A Hong Kong enthusiast's A/V nirvana

Philip Wong | Jun 12, 2009

(Credit: Raymond Wan)

Last week, we featured a high-powered home theater system from Singapore. Today, we check out an equally impressive Hong Kong setup comprising two separate suites of premium stereo and movie equipment.

In the home theater department, the elaborate ensemble is centered on two THX-certified A/V processors: The Lexicon MC12B and an Integra DTC-9.8 (Read: Onkyo professional line). For optimum performance, these are paired with independent players covering major movie platforms ranging from legacy digital VHS to DVD and Blu-ray. Like its Singapore counterpart, this setup also utilizes multiple subwoofers for "earth-shaking" effects tuned via "bass trap". For the n00b, bass traps are acoustic absorbers or sound baffles that can absorb stray low-frequency sounds.

Home theater system components

Sony VPL-VW80 full-HD projector

Kikuchi SBEI-100 projection screen

OS AM-H100B projection screen

Samsung LA32R51B LCD TV

Integra DTC-9.8 A/V Processor

Lexicon MC-12B A/V Processor

Parasound Halo A23 power amplifier x 2

Marantz DV9500 DVD player

Victor HM-DHX2 DVHS player

Denon DVD 2500 BTCi Blu-ray player

Custom home theater PC

M&K MPS-2510P front and center speakers

M&K MPS-2525 surround speakers

M&K MPS-1525 surround back speakers

M&K MPS-5310 subwoofer

M&K MX-350 subwoofer

SVS PC13-Ultra subwoofer x 2

As for two-channel music, our Hong Konger has taken a purist approach based on high-end Mark Levinson and Krell components. CD playback, for example, is segmented into four stages. A transport reads the disc, while an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC) outputs soundtracks in higher-quality, balanced analog format. The signals are then routed to a preamplifier and two monoblocks (single-channel power amplifier) before they're reproduced using a pair of floorstanding speakers.

Music stereo components

Mark Levinson No.380S preamplifier

Mark Levinson No.30.6 reference processor (DAC)

Mark Levinson No.31.5 reference CD transport

Marantz SA-14 SACD player

Krell FPB 250Mc monoblock x 2

Avalon Ascendant II speakers

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