November 2015 Hi-Fi Show Report

This year's event was more intimate since it coincided with Manila hosting APEC. All the big hotels were fully booked. But the show went on and was held at the quaint Citadines Serviced Apartments in Salcedo Village. 

As an exhibitor I don't get much time to go around to take pictures. So here are a few...

Software - lots of new and used CDs, LPs and related paraphernalia

Hardware

 More photos

Harana/Tono/Setup

Room 1208

The focus of our exhibit was Restomod, starting with a Garrard 301 restored by Joel Villanueva fitted with an SME 3009 + an Ortofon MM cartridge.

The Harman Kardon Citation I preamp chassis houses a JE Labs phono and line stage circuit. 2 x 12AX7 + 12AU7 in the phono, 2 x 12AU7s in the line stage + 6X4 rectified power supply. The power amp is based on a Harman Kardon Citation II chassis and original OPTs with a JE Labs circuit using 6CG7s for the input/driver stage in a Mullard long tailed pair configuration driving push-pull cathode biased EL34s or KT88s connected in triode connected to the original OPTs. Power transformers and chokes are newly wound units from Edrel Sison of AT&S. Chassis refurbishing was done at the Harana Audio workshop.

A pair of B&O speakers from the early 70s restored by Joey of Harana Audio served as alternate speakers since it was originally part of a system along with the Garrard 301 and Citation I + II electronics.

The main speaker is a Harana Audio creation using JBL drivers: E140 15" woofer in a V-Vent II enclosure, LE175DLH midrange horn/compression driver, 2405 slot loaded super tweeter + Harana Audio custom crossover.

Till next year!

Listening Room - Harana Audio

November 2015 Hi-Fi Show

Mark your calendars ;)

Dai-Ichi PT-6 Horn Tweeter

Over a year ago, I blogged about the cheap 'n cheerful locally manufactured Konzert/Micro PT6A horn tweeter which visually looks like a lineal descendant of the highly regarded Pioneer PT-6.  I have no experience with the Pioneer PT-6, but have owned and enjoyed the similar Pioneer PT-3K.

My buddy Rex chanced upon another PT-6 local clone made by Dai-Ichi which used to supply OEM drivers for the late lamented Radio Shack. He also supplied an original Pioneer PT-6 but unfortunately, it has a blown mylar diaphragm. So I pictured it in the middle of this trio as a visual reference.

The Dai-Ichi PT-6 is finished in a nice black powder coated cast aluminum instead of cheap molded plastic in the Konzert/Micro. However, the mostly useless specs are similar: 

100 watts max, 60W nominal (Good marketing, but...)

8 ohm voice coil impedance +/- 15% (...hmmm)

2.5khz-20khz frequency response (parameters??)

94dB sensitivity +/-2dB (ditto???)

Off the bat, I will caution anyone not to even consider using either the Konzert/Micro PT-6A or Dai-Ichi PT-6 as a super tweeter for speaker systems with 96dB/1M/1W (or greater) efficiency. In spite of the horn loading, they are just not efficient enough to match the 99dB/1M/1W efficiency of my Altec 414 or 416 woofers.  My ears tell me that these tweeters should be rated 95dB/1M/1W, tops!

However, if you are looking to augment the falling high frequency response of a typical low to mid 90s efficient 8" full range driver or woofer on a budget, the Dai-Ichi PT-6 and Konzert/Micro PT-6A are worthy of consideration.

SJ4000 + Kingone K5

Don't worry folks, JE Labs has not ditched retro tech.

I just needed a cheap video cam to capture my treks in the Mini + a cheap bluetooth speaker which disappears in the dashboard and prevents road rage in Manila traffic, even on weekends ;)

 SJ4000 factory default settings at 1080p 30fps

At less than half the price of an entry level Go Pro Hero, the video quality is good enough for my purpose. As I get to know the menu and settings, I might tweak it a bit later. 

Original 720p 30 fps color video converted to B&W

I've paired CD quality tracks from my iPhone with Bose, Braven, JBL and other touted/branded bluetooth speakers in showrooms but could never justify their cost to sound value. Just like the others, the Kingone K5 has a built-in EQ network which aids the tweeter-sized drivers in fooling the ears to hear a bigger than actual sound by boosting the frequency extremes. Kudos to Kingone engineers for designing an EQ curve which does not muddy the midrange, renders clean bass overtone clues and is rid of tinnitus inducing highs. 

Default settings @ 720p 30fps

The savings from buying cheap clones can be appropriated for retro tech projects ;)