全面展現霸氣 – Siltech Royal Single Crown 電源線、 Royal Double Crown 電源線
Date: 2023-03-27
輯錄自《HiFi音響》
本篇主角Royal Single Crown Power、Royal Double Crown Power同為電源線,兩者都擁有6+1 Hexagon導體結構和RDC純銀插頭。
兩款電源線身價不凡,試音地點自然是我們大房,並且直接沿用今期《煮酒論英雄》的組合。
Siltech其中一項魅力,來自它的個性和音色,或許可以稱之為「霸氣」。它的聲音豐厚、有力、人聲雄厚迷人、中高音帶着一種既暖更亮麗的光澤,而且只要有一條Siltech線加入系統,整個聲音走向就會被它主導。所以Siltech線從兩方面來看,都是「霸氣」。
只不過,近幾年試過多款Siltech新產品,包括Royal Signature系列,這種風味都變淡了,全頻更加一致,音色也轉向中性、鮮明,中、低音不像以前那麼濃郁,男歌手亦不會變得極具成熟男人味,多一點朝氣。
戲劇性變化
就如剛才提及,Siltech以往的招牌聲底深入民心,自然有部分人會期望,現在的Royal Crown系列讓他們聽回這一把聲。Royal Single Crown Power是沒有的,它是Royal Signature系列的全面進化版,取向非常接近,但質素對得起皇冠之名,一加入系統之中,變化是戲劇性的。
第一個驚訝之處,是音場全面升高,原來系統的「天花」已經夠高了,現在升得更高,差不多在揚聲器上面再加一個成年人的高度。但升高的來沒有不自然,因為音場下半截沒有離地,口形只是升高到六呎左右,還是合理的人類頭顱位置。
高低頻寬同步撐闊,但量感沒有側重於兩端,比例上是一個高身等腰三角形,下盤仍然最闊。
高音更加晶瑩、更多清甜,光輝得來不會刺耳。聽鋼琴以及三角鐵,就會即時明白。
有趣的是,Royal Single Crown Power把出名乾淨、線條明確、殘響長度剛剛好的柏林愛樂廳,變成了接近傳統鞋盒型、暖聲、殘響比較長,這種音色、堂音長度和空氣感,正是不少發燒友想要的元素。
歸位了!
要聽回Siltech當年的音色和霸氣,就要試試Royal Double Crown Power。這款電源線是真真正正主導了系統走向,一聽就明白, Siltech擁躉為何會如此忠心。
Royal Double Crown Power帶來屬於成熟的威嚴和雄壯,力量更強、動態更刺激、聲音更厚、人聲更具韻味。
音場變化也是戲劇性的,單皇冠已經把音場升得更高,Royal Double Crown Power將天花再推升超過一級,不過所有音像依然不會吊腳。
動態起落更快,過程也非常清楚。對比也加闊了,而這個提升主要來自強音變得更強,上限變得比以前高很多。
這種渾厚力量,假如系統中沒有其他Royal Crown系列,將Royal Double Crown Power用在任何一個位置都合適。如果像現在那樣, Royal Double Crown Power和Royal Single Crown Power同場,那麼前者用在後級,後者放在訊源或前級,將會得到最大回報。
Royal Double Crown Power那種傳統Siltech魅力,而聲音質素又大幅超越從前,就算不是藍教徒,都會聽得心癢難耐。
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HiFi Sound & Music review – Peak Consult El Diablo
Date: 2023-03-20
Perfect Timeing
It was in Berlin in 2007 when I had my most intense musical experience. A crazy story, almost too good to be true. One that I was not allowed to tell all these years because I lacked the opportunity.
Now it is here. In the form of a loudspeaker that can do something others can’t.
HiFi can do more than expected when properly implemented
The story began one year earlier. Jörg Lehmann from the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB) asked me if I could imagine using »his« orchestra as a musical benchmark to compare the original live music with a recording during the next installment of »The most expensive Stereo System in the World« (a recurring feature of the German magazine Audio in the 90s and 2000s).
I thought this was a great idea. An idea which would inspire culture to the IFA-spectacle (IFA »Internationale Funkausstellung« is Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show and takes place in Berlin) conceived by my predecessor as editor in chief at the Audio Magazine. How many musicians do you have in mind, I asked? Two, three or maybe a quartett? All of them, he answered. A prime orchestra, like the RSB, has 120 musicians.
The RSB belongs to the Deutschlandradio, a national German public radio broadcaster. This arrangement made it possible for the entire orchestra to play on a especially erected stage for us in the Sommergarten (event location at the IFA). The concert began and I found myself with 120 musicians on that wooden stage.
This combination made me feel like a turbocharger kicked in. Or rather, like a rocket took off and launched me with immense musical energy into an unknown universe of sound.
How tame seemed philharmonic concerts in comparison, how distant and lost does classical music ripple from a HiFi system. I quickly realized, I would never have another chance for a privileged listening experience like this. I still remember how I addressed the audience. I said that HiFi can accomplish many things but in no way will it be able to reproduce a lifelike performance of a large orchestra. Not to mention the musical revelation that befell me just a few minutes ago.
Gigantic sounds are not a question of dimensions
With the Peak Consult »El Diablo« in its latest, obviously radically revised version, I evaluate for the first time a transducer that brings me closer to this primal experience more than anything else that I have listened to.
The »El Diablo« with its slim, inconspicuous and living room friendly dimensions pretends that it can at best create a realistic stage from the so-called fundamental range. But these wonderful sculptures draw their power from the acoustic depth. Root cause analysis: There is no doubt that the drivers of the two Danish companies Scan Speak and Audio Technology, handmade according to strict specifications, are among the finest currently available on the chassis market. Trivial as it is true: Their performance is ultimately determined by the way these valuable components are treated. The fact that comparisons are always flawed is a platitude. This one just a little bit:
The composition of a worldclass loudspeaker is like the preparation of a menu at Michelin Star restaurant. Both cases require a knowledgeable, experienced and talented, ideally an ingenious person for the best result.
Wilfried Ehrenholz, the founder of Dynaudio and currently, together with Lennart Alsbjorn Jensen, the head and driving force behind Peak Consult fits this description. On top of that, Ehrenholz surrounded himself with a network of the best. A team that works in developing, tuning and manufacturing. So they are first and foremost people who live for music and master their technical craft enriched with a healthy portion of inventive talent. The best ingredients such as drivers, crossovers, and gifted designers with “golden” ears are combined with a unique internal department at Peak Consult, a carpentry shop equipped with all the bells and whistles.
This is where actual cabinets are created that limit the mechanical impacts on all components to levels beyond measurement. The »El Diablo« weighs 90 kilograms. Not the pair, but one piece. You can’t tell by looking at them, but you can hear it.
How just one instrument separates the wheat from the chaff
One of the most meaningful listening test pieces of past, present and future days is the Piano Sonata No. 23, the Appassionata, by Ludwig van Beethoven, for example in Theodore Paraskivesco’s version. Although »only« one instrument is played back, this sonata marks the limits of reproduction in all technical and musical disciplines. Overwhelming dynamics, from extremely soft and delicate to the most powerful and extremely loud attacks.
During reproduction via HiFi, there must be no distortion, compression or otherwise artificial coloring present. Any deficiency or even an acoustical compromise will be exposed mercilessly by the Appassionata. The ‘El Diablo’ places the grand piano genuinely in the listening room.
The Peak speakers master this kind of exercise with ease. Even when almost all other loudspeakers I know sound tainted or flawed at certain passages, the El Diablo remains superior.
The fact that this happened with integrated amplifiers (Audio Systeme Schaefer ASR Emitter 1; Symphonic Line La Musica) in the chain is yet another surprise. Perfect.
深度進化 – PMC fact.8 Signature
Date: 2023-03-15
筆者在多年前曾聽過 PMC 的 Fact 8 揚聲器,音質令人印象深刻,加上其相對窄身的音箱設計確實非常適合香港的家居環境,所以 PMC 的大名已刻在腦海中。還記得在 2019 年的慕尼黑音響展中,英國 PMC 展示出由旗下旗艦 fact Fenestria 技術下放的 fact Signature 系列,當時在電腦屏幕前的我雙眼發光,所以當我知道將會測試這對 Fact.8 Signature,著實興奮。
重點改進
fact.8 Signature 與舊版本的 fact.8 改變最多的是分音器,經過重新設計與及改良的製作用料,主要是為減少分音器的線圈所產生的磁場和其他內部元件互相干擾。另外,玻璃纖維線路板上的元件都是 PMC 在開發旗艦的 fact.Fenestria 時所得出的技術作下放的,採用了英國 Clarity 電容、德國的無感 Mundorf Mresist Supereme電阻,所有組件都經過技術人員嚴格和電腦測量,精心篩選及配對,確保每對揚聲器出廠的質量穩定以及準確的聲音表現。
正式測試
首先聽 Harold Farberman 的 「The All Star Percussion Ensemble」,發覺所表現的空間感,定位明確,音場的清晰度與立體感以至聲音的感明度絕對是 fact.8 Signature 的強項,之後我想再測試如果在背板的調校器中把低音調校大一點的效果又會如何,由「-1」提升至「0」,低頻的量感增強之餘亦保持到它的控制力,樂器的份量感更理想,在筆者僅百餘呎聆聽空間中能製造出一段段層次分明的低音,確是令我感動。
細心調校 釋除疑慮
好了,我想接下來的測試可能會是某些讀者最關心的事情,因為 PMC 是以監聽揚聲器起家的,表現又是否一如大家 (包括我) 對監聽揚聲器的認知?我選播了王菲的〈如風〉,高音擴散感強,但人聲似乎少了點質感,經過思量後,我把背板的高音撥桿由「+」撥到「0」再播放一次,歌聲馬上既有感情之餘,咀形亦修得恰到好處,在 fact.8 Signature 的高強分析下,連旁邊結他手的掃弦細節亦清晰地納入筆者耳中。
總結:
實不相瞞,小弟這段時間亦四出尋覓自己心儀的揚聲器,籍著工作之便,能夠在舍下實測不同揚聲器的表現,實在十分幸福。本次測試 PMC fact.8 Signature 的感覺是它能夠在寒舍有限空間內發揮出廣闊的音場與空間感,絕對是超出筆者的期望!另外太座大人「難得地」讚美我的音響器材,可見是 fact.8 Signature 既美觀又易於融入家中,令我今次有點不想太快歸還予代理。
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