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Older news - January, 2005

Normally, this time of year, I would write to everyone wishing them a happy New Year. Given the tragedy that occurred in South East Asia which took the lives of over 150,000 souls, I would like to express my heartfelt sorrow to the people who lost their loved ones and property.  I received letters from many people who were concerned about us.  Being in Bangkok, we didn't hear anything until I read the news on the Internet.  My wife and daughter know people who were traveling in the South of Thailand and I also know people who not only live in Southern Thailand but also people who live in Sri Lanka and Penang.  My prayers are with these people.

Here in Bangkok, we had no sign of what happened other than watching the news.  I have been to many of the places devastated and it was shocking to see the destruction.  The news accounts here claim that the Thai rescue workers have done a spectacular job and I am sure that their efforts have saved many people.

Jazz in the City

One of my favorite events in Bangkok is the now annual Jazz festival.  Last year, I wrote about the Jazz festival and how great it was to see such a great lineup of artists coming to Thailand.  This year, the lineup was even more spectacular -- if not a bit heavy on sax players.  The Jazz Festival takes place in a large park near the government house. The setting is really spectacular.  The Bangkok Jazz festival was a huge success.  Everyone I know who attended plans to attend next year as well.  Last year's event was a three day event.  This year was a two day event but next year will go back to a three day event. 

The price for the ticket is very low for the quality of entertainment.  This year's ticket was $50.00 USD for both days or $30.00 USD for one day. 

Below is the program for the two day event.

18 December 2004 :
16:00-16:45
 CU Band
1
45
17:00-18:30
James Taylor Quartet
2
75
18:45-19:45
Koh Saxman & all stars
1
60
20:00-21:15
Minaswing
2
90
21:30-23:00
David Sanborn
1
90
23:15-24:45
Al Jarreau
2
90
19 December 2004 :
16:00-16:45
Mahidol Band
1
45
17:00-18:15
URB
2
75
18:30-19:30
Infinity & all stars
1
60
19:45-21:15
Sadao Watanabe
2
90
21:30-23:00
Mindi Albair
1
90
-
The Crusaders
2
90

My wife tends to like very soft music.  Her favorite act of the evening was Minaswing.  Minaswing is a group that plays in Japan. They have just released their first CD. The group is made up of American, Japanese and Brazilian artists. They play Brazilian style jazz. After the show, my wife bought their new CD.

Mr. Saxman is Thailand's best known sax player, although jazz is not universally popular in Thailand. Given the lineup, he did a great job. Mr. Saxman is one of the founding members of Boy Thai.  These days, Boy Thai regroups only infrequently for special events.  I was fortunate enough to see Boy Thai a few months ago at a special event at the Bangkok Cultural center.

David Sanborn was fantastic.  Al Jarreau came on last.  The event was going later than expected so the crowd had thinned out quite a bit by the time that Al Jarreau came on.  The people who had stayed were able to get very close to the stage.  Al Jarreau knew he had a friendly crowd. He bent down to shake hands and put his microphone out to allow those standing next to the stage to try to keep up with his vocal gymnastics.  Al Jarreau looks a bit older than he does on the albums I have of his.  None-the-less, his voice sounds just as fresh as ever.

For the second evening, I brought my camera.  I was sorry I didn't bring it the first night. I tried to use my wife's pocket camera but I couldn't hold it steady enough.  My Nikon D70 was able to capture the evening.

Sadao Watanabe

The second night was also fantastic.  A group from Japan called URB was quite good.  They were followed by a Thai group called Infinity and the All Stars.  Infinity and the All Stars were fine but given the acts to follow, it was difficult for them to distinguish themselves.  Sadao Watanabe put on another great performance.  I was a bit surprised how brief his performance was.

Mindi Albair

The highlight for me was seeing Mindi Albair.  I didn't know who she was.  I had never heard of her before the event.  She came on stage carrying a saxaphone that was half her size.  Her music was very nice.  She also sang a few songs.  Ms. Albair's voice sounded sweet and had pop-like quality.  This is not an insult.  Today, many female artists rely on computer enhancements to sing and lip sync during live performances.   Ms. Albiar's voice was naturally sweet.  Had Ms. Albair not been such an accomplished saxaphone player, her personality, voice and talent would be enough for her to have a career as a female pop vocalist.

During her performance, Ms.  Albair talked about her being from Los Angeles. She told everyone how much she enjoyed being in Thailand and thanked the audience several times. She said that as an American, it had been a sad year because a number of Americans had sacrificed their lives. She was obviously talking about the American soldiers who were killed.  I thought that this dedication took a lot of courage.

After the show, Ms. Albiar went over to the Universal CD booth and autographed CDs that were for sale.  The line moved slowly as she took time to talk to each person who met with her.  Pan and Namphung from nOrh were there and they got a chance to chat with Ms. Albiar.  Ms. Albiar took Pan's hand and shook it and said she hoped she looked as good when she is 51.  I took the photo below.

Pan, Namphung and Mani Albair

I got a chance to chat with Ms. Albair. I told her she was great. She thanked me and I thanked her for her dedication to the Americans who died. She smiled and said "somebody's got to do it".  Mandi Albair is clearly an artist who knows the value of her fans. She was a great ambassador for America as she was absolutely charming and talented.  Every Thai I talked to who met her said she was a really warm person.

The final act was Joe Sample with the Crusaders.  Joe Sample performed last year.  This year, he looked more refreshed. My wife said he looked better this year.  The Crusaders was one of my favorite groups back in the 1970s and early 1980s.  Ray Parker Jr. (who did the song Ghostbusters) was now part of the Crusaders.  He is a great guitarist.  The Crusaders played great. Overall the whole event was fantastic. Anyone planning to be in Bangkok next year might want to time their visit to see the Bangkok Jazz Festival.

Christmas

A bit more than a year ago, I moved into a new house. My new home doesn't have space to set up my larger audio systems.  I also now spend more time in front of a computer than I do anywhere else.  In order to continue to enjoy music, I have a pair of 3.0s in my office.  Because of space restrictions, I use a pair of Prism 3.0s. 

My daughter is now studying in Virginia, USA. She asked me to make her up a pair of pink nOrh 3.0 drums for her dormitory (her favorite color is pink). She had a pair of pink 4.0s but she wants something smaller. So, she chose the nOrh 3.0s. Pan and Lek from nOrh wanted to buy her the 3.0s. On Christmas, my daughter got her pair of pink nOrh 3.0s. You can see that she was delighted.


My daughter with her new pink nOrh 3.0s



Front View of the Pink 3.0

The modestly priced nOrh 3.0s are small, great sounding and beautiful, available in natural wood or color finishes

In October 2004, I sent our craftsman to a course on finishing so that we can make the nOrh 3.0s look even more spectacular.  I am told that we can now do just about any color and make it look great.  My personal pair are black.

My Personal nOrh 3.0

My SE 18

Last year, I moved to a new house. The new house didn't have a room large enough to put my old stereo.  I decided to simply replace my amplifier/preamplifier combination with an SE 18.  I was concerned that the SE 18 might not have enough power as I had been using a 200 watt per channel amplifier.  After setting my SE 18 up, I called my wife down to look. She was very happy with having less equipment. I told her the bad news was it wouldn't play as loud as the previous system.  Ironically, I have not turned up the system to maximum volume.  Long before the amp runs out of juice, the music is already too loud.  I have saved space and am quite happy with my new SE 18.

Another benefit is that I use much less power.  In Class A mode, my previous amp drew 2000 watts.  The SE 18 only draws about 85 watts.  Best of all, the glowing tubes look cool.


The SE 18 is more practical for my new lifestyle than the bulky equipment I used to own

ACA 2b

The ACA 2b is beautiful to look at and sounds great

I have been getting a lot of letters asking me about products we haven't mentioned for a while.  One of these products is the ACA 2b which is one of the best values we carry.  The ACA 2b is a high-end preamp that costs less than almost any preamp available.  The ACA 2b is a beautiful product, with excellent build quality and outstanding sound.

High quality Alps volume control and platinum coated switches

The ACA 2b uses a platinum coated switch. The volume control is made by Alps and there ACA 2b has three inputs and and a record output.  Furthermore, there are two amp outputs.



Unexpected  inputs and output for a preamp in this price range

The ACA 2b is still only $395.00 USD shipped to North America.  Please contact us from other regions to check on shipping charges.  The ACA 2b is the best preamplifier in this price range. The ACA 2b has plenty of drive to power long cables.  The ACA 2b works with both tube and solid state amplifiers. Here is your chance to buy a tube preamp for the price of some passive preamps.

For those of you who still listen to LPs or have an LP collection, we have a phono preamp that you can add for only $295.00 USD.  However, a better deal is to go with the SE 18. The SE 18 has an active preamp, integrated RIAA (phono) equalization and 18 watts of Single Ended Power.

I love the look of tubes

nOrh 4.1 Teak

The cost of Teak has gone up to the point where we are not going to be producing more Teak speakers -- unless people write and are willing to pay the higher prices.  We were paying $75.00 for the wood to build just one speaker.  The cost of Teak has now doubled so it would cost us $150.00 for the wood alone to build one speaker.  We still have some Teak 4.1 speakers left for  $275.00 each. These are beautiful loudspeakers that can be mounted upside down, placed on a TV or used on a table. The norh 4.1s can be angled so that the tweeter is pointing towards the listener's ears.  The speakers include a sliding stand that allows you to angle the speakers. The 4.1 uses the same Vifa drivers and the same crossovers that 5.1s and 4.0s use.  I have a 4.1 on my TV in my main system.

Still available, a limited number of real Teak 4.1 speakers

Sincerely,

Michael C. Barnes
nOrh Loudspeaker Company, Ltd.

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