Stereopal Featured System: Hill from L.A

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Date: Dec 10, 2007

The finest display of the use of Ebony or what others call "Shun Mook"....... .Stereopal Admin

Hill's previous vinyl setup.

When I first visited A.D Lui many years ago, he introduced me to a group of audiophiles who seems to have one thing in common, they like to tweak their system with Ebony. I'm literally talking about wood here, and they must be either Macasar or Gibon Ebony.

From record clamp, audio rack, cartridge headshell, cable stand, to speaker cones, we see an extensive use of this magical wood here. Ebony when utilized properly, have the magical effect of adding "musicality" and "texture" to the sound of a system. The effect is further reinforced by the placement of musical instruments such as violins and violas in the room. They interact with the sound waves coming out of the speaker, adding a pleasant resonance and decay to the sound.

Am I a believer ? All I can say is, I now use Ebony extensively throughout my own system. I'll leave the debate to the skeptics.

It is my pleasure to present to you Hill Yau's system.

	System Components:

	Preamp:	Audio Research Reference 2
	Phono:	Audio Research Reference Phono
	Power Amp:	Lamm Industries ML-1
	Tonearm:	SAEC Tonearm
	Cartridge:	Shum Mook Reference
	Cables:	All Shunmook products, including speaker cable, interconnects, and power cords
	CD Player:	Pioneer CD, heavily modified
	Record Clamp:	Shun Mook Record Clamp
	Speaker:	Focal JMlabs Nova Utopia

Hill's Comments:

"The various tweaks you see in the room are guided by the principles practiced by tonemeister Dr. Tan (A master of the Shun Mook audio clan) . I shall share with you some of his insights:

When tweaking a listening room, always remember the so-called "Sing Along" principle. Any object that sits in the room sings with your system. To better understand what this is all about, you can do a little experiment to prove the point.

Bring into the room a little object, such as a metal kettle or any similar thing, then play a cut of music and memorize what it sounds like. Then remove the object away from room, and play the same track again. You will be surprised what difference can it make with that little innocent looking thing sitting with you in the listening room !

So anything in the room does sing along. There are many bad sounding materials, such as metal, granite, tiles etc. Good things, such as musical instruments and wood the latter consists of many different kind, such as maple, oak, pine, ebony.........., Put them into the room will always bring pleasure to your ears. On the other hand, metal is the worst enemy of all. It is because they all ring loudly and resulting in bad sound! The less metal left in the room the better. "

So much for now, happy listening".................Hill Yau