Tokyo Show 2009

The official unofficial Tokyo Show thread starts here!



Not sure what we're going to get this year. Hopfully Tenson's speaker project will be in a demo, other than that...

It's held every year at the Tokyo International Forum near Tokyo station.


Leaving now...

 

Streuth that international forum looks like something from I robot.

 

Hey Joel, do you think you'll be bicycling much in 2011?

 

Hi Markus,
No cycling for me. Verboten by madame (and can you blame her!), but also my right knee wouldn't cope too well with the stress of cycling. Did you have something in mind?

I spent all day at the show yesterday, and have lots of photos that I'm working on right now. It was great to go on the Friday. Less crowding and lower volumes made for a much more enjoyable experience than in the past, and allowed for a different perspective on quite a lot of the kit, too. Although by later in the afternoon the crowds and the volume had returned in many places.

In any case a day of solid audio nerdery. Might return later today to check out the rooms I missed yesterday...

 

Excellent pic. Is that an Olympos on an Amadeus?

I am toying with the thought of coming to see you again. 2010 won't work, but 2011 might.

 

Amadeus, yes. Olympos, nooo...

Excellent. I promise to be up and walking next time Am toying with the idea of a visit over there in early 2010 - around February - let's coordinate.

Still working on the photos. Pinot noir is required.
didn't get to go today, and I missed the Jean Hiraga room, which is a shame.

 

Jean Hiraga's room probably went up in smoke again......

Was Digital Do Main There with their DAC and V FET amps?

 

New Lyra cart, then? Haven't seen that colour before.

 

No chance of incendiary in Hiraga's room this year. They were using Air Tight amps
Digital DoMain was there, and I had a good listen. Impressions and photos will go up today, hopefully (photos are easy to take, but require much time and Bergundy to sort out afterwards...). The amps all say "Made in Hammamatsu" which is code for made in the same place we used to make the Yamaha amps in. Me like.
Markus; all will be revealed... at least to the extent I understood what Jonathan was talking about.

 

Lyra

Lyra's distributor in Japan is Scantech Hanbai who also distribute Sonics loudspeakers, Graham arms, Spiral Groove and Well Tempered Lab TTs in addition to their in-house Amphion line of amplification. Oh and Connoisseur Definitions, too. This year there was no Connoisseur on display and amplification was provided by Amphion (and the mad Glass Master toob amps).

As usual the sub system is built around the Sonics Anima speaker, this year with the funkiest stands I've seen in quite while... There's an WT Amadeus on top and I don't remember what amplification. Didn't get to hear it this time, but the sound is usually pretty good in what is a difficult position.


The speakers are bolted to the top plate, which balances on a single spike and repeated at the bottom with the base. The whole affair is held in place by metal rigging.


It wobbles!


The big news from Lyra is the Delos cartridge, which will replace the Dorian. Listened to on the Phantom / Spiral Groove, the sound was absolutely fine. This is not faint praise; what I heard was even and natural-sounding. The strength of the Yen may impact the price in some markets when it goes on sale.


Jonathan Carr - for it is he - is very proud of the new design. A lot of thought has gone into making this "budget" cart. Anodized aluminium casing, simplicity for ease of manufacture, lots of cost is taken out, but plenty of thought has been put in...


Notice anything?


Sonics Allegria with Amphion monoblocks in use, and the Glassmaster amps rising vertically above it all. Sounded good as usual. Scantech don't turn the volume up too much on the whole. Sensible chaps.

 

Denon and McIntosh

Denon


After Scantech, it's up to the top floor where there are only two exhibitors: Denon and McIntosh, which is in fact really only the one, since McIntosh is part of D&M Holding, the holding company created from the merger of Denon and Marantz.
So, seventh heaven or seventh circle...

As it turned out, not a lot was going on in the Denon room when I visited. The temporary partition between Denon and McIntosh provided no insulation.


Several sets of rather awkwardly setup Dali speakers with two sets of Denon amps and SACDPs.


On the left, PMA2000SE amp with DCD1650SE SACD. On the right Denon's TotL PMA-SX amp and DCD-SX SACD player. As usual it's the "budget" 2000 and 1650 models that get useful goodies: tone controls for the amp, USB input for the 1650. At current exchange around 1k UKP each. For the SX series at around 5k UKP each, sir gets no tone controls, no USB inputs, but he does get digital inputs on the SACD for other "proper" sources.



Oh yes, and gorgeous wood side cheeks. Stunning


PMA2000 internals. This side input circuit and eq, that side the power section.

How does it sound? No idea, although I've listened to plenty of Denon and Dali in my time. No doubt it's all fine.


McIntosh

McIntosh Labs President Charlie Randall was on hand (as every year...) to present the latest and greatest from the storied US manu.
New this year are a new mono toob amp, a two-box pre that comes in valve and toob variations, an update to the "mid range" M6600 integrated, a new SACD player and a "power controller". Whatever. It's all gorgeous except for the TT, which isn't.
Sadly, it's also quite tricky to photograph dark equipment in dark rooms, so I don't have too much photographic evidence to share.


This is the new MC2301 mono power amp from the top. It's big and shiny. McIn know their audience.

I like McIn, and fortunately for the company so do an awful lot of Japanese - and not just died-in-the-wool audiophiles. This is the reason there is still a McIntosh and it is still made in New jersey.

D&M also own the famous Snell speaker brand (acquired as part of Boston acoustics IIRC).

THe big speakers on the side are Snell A1s, apparently. Don't know the name of the ones on the inside, though this is what was being demo'd. Shame as the sound was really rather good - - even at the back.



Part of the reason it sounded good was that the volume was kept under control. The reading above gives an indication of volume from where I was listening at the back of the room. Not only was the volume bearable, but it didn't excite the room overly. Not sure the Snells would work chez moi, but there didn't seem too much wrong with them or with the McIntosh kit. Even the TT sounded pretty good.

The seventh floor was closer to heaven than purgatory. The seventh circle would have to until rather later in the day...

 

A proper HiFi show! Thanks Joel.

 

Those speakers look very different to the Snells of old.

I will own a big McIn amp one day - even if only to switch on and look at the lights and meters

 

Cheers Dev, working on the next installment as I write. There's a long way to go yet...
Rob: Snell in name only AFAICT. The sound seemed good though. I was surprised. I'm with you on McIn, but it actually sounds as fine as it looks, and comes with lots of useful stuff like lots of inputs, adjustable trim on input channels and really good tone controls.

 

Esoteric / Tannoy

And so descend to floor the 6th (the show goes down to floor 4). moving from left to right, we commence with the VLTR or Very Large Tannoy Room. In the past this was room for the even larger Avantgarde bass horns, but no more.
Tannoy's über successful importer is TEAC, or ESOTERIC as they like to be called these days ;-) So let's start with the new SACDP AZ-1s and...

...me, hard at work.
This is the AZ-1s, successor to the AZ-1. It's not clear how this differs from its predecessor, but no doubt it's all new and jaw-droppingly improved. What's to like are what look to be USB, two RCA coax, TOSLINK and AES EBU 110Ω digital inputs, as well as external clock links (but why, oh let's not go there), and the relatively restrained price (for ESOTERIC) of about 350,000 JPY - or a bit more than some ESOTERIC elephant cock cables. This and the partnering integrated AZ-1s were not on demo, but I've listened to the old models at length, and guess what... they're fine.


VPI were also present in the room, but not one of the decks seemed to be setup to play. The impression given is that analogue is a something of an afterthought for ESOTERIC.


The heart of the room are the speakers, and this year we had - yet again - Tannoy Canterburys in premier position. The demonstrator tried to break some preconceptions about the Tannoys by not playing big orchestral music. He got points for that from me, although Bryn Terfel managed to hang, draw and quarter Summertime before gutting it and consigning the stinking remains to the dustbin. He should stick to lieder.
In the context of Tannoy Japan, the next choice of a ... gasp... Beatles song was revolutionary. Unfortunately, it was something or other from Help (stereo remaster) and almost completely lacking in bass. Though somehow still rather boomy
Lacking in bass is not something I ever thought I would say in connection with the Canterbury. Something rather amiss there, then.
Maybe it was this obvious lack that caused so many of the old far, sorry, mature gentlemen to walk out during the demo.
Bah, but kudos to Tannoy for trying.
I have no idea what the sources were, but no doubt très cher and muy grande.
Didn't get to hear the Definitions. Shame.

 

Terrific photo's Joel and what a beautiful building, you don't have a link to the manufacturer of Glass master amps do you?
Keith.

 

It's Lyra.

 

Thanks M, do they have a separate website for the amps?
Keith.

 

....and the best we brits can do is Wittlebury hall!

 

I believe it's a low-key, Japan-only effort. Very expensive.