An article by Tinta Kencana Mohd Azmel
Yesterday I had the chance to visit Audio Perfectionist Hi-Fi showroom in Jaya One for a demonstration by the Audio Group Denmark line of product.
1. Børresen AudioWhen I entered the Audio Perfectionist showroom, I was greeted by a pair of Børresen Z5 which were driven by McIntosh.I stared at the pair of huge black monolith and was awed by the sound they produced. As I sat down the couch provided, the Z5 loomed few feet in front of me but I was not intimidated by the size. As a matter of fact it comforted me with its majestic sound. It produces sound with such confidence and lightning fast.No slack or sloppy. It vigorously delivers each and every note without batting an eyelid. It throws an enormous soundstage with deep solid bass. Everything is so clear and vivid, peeling layer after layer of music for your sheer enjoyment.Nothing gets in Børresen’s way to give you the best and more.Some speakers prefer to add their own colour or hue (cold or warm) to the music. Some distort the sound creating a fatigue listening experience. Some do not even care as long as there is sound coming out of the loudspeakers. Not Børresen though. Børresen Z5 is simply honest and truthful to the source material.
They are standing tall and proud of their achievement. Same goes with the other two Børresen floorstanding 02 and 05 (the magnificent out of this world RM1 million loudspeaker). Basically 05 is the flagship and yesterday it showed me why it deserves to be the champion of all. The finesse and panache it has is another level altogether. The detail, the soundstage, the soundscape, the focus, the separation, the transparency, the agility and the dynamic can’t be matched by other speakers I’ve heard so far. Simply put it is like a machine gun spitting out bullets. Here Børresen 05 spits out every note so fast you can’t even breathe. And that bass. Initially I thought there were two subwoofers being used to drive the lower frequency but no.No subwoofer but man, the bass goes so deep it is crazy. I thought the bass in Z5 is insane but here in 02, it is even more insane. Of course each series (excluding the M) has the cryogenic version with 0 series adds in Silver Supreme which is much more expensive. Enough about Børresen.Let’s go to the next remarkable stuff.
2. Aavik AcousticsWe’ll take a look at the Aavik integrated amplifier and streamer. Aavik integrated produces 300 watts per channel at 8 ohms. It is a class D amplifier with patented UMAC amplifier technology (whatever that means) and the chassis is made out of composite wood (I thought it is made out of metal or aluminium some sort). Not too big and not too small, just nice. But I tell you it does not sound like any class D amplifier. There is no hint or trace of cold icy and hard digital sound that haunts such amplifier. In fact it sounds better than any other class AB or A amplifier I’ve heard before. There’s a tinge of warm illuminating the sound without sacrificing the detail. The vocal penetrates the air with such precision (of course added by the impressive Børresen 02 loudspeakers). You’ll be hard pressed to guess that it is a class D amplifier. There are many advantages using class D technology if properly implemented and here I bear witness to those advantages. I could live with such amplifier as it saves a lot of electricity bill and space apart from being very light (easy to move around). There’s a lot of advanced technology being put into this compact amplifier (Tesla Coil for example) and it shows where the money is being spend. The only thing I wish is it has balanced connection (yes, all unbalanced RCA) but I almost forget about it soon after I hear the sweet sound enveloping my soul. The big red matrix dot display is a huge relief for my poor eyesight especially on the streamer (it displays the title of the song and the artist). It is not as vibrant and colourful (and cool) as HiFi Rose. You can have the amplifier with or without the DAC. I’m not going to say it is worth the money as you are going to fork out a lot for it but if you can afford it, you will be treated with exceptional piece of class D amplifier. Last but not least,
3. Ansuz AcousticsHere I’ll touch briefly on the Power Distributor Mainz8 and Ethernet PowerSwitch.Ansuz is famous for its accessories to improve the sound of your hi-fi system. Whether you believe or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s not for everyone. As with the Aavik, Ansuz Mainz8 and PowerSwitch are made of the same material. It employs Tesla Coil technology apart from other sophisticated scientific stuffs that you can read from their website if you’re interested. How does it sounds like? Does it make a difference?Yes it does but as most accessories out there, the effect can be so subtle and system dependent. You have to try it out in your own system to judge its merits.In short it was an eye opener for me how such equipment can bring joy to anyone who can afford them. Every brand has its own signature sound. It is just a matter of taste and of course money.You decide what you want and the first thing you can do is to head to Audio Perfectionist.Then you can work your way around it. Good luck.
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