, I will not share the sound quality as I would like to keep it as a secret. You have to go and visit CCA to experience a 4 stack WADAX Roon system with top notch VAC and these speakers.
To arrange for a demo, please contact CCA at 03-77282686. Their outlet is located
Yes. You read it right. I have hemp. Yes. That hemp. Not to be smoked though. This hemp is part of a Limited Edition headphones by GRADO Labs. Managed to get a hold on a unit a few months ago before the current MCO started. Been using it extensively with either SPL Audio Phonitor 2 or CHORD Mojo DAC amp.
This hemp is highly compressed by Grado design engineers as one housing together with another maple wood housing. The drivers were specifically tuned to for this design as it is the first time Grado is using hemp. You can read the details spec here.
I will not bore readers talking about the overall design as it comes in a typical Grado leather headbands, detachable ear cups, fixed and thick 8 conductor cable, 3.5 mm jack. The packaging is also as simple as a gift box. No fancy stuff but it worked and came in to Malaysia with no damage or whatsoever. The cable however, gets easily entangled and kind of irritating. I would prefer a woven fabric over the cable.
Is it comfortable? Compared to my old Alessandro Grado Pro pair, this seems lighter but a bit tighter fit. Well at least for my head. With the current on ear design, I can easily use this continuously for about 1.5 hours before start to feel a bit heavy on the head.
Now, how is the sound? I must admit that I actually miss and regret selling off my Alessandro Grado Pro a few years back under the notion of 'reducing' number of headphones I have. Well, that failed miserably as I own a Beyerdynamic T1, Audeze EL8, Sennheiser HD800S, Nuraphones and countless earphones. Oh well, then I guess its no harm to re-add a Grado headphones to my collection.
THE TRACKS
1. Lawan Kartel 2.0 by Slumber Sonic - 24/44.1 WAV
2. Blue Moon by NYC Quartet - DSD
3. Can't Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake - DSD
4. Take Five by Dave Brubeck - DSD
5. Enter Sandman by Metallica - 24/96 FLAC
THE SESSION
Iswardy's ferocious guitar on Lawan Kartel 2.0 during the intro really got me going. Followed by thumping snare, toms and floor toms by yours truly, the Hemp presented quite a fully body sound to the tune. The highs can be a little bit on the sharp side but well compensated by the bass. The most evident signature of this Hemp is actually on clarity. The little sounds from our song came out quite clear such the hi hat play and also the bassline from our bassist Herman. Even the second vocal by Azwad was clearly separated but still complement nicely to Is's vocal. I like what I am hearing through this Hemp.
With Blue Moon, the Hemp sounded sweet with the focus on the vocal. It can sound a little too upfront but its a matter of preference to the listeners. The saxophone sounded airy but at the same time, it can provide that huge spacious sound. The Hemp also is detail in presenting the little details of the wire brush on the snare drum. At times, the highs can sound a little bit sharp but tolerable.
Can it handle bass? I mean disco bass? I put on one of my favourite modern 'joget' tune, Can't Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake. And this Hemp made me move head and body to the beat of this tune. It flows. It definitely flows music with ease and made me want to start shaking. Bass was taut and deliver high energy level to listeners.
How about those extensive low frequency track? Lets put on Take Five by Dave Brubeck. First of all, again the saxophone sounded airy and sweet. Yes, given the open back design does help to sort of unleash a more open listening experience but there is something else coming from this Hemp. The double bass and also the percussion really gave the Hemp quite a workout. Slamming and digs deep without loosing the clarity of the overall track presentation.
Now the ultimate test - metal music! While so many headphones can easily fail delivering the adrenalin, surprisingly the Hemp can really belt it out. No sign of strain and presented this track with full body and energy. I am quite surprise to get this level of fun to listen experience with an open back design. James's vocal sound raw with Kirk's wailing guitar really hit the adrenalin point. Lars's drums you ask? Snare was tight, hi hat was sharp and the bass drum was slamming.
THE CONCLUSION
A very fun to listen to cans the Hemp is. Not fussy. Easy to drive even with a portable DAC headphone amp such as the Mojo. Even direct connection to my SONY Walkman was fun to listen to.
Is it for everyone? Maybe not but I do feel that it can satisfy most people at this price point.
Is it for all genres? I do feel so. I even tried it with a death metal track by Deicide. Easy peasy.
The caveat is however, it might be a bit bright at times but well compensated by the bass coming from this compressed hemp design. On this note, its more of a personal preference.
Over the past few years, more and more audiophiles in Malaysia were bitten by the Accuphase craze through its high quality performance and of course, the mesmerizing VU meters. Readers can read various reviews from official local hifi blogs such as audiofi.net. I also had the chance to contribute a review to novohighend.com on the Accuphase E370 integrated amp a few years ago. Thanks to Victor Pheh of HiFi Creations Trading, I was given the opportunity to listen to the Accuphase P4500 power amp and pen down a few opinions about the amp.
THE SPECIFICATIONS
The designer of this amp has put in quite a remarkable architecture internally and externally. It features an instrumentation amplifier configuration realized with discrete semiconductors in the signal path, triple Darlington 4 parallel complementary push-pull architecture. Big words, big buzz ey? What does it really mean? It gives out S/N ratio of 121 dB, damping factor of 700, 90W/8 ohms and doubled at 180W/4 ohms. And again, what does this means to musical delivery? Read on folks.
One can identify an Accuphase from far with its trademark gold chassis. Simple front fascia featuring the famous large and well lit VU meter. It provides 4 different gain selector to match your pre amp (MAX, -3, -6, -12 db), meter selector, speaker selector and input selector. Besides the power meters, there is also the function indicators to see whether the amp is in BRIDGE, DUAL MONO LINE/BALANCED.
At the rear of the amp, it offers either RCA or XLR balanced input from your pre amp. There is also the operation mode selector which I prefer it to be in the front actually, 2 pairs of speaker terminals and also balanced input polarity selector.
All these to give you a whopping 29.2 kg amplifier.
THE ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
SPL Audio Director Mk2 pre amp
Kronos Sparta TT with SPL Audio Phonos
SONY HAP Z1ES
McIntosh MCD 350 SACD player
PMC Twenty5.24 speakers
Cables - mix of Siltech and Vermouth Audio
All samplers recorded using SONY PCM D100 Hi Res recorder.
THE SESSION
I played through different sources and each source gave me quite a different experience. Music range from jazz to heavy metal, vocal heavy, Hi Res audio, RBCD and LP.
Where Did The Children Play by Cat Stevens - WAV 44.1
Temptation by Diana Krall - DSD
Tak Seindah Wajah by Dato SM Salim - WAV 44.1
Take Five by Dave Brubeck - SACD
Whiskey In The Jar by Metallica - LP
Tuesday's Gone by Metallica - LP
Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton - LP
Just The Way You Are by Diana Krall - LP
By the time I was reviewing this amp, the amp has been run in for approximately 150 hours.
Where Did The Children Play from HAP Z1 ES
The string works on this track was assuring enough that each strumming sent out a a huge amount of energy to the music. Blends in to the unique vocal of Cat Stevens that goes quite deep at moments. The hollow toms and sharp ride and crash on the drums really gave an authentic 70s vibe for this track. High clarity is one character that the P4500 can offer.
Temptation from HAP Z1 ES
This one was a hard track to crack. The bass for this track will usually sent me some kind heavy low frequency waves through my PMC. While there is no thud thumping action, the bass that came out was refined and digs deep into my listening area. The big soundstage that the P4500 creates makes up to slightly lower slam that I am used to. Again, when it comes to vocal clarity and sweetness, this amp can really melt my heart down especially listening at night with a dimmed light.
Tak Seindah Wajah from HAP Z1 ES
A classic song like this deserves to be played with an amp with stature like Accuphase. There is something about old classics Malay songs that can really touch my soul. Maybe because I grew up listening to such songs played on my late dad's hifi. A simple song that the P4500 presented it in a more emotional and engaging musicality. The vocal sounded melodious, representing such an emotional lyrics. The violin sounded lively and huge in this track.
Take Five from McIntosh MCD350
No review is complete without testing my favourite song. Now, playing this SACD brings me to another level with the P4500. Slamming percussion with very airy saxophone presentation. The P4500 digs really deep into the low frequency of this song while maintaining a huge sound stage. One of those moments that got my feet and hands moving to the beat of the drums. The sound of the ride cymbal was also crisp and with refined high frequency. No tendency of ear pinching at all. Musically lively and refined presentation.
Whiskey In The Jar from Kronos Sparta
Moving to something heavier, I put on Metallica's version of Whiskey In The Jar LP and start spinning it on my Kronos Sparta TT. Now this is when I started a listening to a different side of the P4500. While clarity, huge sound stage and lively delivery are the main highlights, it struggled a little bit to create that head banging, metal experience. While the ferocious guitars of Kirk and James were full of energy flowing through my listening room, the drums sounded a little laid back. Vocal was good with a clear presentation of James's husky voice.
Tuesday's Gone from Kronos Sparta
I kept playing the same LP and moved on to the next song just to ensure it was not my LP. Tuesday's Gone was a completely different story. All that liveliness I experience from other tracks is back and the glorious rich sound from the P4500 was evident again. A true testament of what this amp can do. Just listen to the string works, drums and and vocal. A perfect blend reproduced through the P4500. Solid tom tom sound from Lars, emotional vocal from James and heavy guitar works from James and Kirk. I personally cannot find anything missing listening though the P4500. Everything just flows naturally and with no restriction nor choking sound.
Tears in Heaven from Kronos Sparta
I literally shed a tear listening to this through the P4500. For me personally, a good piece of equipment is when it can make me connect emotionally to the music being played through it. A situation where I go blind and ignore the equipment and just let the music engage me really deep. The guitar plucking by Eric can be heard note by note and coupled with his vocal, this was indeed the main highlight for me with the P4500. Effortless to create that ambient that reaches one's emotion.
Just The Way You Are from Kronos Sparta
Back to Diana Krall, this live LP is a different experience. The sound of the saxophone sounded deep and airy at the same time. Of course the clarity of the vocal remains the main character of P4500. It is not just about clarity with regards to volume but also the details are refined that it gives out a dynamic range on the vocal. Sometimes, given a different set up, the vocal can be of high clarity but it sounds monotonous. Not here. Dynamic melodic vocal is what I hear.
THE CONCLUSION
The legendary Accuphase amplifier is in a league of its own. This P4500 stereo power amp lives up to its name by providing listeners a high level of clarity, refined musicality, huge overall sound and the right level of 'chi' across your listening room. Is it for all musical genre? Maybe not but this amplifier provides you much more than what it is retailed for. Those who enjoy realism to your sound, this is one amp that is very truthful to its listener. In my experience here, there was a clear difference between analogue and digital. Playing analogue, the P4500 will bring out the shine of music realism. Yes, it did not really power through metal music but it definitely will bring a smile to jazz, vocal, ballad and I bet, even orchestral music.
I too believe the P4500 will give even more satisfaction when it is paired with a full Accuphase system. If you are ready to be mesmerized, contact Victor Pheh for a demo or to purchase Accuphase equipment. This P4500 particularly, its selling price is RM35K but I can assure you, if it matches your existing system, it will give endless pleasure.
