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ESSENTIAL HIGH END MUNICH 2023 – THE FUNK FIRM

Essential High End Munich 2023 is a series of promotional articles about the essential HiFi brands to visit at the show. Read on for more about their philosophy, their products, and, of course, where they will be at this year’s High End Show.

Munich 2023 and going forward… It’s all about The Isolation Bubble.

FUNK FIRM ISOLATION BUBBLE

Or, “Listen to your records, NOT the deck”

Arthur Khoubesserian, owner of The Funk Firm and Pink Triangle has had a long-standing and very simple message: “I want you to enjoy record reproduction better than you have ever heard it before”.

Well, that’s quite a nice message, but there’s more: “By that, I mean I want your records to sound as close as possible to the master tape from which they’re cut”.

Now, that’s quite an ambition and you might be thinking: “That’s all well and good, but I only have a modest deck and a limited budget and you’re talking about the very best in sound quality. I’ve read the mags and asked dealers and they tell me that I need to spend 10,000-15,000€ on a new deck to get more”.

With that in mind, there is one last bit: I want you to be able to achieve those aims as far as possible, using your existing deck. Yes, almost whatever turntable it is!”

Not surprisingly that aspiration hasn’t ever been heard before. Firstly, manufacturers and dealers are in business to sell you new decks, their deck, and with it to hear their version of ”the best” – that’s not necessarily the same as master tape “best”, else they’d already be talking about master tapes, which they are not! Are you getting the idea?

Funk Firm The Home Of Isolation Bubble

Well, what if we told you that you don’t need to spend that 15,000€? Even if your deck costs only 300€, or it’s a vintage model, PL12D, say, generally speaking, with Isolation Bubble, spending just 800€, you can fix the major problems and if the problems are fixed, what’s left is good. You’ll start to approach and enjoy that master tape sound, notably so.

THE ISOLATION BUBBLE THEORY

Arthur Khoubesserian is a physicist. He’s developed the Isolation Bubble theory. Analysing turntables, he found common weaknesses: Rubbish mats (felt or rubber), resonant arms, hard feet that transmit energy etc. Applying Isolation Bubble’s principles, they can remedied for far less than buying a new deck, plus you get better results. The resulting really good sound is available to all, which given that the majority of decks are modest, and most people’s budgets limited, especially these days, is good news.

It’s a refreshingly pretty common sense approach.

FUNK FIRM SOUNDS CLEVER

Isolation Bubble is available as a straightforward, no-nonsense document that can be downloaded from the website. It explains all matters vinyl and from there you can see how easily you can benefit and at Munich in room F232, Isolation Bubble will be demonstrated as part of “Sounds Clever”.

The system has to cost < 5000€. ATOL 200 signature amp, Dynaudio emit 20 bookshelf speakers leaves some 2000€ spare. Which turntable? SL1200GR? Rega P6? Project Debut?

In the end, we chose Audio Technica’s ever popular AT120XUSB. At 300€ it’s at the lower end of the buying spectrum and can hardly be regarded as the last word in vinyl replay. Recalling that a bit of fairy dust never did Cinderella any harm, let’s see (and hear) what a bit of Funk’s Isolation Bubble fairy dust achieves:

For this setup: APM mat. Achromat matches the disc. APM’s glass kills platter resonances as well as if not more so than 1200G/GAE’s platter. A 300€ deck matching the big boys already! External junk? Isolate with Bongs. A new rigid arm would be nice, but in common with many   decks this isn’t possible here. (arms would add between 1200-2500€). We’ve had to content ourselves by fitting AT’s 540ML onto the multi-award winning Houdini on the Cobra headshell.

(Houdini has just won another award in HiFi Plus for top “accessory”. Accessory is a term we object to, and no, we’re not being picky: A record brush doesn’t affect the sound. It IS an “Accessory”. By contrast, a “component” DOES change the sound, and like Houdini, very much for the better! Thus an amp, a pair of speakers… Houdini, Achromat and so on, should be heard all in the same breath.)

Upgrades range up to 5800€ so 800€ for this upgrade + 300€ TT + cartridge. Total 1400€ is not extravagant. Does it make sense?

The Funk Firm are participating in the High End Society Sounds Clever initiative

Using the same cartridge, (using the same cartridge is only fair), we’re happy to compare this still very modest setup to say 1200G/GAE or P10, each > 5000€ or even more expensive setups.

Spend less, get more. Because upgrading works, dealers make less money selling upgrades, so they don’t offer it. NO other manufacturer wants this for your musical enjoyment – if they did, they’d be talking about Master Tape sound, yet AK’s been talking about it since 1979. For 40 years, sonically, you’ve been losing out!

At the show there will be information on more of Funk’s upgrade options: LP12, Thorens TD150/160/166; Rega; Technics 1500C / 1200; Pioneer PLX1000 / PL12D, GL75.

A ‘Funked’ LP12

PINK TRIANGLE 7^TH HEAVEN

Alongside the “Sounds Clever” system, Pink Triangle will be showing off its delectable 7th Heaven offering, complete with the new FZ reference arm. Yes, another “reference”, a term that is getting bandied about like “monitor” in loudspeakers. We’ll leave you to judge.

Pink Triangle Blue Danube

First, 7th Heaven. Like a Merc, all the technical bits are “under the bonnet” and should simply be taken for granted, but:

– A hand lapped, ultra-close tolerance bearing for a quiet background.

– K-Drive precisely controls the motor which is remarkably cog free. The result is it gives 7th Heaven the lowest wow, flutter and rumble possible.

– Funk’s renowned Vector drive has a new twin-race pulley design to provide a flutter-free feed of the belt, reducing the already impressive wow performance.

– The ultra-thin section Strata derived low inertia platter responds to the motor’s control yet is remarkably non-resonant whilst providing the necessary inert platform for the record. Of course, Achromat is the interface.

– True to Pink Triangle’s ethos, 7th Heaven is of course isolated from outside feedback.

The unique, hand-crafted plinth is for people who don’t want an oil rig in their living room. 7th Heaven’s colour can be user defined – Black Lagoon, White Lotus, Yellow River and more, complement existing décor.

The fact that no two will be the same, provides a unique pride of ownership.

FUNK FIRM FZ TONEARM

Onto FZ. Most arms (99.9% +) have resonant signatures of some 20-40dB, Funk developed F•X beam technology and FX3’s incredible 6dB already delivers a wide, open, and deep soundstage. It has received numerous awards.

FZ takes F•X technology to its limit. FZ has a new, totally re-worked complex internal structure whose modes are actually in the noise floor. NO other arm can better it but at 5000€, FZ is comparatively tremendous value. Why is it so “cheap”? Well, we could charge 20,000-50,000€ +… Need we say more?

The Funk Firm FZ Tonearm

There is, however, yet more to FZ.

Competitors’ arms may be comparably rigid but come in at a backbreaking 64g+! effective mass. Just what cartridges match these values? FZ’s clever, narrow beam design has a real-world effective mass of just 18g. Compatibility with real-world cartridges is assured. Just how sensible is that? Is FZ a “reference” now? Seems reasonable, but let’s now throw into the mix that FZ has one new additional design development that makes it truly unique.

Isolation Bubble’s ethos is about keep energy away from the cartridge. The arm connects it to the outside world and so “AE energy rejection” has been developed. This is a totally new, unique, energy rejecting system.

NO other arm has this.

No resonance. Real-world cartridge compatibility plus AE energy rejection make FZ the world’s only, truly passive cartridge supporting platform, supporting our contention that  FZ is the reference. Matching Master tape just got closer.

7th Heaven, FZ, multi-award winning Houdini… the cartridge? AT’s 600€, VM760SLC is modest indeed. It goes through our unique, award winning Akutrak – the world’s only dynamic response correcting phono stage. Because cartridges need correction, we regard the phono stage as part of the Isolation Bubble system.

With a 14,000€ front end, at Munich, you’d expect a comparably lavish system, but that would de-value the concept of the importance of Isolation Bubble – getting a master tape sound / feel. So, come in have a look at 900€ of speaker (inc sub, of course) off Ebay(!), and then close your eyes, relax and listen. We leave it to 7th Heaven to do the talking.

Getting close to the master tape seemed such a simple aim but this problem has lasted over 100 years. The challenges have not proved straight forward to solve. Isolation Bubble has solved it.

Whether in a modest system or ultimate high end, Isolation bubble’s revolutionary approach not only deals effectively with it but for the millions of long suffering vinyl loving enthusiasts it delivers incredibly cost effective solutions.

Certainly there is a lot to Funk and Pink Triangle.

Come, learn and enjoy the results.

We never forget, “Our growth results only from your satisfaction”.

THE FUNK FIRM AT HIGH END MUNICH 2023

In room A4.2 F232, Isolation Bubble will be demonstrated as part of “Sounds Clever”.

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