Yodobashi Audio

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO250)

This is going to be a longer blog post. But fear not! It’s mostly images.

The reason why I put so many images in this blog post is to give my readers a chance to get an idea of the Yodobashi experience. This time it’s all about audio. We are still in Yodobashi Akiba in Tokyo. This was my walk through the Audio department before I had lunch in the foodcourt on the eight floor.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO320)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/110 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/120 sec, ISO200)

Originally Yodobashi was a store focussed on cameras but meanwhile they offer all kind of electronics, computer games, mangas or even clothing. For me Yodobashi means cameras and audio and of course their huge food court.

This is not a small, specialised high end audio store like we have them in Vienna. This is more like a big Mediamarkt or Saturn but on steroids. It offers a huge selection of audio gear starting from modest compact systems up to real serious stuff from Esoteric, Luxman or McIntosh. And the prices of some of some of the Japanese gear is amazing. I would say that Luxman, Accuphase or Esoteric is roughly half the price that we would have to pay in Europe.

Unfortunately Japan uses 100 Volt instead of 230 so I can’t buy anything here. Beside that I don’t know how to pack a massive Esoteric player in my suitcase. So I’m limited to mobile audio and accessories. During my last visits I already got some great earphones and a mobile DAC and headphone amp for my iPhone so this time I didn’t spend a lot of time in their mobile audio/headphone department which is the size of an average Mediamarkt in Austria.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/120 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO500)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/105 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO400)

Just have a look at the image above. That’s what I call choice! And it’s not el cheapo AV receivers in this wall. It’s mostly Luxman, Esoteric and high end Marantz that fill the room.

This time my focus was on cables and wall mounts but I had to learn that they do not sell European standard cables and wall mounts either. So no chance to get the excellent Furutech wall mounts for a good price.

The last time in Japan I bought an USB cable from Oyaide which proved to be excellent. Before I used a Audioquest Carbon but there is no comparison. The Oyaide Continental 5S is so much better it’s not even funny. And of course the price here in Japan is less than half of what it would cost in Europe.

After this great experience it was clear that I would get their coaxial cable too plus I also got a Furutech AG12L phono cable for my almost 20 years old record player. I meanwhile can confirm that the Oyaide coaxial cable is superior to the Audioquest Carbon too but I was not prepared for the effect the phono cable had for my record player. Finally I know how good this thing sounds after almost 20 years! If you have a record player and still use the cable that came with it I strongly recommend to get a good phono cable. The Furutech  phono cable transformed the performance of my record player.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO500)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO500)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1250)

This is thousands of Euros worth of audio equipment literally piled up on every corner. I think that this store alone holds more audio gear than all the hifi stores in Vienna combined but the best part is the accessories section. Japanese love to optimise their audio gear and that’s why the have showcases filled with tubes, pick ups, tonearms, cables, plugs, purifiers, filters, demagnetisers and wonder liquids.

That is a Japanese thing in general. Kaizen – constant improvement. The Japanese didn’t invent the car, the motor bike, the train, the water toilet or the camera but they have brought it to perfection.

Every music lover and audiophile knows that in order to get the best possible sound it is not good enough to simply buy some expensive gear and plug it together. It needs careful matching, optimisation and attention to every detail to get the best out of your stereo. For those audiophiles Japan is heaven.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/120 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1000)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO500)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/180 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2, 1/110 sec, ISO200)

And of course there are tons of magazines dealing with high end stereo gear. There is even a magazine called Audio Accessory. Can you imagine that! Even though I can’t read Japanese I was close to buy one of those magazines. I should have bought one!

The C.E.C. belt drive CD player four images above is also exactly half the price here btw. Turntables, tubes and belt drive CD players. Isn’t that a little outdated? Not really. What is outdated is your shiny 4K TV. That’s so 2017! 😉

In Japan the first company started to broadcast in 8K! The olympic games in Tokyo in 2020 will be presented in 8K to Japanese viewers. I have cable TV but the best I get so far is 1080 and in most cases it is still only 720. If I want 4K content it’s either Apple TV or Netflix. Seems that Japan is ahead again. Hope those new 8K TV sets have a good upscaling function when they get fed with 720 material. 😉

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2, 1/105 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/170 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec, ISO200)

I hope you liked that little walk through Yodobashi Audio. Next stop will be Yodobashi Camera.

On my train ride from Tokyo to Osaka I listened to music on my iPhone but in very high quality thanks to fine earphones from Radius and a smart and super small DAC plus headphone amplifier for Apples lighting connector from the same company. So far I think the DAC/amplifier is only available in Japan. It is a great device. Sound is much better than what I got from the Dragonfly red from Audioquest that I have used before. Plus there is no need for a clumsy USB adapter and the battery drainage is much lower too.

The Japanese did it again. They have taken a look at the existing solution and fixed it.

BTW: My train is the Nozomi express which needs only 2 hours and 22 minutes to go from Tokyo to Osaka. That’s a 515km distance covered at an average speed of well above 200 km/h including four stops! Try to beat that with your car.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO200)