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The audio community in Izmir associated with the online magazine Stereo Mecmuasi took our previous reports on Franck Tchang of Acoustic System and his resonator technology serious enough to look into the subject for themselves. The following is Hakan Cezayirli's report on Mr. Tchang's recent visit to Izmir. - Ed.


Izmir, one of the most beautiful cities of Turkey on the Aegean Sea and also the headquarters of Stereo Mecmuasi e-zine had the chance to show traditional Turkish hospitality for the third time to another special guest. This year we had the successive visits of Mr. Jacob George from Rethm, Mr. Maurizo Aterini from Bluenote Italy and now, Mr. Franck Tchang from Acoustic System International.

You need a higher soundstage? Let's go out on the balcony, put up one silver resonator and voila! No, it is not as simple as it sounds but just as effective if not more - Franck and Hakan Cezayirli from Stereo Mecmuasi

I started using the acoustic resonators in my system about 3 months ago and had read the articles of Mr. Srajan, Ms. Marja & Mr. Henk. They wrote long and very detailed reports on these devices and I fully agree with their findings. In our own 5th issue, we introduced our review of them to our readers and drew a lot of attention. After the review, we received many e-mails that were mostly incredulous, saying mainly how these little metal cups and small wooden matchboxes couldn't possibly change the sound as we were describing it. Some readers even said that it had to be some kind of magic or voodoo and in the small world of audiophiles, these kind of things are simply impossible. Admittedly, it's extremely difficult to explain the unorthodox approach of Mr. Tchang to acoustic room treatments but I can feel and hear every day and night in my listening room how his magic works. My only suggestion is to please try these resonators before coming to any conclusion. The results may surprise you.


The real surprise for us came at the hands of Fil Elektronik, the distributor of Acoustic System in our country. Franck visited Turkey for 4 days and what follows are some photos and brief commentary about his visit.


During the first night in Izmir, our initial meeting was the first shock of many. To prevent the noise in the restaurant, Franck put a gold resonator on the table. He placed three or four drops of water inside the resonator, then covered it with a glass. He said, "I prefer wine glasses but it will work with your traditional raki glasses as well." And the only thing I can say is, yes it really works. The ambient noise floor dropped significantly - and this in open air!




Izmir Hifi Club Meeting
Our Izmir Hifi Club is one of the countless hifi organizations in the world. Our main aim is to create a local hifi community in Izmir and also organize meetings to introduce new technologies and new products to Turkish audiophiles. The last meeting's guest star was Mr. Tchang. A great crowd arrived for the show and a lot of people were excited to hear Franck's Tango loudspeaker and especially his resonators. Franck had some surprises for the meeting - the sugar cubes and the diffusers. The Tango and Franck's tweaks really shone during this demonstration!

Franck demonstrating traditional zikr Sufi whirling - not.

Meeting in the garden of Fil Elektronik, local distributor of Acoustic System. From the left. Hakan Burkut (Quad Turkey), Franck Tchang , Bruno Manusso (Fil Elektronik), Haluk Ozumerzifon (Izmir Hifi Club Chairman), Hamdi Unlu (Fil Elektronik)

Franck became a great fan of our famous Turkish cay (tea) - Franck, Laura and Bruno Manusso (from Fil Elektronik), Hakan Burkut, Mr. Seckin and yours truly

My listening room prior to Franck's visit. He modified the resonator setup and the results are unbelievable now.


During our listening session, Franck said: "I think there's a problem with your turntable. A real saxophone doesn't sound like this. Please change your motor's phase." Will changing motor phase effect the overall sound of your turntable? You bet. My fiancee Secil said, "Mr. Tchang is the emergency service expert for all audio systems." She also writes for Stereo Mecmuasi.


My system consists of a Michell Gyrodec, SME V, Bluenote Boboli Signature cartridge, Revox B77, fully modified Arcam Alpha 8SE, Exposure Model VIII monoblocks, J.C.Verdier Triode Spirit 2A3, Audio Analogue Bellini, Triangle Comete monitors and many other things.


Building a virtual wall in your listening room? If you know Franck, it is possible. He built a wall inside my listening room. Just one step to the left of the virtual wall he installed, you are out of the room. One step to the right and you are welcomed back into the listening room, feeling in the same room the effect of outside and inside - virtually. Can you imaging this? It's much cheaper and certainly much faster than having the physical builders at your place making a big mess.


Franck was kind enough to take advantage of his stay in Izmir to visit and adjust the listening rooms of many resonator users. In another listening room, Franck put one diffusor each on the top and bottom of the bookshelf Bluenote monitors. The owner could not believe his eyes and ears. The loudspeaker was unchanged of course but the sound no longer came from a bookshelf. The loudspeakers acted as though transformed into floorstanders, with a much bigger soundstage that still retained the former pinpoint imaging. Welcome to the club, Mr. Dalyan. Tayfun Dalyan's system consists of all Bluenote Italy products: Koala Mini CD Player, S3 Amp, Bellavista/B5/Boboli analogue front end, Ducale loudspeakers, with even all his cables by Bluenote.