Richard is a full-time investment manager who lives in 4 countries. He spends his time mostly in Asia, but you can also find him in Park City, New Jersey and Portugal. His journey started when he was 12 years old, when little boys were playing with their Apple II computers or roaming the playground, Richard was spinning vinyl on his Luxman system and a JBL Speaker. Music and audio pretty much stuck with him his entire life, and he has built a big part of his social life around audio and music.
Richard does not believe audio to be a seclusive hobby. In 2003, Richard started Stereopal.com, which later turned into the Great Toronto Area Audiophile Club, it is now one of the most active audiophile groups in Canada. Contrary to most audiophiles, Richard does not believe high fidelity to be the ultimate goal in high-end audio. He believes that People are the ultimate goal. Two people listening to music together is more fun than one, and three is better than two. When music brings people together, and people become friends, that for him is the ultimate goal of an audiophile.
This does not mean audio will become mediocre when it comes to my pursuit of high fidelity, in fact when friends get along, the combined knowledge of a group of people will open doors to better methods, better skills, better sounds, but most importantly, better relationships between people.
Audio and music have been a blessing to Richard, as he has met more people through audio than anywhere else in life, which is why he continues actively promote his audio club.
Richard has been writing reviews for about 10 years. He is currently the resident Analog Editor at Mono & Stereo, and Analog Master at TONEAudio. Richard’s focus is with analog audio, he has set up over 2500+ turntable cartridges in his lifetime, and he is the developer for the cartridge setup software AnalogMagik.
System Objective:
To recreate music as close to live music as possible. Richard room’s, however, is not designed for solo listening although he does have a “sweet spot”. He wanted his dedicated room to resemble a comfortable living space where he can enjoy music together with his family and his friends, which is why he has built a wine cellar to the left and an open bar to the right. Many in the industry have been invited to Richard’s listening parties, which he believed to be much more fun than solo listening.
The dimension of the room measures 17.5″ x 29.5″ x 9′.
Music:
Richard has approx. 10000 LPs, the majority being classicals, including a complete collection of DECCA Originals. He also enjoys folk, indie rock, and some folk music. Jazz, however, is not his thing. He also has a music library with 320,000 songs, a non-stop 24/7 playback will take 9.5 years to complete.
Turntable Setup:
- Turntables: TW Raven AC, JC Verdier La Platine Vintage, Rossner & Sohn Das Forumslaufwerk No. 26, Micro Seiki 5000 with flywheel
- Tonearms: SME 3012 V1, V2, V3, Rossner & Sohn Si1.2, DaVinci Virtu, DaVinci Grandezza, Schroder Reference, Graham Phantom 2 Supreme B52, Reed 3P, Primary Control, Supreme Analog Tangenta.
- Cartridge: My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent BC, Kondo IO-M x 2, Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement, ZYX Optimum 1 Ohm, Lyra Olympos, Phasemation PP-1000, Dynavector XV-1T, Ortofon SPU Reference, My Sonic Lab Signature Platinum.
- Phono Stage: Audio Research Reference 3, Audio Research Reference 2SE, McIntosh MP1100, Tenor Phono 1, 6 Chassis CH Precision P1x (4 units) + X2 (2 units), Kondo M7 + KSL, and more
Digital Setup:
- EMM Labs CD-SA SE
- Oppo Sonica x 2
- McIntosh CD Players galore, from MCD7000 to modern ones (2nd System)
- Oppo 103/105 (3rd System)
Amplification/Pre-Amp:
- McIntosh C1000 Tube Preamp
- McIntosh MC2KW
- McIntosh MC2301
- McIntosh MC3500 x 4
2nd System: McIntosh MC240x 2, MC30x 2, MC225 x 2 with C22 Vintage Preamp
3rd System: DIY 6BX7 amplifier with Elekit TU-8500 Preamp
Speakers:
- Peak Consult Dragon Legend
- Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand (2nd System)
- Klipsch La Scala Version 1 (3rd System)
Cables:
- Interconnects: Purist Aqueous Auries
- Speaker Cables: Purist Venustas
- Power Cords: Furutech FP-Alpha 3
Power Conditioner:
- McIntosh MP3500
- Equitech 2Q (2nd System)
