Mr Caikexin
As the chairman of the Audio Enthusiast Association, he founded audio magazines such as “Audio Epoch” and “Audio and Records”, wrote a large number of professional articles, and built a platform for the dissemination and exchange of audio knowledge. The “Eighteen Palms of Subduing the Dragon” karate tuning method and the “Fifteen Fists of Subduing the Tiger” bass tuning technique he created have provided practical and effective tuning methods for audio enthusiasts, solved the problems of speaker placement and bass tuning, and his related work “The Secret Book of Tuning” has even become a practical guide for audio lovers.
As the chairman of the Audio Enthusiast Association, he founded audio magazines such as “Audio Epoch” and “Audio and Records”, wrote a large number of professional articles, and built a platform for the dissemination and exchange of audio knowledge. The “Eighteen Palms of Subduing the Dragon” karate tuning method and the “Fifteen Fists of Subduing the Tiger” bass tuning technique he created have provided practical and effective tuning methods for audio enthusiasts, solved the problems of speaker placement and bass tuning, and his related work “The Secret Book of Tuning” has even become a practical guide for audio lovers.
I couldn’t go there during the three-year-long pandemic. Since this year, classes have been held across the country. This time I’m in Shanghai, and General Manager Dai invited me again to come and exchange ideas. After having drunk some Rougui Rock Tea, I warmed up and first set up a pair of small horns. The problem also lies in the toe in. The focus was placed on the Super Dragon’s Roar. Because now, in addition to the original five-channel horn, there are also six 12-inch titanium sandwich cone woofer columns on each side, with high magnetic density excitation. All the pre-amplifiers, power amplifiers, signal sources, and crossovers are independently developed.
This is an extremely vast space, standing six meters in height, ten meters in width, and seventeen meters in depth. The speakers are placed quite far apart (7 meters), avoiding the large screen, and the listening distance is rather substantial (8 meters). First, we turned off the subwoofers and examined the dragon’s roar with the track “Subduing Dragon 18 Palms”. The left – right balance, phase, and polarity were all correct, yet the human voices lacked cohesion, and the cellos and double basses showed a typical dispersed form. Initially, we thought the speakers were placed too far apart and, as a rule of thumb, would have moved the speakers closer together for better focusing. However, upon closer inspection, there was a noticeable toe – in. So, before making any adjustments, we first aligned all the drivers to be straight and parallel left – to – right. Surprisingly, just with this single action, the center height was corrected, the sound images focused, the cellos and double basses took on distinct forms, and they smoothly extended down to 40Hz without a hitch. Moreover, there was a slightly excessive amount of low – frequency. We reduced the output of the bass horns by 2dB, and thus completed the placement of the main speakers. This shows just how detrimental an improper toe – in can be! After straightening the speakers, with a 7 – meter speaker spacing, when listening from the sweet spot, the center sound image had a full – bodied and tangible presence. It can be seen that while horn speakers generally have strong directivity, the horizontal dispersion of this pair is also extremely powerful. Next, we connected the subwoofers and evaluated and adjusted them using the two – track double bass solo from the track “Taming Tiger 15 Fists”. Since the bass strings slanted to the right in the extremely low frequency range, we shifted the right – hand subwoofer 3 centimeters to the left and the left – hand subwoofer 2 centimeters outward. Finally, we reduced the output of each subwoofer by another 2dB, and thus completed the placement of the entire system.
Then we used the ninth and tenth tracks, namely “Heilung” and “Silence is sexy” on Disc 2 of the sixth volume of the most demanding DALI test disc to put it to the test. Among all the behemoth audio systems I’ve ever heard, including four-piece ones, its low-frequency range is the deepest, the most layered, the cleanest, with sufficient volume and excellent elasticity. From the bass to the extremely low frequencies, it can steadily present sounds down to 20Hz without any problem. Presumably, it has few rivals!
The entire system presents purity and authenticity. The absence of sound distortion and coloration is its characteristic. Listening in such a large space and at such a long distance, it offers a relaxed and ample sound. The directness and transparency of the horns, as well as their instantaneous response and resolution, are like a magic mirror that reveals everything. Only with such correct positioning can the recording scenes be fully reproduced. It can be magnificent and powerful, or delicate and melodious, depending on the original recording.