Through the last three decades of development, Taiwan has sought to create itself in the image of advanced Western nations. Through the economic miracle, the arduous routine of the agricultural society is now a thing of the past, and Taipei has made considerable achievements in becoming a cosmopolitan modern metropolis. Taste and sophistication have become important to many, and so it is hardly surprising that the International Hi-end Excellence Show, which kicks off today at the Grand Hotel, is expected to attract considerable interest. For people with money to spend, it is an opportunity for checking out some of the choicest items currently available.
The Hi-end Excellence Show (
This year, the event's organizers, the Taiwan Hi-End Society (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
While stereo equipment will still be a major aspect of the show, there will also be cameras, European designer furniture, watches, golfing equipment, wine spectacles and car stereo systems. The labels are present at the show by invitation, receiving the imprimatur of the Hi-end Society as being the best of their kind.
Among the regular participants in the show is Ellison Chen (
"My wife and children know not to interrupt me when I am listening to music," Chen said. The walls of his flat are piled high with CDs and records, and, although he says he loves music, he also admits, slightly shamefacedly, that he probably likes tampering with his stereo system even more. "Music should be the end, the stereo only the means," he said, "but sometimes it simply does not work out like that."
"You always want to try new stuff. When you hear someone else's system, you want to incorporate that kind of sound into what your have," Chen said.
His current stereo configuration, obtained after going through nearly 300 different stereo sets, comprises a Linn CD-12, Esoteric DV-50, Ayre K-1 pre-amp, a Goldmund 8.2 power amp, Micro 3000 LP player and Genesis 2 speakers.
The sound created by his four 2m-tall Genesis speakers through a Linn CD player puts you right in the pit of the orchestra, the sound resonating through the room as it would in a concert hall.
"Apart from seeking the spirit of the music, you also want the design of the equipment to be beautiful. As people's tastes become more refined, you can see how the design of the equipment changes. The speakers produced by some brands are now virtually works of art," Chen said.
"You have to find the kind of equipment that suits your own taste," Chen went on, pointing out that the products of different countries or brands had different qualities. "You have to understand these differences. For example, crystal sets produce a clear, crisp sound while that of a vacuum tube is broader and softer. As for speakers, the sound from US-made speakers has a strident quality. Those from Italy are more mellow."
For Chen, sophistication is picking from among the best the world has to offer. "I use a Goldmund amplifier because it creates a sound that is aristocratic and graceful," he said, "but of course, the total configuration is also very important, even down to the cables you use."
There will be plenty of choice for you over the next four days at the Grand Hotel to pick among the best quality equipment on the market and share ideas with people who have been involved with quality stereos for many decades. "In some ways, it is a pretty small circle of people," Chen said. But of course this year, you don't have to be an audio head to enjoy the show. Pick up a couple of bottles of a rare vintage, sit back in some designer furniture, slip on those shades and forget the time on your handmade watch and let the music roll over you.
The show opens to trade and press today, and will be open to the public tomorrow through to Tuesday from 1pm to 9pm at the Grand Hotel (
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not