Fjord Audio

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis, HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Earth, Furutech; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: Sonnet Pasithea; Headamp: Kinki Studio THR-1; Speaker amp: Crayon CFA-1.2; Speakers: Acelec Model One Headphones: Final D-8000 & Sonorous X, Audeze LCD-XC, Raal-Requisite SR1a on Schiit Jotunheim R
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7, COS Engineering D1, Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: TBA

For whom the bell tolls. Even if you've not read the Hemingway novel as I haven't, its title is evocative. If we take its meaning to be the ultimate finality of death, such a bell did toll for Emillé, itself a famous very massive South Korean bell but also the name of a valve audio brand from there which no longer operates. Whilst transistorized brands from the country are populous and popular, can you name a current tube-audio house off the top of your head other than Allnic Audio? I couldn't until I discovered Fjord Chang's new brand which despite its name isn't Nordic at all. But having worked with Asian firms whose owners love to embrace Western first names to make it easier on foreigners—Ronald Kwok of AAD confessed to admiring Ronald Reagan to call himself thus—I appreciate the misdirection. Fjord Audio are from the soul of South Korea so Seoul and manufacture in China. We'll leave the real fjords to Norway.

All three current products use valves as gain devices and pure class A circuitry, be it the above two-box phono stage, two-box preamp or 4xKT150 90-watt mono amp. They also shun feedback but embrace 105µm circuit traces for "military-spec" PCB. The vital output transformer for the power amp has been designed in conjunction with an unnamed but "famous" speciality vendor to insure peak performance. The glass itself appears to suspend on some proprietary elastomeric.

To learn more and what will be on this review's menu, let's await Fjord Chang's comments. For now peruse his website to hear a new bell toll, this one signifying birth and very much present availability. Perhaps one day I'll get around to reading the book to find out what it's really about? Truth told, laying on ears on one of these components is rather higher on my list. So perhaps not. Best then forget all about bells and tolls though we must absolutely cover Fjord's price points which his website just then didn't indicate. Judging by the photos, this is ambitious gear that should come with stickers to match. Or will Chinese manufacture introduce an unexpected twist to such expectations?

Actual Norse brand Arendal Sound too manufacture there. As Doug Schneider opined in his recent review subtitled "Monumental Value" of their 1528 Series six-driver Tower 8 speaker which weighs 175lbs each but sells direct for $9.5K/pr, "the quality of manufacturing in China has improved greatly over the years and is now largely on par with the quality of manufacturing elsewhere. Consumers' perceptions on the matter vary, however, and do bear on their purchase decisions."

As a SinoFi fan with products from Apple, aune, Cen.Grand, Denafrips, EnigmAcoustics, HifiMan, iFi, Lhy, Kinki, Laiv, Singxer and Soundaware; of SeoulFi by April Music, Enleum, Monacoustics and Simon Audio Lab; and with Taiwan kit from COS – I've lived this value vs. quality fact for many moons already.

Granted, I was born without a patriotic gene in my DNA other than being human. As a citizen of the world I've lived in Germany, the US, Switzerland, Cyprus and now Ireland. I can't hate on Asian product just because of politics. Their people work hard to make a living regardless of the regime that rules them. But as Doug wrote, opinions on that diverge. You know yours. With that ticked off, we can return to chatting about valve hifi from the land of Hyundai, Kia and Samsung. Now we might mention the country's design style as executed by Sea Wave Acoustic loudspeakers; as ensconced in Astell & Kern players often conceptualized by Metal Sound Design; in the RedDot award-winning casings of Enleum; in the fine finish of Simon Lee gear. All of them go beyond bent sheet metal. Fjord's wrinkle on the recipe adds generously rounded-over veneered cheeks in gloss or matte oak or a figured blond wood. It continues the heavy-metal theme on the inside where thick plates top circuit modules whilst the tower-style amplifier uses multiple storeys to stack its building blocks à la Nagra and Halcro. With this being clearly no low-hanging fruit, who is Fjord Chang? What's his background? How long ago did he start work on this brand before it bowed with a complete line-up in one fell swoop including Fjord-branded tubes?

He promises sound which "the moment you hear it has all prejudice against vacuum-tube amplifiers disappear and the important of dynamics recognized. It will make you fall in love with a deep soundstage, resolution and playback that is completely faithful to the original recording source." Valve electronics as prejudice busters? That I wished to hear for myself. We also note that his choice of glass—12AU7, 12AX7, 12AT7, KT150—gives a wide berth to direct-heated triodes or exotica. He clearly prefers to tune his sound with widely available 'common' tubes from current production, not NOS rarities. Elsewhere we read that "despite its recent inception, Fjord Audio evolved over many years as a specialized OEM production enterprise with a remarkable track record of producing approximately one million amplifiers, underscoring its high standards in audio engineering".

…. to be continued…