THE SOUND OF MUSICHow amazing it is to me, that a week ago I had my first visit to the 'Subterranean Lair' and as awestruck that I already was, this afternoon, I had a chance to finally step into the 'Imperial Lair' or 'The Emperor's Music Palace. It is one, literally. To say I was awestruck now becomes an understatement. I was speechless just seeing a house built specially for the sake, and love of music. The green lawn in front of the 'music house' gives it such a cool character. And I had not even entered the 'room'.
Upon entering the room, I am chilled by the 20 degree centralized aircon, there were dim lights reminiscent of those warm cozy pubs, so much so that upon enter I could not see the Emperor but I could hear him calling me, much to my consternation.
Finally I located him and took a moment to 'size up' the room. 14 feet high ceiling! 8.5m. W x 12.5mL room! 106 square meters! More than twice my room's size.
Space, space, space! And space is what the VR-11SEs need and want. They breath, and they emote accordingly. The power amps that drive the speakers are beastly too. 450 tubes watts for the mid/highs, and 800 watts for the mid bass, and thousands of watts (I lost track) for the 4 15" back firing subwoofers. The weight of each tower is close to 700 pounds! The Emperor has long studied the bi-amping of this system and had carefully mated them to into a seamless sound, from top to bottom. It is amazing.
THE MUSIC:
The Emperor put in a Columbia/SAX classical orchestral piece, and I was mesmerized instantly with the eerie presentation that reminded me of live performances I had attended in the past. The stage is spooky, with instruments floating in air, and musicians playing their instruments clearly and concisely. It is rare to hear such precision in such LARGE SCALE, that is the main difference here with others I have heard. The music is laid back, relaxed yet there is a sense of it communicating with the listener. It grips you without 'bite' nor calling your attention. It simply conveys. Again, I have to put my thinking caps on, which is what I have feared since entering the Subterranean Lair. I knew it would happen somehow.
The seamless-ness of the music is not only top to bottom but lateral, from left to right - the instruments that sprout out are so balanced from left to right it looked like a scripted presentation. And that was just listening to the first piece.
Next, I requested to play an O.W.N record, DNA-linked to me, that is, it leaves with me wherever I go.
PIG'S EYE JAZZ. A record quite obscure but so advanced in its time. I know it has to be played in a full range dynamic system to fully appreciate its qualities. My 'half-range' Maggies are not up to the task. I want to hear it in a 'Stealth-like' system. Fast and furious. And lo and behold, at the drop of the Da Vinci cartridge, the recording sprung to like. Dixieland New Orleans type of jazz. You remember the 'steamboat', you remember the Disneyland parades that played this kind of music. It's as real as it gets. The tuba, trombone, bass clarinet, piano, drums, guitar all came to life, sequence by sequence and note by note. The delineation is so spectacularly clear. The music is rhythmic and next thing I heard was the Emperor was about to 'de-own' the Pig's Eye but I had to profess the sanctity of the DNA-OWN rule.
It was an utterly impressive presentation, coming from the system. We had to hear the record 3 times, on different analog combinations, to size up the character of the recording. There was one that clearly stood out.
And time came for the mids to be heard. None other than an original 6-eye CBS Johnny Mathis 'Heavenly' was put to the task. On the Koetsu Blue Lace, without the need for self-inhibition,
the verdict simply was 'heavenly'. The smoothness reminded me of the quality of an electrostatic loudspeaker, such transparency and musicality as the singing went on. Liquid sunlight. My final request was to play an all-time favorite, a Nimbus Supercut of Dave Grusin's Mountain Dance. Everything was in there, it's almost like one can 'see' the musicians in the studio, a 'you-are-there' feeling. There was never a point where the details would jump into the listener, thereby calling attention to itself, yet the musical details were there, with terrific top to bottom cohesion, and clearly portraying the keyboard wizardry of Dave Grusin and the rest of his gang. Wow. And the afternoon had to end, as quickly as it started, and hopefully until the next session. These are just my initial insights, and I wanted to put them through lest I forget them. I always say first impression lasts. And this is my first impression of the VR-11SE, a magnificent work of art and engineering, able to convey what is in the source material, faithfully and accurately. My thanks to the Emperor for graciously hosting me to an unforgettable afternoon to the sound of music.