CD Transport

Audiolab 8000CDM

Digital to Analogue Converter

Audiolab 8000DAC

Price (Retail)

Audiolab 8000CDM - RM 4,900 / £ 1,400

Audiolab 8000DAC - RM 2,890 / £ 900

Reviews

8000CDM - Highly Recommended in the 1996 Awards. As close as you'll get to perfect music making - WHAT HI-FI? (Oct 96)

8000DAC - Highly Recommended in the 1996 Awards. Bass has enormous punch, exemplary control at the top - WHAT HI-FI? (Oct 96)

"Both Anthony and I concur that the CDM/DAC represents one of the best CD-playing systems at the price. During the course of my experiments, the Audiolabs have been pitted against a variety of machines from Britain, Japan, Europe and the United States -- only once or twice were they bested, and that too by exemplary products well beyond the Audiolabs' price levels." - Sujesh Pavithran, Audiofile monthly pullout, The Star (Aug 96)

Click here to see review by AudioFile

I finally bid farewell to my old Sony CDP-591 CD Player which was beginning to show signs of old age and switched to the Audiolab 8000CDM/DAC combo, possibly one of the better CD playing machines I have ever heard at about RM 7,000 after trying out various other players such as Micromega Stage 3, Micromega T-Drive/T-DAC, Marantz CD63Se, Marantz CD-17 and Meridian 506. The transport is hooked to the DAC via the digital coaxial cable provided with the system. I am looking into the possibility of improving the sound even further by experimenting with different types of cables.

The latest news that got me excited (and I mean REALLY excited) is the acquisition of Audiolab by McLaren and TAG (YES! read Team McLaren and TAG Heuer). Being a fan of Audiolab's range of audio products, collector of Tag Heuer watches and let's just say "hopeful" owner of a McLaren F1 Roadcar (probably in my next lifetime!), I just can't wait to have the first glimpse of TAG McLaren Audio's (Yes, that's what Audiolab is known as now) new F3 range of products. Rumour has it that it was designed by the very same man who designed the McLaren F1 Roadcar.

Mission 753

Power Rating: 150Watts RMS Max

Price (Retail): RM 3,500 / £ 780

Review: Huge sound; detailed, sweet and controlled. Serious sound for (almost) sensible money - WHAT HI-FI? (Jan 97)

These used to be Mission's flagship model and winner of the European Speakers of the Year Award until they were replaced at the top by Mission 754 Freedoms recently. They look gorgeous but be careful when lifting them as they weigh 50kg. (I got a permanent scar on my body from a scratch as a complement from its carpet piercing spikes) Maybe that's their way of telling me that I will certainly not forget them!

They would certainly benefit from powerful amplification to sound their best. Pre-power amps are the absolute minimum required to drive them. I used to drive them using only my Arcam Delta 290 integrated amplifier but I found it running out of breath especially at higher volume levels. Adding the Delta 290P power amplifier for bi-amping solved this problem. Look at them and you'd almost be certain that they're shouting BIG AMPS at you...

Click here to go to Mission's homepage

Interconnects

Audioquest Emerald

Price (Retail)

£ 150 per metre pair

Reviews

Good all-round music cable, amazingly detailed and transparent - WHAT HI-FI? (Jul 95)

These go from the integrated to the power amplifiers. I haven't been experimenting with interconnects yet as they are quite costly.

Puresonic

Price (Retail)

About RM 100 (Not sure because it has been a long time)

These are used to connect the DAC to the integrated amplifier. I am not too sure about their performance because I have not had the opportunity to compare them to any other models though I plan to upgrade them to van den Hul's The First interconnects in the future.

Speaker Cables

van den Hul The Wind Mk. II

Price (Retail)

£ 40 per metre

Reviews

Control and finesse, music is more exactly timed, taking on accuracy of a quartz clock! - WHAT HI-FI? (Mar 94)

These are ordinary looking cables but they sound really good. The most noticeable differences upon the first listen are the openness and clarity. These cables are perfectly capable of handling all kinds of music.

Panasonic DVD-A300

Price (Retail)

RM 2,000

This is a modified player that plays software from all regions. DVD software are region-specific. For example, a Region 1 software will not play on a player meant for another region. There is still lack of software titles but there are limited American titles (Region 1) being sold in Malaysia and DVDs are almost non-existent in Europe at this point of time.

Sony MDP A-800K

Price (Retail)

RM 2,700

This was Sony's flagship model years ago with many cool features though it may be a bit sensitive at times, refusing to play warped discs. The manufacturer claims that it has the fastest autoreverse mechanism in the world but I don't know how far it is true. LD players are slowly being replaced by variants that play other formats such as VCD or even DVDs.

Component Manufacturers

Dynaudio

Danish loudspeaker manufacturer. See some of the most impressive sounding speakers here. Products worth mentioning are the Dynaudio Audience 10 loudspeakers. Prices range from about RM 3,000 upwards for small bookshelf models.

Krell

Makers of some of the BEST amplifiers and CD Players in the world. See their dream machines inside. Prices start from about RM10,000 for their cheapest integrated amplifier, the KAV 300i.

Madrigal Audio Labs

The makers of famed components bearing the Mark Levinson and Proceed names. See their famous amplifiers, CD Players and Home Theatre systems here. I'm not sure about the prices but they should range from the RM 20,000 territory upwards to about RM 70,000.

Meridian

British makers of a audio and video electronics ranging from amplifiers, CD Players, Surround Processors and loudspeakers. See one of the most radical designs of loudspeakers in the market. Prices range from about RM 6,000 upwards.

Mission/Cyrus

Read about this British manufacturer's range of loudspeakers and electronics from its sister company, Cyrus. Products worth a mention are the Mission 750LE, 752 and 753 loudspeakers and Cyrus III amplifier and Cyrus DAD7 CD Player. Prices start at about RM 1,000 for bookshelf loudspeakers and RM 3,500 for amplifiers.

Monitor Audio

British loudspeaker manufacturer. Check out the Monitor Audio Studio 20SE and Studio 50 loudspeakers while you are there. Prices start from about RM 2,000 for their low end lines.

Cable Manufacturers

Kimber Kable

Read about their interesting line-up of cables including the Model 88 - "The Black Pearl" which must be the MOST expensive speaker cables in the world at about USD 18,000 per metre! Definitely worth a look even if you are not buying it!!

Nordost

Check out the famous Nordost Flatline and high-end SPM Reference cables here.

WireWorld

Another cable manufacturer whose products are definitely worth a look.

Audio and AV Magazines

AudioFile & AV

Malaysian Hi-Fi and Audio/Video weekly pullout from The Star. Highly recommended site featuring equipment reviews, humour classifieds and more. There is something for everyone in this site which is updated weekly.

Stereophile

Magazine featuring mostly high-end audio products. Contains interesting and enlightening articles for music lovers. The street price of this monthly magazine which is about RM 31 is way too expensive for most people so it is worth checking out their website.

What Hi-Fi?

An interesting Hi-Fi and Home Theatre magazine for the layman. Interesting articles and reviews of the latest and best audio and video equipment.

Miscellaneous

Dolby Laboratories Inc.

Official homepage of Dolby Labs. Read about the latest technology in sound encoding for movies here.

DTS (Digital Theater System)

Read about the format used for encoding soundtracks of major blockbuster movies.

DVD

Interesting links to DVD related sites.

THX

Tomlinson Holman Experiment, what started as a sound system developed in 1982 during the production of Return of the Jedi is now used in the BEST theatres in the world. Read about this exciting sound system and see a listing of THX certified cinemas around the world.