Taste of Life starts from here ¡ª¡ª An audition on Music Space Time
MUSIC-88WE

Recently the topic under discussion in the town is invariably connected with the taste of life, resulting from the upsurge raised by the west Kowloon entertainment construction plan. Major land agents have spared no expense to launch commercials with extremely rich image in order to promote the so called taste of life they and some urbanites advocate, which is nothing more than brand cars, famous women, design dress, vintage wine and luxurious mansions.

If taste of life could be simply bought by money, life in itself will not be that wonderful. When everybody is crazy about the topic, the true taste of life is slipping by without our notice. Just think about it, among the friends and colleagues, how many of them could have some free time to his own in a placid mood to dwell upon the changes happening around? In the real life, everybody is weighed down with work.. Starting work at 9 am.and ringing out at 5 pm.has become a commonplace and even those with family property are no exception as well. Work has become the life goal and struggle the incommutable fun of life. Yet with such a busy life, how is the taste of life to cultivate?
To have a real taste of life, we need a leisurely mood and adequate spare time, willing to hearken and learn everything around so as to find new value in daily life or dig the forgotten tradition out of the old stuff. So is listening to the music on a power amplifier. although its electronic technology is quite out of date, the music it produces is full of melody. Compared with modern new products, it has its own advantages to gain the warm support from numerous Hi-Fi fans. The enthusiasm over electron tube amplifiers has never cooled down.
Like other products, quality power amplifiers have become affordable by average Hi-Fi fans due to the emergence of big manufacturing plants on chinese mainland. The sample machine for audition this time is model MUSIC-88WE by Space Time Electronic Tube Amplifier Manufacturing Co.LTD.

Owing to the limited material provided by the agent, the circuit design could not be detailed here. Actually, with years of development, technically there is nothing new. The quality of the machine is solely dependent on the electron tube and the power. The tube of this machine is made in Russia by Electro-Harmonix, so its quality should be guaranteed.
Upon the receipt of the machine, I have no high expectation maybe because of its plain appearance. The operation is rather simple with no attached gain adjustment design. However, for the primary level, its metalworking craft on the case is fairly good. The first step for audition is warming up. After over 20 hours trial operation, I could not wait to start the audition with the sound source of Denon DCD-S10 and sound boxes of Unity Audio. I turned the volume knob to 9 o¡¯ clock, there is a distinct improvement of the sound. Then I turned the knob to 12 o¡¯clock( this is not for a common machine). Suddenly my eyes were lighted. The performance of the whole machine is thoroughly bumped up. I closed my eyes and saw a musical stage rising. Now the real audition is to begin.
The first audition record is Rod Stewart-[if we fall in love tonight], selection record released by Warner Bros-Records in 1996. it has included the most popular songs of the year. When the music is up, strange enough, there as if emerged a live music stage in front of my eyes. The stage not only extends behind the sound boxes but part of it also recurs in front of the sound boxes. It is a feeling I¡¯ve never experienced before, sense of air so strong and audio image so definite. There is also a peculiar rhythm of the electron tube. While listening, my feeling of Rod Stewart is far beyond what my solid state amplifier could bring me. MUSICIAN-P1MK has been able to bring all the vicissitudes, loss and helplessness in Rod Stewart¡¯s songs back to me once again.
The second record is the original sound track songs of the film¡±Let No Man Write My Epitaph¡± recorded afresh by Classic Compact Disc. When Ella started to sing the first lines of¡°Black Coffee¡± , I¡¯ve already been deeply enchanted by her beautiful singing, fully indulged in the music. The machine really did a good job in alt reproduction with the discant resonant and sweet-sounding and the music warm, full of lingering charm of a tube amplifier.
The third record is Ondekoza¡¯s Legend, recorded by Victor Entertainment Inc in Japan in 1994. upon the first episode Odaiko was being played, I¡¯ve already had a good appreciation of the marvelous performance of Japanese recording technology. The flute part is so elegent and realistic as if it was floating in the air. In the drum part,urgent and orderly low frequency sound wave surges towards me from the sound boxes by fits and starts, which is so overwhelming that I felt the whole space including the back wall and the sofa were shaking. The earthquaking force is heart-penetrating. yet even at this moment, the machine still operates smoothly showing no sign of stamina shortage.

The fourth record is Brahmas:Symphonies No2 with Celibidanche conducting SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. It is recorded by DG in 1999. With an beautiful piece of violin as the prologue, the stage slowly stretches out both forward and backward. Musical instruments arranged in place, the entire scene is just magnificent. During the middle part, when various pieces of instrument let out the energy all together, the striking force stunning, the signal swiftly changing, the hall is brimming with the sense of music. The sound effec is handsomely outsanding.
Conclusion
When replaying CDs, the integrated tube amplifier has its consistent advantages of tube amplifiers in terms of spectacular scene, warm timber and considerate stamina. As to its weaknesses, I believe its analytic ability is to be mentioned. In presenting musical details such as certain tiny notes, the performance of the machine is mediocre for the the sound only is a bit too thin and lacks the sense of easiness. Generally speaking, given the limitation of pricing and integrated amplifier itself, I would overlook these indistinct shortcomings and regard it as an excellent product. Readers might as well have an audition of it to judge its sound performance by yourself and have your right choice.
Extracted from¡¶AUDIO TECHNIQUE¡·2005.12 author: Alex Lai