Saturday, 31 May 2025

Jumpan Passive Pre Amp - Solid, Transparent and Unique




This must be the longest wait before I can fully complete a hifi review :( . And for this, I need to apologize to this pre amp designer Lau Wai Pan for the delay. Expressing ideas and experiences to words has been a bit of a struggle.  Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this local masterpiece which has injected a certain level of musicality to my SPL Audio pre and power amp.

The Specification and Built

The Jumpan pre amp is equipped with:
  1. 1 x XLR in
  2. 1 x XLR out
  3. 2 x RAC in
  4. 1 x RCA out
Hence,  you have a choice to use either one depending on what is available on you power amp.

On the front fascia, it is quite basic and straight forward. A selector switch between RCA and XLR input and a volume/attenuator knob with a volume level indicator.

Lo and behold - it also comes with a pal size remote control which works really well.

I tried a few connection variation but in the end, I feel that using all XLR connections sounds best.

The unit is sturdily built and slim in size (24 x 34 x 6 cm - D x W x H). Easily placed o any standard size hifi rack. As it was built sturdily, using heavier interconnects should not pose any problems for the unit to stay grounded to the rack. I particularly dislike too light of a unit that will not allow heavier interconnects or cabling to be used without the unit being unstable.

The Set Up

1. Power amp - SPL Audio Performance S800
2. McIntosh MCD350 SACD player
3. Sony HAP Z1ES Hi Res streamer
4. Borressen X3 speakers

The Listening Session




Playing Zee Avi's The Book of Morris Johnson, the Jumpan added a wider presentation to what I use to hear from my previous SPL pre and power set up. While the bass remains authentic to SPL, this pre amp definitely added some life to the set up as the SPL Pre and power sounded clinical  and can be monotonous at times.

Zee Avi vocal came out strong and dominant sounding compared to the overall music presentation. To me this is one unique attribute of this Jumpan pre amp, it amplifies the vocal of the song. It really did justice to Zee's vocal. 

Playing a piece from the legendary Kombo RTM truly shows the musicality of the pre amp. Given a live recording like this, I was expecting to sound thin and a bit one the bright side. Not with the Jumpan. It provides a lively, airy and at the same time, a meaty musicality. It gives out a very engaging experience, bringing back memories of tunes from the past. 

The wind instrument sounded super clear with no ear--pinching experience. Sweet and luscious. The percussion was hard hitting and authentic to the sound of 60s/70s. Compared to me SPL pre amp, this Jumpan pre amp injected more liveliness to the overall musicality.


The Conclusion

A well thought design!

It a solidly built with transparency as its unique character. The SPL Audio power amp might not be the best match for the Jumpan as I was informed that it works better with power amp which has 50K to 100K impedance. Nevertheless, I could still experience great difference compared to my SPL Audio Director Mk2 pre amp.

The overall performance of this passive preamp leans towards clarity and lively musicality. It somehow is able to inject some lusciousness to a clinical SPL Audio pre and power combo. If one is looking for a straightforward, minimalize pre amp, give this Jumpan a go. For further enquiries, please contact Lau Wai Pan on Facebook.


 

Saturday, 15 February 2025

ASCENDO Infrasonic Multi Sub in AV Designs

 






I have been using ASCENDO subwoofer, surround and ATMOS speakers for a few years now. It blends well into my PMC LCR speakers and ARCAM AV. receiver. However, my 5.1.2 HT set up is not ideal to fully experience ASCENDO capabilities.

On 15th Feb, I spent a few hours with James Tan in AV Designs to explore the ASCENDO set up and really experience what it can do. The main HT room is equipped with a 24" infrasonic sub alongside the other ASCENDO speakers. Mind you, the AVR was a JBL but still the set up was amazing. James and his team have been tweaking the set up and it was a vast improvement compared to my previous visit many months ago.

Playing movies like A Quite Place and 13 Hours brought out the grunt and hard hiting bass from this set up without loosing any clarity from the LCR speakers. It provided a very engaging and enveloping, non-directional experience of bass extension. Can really experience how a bullet shot sounds like.

What really impresses me was when it was put on a 2 channel demo. In this drum video, the amount bass that comes out of this set up can make any drummers start to tap their feet. Deep, cohesive and fast sounding to keep up with the drummer playing pattern.



To have a room like AV Designs show room would be a dream. I may just settle with adding more subs to my set up 😬😬

Do visit Audio Visual Designs to experience what I experienced here. Ask for a demo today!