Update on the system build...

[RGA]

Well I sure had an interesting day auditioning a bucket load of gear in Mongkok.

There is a giant building with store after store covering 21 floors. Everything from Sugden A21se to Sugden Mystro speakers (Sugden makes a speaker? I know now.

I was in one shop that had some very lovely Chario speakers for under $500 US. Just not finding something like that in Canada built that well that looks that nice for that money. There was a fellow auditioning an uber built CD player from Cayin which is not available in the U.S at $1k. Once again the build quality is ridiculous and it sounded really quite good. The fellow auditioning was deciding between it and the famed Shanling CD player - he ended up buying both CD players as he felt the Shanling had better bass while the Cayin was better in the mids.

Turns out after talking to him he is the guy who designs King Sound loudspeakers - small world. So I hope to get a pair of his Queen speakers to review - we'll see.

I ran across Zu Audio Essence loudspeakers connected to this pictured Frankenstein of a tube amp with in house OEM'd tube cd player

The tube amp is absolutely gorgeous sounding using 845 tubes on the outputs and 300b as driver stages to give you a whopping 24 watts in SET. As you know that is serious power for a SET. The amplifier has massive transformers weighing in at over 160lbs

"LM Audio 219IA 845 SET integrated Amplifier. 24 watt Single Ended Class A. 300B driver tubes, 310A input tubes. Adjustable bias via built in meters. Remote controlled. 4,8 and 16 ohm taps. Negative feedback adjustable and defeatable. Pre-amp input. Power output via meters. Two power transformers for true dual mono operation. Point to point wired throughout. Comes with a tube cage."

The price "$3k U.S. I double checked - $30k right? No $3k. You have to be kidding. I know $3k is a lot of money for most people but this is ridiculous - and the quality of sound ain't no $3k affair - this was stunning.

The Zu I was somewhat worried due to the comments I read on some forums about them and the Stereophile measured results. But the result of this combination really worked here and while I did here some speaker inbalances on the whole and given the price it was a deeply rewarding combination. The same dealer also carries Rogue Audio's complete line and Melody tube amps - I shall go back when I have more time. But keep an eye out for Line Magnetic. I was looking at my bank account to see if I could do something to get this thing.