WJAAS - The best of the crop: A.L.E. Acoustic Laboratories

Like a cherry on a cake, Tadao Endo's A.L.E. Acoustics Laboratories visit in Yokohama-shi suburbs represented the azimuth of my knowledge audio quest or pilgrimage, like recently named it Johannes LeBong.

I had a date with Endo-san for that day... took my Shinkansen to Yokohama-shi, changed train to reach another station, then another local train and arrived, as per Endo-san's instructions to my destination...

Out of the station, as happened other times, like a lion;-) I cleverly choose my "victim" - usually a smart, intelligent, cool looking guy - whose I asked to call A.L.E.'s telephone number I had handy, explaining and complaining, yet politely, about the poor english spoken by my host...

After some "arigato" and bows to the guy who helped me, in five minutes a gentleman in a small japanese car approached me at the station and after greetings and more bows, we headed in few minutes to his workshop and, as I discovered soon, home.

We entered the workshop where the only employee was carefully examinating and defect-proofing some 15" paper woofer cones...

Tadao Endo-san showed to me EVERYTHING!!!

The BIG, HUGE 100 kilos raw permendule magnets, semi-finished, YEN 6,5 millions worth super tweeters, horns... everything!

In a moment, after a steep iron stairs we were in his home and music room... introduced to his wife and his daugther, Chikako Ono-sama.

Green tea and fresh fruit was kindly served in few moments and, with precious support of a computer, Yahoo Japan translator and Chikako's support, Tadao-san and me had a GREAT, informative chat; he also proudly showed to me a "family pictures album", with greatest audio systems he installed worldwide, and, again, that already felt "proud to be Italian" strange feeling: my friend Eugenio Lazzari and Tadao Endo in a picture, with 5 ways, all top of the line A.L.E.'s drivers in Marco's system in Bologna, Italy.

My friend Gianni began working on this system and amplification/x-over related troubles some months ago... a big, impressive, complex system, indeed.

In the LARGE, for both japanese and european standards, Endo's music room, a 4 ways self-contained spakers system, named "Incense", multi-amped with Telefunken's and japanese made EL-34 push-pull amps and disk playback only, I listened to A.L.E.'s musical and audio vision.

A violin, a cello and piano, some jazz... all was dynamically beautiful, quick, pellucid and easy to the ear.

Endo-san showed and let me handle berillyum and FRP/Berillyum diaphgrams and, proudly, showed two Ikeda-san made cartridges.

One was so similar to my pipe I put on the coffee table for comparison.

What can I say? If someone is after audio and music reproduction at home, should taste and have a listen to this super-expensive, ultra-cleverly hand made stuffs, period.

The sound is so far from previous Akihabara's sound like Mars from Earth.

It's music... Music... MUSIC!

That's the trick, the little, great secret... the hidden message in our wonderful, unique passion: good audio let's (better) understand music and its message.

Not noise, BUT Music.

That's it.

Sayonara.