[mresseguie]

As some of you may know, I left the US for Taiwan about two weeks ago. I'll be here with my Taiwanese wife for 6 months. We own a modest (approx. 1600 sq. ft.) flat in a new building in Taoyuan, which is located in northern Taiwan. Think of us as snowbirds who flee to Taiwan for the winter.

Yesterday, after a group hike on the local 'mountain', we went to one of the couple's home for tea and to ohh and ahh at their luxury home. Their flat is 3600 sq ft of top of the line luxury in a luxury complex. Imagine walking into a 5+ Star hotel with the best fixtures, appliances, marble floors, underground parking, 24 security manned by some of the most professional looking security personnel I've ever seen.

Anyway, the guy is an audiophool like me, but he doesn't have a lot of free time to research stuff (and he doesn't know about places like Audio Circle), so he relies on friends' advice. I took a few pictures of his HT/2-channel setup to give you an idea of what is available in Taiwan, and to see if I can get some suggestions on how to improve his 2-channel system. There's no guarantee he'll try any of the ideas that come out of this thread, but it might be a fun exercise nonetheless.

To give you perspective on dimensions, know that the big screen TV is a 90" model. His AVR is an Integra DTR 50.5 130w/ch. He's got a Pioneer DVD player, cable box, a digital box, and a hard drive as sources. Everything was installed two days ago, so he's still learning how to use it all. This is a 5.1 setup with Focal CC and Focal Chorus 800V Ebony floor standing speakers in front, Pioneer in-ceiling surrounds, and a nice looking Pioneer sub powered by a 500w amp.

His two-channel system is powered by his aging Usher Audio Reference 1.5 class A amp, an Usher preamp, and an aging Usher CD player. He is interested in replacing his amp,preamp, and CD player. He uses the Focal Chorus speakers for two-channel listening.

I listened to the Focal floor standers for a good 40 minutes and was very impressed by how unimpressive they sounded (but I did not tell him this). He's going to listen to my much smaller Fritz Speakers LS/5-R monitors in a few days. I suspect he'll be impressed.

So this guy is a long-time tube and class A amplification lover. He's got an old 35w tube amp in his home office that is waiting for a pair of nice two-way monitors with 5" midwoofers. He'll probably want to go with separates in his two-channel system. I don't know if he'll buy a CD transport and separate DAC or keep it simple with a CD/DAC unit. His living room is pretty big: front wall to back wall is about 15', left to right is spacious 35'...left side is normal, but right side open into the dining room. Floors are marble, walls are cement, marble, or granite, ceiling is either plywood or MDF/drywall.

This guy's budget is $20,000(!) to upgrade his two-channel system with either a big tube amp or a class A amp, a new preamp, CD player and DAC. [There is a possibility he may upgrade his Focal speakers, but that remains to be seen at this point.]

Any thoughts or suggestions? Please note that import duties can be pretty high. I paid a 21% duty on my LS/5-R monitors (Ouch!).

I'm interested in offerings from manufacturers here on AC (or similar) that do not exist here in Taiwan.

That's all for now.

Michael

Orientation is off on a couple...sorry.

[jarcher]

Id say do a separate nice 2 channel system in a seperate smaller better sounding room. A super bright room with Integra + Focal is going to sound painfully bright - unless that's the sound he likes. Ok for HT, but if he likes class a & tube gear, I'm assuming that's not the sound he wants for music listening.

Usher makes decent stuff for the money and I thinks it's a Taiwanese co. If it were me I'd use that usher pre & amp, at least initially, and spend the majority of the budget getting good speakers and a  good dac + streamer (assume he's not doing vinyl). $20k goes quick when you're trying to do a whole system. He needs to demo stuff - preferably at home if he can - and not just let people suggest or put boxes in his house without first hearing them. Hopefully there's a decent honest high end audio dealer not too far away.

[Rocket]

Hi,

If he wants to do a package deal Odyssey Audio is a good place to start.  I heard his Liquid speakers were sensational.  I've always been of the opinion that speakers are the best upgrade path for an immediate improvement in sound quality.  Van Alstine and Salk Sound are others to consider.

Cheers Rod

[mcgsxr]

Usher is indeed a Taiwanese company, based in Taipei.  I also think that amp is a very good one.  Years ago when I was there I heard one pushing Genesis towers and it was just fine.

Agree that he may want to consider streamer and DAC and perhaps new speakers.  Usher sells some nice ones locally, and you pay a ton less in Taiwan vs importing them.

Perhaps he's a candidate for some GR speakers built locally once he lands the kit?

[Early B.]

I also think that amp is a very good one.

Yeah, the amp is fine. It's the speakers that he needs to replace. Tell him to buy Usher speakers and get Danny to send you a modded crossover. 

[mresseguie]

I've been getting the impression that many of the audiophiles who can afford it actually have a bit of disdain for Usher because it's 'local'. I keep seeing Dynaudio, Focal, Dali, Atohm, Castle, KEF, JBL, and other big international names more than I see Usher. This bias against the local manufacturers exists in many markets here - automobiles, liquor, watches, etc.

This guy clearly feels the need to upgrade his amp even though it's still a current production model. I'll see him soon and will ask him more questions to get a clearer picture of just what he thinks he wants. He may want something like Modwright or Pass Labs. (I've seen a couple Modwright items here.)

He just bought the speakers last week. His friend told him they would be good enough for his needs. He got them for $60,000 New Taiwan Dollars (NTD) which is like $1875 USD. They are a real mismatch IMHO. Even his center channel is a bit weak. His eyes bugged out when I showed him my Selah Audio Ancora and told him how big it is. His jaw dropped when I told him I had special ordered it and that it was the first one ever made.

I will suggest he try the Nuprime DAC-10 before he dumps the amp and preamp since Nuprime is available here and it'll make a huge difference in his sound.

On another note: Typhoon Dujuan is beating the crap out of Taiwan tonight. Many cities are without power and a few areas have had their water shut off due to contamination issues. Fortunately, Taoyuan is doing just fine even though some of the strongest winds blasted through here. It was strange watching my picture window flex in and out. I was able to stand in my back balcony and watch the mayhem, but I was protected on top, the lower half of my front and both sides. No way would I go outside to stand in the 130 mph gusts.

[RDavidson]

+1 That amp is a Threshold remake, from what I understand. Yeah, he could do better of course, but it's not the weak point in the setup right now and he'd unnecessarily have to spend a good bit to better it significantly. I'd leave it be, and work on better front end components. The speakers are decent, so I'd leave them until the front end is sorted out, then when he upgrades the speakers he'll be feeding them a top notch signal. I know people will argue that the speakers should be changed first, but to me, there's little point in having amazing speakers if they aren't being sent the best signal quality you can give them.

[Hugh]

IF he wants to upgrade his CD Player & Dac, I recommend the Onix XCD-50SE which is truly a media player where he can play both cds & digital.
I have it in my bedroom set.
Onix is available in Taiwan.
It is an excellent unit. 

[charmerci]

Are you kidding me?


He needs to spend that money on refurbishing that room! Marble walls and floors with those speakers backed up against them? 


At least some decent sound treatment.

[Phil A]

Are you kidding me?


He needs to spend that money on refurbishing that room! Marble walls and floors with those speakers backed up against them? 


At least some decent sound treatment.

+1 - you don't know how many times I've seen that even with people buying real good equipment.  My friend worked at a high end shop years back and I helped deliver a nice system to a house with a two story family room where except for one corner for about 4 feet on each side (and that's where he put the components on a coffee table that was catty corner as it wouldn't otherwise fit) the walls where glass and the back wall included a two story stone fireplace (with glass doors of course) as well as a kitchen and a hallway.  Sounded awful.