Melody In Australia - Gtg Organised.

[Phil G]

Thanks for showing me the address David.

I have added the address to the first post of this thread.

At that hour, on-street parking should be fine in Victoria Street and near-by side streets.

[davidsss]

There's a tram running outside the front door, no need to park it either :biggrin:

DS

[Drizt]

Looking forward to tomorrow guys, see you there...

Ill even bring some industrial strength ear muffs for when the vinyl come out.

[LFD]

  Quote

Looking forward to tomorrow guys, see you there...

Ill even bring some industrial strength ear muffs for when the vinyl come out. [/b]

Boys,

I'm starting to think that it may be easier to go to this GTG straight from work.

So

a) Can anybody give me a lift back to the CBD afterwards. (I can walk from the CBD to get there)

or

do you think there is somewhere I can park my pushy? Changing facilties?

c) anybody want to catch up for some Vietnamese before hand?

Cheers

Danton

[Drizt]

Hi Danton,

I have already made plans otherwise I would have taken you up on the offer mate. Hopefully theres others that might be able to help you out

Regards

Drizt

[davidsss]

I'll be coming straight from work but I'll probably just get something to eat at Melbourne Central before I go. I have my vinyl with me at work, maybe I should slip on a nice clean slab of vinyl on while Drizt ain't looking and see if he notices (more to the point we could set it up so the TT is constantly spinning with needle on record so he doesn't know when it's a record). If anyone is offering lifts into the CBD or Southern suburbs I'd be in on that too although public transport is not much hassle for me, I'm used to it.

See Y'all later.

DS

[unclemack]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to offer my apologies for not coming along to the Melody GTG. I have had a busy week or three, my girlfriend and I have purchased a new home and shopfront and so life has been pretty hectic in getting her house prepared for sale. Had to go and paint tonight to prepare for the first open house this weekend. I'm very disappointed that I had to miss this and the opportunity to put faces to names...not to mention the opportunity to hear some lovely tube hi-fi!!!. Oh well, there's always next time, I hope you guys had a great time and didn't miss me too much...

[Drizt]

  Quote

Hi guys,

Just wanted to offer my apologies for not coming along to the Melody GTG. I have had a busy week or three, my girlfriend and I have purchased a new home and shopfront and so life has been pretty hectic in getting her house prepared for sale. Had to go and paint tonight to prepare for the first open house this weekend. I'm very disappointed that I had to miss this and the opportunity to put faces to names...not to mention the opportunity to hear some lovely tube hi-fi!!!. Oh well, there's always next time, I hope you guys had a great time and didn't miss me too much...[/b]

No problems mate

Way to tired to write an in depth post, but thank you very much to WarrickF, Critter and Tony for having us around to listen to the equipment.

Im sure the guys will give their impressions later on (most likely tomorrow).

I enjoyed everyones company, and it was great to meet a few new faces

[Keith_W]

I came by a little bit earlier and spent some time with Warwick, Aaron, Chris, and Graham. It was nice to catch up with Critter again and to meet Aaron, Warwick, and Graham for the first time. My girlfriend commented that Warwick seemed like a real gentleman, and that Aaron loved to take the piss out of me (something he has in common with the other Aaron we know). I also bumped into JohnA, davidsss, Drizt, and Moondog before I had to make the long trek back to Torquay. I would have loved to stay the evening but I had to go ... sorry guys.

I was pretty impressed with the Melody and the WLM's although I did detect a bit of brightness. Young_Skywalker told me that the speakers have not been completely run in yet and they are in a different room, so maybe that was the reason. I would imagine that most of the brightness would disappear with so many bodies in the room, so maybe you guys did not hear it.

By the way, all the guys ate at a Vietnamese place opposite Tommy Wong's. Critter indulged himself in the chilli and was dabbing the sweat off his forehead afterwards. As Young_Skywalker may say ... that chilli was NOT subtle

[Phil G]

Thanks to Warrick, Aaron and Critter for hosting a great night. I enjoyed myself and was again impressed with the Melody valve amps and the WLM speakers. I was also very impressed with much of the music Warrick selected for the demonstration. There was one real hard plucking guitar track which seemed popular amongst the punters.

I was really impressed with the speed and dynamics of the system. I was also impressed that really good sound was achieved in a room so full of people, with (at the start) an integrated amp, and stand mount speakers. The sound got better again when the mono's and pre were called into play, with one of the higher versions of the WLM floorstanders. I had a better seat for the latter demo.

It is great to meet some new faces and I relly like what the Pure Music group is about. I believe their products on offer are really good bang for buck.

My best on ground for the event, was the Melody range of amps.

[Tony C]

A big THANKYOU to Tommy Wong, and all the members of the ure music group for hosting a memerable night with the WLM and Melod gear. I to agree the Melody amplifiers represent exception value for money. A Valve pre with a pair of Monoblocks for under $10K. For me I liked the speed and attack of the stanmounted Diva's and the refinement of the Viola floorstanders and felt a speaker that combined the strengths of the two models would probably be more suitable to my tastes. Young Skywalker with a grin shows me the Gran Viola Monitor in the product catelogue which wasn't available on the night, but for the feelings both speakers gave me, the Gran Viola Monitor would certainly be worth following up in the future.

Thanks for the efforts everybody pt in to making the night a memorable one.

By the way I asked about the availability of a high quality valve headphone amplifier and Pure music group tells me if there was some interest a package order might be possible to put together. Is anybody out there interested in persuing this? Tony C

[davidsss]

Very nice to go and listen to the Melody equipment. Thanks to the organisers and Tommy Wong for the premises.

The Melody amps are certainly impressive. My worry with valve amps is the speed and the Melodys are nice and fast, certainly faster than the consonance from memory but I'll have to compare. I thought the sound was a bit bright for my taste as Keith said above but I think the Epitomes would add a bit in the bottom end and anyway it's very hard to really judge equipment at such an event. The amps certainly went loud but this was with very efficient (98db) speakers so it would be interesting to see how they would go with less efficient speakers.

I go to events like this really to find equipment worth auditioning and see what's out there (oh, and to force Drizt to listen to vinyl ). The Melodys are definitely on my list to give a proper audition when funds allow. I just need to find some other amps to compare them to and then narrow down the choices.

DS

[Drizt]

  Quote

Very nice to go and listen to the Melody equipment. Thanks to the organisers and Tommy Wong for the premises.

The Melody amps are certainly impressive. My worry with valve amps is the speed and the Melodys are nice and fast, certainly faster than the consonance from memory but I'll have to compare. I thought the sound was a bit bright for my taste as Keith said above but I think the Epitomes would add a bit in the bottom end and anyway it's very hard to really judge equipment at such an event. The amps certainly went loud but this was with very efficient (98db) speakers so it would be interesting to see how they would go with less efficient speakers.

I go to events like this really to find equipment worth auditioning and see what's out there (oh, and to force Drizt to listen to vinyl ). The Melodys are definitely on my list to give a proper audition when funds allow. I just need to find some other amps to compare them to and then narrow down the choices.

DS[/b]

Would be interesting to hear a comparison of the melody gear driving your Epitome's compared to the Melody gear. Only a in home demo of each at the same time would provide any conclusive results.

The melody gear is definitely very nice, and I would like to look into it further. I would personally like to hear the melody gear connected to others speakers to see if they are more to my liking

[Keith_W]

  Quote

Would be interesting to hear a comparison of the melody gear driving your Epitome's compared to the Melody gear. Only a in home demo of each at the same time would provide any conclusive results.[/b]

You mean Consonance gear compared to Melody?

BTW, all this is quite easily achievable. We now have quite a few members with valve amps - Opera Audio, Ming Da, Shanling, some DIY, Cary, Nagra, KR Audio. It would be a pretty simple matter to borrow one of these Melody's and ask them to drive a suitable speaker. I could volunteer my amps to test them with.

[Drizt]

  Quote

You mean Consonance gear compared to Melody?[/b]

sure did, slip of the keyboard.

[Super Mustud]

I need to apologise for not turning up. I was stuck in Sydney, and despite having my flight all organised to get back in time I needed to stay a few more hours (got back late at night after a seat at the back of the plane). Look forward to reading impressions over the next few days.

Cheers.

[WarwickF]

Thank you all StereoNET members for making time to come and hear our presentation. We were delighted with the turnout and interest experessed by everyone. We were also extremely humbled by the compliments we received. It was our intention to give people a taste of what we are about, and the philosophy we have in our approach to audio. That is the music comes first and the equipment must serve that. We avoid "trophy hi-fi" and look for true value in the products we select to represent.

We were also delighted in the interest shown in analogue sources with many people bringing their records to play. There is considerable work involved in setting up an analogue source so it was most pleasing that it was well received.

On the night we struggled with a few issues including some brightness with the Diva Monitors, which we had not encountered in domestic settings. These sorts issues are always on the cards in a public demonstration.

The highest implimentation of WLM loudspeakers would be an all active system with external crossover (WLM System Control), separate amplifiers for tweeters and mid-bass and a WLM Duo Subwoofer. Such a system is tuneable for every room or musical taste and would cost significantly less money than many other high end loudspeakers that only offer you a loudspeaker with a passive crossover. Melody amplifiers are so realistically priced that it allows us to build a system of incredible performance for not outrageous money.

Thanks again for attending and we look forward to contact with everyone in the future should you need us.

All the best

Warwick

[k371n]

Thanks to Warwick, Chris, Aaron, Tommy Wong and Alex (?/son of Melody)

for the oppurtunity to listen to your gear

-- WLM speakers, Melody amp + CD, Acoustic Signature tt and the Vesuvius sub (iirc).

oh, I forgot about the cups and wood pieces

Good to see familar faces and meet up with new ones as always :thumbup:

Here are some of my thoughts for the night:

(caveats -- new gear, unfamiliar playlist, mainly to get an idea on how the gear sounds)

* agree w/ some that the Diva monitors were a tad bright when I first listened

to it even when we had some 15 bodies in the room.

Sitting in the 2nd row directly facing the left Diva didn't help.

Maybe it was the recording.

* however, when the 4th or 5th guitar-only song came on, I agree with LD, I liked

the attack on the strings. Very Michael Hedges-like. Fast.

* then there was Rain (African?) which I loved best for the night (need to find the music).

I loved the voices and didn't think it was bright at all. Articulate.

* eventually, I preferred to stand several rows of chairs away, behind to appreciate

the Diva monitors. At one stage during the break, there was a jazz piece playing

and to me it sounded like in a bar, a wine glass in hand, people chatting away,

and there at one of the room a jazz band was playing away. I like.

* I asked Warwick to replay the guitar-only song with the Violas(or was it Lyras) w/ the

Melody pre/power amps (not sure which). Not as aggresive and fast. Very smooth.

I preferred a more intimate listening position with these.

I didn't spend much time with this setup.

  Quote

By the way ... a high quality valve headphone amplifier ... interested in persuing this?[/b]

Yes please.

I've asked Warwick about the Yamamoto HA-02 before this event.

http://www2.117.ne.jp/~y-s/index-e.html

Aaron (Young Skywalker) runs a 2-watter A-08 with his Zu Defs.

Beautifully hand-crafted amps especially if you're into wood.

Just need to listen to one before deciding.

Thanks Aaron for your offer to listen to your gear.

Maybe next time when I'm in Sydney.

enjoy

kevin_

[Keith_W]

As I mentioned I turned up early and spent some time there chatting to Aaron, Chris, and Warwick. They were still busy setting up the system, AND I did not bring my CD's. Still kicking myself for not formally putting my name down to attend. I came along because I wanted to meet up with the guys rather than do any serious hi-fi listening.

But still, tracks were played and I can not help but listen. I do not think I got a very fair impression of the system because the guys were still moving things around. Oh, and SOME of the tracks that were played (good old schmaltzy Cantopop) would make any system sound bad These certainly sound very different to the OTHER maker of high sensitivity dual concentric speakers which I had a chance to listen to earlier in the week.

The WLM speakers are certainly very well made. Aaron pointed out the grain on the veneer - a horizontal line is continued as a vertical line. No grain mismatch here. Oh, and a little burl of wood on the left speaker was replicated identically on the right speaker. Attention to detail was almost obsessive.

Tommy Wong has a very interesting shop. I noticed some spare 300B's lying around - a Cetron, an Elektro-Harmonix, and a Full Music balloon 300B. He also has a wide selection of Chinese DVD's and music. We bought a couple of DVD's (to keep the woman entertained) and I might be back to pick up some 300B's. He also sells Shunyata power conditioners ... wouldn't mind borrowing some of those to try. Website is Focus Sound and Vision. BTW Tommy, if you are reading this, I wouldn't mind getting in contact with some of your other customers whom you have sold ProAc's to.

[davidsss]

  Quote

Would be interesting to hear a comparison of the melody gear driving your Epitome's compared to the Melody gear. Only a in home demo of each at the same time would provide any conclusive results.

The melody gear is definitely very nice, and I would like to look into it further. I would personally like to hear the melody gear connected to others speakers to see if they are more to my liking [/b]

Absolutely. I think the melodys would sound very nice with my Epitomes. I also want to hear the Ming Da amps, I saw one at the shop so I'm wondering if he sells them (I'll look it up on the link Keith provided).

DS

[Keith_W]

  Quote

Absolutely. I think the melodys would sound very nice with my Epitomes. I also want to hear the Ming Da amps, I saw one at the shop so I'm wondering if he sells them (I'll look it up on the link Keith provided).[/b]

Coemaudio (a sponsor of SNA) also sells them.

[davidsss]

The Ming Da's don't appear on Tommy Wong's site. I know Coem sell them but they are in Brisbane aren't they? Is anyone planning a gtg to demo the Ming Da stuff (hint, hint)? The trouble at the moment is that I don't know anywhere local to audition them.

DS

[veejo]

Should put in my thanks.

Bit of an eye opener, I will take a plunge on the valves, but where to spend the first $$'s. I also found the small speakers a bit topend and mid range bright. They did have brillaint attack and were very clean in their sound. But after hearing unclemacks VAFs, the VAFS have such a smooth, firm, extended bass, bass with a sub woofer seems to be a solution to a space problem after hearing those. But the floor standing WLF ?? units were great. The driver looked the same, and I'd be curious to know if was the same driver in a different enclosure, or different driver between the stand / boookshelf models and the floor standing. I guess I love ribbon and electrostatics for mid range, they just have such presence, should have bought those martin logans someone sold a few months ago :-(

The melody amps seem very good value for money, and they seem to have a product for every taste (and budget). I will have to drop by for an audition when they aren't busy, they're only 4 kms from home.

[Young Skywalker]

I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the StereoNet members who attended the Pure Music Group GTG at Tommy Wong's shop in Abbotsford. Your good spirits and love of music made all of the hard work worthwhile and it was certainly great to put some faces to names.

In response to veejo's question regarding the midrange driver used in the WLM Lyra it is in fact an 8" paper cone whereas the smaller Diva Monitor and the floorstanding Diva speakers use a 10" paper cone driver with a centrally positioned tweeter, ie, a coaxial arrangement.

I feel that the perceived difference in tonal balance would likely be related to the superior Super PAC tweeter module in the Lyra compared to the central coaxial tweeter in the Diva. The Diva with its larger coaxial midrange driver has the edge in "drive" presumably due to the greater cone area.

My favourite speaker from the WLM range is the Grand Viola Signature Monitor which has a 10" paper cone midrange driver (similar to that used in the Diva Monitor but without the coaxial tweeter) and the top mounted Super PAC tweeter module of the Lyra. A subwoofer would be mandatory for those wishing to explore the bottom octaves in a good sized room and WLM's DUO 15 would fill that role nicely while providing an aesthetic match with the gorgeous veneer of the main speakers. This is by no means a cheap setup and I am not trying to push this product in a commercial sense, it is simply what I would buy from the WLM stable if finances were ample.

Aaron

[davidsss]

  Quote

I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the StereoNet members who attended the Pure Music Group GTG at Tommy Wong's shop in Abbotsford. Your good spirits and love of music made all of the hard work worthwhile and it was certainly great to put some faces to names.

In response to veejo's question regarding the midrange driver used in the WLM Lyra it is in fact an 8" paper cone whereas the smaller Diva Monitor and the floorstanding Diva speakers use a 10" paper cone driver with a centrally positioned tweeter, ie, a coaxial arrangement.

I feel that the perceived difference in tonal balance would likely be related to the superior Super PAC tweeter module in the Lyra compared to the central coaxial tweeter in the Diva. The Diva with its larger coaxial midrange driver has the edge in "drive" presumably due to the greater cone area.

My favourite speaker from the WLM range is the Grand Viola Signature Monitor which has a 10" paper cone midrange driver (similar to that used in the Diva Monitor but without the coaxial tweeter) and the top mounted Super PAC tweeter module of the Lyra. A subwoofer would be mandatory for those wishing to explore the bottom octaves in a good sized room and WLM's DUO 15 would fill that role nicely while providing an aesthetic match with the gorgeous veneer of the main speakers. This is by no means a cheap setup and I am not trying to push this product in a commercial sense, it is simply what I would buy from the WLM stable if finances were ample.

Aaron[/b]

It's one of those funny things isn't it. It's always the really expensive model which one likes the best

Have to live within one's finances I suppose.

DS