Sound Fusion

Buying a new home theater system is a definitely a big decision and with an abundance of choices out there, how do you decide which one is the right one for you ?

At Sound Fusion, we can provide the information you need in finding the most suitable HT set according to your available budget.

We believed that an expensive HT doesn't always beat a cheaper one. The correct formula is how to match the speaker with the amplifiers or receivers.

We carry acoustical brand of exceptional qualities such as JBL, Harmon Kardon, Denon / Marantz, Infinity, MS and many more. Besides speakers and receivers, we have a wide selection of quality cabling solution (QED, VDH) plus acoustical treament foam such as diffuser and absorbers by Auralex.

You are invited to come to our shop very own demonstration room to try out the equipment hands on .. or ears-on to get the feel of the receivers paired with the desired speakers.

Unsure how to build that dream home theater at home ? Allow us to plan it for you. Even a good HT won't sound the way it should without proper placement and room treatment.

Visit us today at the map below.

Acoustic Treatment

Acoustic Treatment is crucial for all types of rooms that has sound system installed. Without proper acoustic treatment, you are listening to the "room" rather than listening to the sound system. Sound waves travel in all direction and if not treated correct, can create echoes, reverberation, resonance and reflection. No matter how good your sound system is, you are actually listening to the room more than listening to your expensive sound system.

I am not going to talk about soundproofing here. Meaning to say isolate sound from your next door neighbour or building a sound tight room. What I will be explaining in this post is to simply explain the basic acoustic treatment you can do to improve your Home Theater Room.

To make things simple, I will just briefly talk about 3 types of acoustic panels that will help you with your home theater room. The three types are Sound Diffuser, Sound Absorber and Bass Trapper.

Diffusor does not absorbs the audio waves but diffuses the waves and spread it out into different directions in your home theater room. It prevents audio waves from travelling/reflecting to the listener directly which creates hot spots or nulls in the room. It widens the sweet-spot in your room, thus making the room sounds wider than it physically is which in term give you more 3D sense of openness. DIY product can be egg trays which is really cheap but doesn't look really nice in a well designed home theater room.

Application: First reflective point for the front speakrs. Side walls, Ceiling, behind speakers or behind audience.

Absober simply absorb audio waves and it is non reflective like diffusor. It is effective in alleviating slap and flutter echo. Effective use of absorber can turn a huge room into a suitable acoustic environment. The two most commonly-used sound absorption materials are high-quality acoustic foam and specialized acoustic fiberglass. Not the stuff you can easily get from IKEA or your local hardware shops. I've tried using local hardware shops material like high density rock wool and DIY the panels myself. But the cost per piece is almost the same as those professional panels made by Auralex. Plus, the weight of the DIY panel is so much heavier and you can't really get the equal standard of each panels. Plus mounting the DIY panel onto the wall needs drilling whereas Auralex product comes with a special glue where you can simply apply a single dot on each corner and it will stick on all surface strongly.

Application: Behind Audience, Side or behind Speakers depending on the room layout.

Bass trap acts almost like acoustic absorber that functions to capture low frequency audio waves. Low frequency audio waves are very long and strong which is also the hardest to control. You can either block its transmission or absorb it to clean up the low frequency within a room. Improper treatment of low frequency will affect the sounding from the bass driver of the speaker or subwoofer. Bass traps provide a means to control room reverberations at low frequencies, a part of the audible bandwidth especially troublesome when critical listening venues are located in small rooms. Controlling low frequency audio waves is harder than controlling mid or high frequency waves. With Auralex bass trap, you can be rest assured to get the right solution because of the material used in Auralex bass traps.

Application: Corners

Conclusion, to properly treat your home theater room, you first need to know what is the problem of the room. It is unncessary to stick the panels all over the room because you still need the sound waves to roam freely but in a controlled manner that can help them sound better at your sitting area.

Check out the sample products at Sound Fusion Sdn. Bhd. and get the information you need for your acoustic treatment. We can also recommend the cheaper way of using DIY products :)

Component Video

All conventional methods of sending an analog video signal from one device to another involve a few basic types of "information". These information are basically grouped as scan, brightness and color. Unlike RCA composite cable which carries a single lower-quality signal, the component cable which carries picture information as three separate higher-quality signals — typically luma and two chroma components. Another format is the S-Video which carries the video data as two separate signals, luma (luminance) and chroma (colour).

To sum it up, component gives you the best image quality compared to the other two. For most consumer-level application, an analog component cable is used while those higher end one tends to slowly move to it's digital counterpart. Component video is capable of carrying signals such as 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, and 1080i.

Van Den Hul (Holland) Compolink Component Cable

QED Quinox Component Cable

Why the need for quality component cable ?

A component cable works optimally if the cable manage to supply 75 ohms after noise attenuation or any impedance tolerance that might have occurred along the way. This is why quality component cables tends to have larger cables than those ciplak China ones. It's easier to control impedance tightly with a larger dimension cables instead of tiny one.

Second factor would be the shielding. Any video connector is susceptible to electrical noise which come from a variety of sources, which can be cause from transformers, computer and even florescent lights. The composition of the shield in a component video cable will determine how effective it is at preventing interference. Best type of composition would be a heavy braided coupled with a full-coverage foil such as aluminum.

To sum it up, a cable with tight impedance tolerance, effective shielding, adequately-sized for the run and terminated with mechanically solid connectors that make good contact with the equipment jacks and don't do too much to alter the impedance of the whole assembly will outperform anything else on the market.

Anyway, talk is cheap, do drop by to visit us at Sound Fusion Sdn Bhd located at 3rd Floor Wisma Satok, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia to see, feel and hear it with your own senses.

You may call Tel: +6 082-420020 for further inquiries.

Mordaunt Short Genie Home Theater Set

Mordaunt Short Genie, 5.1 Satellite Speaker System running at 100watt each comes together with a 10" active subwoofer that give you enough punch you need for a standard living room or even a room if combined with the correct av receiver.

From the look of the center speaker, it looks like the creature from E.T. It looks small from

the picture. Once you grab hold of the satellite, you will understand this is not child's play. It's one of the heaviest satellite speakers that I've grabbed hold of before. Compared to JBL or Harman/Kardon or even the Infinity satellite that I have in my shop, Genie is the heaviest among them all.

Each satellite comes with its own stand which can be wall mounted. Meaning no need to spend a single penny more for optional stands when you need to wall mount them. Optional floor stands are priced at msrp RM499. Each piece of stand weighs roughly 6 kgs with solid metal based. Speaker cable can be easily run thruogh the hollow pipe. The stands come with screw on spikes too.

As for performance, Genie definately out-performed most of the satellite I've seen.. For the price tag of msrp 3999, you will definately have hard time finding an up to par system as compared to Genie. Throw a Marantz SR6003 to match Genie, you will probably not be able to tell that those "sounds" are coming from these E.T. look speakers. With the quality built on these babies, you can be assured that it will last you for years to come. Why get those plastic satellite systems from consumer brand? Get your Genie now!!

Experience it yourself at Sound Fusion Sdn. Bhd. now.

QED HDMI Cable Performance Range

HDMI = High Definition Multimedia Interface is a audio/video interface capable of transmitting uncompressed digital streams at very high speed (up to 10.2 Gbits/sec). So it's a high speed audio/video cable ...So?

There are various versions (standards) of HDMI cable from 1.1, 1.2, 1.2a, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.3b1,1.3b2, 1.3c...am I confusing you now? Don't worry, just think of the different versions being improvement over the data transfer rate. The latest and most common with our 2009 Denon and Marantz supports version 1.3a which improves both speed and video clarity. Other than transfering audio/video stream, it provides content protection technology by encrypting data being transferred.

In order to make full use of the HDMI interface, you need to have a HD Ready or Full HD capable video device and of course an AV Receiver that supports the latest HDMI standard. With HDMI, you can get the most out of your Bluray media being displayed on your LCD/Plasma/Projector and be able to output the DTS-HD or DD-HD audio to your home theater system.

For Video output, there are several standards as followed:

A quality HDMI cable will gives the user lossless audio/video streaming. For example, a good cable from QED Performance range.

Always opt for quality cables from brand names like QED and Van Del Hul. No doubts, there are many branded cables which are made in China (OEM products). That's why at Sound Fusion Sdn. Bhd., we only choose cables that are Made In UK, Netherland or USA. Visit our shop for free consultation and your cable needs.

Stop buying clone cables from electrical shops elsewhere or even some of the brand name Centers. You are paying almost the same amount outside and you get clone cable. Spend a little more and get Genuine products from our Award Winning Cables.

Interconnect and Speaker Cables

Ever wonder why you always get the FREE composite (yellow rca cable) cable from DVD or TV manufacturer rather than good quality cable or interconnect cable? The reason is a good quality cable can cost more than your RM200 - 300 DVD Player.

I always get the same question from most customers... Does the cable really make a big difference? I will always respond with the same answer... " If you have a Ferrari, and I ask you to drive in Kuching, will you be able to fully test out the performance?". Of course NOT because there's a bottle neck in our road. Same as for audio/video cable. The bottle neck in the cable restrict the passing through of audio/video signal due to foreign particles in the copper or silver.

It is simply that video signal will not be able to run through a poorly constructed FOC video or audio cables that you get in the box of dvd or TV. With good quality and branded speaker cables and interconnect cables, you can rest assure that 100% of the audio or video signal from your "source" will never be lost.

When I talk about buying cable, I use the word "INVEST" ..meaning to invest in good cable. Good cable is 99.999% oxygen free, you get 99.99% pure copper or pure silver which will last you for years to come. Unlike cheap cable that has a mix of other metal from somewhere else. After several months or even weeks of usage, your sound or video signal gets degraded and you are wondering why your Full HD LCD or Plasma is not getting the best performance from bluray dvd.

Prices of cables usually goes up rather than drop because of the price in the copper and silver. There are so many types and brands of cables, original branded and clone branded. So be aware of what and where you are buying your products. Come to the right place to get your audio video cables. Don't think if you are buying the cable from the supermarket or even xxxx center, you are getting quality cables. I've seen xxxx center selling nice looking cables that are china unbranded stuff. Why pay for that kind of price when you can get branded stuff from QED and Van Del Hul.

There are many types of cable and interconnects such as RCA, S-video, Component, HDMI 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.3a, optical, etc. I will probably need to explain all of them in my next article. So stay tuned .....

Home theater system, stereo system, karaoke system

If you are looking for Home Theater, Stereo System, Karaoke System or want to build a home theater room, please do not hesitate to contact us for free consultation.

Mordaunt Short Genie 5.1 Speakers, Mordaunt Short Alumni 5.1 Speakers, and few other brand names.

Mezzo Series, Rega Apollo CD Player, Rega Brio3 Integrated Amplifier, Denon AV Receiver.

Rega Apollo Top Loading CD Player

Why Apollo CD Player?

Rega is famous with its turntable and for CD Player, Apollo is one of its brilliant invention.

The world has moved on since then, for better and for worse: better in the sense that digital sound has continued to improve, worse in the sense that the major corporations with the technology for making integrated digital control systems-the basic servo and data-control chipsets-have shifted their focus toward DVD and away from the humble music-only compact disc. That state of affairs has prompted Gandy and company to tap a different technology source, and to launch an entirely new player: the msrp RM4,599 Rega Apollo.

Rega Apollo incorporates more than 20MB of memory, along with true 32-bit processing capabilities. That's several times the power of early digital control systems. The CD comes with a great operating mechanism and a better power supply. It supports MP3 playback as well thought audiophile seldom opt for mp3 compressed audio. But you never know when you need this feature so it's always better to have it :)

The Apollo is built into the same casework as the Rega Planet, with one key difference: The new player's transport holds the disc with a three-point ball chuck instead of a magnetic puck. That means the motor has less mass to spin, so the disc can accelerate and decelerate with greater ease. It also means that Rega's already elegant transport lid is now a single, undisturbed expanse of smoked Plexiglas-which looks very nice indeed.

The Apollo's transport, manufactured by Sanyo, is compliantly suspended from the upper portion of Rega's standard chassis of cast aluminum alloy. The D/A converter is Wolfson's top-of-the-line WM8740, a dual-differential chip that operates in sigma-delta mode and supports word lengths of up to 24 bits. The output section, which is said to apply class-A amplification to a digital source component in an entirely new way, is Rega's own design.

Apart from all that, the Apollo is a straightforward thing, with a front-mounted board for the logic bits and a single main circuit board for all the rest, fastened to the bottom of the chassis alongside the smallish toroidal mains transformer. RCA and optical digital output jacks are on the rear panel for those who wish to use an outboard DAC, as well as the usual pair of phono jacks for line-level analog output. In addition to the mains switch, the front panel has only the most basic start, stop, and track-advance buttons, while those and a full brace of other user controls appear on the nicely styled remote handset-including a button that can be used to kill the display lights. To jump ahead just a bit: As with the same feature on recent CD players from Naim Audio, that last one really did make an audible difference for the better; all of my comments on sound quality below refer to the Apollo's performance with its display dark.

There is only one little tiny catch on Apollo, that is when a disc is loaded and the transport door closes, the player does not respond further. It will wait for around 5 seconds or so before you can press the PLAY button to start reading the track. The culprit, if you want to call it that, is the new Cambridge-sourced chipset and its attendant surplus of memory: Each time the user loads a new disc, the Apollo reads the whole of the CD's subcode data into memory, analyzes it (footnote 1) and then selects the most appropriate of four levels of error correction. That way, the music is never overcorrected per se, and the integrity of the original datastream is kept intact to the greatest extent possible.

Apollo sounds "Cleaner" as compared to few of the products I have heard. It is more "revealing" and speak out most of the tiny details within the CD track. I can now hear "more" on Apollo than other lower end CD player ( I mean audiophile range CD Player here; not the consumer brand DVD or cd player that you get from the electrical shop that sells fridge and aircond).

Be warned when you feed Apollo with recorded CD media or even odinary CD from the shop. Noises and even some background sound are visible. You can straight away tell if the CD media is original or not or should I say, good recording or bad. At times, I feel Apollo sounds a little too crisp in the high side. For the price tag of msrp RM4,599, is it worth the buy? I strongly recommend it. Hear it for yourself ...Visit Sound Fusion Sdn. Bhd. now.

A Cinema at the comfort of your Home ...

A "Cinema" at the Comfort of your Home :)

More and more people are moving the cinema into their own house by building a Home Theater Room or integrating a set of home theater in their living room. There are many good reasons of doing so. Benefits being you can enjoy a movie at the comfort of house, pause the playback anytime you like when you need a toilet break, you don't have to pay for the VIP seat in the cinema and yet get a VIP seat in the best viewing seat or sofa. No more searching for parking, no need to worry about security when walking to the carpark after dark, no need to worry about the dirty seats in the cinema or oily smell on the headrest, no need to worry about paying extra on beverage and snacks, no need to worry about the dirty toilet when you need one, and lots more ...

Sound System in Cineplex is not always well maintain. Especially when you go to cineplex in Kuching where sound system are not being well maintained. Even the projector are suffering from dead lamp problem because of budget issues I guess. Noisy or broken sound are travelling everywhere in the cineplex. Very unfortunate that good recorded sound are not being output effectively. This is not how good sound is supposed to be feeded.

With your own sound system, you can control the sound stage and sound effect at a press of buttons on the AV Receiver. You can also adjust the ideal volume according to your hearing preference; increase the subwoofer level to give you more punch and low frequency (vibration in the room) whenever you like it. And the best thing of having a home theater at home is you can pay for the cost of a single DVD (RM6 ~ RM 59.90 depending on the quality) and the whole family can enjoy it together anytime you want. No need to wait for showtimes or queue up or stuck in the jam to get the tickets.

The pictures attached in this article are taken from my own HT room. DIY myself and almost completed but still need to add some acoustic treatment to the wall to improve sound quality by increasing sound stage while reducing stray sound reflection. A few final touch up and wall mount the rear speakers at the appropriate height once I've ran the speaker wiring. 1 Pair of floor stander for home theater, 1 unit for center. The extra pair of bookshelf speakers are for stereo system.

The room used to be part of my living room area and I partitioned it up to reduce the living area since I don't need such a big living area. Bigger living area means I need to have more furniture. After partitioned, it gives me a 15feet x 9feet home entertainment room. Got myself a two-seaters sofa for RM799. The two sliding doors are made of solid wood but I've laminated it with rock wool to improve sound proofing. Behind the curtain are my side entrance and windows. With the thick curtain, I am able to hide the doors and windows as well as improve acoustic to the room by reducing echo effect. Subwoofer is placed behind the sofa out of visibility.

System Setup

• Denon AV Receiver AVR-1909 (Year 2009 model)


• 1 Pair Mordaunt Short Carnival 6 Floor Standing Front Speakers


• 1 Pair Mordaunt Short Carnival 3 Bi-Polar Rear Surround Speakers


• 1 Unit Mordaunt Short Carnival 5 Center Speaker


• 1 Unit Mordaunt Short Carnival 9 10" Subwoofer


• 1 Unit LG 42" PG60UR Plasma TV (HD Ready 150Hz)


• PS2 with 80GB HDD


• 1 Unit LG DVD Player with optical out to AVR-1909


• 1 Unit china-brand DVD Player running stereo out to AVR-1909 for running low quality dvd


• 1 Unit Media PC running Media Portal RC3 for web surfing, photos and videos storage/playback, media recording


• 1 Unit Dreambox 500s Satellite Receiver


• 1 Unit Linksys Wireless Access Point


• Backup Power by a 600VA uninterrupted backup power unit

All audio/video output from PS2, DVD Players, Satellite Receiver, Media PC are connected to the Denon AVR-1909 AV Receiver. From the Denon AVR-1909, I run a 10 meters HDMI 1.3a supported cable to my LG 42" Plasma TV. Sound source are feeded to the AVR via optical or RCA cables. Video from PS2, LG DVD are feeded via component video cable while the rest of the video source are connected via composite (analog RCA) cable. All speakers are connected to the AVR using QED Classic 42 Strain speaker cable that is Made In England. Guaranttee to last for years to come without worrying about oxidization.

One good thing about using the new Denon AVR-1909 AV Receiver is that it will upconvert all digital and analog signal to 1080i or 1080P signal via a single HDMI cable. Meaning no more messy audio or video cables to your Plasma or LCD tv that supports HDMI input. Denon AVR also functions as a AV switcher so that you can simply put side the TV remote control; no need to switch between Video Input Sources anymore. Just use the Denon AVR to perform all the switching for you.

Any inquiry or plan to build your own home theater? Please contact Mr. Tan at Sound Fusion Sdn. Bhd. Tel: +6 017-808-9020 or +6 082-420020. We can provide the information you need prior to any renovation work to save hassles of running cable concealing work later.

Mordaunt Short Mezzo Series

Finally arrived. Check out the performance of Mezzo Series by Mordaunt Short. Come Visit Us now or schedule for an audition.