Another beautiful home situated at the east side and we were greeted by this serious setup (hi-fi, home-theatre) owned by Mr. Facebook and his family in the living room. Facebook is one lucky chap who could share and enjoy music with the rest of his family (note: most audiophiles stay in their cocoon little room).
Wilson Benesch speakers, Macintosh pre and power amps (those big blue meters), Wadia CDP, Acoustic Signature turntable and many others
Facebook upgraded from the Acoustic Signature Rega arm (RB250) to Origin Live Illustrious Mk3C. In terms of tonearm performance jump, this is not a low jump but three steps jump.
We first listened to the original Rega arm to get a feel of its sound before we took some 2 hours to be completely happy with the new arm/cart/table setup. Upon the first few bars of playing the first LP, Facebook immediately noticed the improved resolution, musicality and refinement of his rejuvenated analogue front-end.
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Origin Live tonearm uses threaded base and would fit any Rega based mount without any modification. Seen here, the arm is fastened by the arm base collar. The Illustrious Mk3C is a full-fledged high-end tonearm and adjustments like VTA, anti-skate are all provided.
Origin Live Illustrious Mk3C and Grado Reference cart expertly mounted and aligned by Modular Audio :-) Note: Our apology for this poor photograph. The actuals are way prettier.
Katie Melua’s “Nine Million Bicycles” raced first in Facebook’s Wadia digital player. The panel’s impression was - OK, nice. Next, needle drops into the groove and midway through the song... Referee blew his whistle declaring bicycle race over. Walkover, NO contest. Vinyl won in all departments.
Before we set off, we did one last face-off. One of vinyl fan’s favourite test tracks is Side A track 4. Detail wise, this Gold CD comes close to vinyl production but in the vocal department, Chye Chin’s voice has a heightened realism almost in flesh and blood. Facebook has reaffirmed his music format of choice
