Music For Health: El Hefe, Maxx HeadFi and PETRONAS Collaboration

Back on August 15th, I was requested to give a talk on my health transformation journey and part of that journey involves music and my passion in hifi. For that talk, Maxx HeadFi was gracious enough to provide a sponsorship to promote healthy lifestyle for all PETRONAS MPM staff. Not only PETRONAS staff will get 10% discount on any headphones purchased from Maxx HeadFi but also 2 units of JVC sports earphones were given to award the most improved male and female runners before the big Putrajaya Night Run marathon event on 27th Oct. This marked the very first collaboration between El Hefe, Maxx HeadFi and PETRONAS.

Today, 26th October, the winners of the award were announced in a small informal event in the PETRONAS Twin Towers office. Max Loh of Maxx HeadFi was kind enough to be present in the event where he presented the 2 JVC earphones units to Sharina and Nghi as the top female and male runners with regards to mileage.

Special thanks to Max Loh who came all the way rom Seremban to hand over the gifts to the award receipient. We hope to see more involvement of hifi companies in promoting music as part ofthe health therapy.

SVS PB16 Ultra and SB16 Ultra Product Launch

Maxx Audio in Seremban hosted a product launch event for the new SVS PB16 Ultra and SB16 Ultra on Saturday 26th November. This long awaited event was attended maaaannnyyy HT enthusiasts in the country and also by the regular audio reviewers like Willy Low, Vinod, Dick Tan and that one troublemaker of all time...Myself. The event kicked off at 11 am an officially ended at 6 pm wuth a steady flow of AV-philes throughout that time. It was so packed that Max had to arrange for every one to experience the new subs in a few demo sessions.

No hifi product launch in Malaysia can be conducted without having delicacies. Max and Ben specially ordered Nasi Lemak bungkus NIzam and also Bee Hoon goreng and also hot curry puffs. Yours truly arrived at about 1015 to provide Max with the Samsung 4K UHD BD player and once set up, this nasi lemak started make its way through my mouth. Yummy. Once done, the official demo started.

Batman vs Superman DOJ on 4K UHD

One of Epson on display projector

Max explained the new design adapted by SVS in this PB16 sub. With 1500 watss RMS power, this 16" sub , this sub guarantees a substantial LFE will be provided in one's system. It goes as deep as 13 to 280 Hz. The sub can be adjusted via its mini remote control and also iOS and Android bases apps. It weighs at a staggering 95 kg mark and it can easily be mistaken to be a small washing machine hehehe. You would need a big room for this to be made looked smaller. Customer have the choice of piano black or black ash finishings.

Max has deployed a 7.2.4 channel system in his 16.5 x 19.5 ft room. A bit crowded with speakers but still comfy enough to enjoy a full fledge ATMOS/DTS-X surround sound. The full set up list is as follows with its RRP:

• SVS PB16 Ultra - RM14,499
• SVS SB16 Ultra - RM 11,499
• Klipsch KL-650-THX - RM 7,600 each
• Klipsch KL-525-THX surround - RM6350 each
• Klipsch CDT-2800-C II Top front and Top rear - RM1,150 each
• Denon AVR X7200WA - RM 13,999
• ATI 807 7 channel power amp - RM15,000
• Parasound A23 Stereo power amp - RM6800
• Oppo BDP-105D - RM5,999
• Epson LS10000 projector - RM30,500

KL 650 THX Centre (similar to LR channels)

ATI 7 channel power amp

Oppo 105D, Samsung K8500, Parasound 2 channel power amp and Denon X7200WA

Klipsch rear speakers

OK enough of the tech talk. Now lets get into the nitty gritty:

When Max show case his set up, several different type of movies were played. Ranging from rain effect, bullet spraying war scenes, helicopter swirls, building collapse, martial arts and many more. My favourite was the war scene in the movie Bengazi. The PB16 shook the LazyBoy sofa with tremendous power and agility. I was surprised that there was rattling of the ceiling. The LFE provided by the two subs was enough to provide the guests on that day what these new Ultras can do. 

The sound of the spraying bullets and its impact sounded deep but subtle enough to differentiate it from explosives sounds. The speed and accuracy of the subs were evident enough that even in a chaotic scene like this, it delivers continuous LFE impact on each relevant sound. Matched and properly set up with the Klipsch speakers, the dialogue was still crystal clear. The mid bass was also presence where in a quieter scene of dialogue, the vocal sounded energized and with a deeper tone and emotion. 

The Klipsch THX Ultra 2 speaker set up was also very involving and gives out details of the movie with a high level of precision. With up to 97 dB sensitivity, they were driven effortlessly by the amplification in this set up. No sign of stress and I did not experience any fatigue listening to this set up through out the day.

Thank you Max and Ben for the invite. I a quite sure these new monstrous sub will be flying out of your shop into people's home very frequently.

Towering Inferno: SVS PC12-NSD Cylinder Subwoofer

So, I said to myself.... 2014 would be a home theatre year rather than the 2 channel focus. I am very much satisfied with my 2 channel, hence  its time to steer the focus towards my home theatre set up. The component that I feel is a little bit 'off' in my set up currently is the Wharfedale  SW150 subwoofer. So, that is the first item that I wanted to improve in.

My issue with the 10" Wharfedale  is that its a very isolated low end action. Each time the sub kicks in, it will a give a loud thud sound and with your eyes closed, you can easily pin point where the sub is located. Very localised effect.

When Max of MaxxAudio commented on my FB that there is an SVS tower sub that he can loan me to try out, I didn't hesitate to accept the offer. I have experienced a full SVS set up during last year's KLIAV but will it match my current Mission M34i front speakers.

Max was very accommodating towards my busy schedule. Finally, one fine Saturday, he came over with a unit. But not before we have a quick lunch, courtesy Chicken Rice Shop take away :). After a bit of bantering about Merc vs BMW, he started to set up the sub. I was a bit surprised with the shear size of this unit..... and this is the smallest unit in this series !!! The pictures I saw before did not justify the actual size of this beast.

Specifications and Built

The cylinder tower stands at 35.75" in height and will take up a floor space of 16.63" by width and depth. Refer to the picture below besides my Mission 34i front speakers.

 

Its a relatively a moderately weighted unit at 60 lbs. Max being the strong guy actually set it all by himself. Being an active SW, it has a built in Sledge STA-400D (Class D) 400 watter amplifier with DSP to slam a punch into its 12" woofer.

Th design also incorporates a single 4" port and can handle a frequency response of 18-130 Hz +- 3dB.

The built quality is very sturdy and reflects the price tag. No worries of small kids pushing this unit over. It is wrapped with a velvety material which makes it looks retro.

Performance

Once it was all hooked up to my Yamaha RXV2067 AV amp, Max started to to do the calibration using the YPAO mic and a SPL meter. It was all done within 15 mins or so. We tested first with Star Wars Episode 1.. the pod racing scene .....my my my.... the immediate effect is very evident. 

First of all, there was no 'thud' sound when the LFE kicks into this unit. But the effect is more like an extended and prolong effect rather than a single strong punch. As the pods were passing the grid line, the loud roar and rumbling of the engine reminds me of my first experience at the Sepang F1 race in 2004. 

We then tested an HFPA disc for music, namely Getz and Gilberto Girl from Ipanema. Played it on DTS MA and put the system on a 2.1 channel. The effect on this was very subtle. Not sure whether the HFPA is actually feeding any signal to the sub as the source is 2.0 channel. 

The following week was a daily late night movie session after work hours. With dialogue heavy movies such as The Last Holiday, the sub still provided a huge LFE effect when music kicks in and during scenes such as the helicopter ride to the Grandhotel Pupp resort. even the dialogue sounded richer and more toned, which you would expect from the voices of Queen Latifah and LL Cool J. 

I also put on Andrea Bocelli Live in Tuscany. That was a very musical session. The sub helped to present Andrea's deep voice in a richer and more emotional tone. At times, the heavy bass lines from the double bass can be easily heard with such strong low end effect. I like it. 

Overall, the sub was giving a whole room effect rather than a localised low end experience. And my movie venue is not an easy room to work with. Regardless of what we throw at it... music, action movie, dialogue heavy....it will give a very exciting-across-the-room rumbling clean bass effect. Fun for the whole family :)

Verdict

It must be one of most exhilarating review that I have done so far. The impact of having a good sub that can sync properly with your HT set up has always been overlooked ( and I guess I was one of them too). I do believe to get a true home cinematic experience, a proper sub must be an integral part of the equation. This unit have shown a different level of bass requirement for my movie sessions. At RM3,499, if you are looking for a space saving solution sub, do audition it. 

So, did I purchase it? Actually no. Why didn't I take the plunge since it blended well into my set up? It was mainly because the size was still a bit too big (and tall) for my movie area. But Maxx have suggested an alternative model which could give a similar effect as this PC12-NSD unit. But, that is for another day. I already have the alternative unit in my house and loving it too.

SVS products can be purchased from Maxx Audio. Details below:

66G, Jalan Toman 4, Kemayan Square, 70200 Seremban, N.S.D.K. Tel: 017-6778820, 016-3229428, 06-7620811 Email: maxx@htkaki.com, info@htkaki.com