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Hello everyone. This is Tetsuharu Oikawa from Hi-Fi Do Ohsu store. The other day I was watching TV and got to know about this Studio Ghibli exhibition at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi. Studio Ghibli is a world-famous animation studio run by Hayao Miyazaki which is known for movies such as Proncess Mononoke and Spirited Away. The exhibition is focused on architectures in movies of the studio and shows aspects that cannot be seen in the movies. The TV show was showing fun details like this Totoro (famous bear&panda-ish imaginary creature) carving on one of kawara (Japanese roofing tiles) which you can enjoy seeking for. The exhibition runs until Sept 25th. This time, I decided to do a listening comparison using all the current set-ups at Ohsu shop using songs by my personal favorite composer Jo Hisaishi, who is well-known for making beautiful music for Ghibli movies. I hope you enjoy until the end.
The album I use for this comparison is Encore, in which Hisaishi himself played his compositions solo on the piano. This time i decided to focus on pianos and figure out the best set-up in Ohsu. Because I talked about it, I picked Ghibli songs from the album. - One Summer's Day (from Spirited Away) - The Sixth Station (from Spirited Away) - Ashitaka and San (Princess Mononoke)
Personally, I think every tune in this album is excellent with beautiful melodies. There is no tune to skip! It is pity that there is no tune from personal fave Castle in the Sky so there is none from the movie this time. My recommend out of the three is Ashitaka and San. It is just so stunning. You have to listen to it if you have not.

Okay, let's talk about audio already. This time I won't be playing vinyls but I will include all the set-up in case you wanted to know. The first set-up is this. This is our regular set-up who welcomes customers at our store. Record Player: THORENS TD-126MK3+MCH 63 CD Player: DENON DCD-3500 Control Amp: McIntosh C28 Power Amp: McIntosh MC2105 Speakers: JBL 4344

This is the King of America set-up so to say. JBL monitors and two MacIntoshes produces heavy bass drums like and strong bass line that punches your belly. This set-up sounds thick and punchy, which makes it great with jazz and rock. I don't think piano isn't really a thing for this but let's see… The sound is well-balanced thanks to solid & think bass lines produces by huge woofers. Soundstage is more wider and sound lingers more than I thought. My impression of JBL until now was the sound hits my body, however, with songs like this, I felt soft expanses of sound. I felt like I discovered unseen side of JBLs. One thing this set-up didn't satisfy me was a little bit of looseness in the bass line. I guess more powerful amps will solve the problem.
The second is Yamaha set-up. This is the other one of the two-tops at the shop entrance. Record Player: DENON DP-50M CD Player: DENON DCD-1650GL Integrated Amp: YAMAHA CA-2000 Speakers: YAMAHA NS-2000
This is so to say the Yamaha Natural Sound set-up. Very detailed and clear sound is just so beautiful. Yamaha has done an amazing job here. As piano is what they are most famous for, sound is very well. Expanses of treble is superb and there is nothing to complain about. If I portray the first set-up as a huge room, I would say this is a concert hall. Very high treble which I was concerned is not a problem for this set-up. There is a solid backbone, not a weird hardness to the sound. Lingering sound is very nice too. With eyes closed, I feel like I am facing a grand piano.

The 3rd one is midfielder of Hi-Fi Do, if I build a soccer team from the set-ups. YAMAHA GT-750 SONY CDP-X333ES YAMAHA C-2 YAMAHA B-2 YAMAHA NS-1000M
The next one is another Yamaha set-up with NS-1000M. This model is getting hot because of the new NS-5000. This set-up consists of Yamaha's iconic speakers and luxury separated amps. As well as the last set-up, this produces clear Yamaha sound but this even clearer, which made me want to cry a bit. Sharp treble is nothing to compare. As these speakers were designed for, they produce really realistic piano sound. Compared to the other, when it comes to mimicking piano sound, I must say this is a step ahead. Compared to the last set up, the sound is balanced more on the side of treble. Smaller woofers (30cm) and cabinets might be the reasons.

The next is a rather compact set-up. DENON DP-60L DENON DCD-1630 LUXMAN SQ38F JBL 4312
The sound lingers well in a natural way thanks to vacuum amp but the each sound is not separated enough compared to Yamaha. It is thick, stable, and good for easy-listening but I must say there is something missing. It is not bad but good either. I think JBL is more better with something like piano trio, trumpet, or sax.

The next is this. Technics SL-2000 PHILIPS LHH200R marantz model 7 LUXMAN MQ60 TANNOY Rectangular York
I call this a Gentle set-up. The sound does not have any edges. All it has is mellowness, thickness, and warmth. This is the sweetest of this comparison. The original Marantz 7, which is almost a cheat, gives the sound fineness without adding any unpleasant sound. I do not mind listening to this forever. Coaxial units contribute to a superb sound stage as well. I like the natural impression too. The experience was like me wrapped with music.

The last set-up is QUAD set-up. DENON DCD-1650RE QUAD 33 QUAD 303 QUAD ESL
Another British sound which is different from Tannoy. The atmosphere produced by the world-first capacitor speakers is very unique and exists nowhere else. If the Tannoy wraps you up with sound, Quad makes sound overflow at your feet. The sound has depth and is very very warm. I almost can imagine Hisaishi playing the piano in a very gentle touch. It is classy and calm but at the same time you can comfortably listen. This is good with violins and cellos but piano is not bad at all. There is still clearness and the sound lingers beautifully and has flexibility. Tannoy had a bit of struggle from time to time in sound separation but Quad really hits the sweet spot to me. Not too much, not too less.

After going through six different set-ups, It was Yamaha's two set-ups that made the piano sound most piano-like. Their treble has all sharpness, clearness, and lingering. It is beryllium after all, I guess. However, the treble is not good for long time listening. I got tired eventually. In contrast, both British set-ups were very gentle and makes it very good got long time listening. American set-ups are not good at the source this time I feel. Piano trio might have delivered a different result. Finally, below is my (arbitrary) ranking of this comparison! Winner: QUAD ESL set-up 2nd: NS-2000 set-up 3rd: NS-1000M set-up 4th: Rectangular York set-up 5th: 4344 set-up 6th: 4312 set-up To be honest, I am surprised with the result myself. I was thinking the two tops would be Yamaha with no questions. It is true that they were the best at producing realistic piano sound but the treble was too strong to me after all. Against my expectation, Quad was the most comfortable one of the candidates and I scored highly for my feeling wanting to listen for long time. It would be fun to include NS-5000 but I guess it is not happening sometime soon… Thank you very much for reading through!

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