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。
閱讀全文請瀏覽: https://bit.ly/3lgba7t
雍容華貴的音樂盛宴 - Peak Sinfonia 落地式音箱
Date: 2023-03-06
可能大家見到Peak這個音箱品牌會感到比較陌生,但大家是否記得數年前曾經轟動一時的Peak Consult(丹峰之尚)?當這一品牌被新漢建業引入到中國(包括港澳地區)的時候,舉行了一場盛大而隆重的發布會,筆者也有幸參與其中,而當Peak Consult當時的旗艦音箱Dragon Legend巨龍開聲之時,便有著“天下至尊,舍我其誰”之氣勢。
為何時隔數年以Peak這一新名字重新出現在我們的面前?時間回到2021年,Peak Consult迎來了兩位重要的人物:一位是Dynaudio的創始人Wilfried Ehrenholz先生,另一位 Lennart Asbjørn先生。對於Dynaudio以及它的創始人Wilfried Ehrenholz先生,無需多作介紹,成績也有目共睹,Wilfried Ehrenholz先生負責監督Peak的產品開發和製定策略,並支持Peak的營銷和分銷工作,他多年的豐富的經驗必將是Peak非常重要的無形資產。而Lennart Asbjørn先生則負責生產和行政管理。這兩位接手後的Peak依然堅持在丹麥的米澤爾法特(Middelfart)由技術精湛的工人手工製作,確保以最佳的狀態呈現在愛樂者的面前。
非常過癮的聆聽感受
這次試聽是在廣州典雅音響花園中進行,音源方面為Aurender的A30, 搭配了Naim NAC-282前級和NAP-250DR後級。而NAP-250DR後級只有每聲道80W/8Ω的輸出功率,能否推動Peak Sinfonia這對音箱?首先來點輕柔點的人聲片段, 選擇了Eva Cassidy《Night Bird》專輯,在這套系統的重播下別有一番韻味。歌手演繹時的各種細節都能清晰分辨到,嘴型也不大不小剛剛好。伴奏和歌手的聲音分離度十分高,就像樂手在舞台後方伴奏、歌手站在舞台中央演唱一樣,現場感十足。飽滿、自然,同時又帶點鬆弛的聲音令人十分陶醉,不忍停下,只想一直聽下去,讓人欲罷不能。而這種精準的聲音,往往是音箱的聲音乾淨、無箱聲的表現,而這對Peak的Sinfonia,可以說這是筆者最近一段時間裡所聽到脫箱感最好的音箱。
再來聽一段《布蘭詩歌》,Sinfonia可以絲毫不留餘地地把音樂的氣勢衝了上去,厚實、強大能量感又具備高密度的聲音,聽來好是過癮。 《布蘭詩歌》一開始是小聲的、壓抑的、緊張的合唱,等到樂曲的高潮處,樂團與合唱團爆發出來的氣勢和能量,在頃刻之間衝到極致,迸發出龐大雄渾的音樂場面,人一下子好像被交響樂團包圍了。打擊樂毫不留情地猛烈地衝擊每個在座聽者的心靈。 Sinfonia不僅重現了交響樂團的厚度,聽合唱團的和聲,您可以感覺到漂亮的共鳴,彷彿身處在合唱團當中,感受每一個音符共鳴傳達過來的能量,是讓全身心地感受到聲音的共鳴。
總結
全新型號的Sinfonia落地音箱,延續了Peak的典雅外型和精緻造工,集合了Peak經過多年的大量的研究和開發的技術,包括全新設計的單元、箱體內部和分頻網絡,讓Sinfonia的聲音表現達到更高的水平。 Peak Sinfonia是極為出色的Hi-End音箱,有著出色的還原能力,精準的音色和清晰的聲場,同時它又延續了Peak的風格。無論是外觀工藝、內部技術還是聲音表現,Peak Sinfonia可以說是一款首屈一指的音箱產品,它能成為真正音樂愛好者用於聆聽各種類型音樂的好選擇。
閱讀全文請瀏覽: https://bit.ly/3y7jk4Z
Feature of March 2023
Date: 2023-03-01
展現純音之美 – Burmester 175 旗艦黑膠唱盤
累積35年豐富音頻訊號處理經驗,Burmester 憑藉 175 旗艦黑膠唱盤,為其成功的唱頭放大器奠定了至高無上的地位。175黑膠唱盤取材自Reference Line的特色設計元素,將最出名的精細唱頭訊號放大器 Phono 100 整合在唱盤內以臻達最高音樂重播水準。175是為 Burmester 用家和對 LP 重播音質有高要求的音響迷精心配置的即插即用高級黑膠唱盤,採用萬向軸承、碳鋁混合材料製成臂管的9英寸長度固定支點唱臂。
轉盤與唱臂
175黑膠唱盤的轉盤為夾心結構,由兩層鋁材及一層置中黃銅製成。這種設計確保了最佳阻尼和較少的合成共振。轉盤背面的瀝青塗層更進一步提高阻尼性能。軸承設計為終身免維修,因此在唱盤的生命期內保持運作穩定。帶有錐形的子轉盤讓安裝轉盤更輕易並自動對中,以實現完美的同心圓。
除了轉盤之外,臂管材料由鋁合金和碳纖維合成的9英寸唱臂,從根本上增強了175本身精緻的音質。鋼和陶瓷混合的 Gimball 萬向軸承,唱臂可以做各角度的靈活運動,保證唱針在音槽滑行拾訊的準確性,抗滑拉力也可通過旋鈕精準微調。
驅動系統
唱盤的轉盤由錐形子盤外圍矩形排列的四個交流同步馬達驅動,使用四條橡皮帶確保了中心軸承的拉力不會出現不平衡現象而減低轉速的抖擺率。這種佈局的雙重設計縮短了轉盤加速時間並改善了同步性,同時可以改善聲音穩定性並提升快速起動時間。
重達 8 公斤的轉盤,其轉速控制電路和馬達對於提供出色的音響體驗也至關重要,所使用的交流同步馬達由數碼電子電路驅動,完全不受市電電壓和交流頻率波動的影響。控制電路、驅動級和馬達的高效率,讓整個唱盤不受環境溫度變化而受到負面影響。