My journey to TechDAS Air Force Zero was a long and winding one. It started in Hong Kong HiFi Show in August 2018.
I was using TechDAS Air Force One Premium at the time. The turntable had a tendency to overheat after playing a few hours. The platter would slowed down. I met Mr Nishikawa in the HiFi Show and told him my AF1P had a problem. He said he would exchange a new power supply to me. We had a family vacation trip to Tokyo in the coming month and I asked: "Can I take the power supply to Tokyo and change it to a new one?" He said okay.
In September, 2018, I visited the TechDAS, Stella Inc office in Tokyo. Mr Nishikawa showed me a technical drawing of Air Force Zero and said he was in the final phase of developing it. I was very impressed with his design but he hoped I could kept the drawing and ideas confidential before the official announcement. No problem, I could kept the secret.
In March, 2019, I attended the premiere launch event of Air Force Zero in Tokyo. It was amazing and I shared some photos in another thread. I actually attended four out of five international tour events of the Zero in 2019. The only one that I could not made it was the one in Audio Salon Santa Monica. In the Tokyo HiFi Show, November 2019, TechDAS said the Zero was officially ready and shipment would begin soon.
In January, 2020, I made an deposit in Hong Kong dealer to order the Zero. Since Mr Nishikawa wanted to install every Zero himself, I didn't want him to travel to Hong Kong just for the installation. A compromise was reached that I should get the Zero used in the coming Hong Kong HiFi Show in August, 2020. So he could setup the Zero for demonstration in the Show and after that install it in my place. That would save him one trip.
COVID-19 disrupted everything, The August Hong Kong HiFi Show was cancelled and travel ban had stopped the TechDAS team to come to Hong Kong. The plan at the time was to wait until the pandemic was over and they came to install it. Everyone knows the current situation. With no end in sight, I decided to ship the Zero to Hong Kong and tried to install it myself.
TechDAS has detailed videos showing various steps in the installation. The turntable arrived in six large boxes. The heaviest one was 135kg, total shipping weight was 455kg. I asked three long time audiophile friends to help with the installation. It was like a set of super large LEGO. One piece by one piece we put it together, took four of us over three hours to assemble the whole thing. Many thanks to my dedicated friends, without their hard work, it was not possible.
The most important thing is the sound. It is simply amazing. Although I had heard the Zero many times all over the world, it is nothing like having it in your system. The "WOW" is still there. Compared with Air Force One Premium which is a very good turntable on its own, the Zero wins by some margins. It is quieter, smoother and more resolution from top to bottom. My helpers were all experienced audiophiles, they came many time before to listen my AF1P, they all agreed the Zero was a lot better. I shall fine tune the tonearm and the turntable further in the coming weeks, it should sound even better, but now I am very happy that this journey has ended in a fruitful way.
Enclosed please find some before and after photographs.
I was using TechDAS Air Force One Premium at the time. The turntable had a tendency to overheat after playing a few hours. The platter would slowed down. I met Mr Nishikawa in the HiFi Show and told him my AF1P had a problem. He said he would exchange a new power supply to me. We had a family vacation trip to Tokyo in the coming month and I asked: "Can I take the power supply to Tokyo and change it to a new one?" He said okay.
In September, 2018, I visited the TechDAS, Stella Inc office in Tokyo. Mr Nishikawa showed me a technical drawing of Air Force Zero and said he was in the final phase of developing it. I was very impressed with his design but he hoped I could kept the drawing and ideas confidential before the official announcement. No problem, I could kept the secret.
In March, 2019, I attended the premiere launch event of Air Force Zero in Tokyo. It was amazing and I shared some photos in another thread. I actually attended four out of five international tour events of the Zero in 2019. The only one that I could not made it was the one in Audio Salon Santa Monica. In the Tokyo HiFi Show, November 2019, TechDAS said the Zero was officially ready and shipment would begin soon.
In January, 2020, I made an deposit in Hong Kong dealer to order the Zero. Since Mr Nishikawa wanted to install every Zero himself, I didn't want him to travel to Hong Kong just for the installation. A compromise was reached that I should get the Zero used in the coming Hong Kong HiFi Show in August, 2020. So he could setup the Zero for demonstration in the Show and after that install it in my place. That would save him one trip.
COVID-19 disrupted everything, The August Hong Kong HiFi Show was cancelled and travel ban had stopped the TechDAS team to come to Hong Kong. The plan at the time was to wait until the pandemic was over and they came to install it. Everyone knows the current situation. With no end in sight, I decided to ship the Zero to Hong Kong and tried to install it myself.
TechDAS has detailed videos showing various steps in the installation. The turntable arrived in six large boxes. The heaviest one was 135kg, total shipping weight was 455kg. I asked three long time audiophile friends to help with the installation. It was like a set of super large LEGO. One piece by one piece we put it together, took four of us over three hours to assemble the whole thing. Many thanks to my dedicated friends, without their hard work, it was not possible.
The most important thing is the sound. It is simply amazing. Although I had heard the Zero many times all over the world, it is nothing like having it in your system. The "WOW" is still there. Compared with Air Force One Premium which is a very good turntable on its own, the Zero wins by some margins. It is quieter, smoother and more resolution from top to bottom. My helpers were all experienced audiophiles, they came many time before to listen my AF1P, they all agreed the Zero was a lot better. I shall fine tune the tonearm and the turntable further in the coming weeks, it should sound even better, but now I am very happy that this journey has ended in a fruitful way.
Enclosed please find some before and after photographs.
