Richard H. Mak

Home Audio System #1
Analog Source	JC Verdier La Platine 12” Ebony DaVinci Master Reference Virtu+My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent BC 12” Ebony DaVInci Grandezza+Kondo IO/M TW Raven AC 12” Ebony Artemis Lab TA-1L+Lyra Atlas 12” Ebony Schroder Reference+Lyra Olympos 12” Ebony Reed 2P+ZYX Universe II
Digital Source	McIntosh MCD1100 McIntosh MCD500 (SACD/CD)
DA Converter	Wiess, DAC2 (DAC)
Preamplifier Phono	FM Acoustics FM-122 Mk II Kondo KSL-SFz Step Up Kondo M7 Burmester PH 100 Audio Research Ref 2 SE AMR PH-77
Preamplifier	McIntosh C1000 Tube
Amplifiers tube	McIntosh MC3500
Amplifiers Solid	McIntosh MC2KW
Speakers	Dynaudio, Temptations Joseph, Perspectives
Cables	Purist Audio Design Aqueous (interconects) Purist Audio Design Venustas (speakers) NBS Black Label (power) Furutech Reference 3 (power)
Audio Rack	Custom made 750 lbs stand
Environment	75m2 (5 x 15 x 2.8)
Home Audio System #2
Analog Source	German Analog Forum, "Das Forum Laufwerk" No. 25 Rossner & Sohn Si 1.2+LYRA KLEOS
Digital Source	McIntosh MCD550
Preamplifiers	McIntosh C22
Amplifiers tube	McIntosh MC225 McIntosh MC240 McIntosh MC60 McIntosh MC30 McIntosh MC275 McIntosh MC240 McIntosh MC206
Speakers	JBL, 4343 Joseph, Pulsar Klipsch, La Scala
Cables	Kondo Cables (interconects) Purist Audio Design Venustas (speakers) NBS Black Label (power) Furutech FP-Alpha 3 (power)
Audio Rack	Custom made 750 lbs stand
Environment	75m2 (5 x 15 x 2.8)

Richard is from Canada and he has been an audiophile since 1982.

As the writer of his own audiophile blog named Stereopal.com , he is an active audiophile in the community, and a founding member of the GTAA (Greater Toronto Area Audiophile Club). He is also a contributing reviewer to Dagogo.com.

Known by his friend as Rick, or "the Stereopal", his love for music and high end audio has a 30 year history which dates back to 1982.
While neighboring kids were busy playing with their Apple II computers or roaming in the park, he was busy collection LPs and spinning his first turntable, the Luxman PD-284 which he still owns to this day.

Throughout his teenage years, he was collecting LPs, and vacuum tubes, and tube amplifiers. He has a keen knowledge on reading the arcane inscriptions on vacuum tubes as well as record labels.

There were some slow periods during the busy years when he went to University, got married, and had kids. But the hobby never died down for him. In the last 15 years, his love for audio and equipment gained very strong momentum. Rick believes audio should not be a seclusive hobby, it is one which should be shared with other people in an atmosphere of welcoming friendliness.

In 2001, he started www.Stereopal.com which is a personal blog of his audiophile journey, documenting his visits to other audiophiles homes and as well as meetings within his audiophile group. Together with a few other audiophiles, he also help founded the GTAA. The GTAA is probably one of the most active audiophile groups in Canada which held over 52 events in 2012. From formal X’mas dinners to summer pool parties, they average at least one audiophile meeting per week.
They also have themed events such as turntable setup seminars, “An Evening of Stravinsky’s music”, Jazz 101, or speaker positioning exercise.
They also attend live concerts together as a group. They have connections with several audiophile clubs around the world, and would welcome ACA members on a visit to Canada.

Throughout the years, Rick has amassed a large amount of audio equipment, and his favorite brand is McIntosh. He especially likes their vintage tube amps, and he proudly owns a few of them: MC30 x 2, MC240, MC60, MC225 x 2, MC 275 1st Gen, and the legendary MC3500, completely restored and signed by Charlie Randall, current CEO of McIntosh.

In the past couple of years, Rick’s passion with analog has picked up more momentum than ever, and he has been spending a large amount of time perfecting the techniques of setting up analog equipment. He is frequently consulted by his audiophile group for turntable setup, and he holds analog setup seminars to his local audiophile community.

Between 2006 and 2011, he has the privilege of setting up over 500 cartridges and tonearms, with methods which he devised utilizing spectrum and distortion analyzers. This has allowed him to play with numerous phono stages, tonearms, cartridges, and many different combinations.

Rick has no commercial interest as an audiophile, and his passion in audio is purely fueled by his love for music, audio and most importantly, people.

Richard jointed ACA, on April 2013.