• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Beautiful Desktop Tube Rig of Japanese Lady Audiophile

Ilkless

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
1,757
Likes
3,437
Location
Singapore

Several videos of Japanese audiophilia have been making their rounds on audio forums, but my Youtube recommendations recently surfaced this new video of a Japanese lady audiophile introducing her vintage setup. Incomplete subtitles, but Youtube closed captions + translation does a decent job. She talks about her tube integrated, which uses RCA 245s (backed by RCA 280s and WE 717As), and briefly compares it to the WE 300B (aka most overhyped tube in history). The speakers appear to be vintage Telefunkens. Just a fun and soothing watch, unpretentious compared to some of the Japanese audiophilia videos I've seen. Drives an Alfa 916 Spider and Yamaha SR500 as well.
 

Dialectic

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 26, 2017
Messages
1,740
Likes
3,098
Location
a fortified compound

Several videos of Japanese audiophilia have been making their rounds on audio forums, but my Youtube recommendations recently surfaced this new video of a Japanese lady audiophile introducing her vintage setup. Incomplete subtitles, but Youtube closed captions + translation does a decent job. She talks about her tube integrated, which uses RCA 245s (backed by RCA 280s and WE 717As), and briefly compares it to the WE 300B (aka most overhyped tube in history). The speakers appear to be vintage Telefunkens. Just a fun and soothing watch, unpretentious compared to some of the Japanese audiophilia videos I've seen. Drives an Alfa 916 Spider and Yamaha SR500 as well.
Two observations on this:

(1) Gentlemen, she will not be impressed by your desktop DAC with a SINAD of 118.

(2) Her system does not sound very good.
 

Dialectic

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 26, 2017
Messages
1,740
Likes
3,098
Location
a fortified compound
And you know all this... how, exactly? :rolleyes:

If it wasn't on the sarcastic side: just because 1) she's a woman, 2) she has a tube setup, it hardly explain why she would not like good measuring gears as well.

Anyway...
somebody on instagram invite her to the site

Gents, it is just not going to happen.

Move along, move along.
 
OP
Ilkless

Ilkless

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
1,757
Likes
3,437
Location
Singapore
FWIW, at least it isn't insufferably pretentious like that WSJ video of the old Japanese man who pulled a power line and other BS tweaks.

Apparently she is a retired MotoGP paddock girl who now writes a motoring column, as far as I could tell.

Also, the tube amp reminds me of some I've seen using Hammond project enclosures. My dad actually knew the lady that distributes Hammond (as well as Electro-Harmonix, Fostex and JJ) in my country. She built various tube amps with Hammond enclosures, transformers and JJ/EH tubes for not much more than cost. Still did as of past year, at 93, to occupy herself (shares a shop space with her daughter's law firm). Better PtP wiring than a lot of clusterfucks I've seen online. And lower noise than some truly awful stuff like VTL and Ayon, propped up only by a cult of personality. I thought that all she needed was a polished website and a hype man to perpetuate a cult of personality ala Eddie Current.
 

digicidal

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
1,981
Likes
4,838
Location
Sin City, NV
The speakers appear to be vintage Telefunkens. Just a fun and soothing watch, unpretentious compared to some of the Japanese audiophilia videos I've seen. Drives an Alfa 916 Spider and Yamaha SR500 as well.

Apparently she has an addiction to cute things that require a lot of maintenance and are painful to listen to (IMO only of course).

However, I could listen to her talk about it for hours. Like most Japanese (especially women) the placid demeanor along with the pleasing speech patterns make for some fantastic background "music". I'd buy a recording of her reading wiki pages for a couple of hours in a heartbeat... perfect cure for insomnia, anxiety, you name it. :) I'm gonna keep her channel in my favorites from now on.
 

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,580
Likes
38,281
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
However, I could listen to her talk about it for hours. Like most Japanese (especially women) the placid demeanor along with the pleasing speech patterns make for some fantastic background "music". I'd buy a recording of her reading wiki pages for a couple of hours in a heartbeat... perfect cure for insomnia, anxiety, you name it. :) I'm gonna keep her channel in my favorites from now on.

Same here, compared to 99% of the garbage on Youtube, this is a joy.
 

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,370
Likes
234,430
Location
Seattle Area
Apparently she has an addiction to cute things that require a lot of maintenance and are painful to listen to (IMO only of course).

However, I could listen to her talk about it for hours. Like most Japanese (especially women) the placid demeanor along with the pleasing speech patterns make for some fantastic background "music". I'd buy a recording of her reading wiki pages for a couple of hours in a heartbeat... perfect cure for insomnia, anxiety, you name it. :) I'm gonna keep her channel in my favorites from now on.
She does have a great, polite, gentle way of talking. I could only understand a few words here and there but as you could, listen to her for a long time.
 

RayDunzl

Grand Contributor
Central Scrutinizer
Joined
Mar 9, 2016
Messages
13,201
Likes
16,983
Location
Riverview FL
Too bad the recording is so poor.

Is it just me, or does it mostly reside in the right speaker?
 

boXem

Major Contributor
Audio Company
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Messages
2,014
Likes
4,852
Location
Europe
Apparently she has an addiction to cute things that require a lot of maintenance and are painful to listen to (IMO only of course).
Ouch, are you suggesting that the Busso V6 could potentially be a pain to listen?
You may encounter troubles with hords of Alfisti :D.
 

digicidal

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
1,981
Likes
4,838
Location
Sin City, NV
Ouch, are you suggesting that the Busso V6 could potentially be a pain to listen?
You may encounter troubles with hords of Alfisti :D.
Yeah, I'm cool with it... they'll be too slow to catch me anyway (tuned at least). :p Actually the Alfa is much more a problem of maintenance not sound... the Yamaha is the inverse of that - and the tubes are the worst combination of both. LOL!
 

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,580
Likes
38,281
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Too bad the recording is so poor.

Is it just me, or does it mostly reside in the right speaker?

I'm sure there are a number of members here who would happily lend their services and expertise, in order to improve her recordings...
 
OP
Ilkless

Ilkless

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
1,757
Likes
3,437
Location
Singapore
Yeah, I'm cool with it... they'll be too slow to catch me anyway (tuned at least). :p Actually the Alfa is much more a problem of maintenance not sound... the Yamaha is the inverse of that - and the tubes are the worst combination of both. LOL!

A tasteful room/desktop like that is just crying for a vintage Sony ES/Pioneer Exclusive/Marantz Reference integrated in champagne, with perhaps the cool vintage Technics coaxials or Sony ES speakers.

Also, something tells me Audiokarma will love this.
 

Wes

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
3,843
Likes
3,788
Great hand gestures, plus some little head bows.

IIRC, it was Sonoya Mizuno who said she modelled her robot character Kyoko in Ex machina on the stereotypical Japanese woman (Mizuno is English).

This is also a good example of the role of visual and tactile aesthetics in audiophile products. Those are just as valid preferences as is even order distortion.
 

lashto

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 8, 2019
Messages
1,045
Likes
535
Apparently she has an addiction to cute things that require a lot of maintenance and are painful to listen to (IMO only of course).

However, I could listen to her talk about it for hours. Like most Japanese (especially women) the placid demeanor along with the pleasing speech patterns make for some fantastic background "music". I'd buy a recording of her reading wiki pages for a couple of hours in a heartbeat... perfect cure for insomnia, anxiety, you name it. :) I'm gonna keep her channel in my favorites from now on.

She does have a great, polite, gentle way of talking. I could only understand a few words here and there but as you could, listen to her for a long time.

Sounds like you guys might use an ASMR head massage:)

P.S.
don't know if anyone in their product management foresaw it but that ASMR stuff probably accounts for >50% of the miniDSP EARS sales
 
Last edited:

carewser

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2020
Messages
310
Likes
284
Location
Victoria, BC
Am I the only one that thinks she only looks half-japanese?
 

mhardy6647

Grand Contributor
Joined
Dec 12, 2019
Messages
11,217
Likes
24,181
Thread title reminds me of some hypothetical, never released Dire Straits track.

 
Top Bottom