David W. Robinson, with John Tucker
Winston Ma at his garden: A portrait. Bellevue, WA, 2001.
There seem to be a number of passings in 2016 already.
Sure, that's always true, statistically. But this has already been a bad year for notable music figures dying…David Bowie, Prince, Natalie Cole, Glenn Frey, John Berry, Merle Haggard, Paul Kantner, Dan Hicks, George Martin…some well-known names there.
To that melancholy list of musicians, I would add the name of an audiophile who loved music very deeply: my good friend, Winston Ma, of First Impressions Music.
Winston Ma in his listening room, as he appeared on the cover of Positive Feedback magazine, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2001
I had known for years now that Winston was battling brain cancer quite valiantly. I hadn't seen him face to face since the summer of 2011, but my audio friend John Tucker of eXemplar audio, a long-time personal audio advisor to Winston, had kept me posted on his long decline. It was awful, this slow, wasting, inexorable ending. At no point did the news ever sound very encouraging, and I've seen enough cancer over the years to be very optimistic about his prognosis.
And then, just before THE Show Newport Beach, I got the news that Winston had died.
That sparked sorrow, and memories...
Winston Ma in the anteroom to his listening room, Bellevue, WA, 2001
Winston first contacted me back in 1992 or so, right after George Cardas had moved his family and Cardas Audio from southern California up to Bandon, Oregon, on the southern Oregon coast. He said that he wanted to meet with me at George's place. At that time, I didn't know who Winston was, and called George to check his bona fide. Should I do this? Bandon is a solid five-hour drive from Portland, you see.
George to me: "David, if Winston Ma says that he wants to meet with you, you meet with him!"
OK!
I did drive down and meet with Winston and George, and came away extremely impressed with Winston. He was a man of courtesy, refinement, and urbanity, with a smiling presence, but also a sense of reserve. It was very evident to me from the beginning that Winston was a man that one did treat in a cavalier or overly-familiar way. He was aristocratic in every sense of the word; noblesse oblige would be a major faux pas with him, as some persons and audio companies learned to their cost over the years.
Winston Ma and George Cardas at the Positive Feedback Roundtable discussion, Vacuum State of the Art Conference (VSAC), 2001
Winston and I become good audio friends, and over the years we maintained contact with one another. I visited him several times at his home, with its remarkable world-class listening room.
Winston's listening room from the sweet spot position, 2001
This listening room…more like a small listening chapel…was a long-term project initiated by Winston in the late 1990s. He assembled a team of expert advisors (see photograph below) who helped to plan the room, and then proceeded with the construction of it as an extensive add-on to his home in Bellevue, WA.
The plaque crediting all who were involved in the design and construction of Winston Ma's reference listening room.
The results were extraordinary, and kept Winston busy with trying to optimize the audio possibilities in that facility for many years.
Part of Winston Ma's remarkable collection of LPs, stored in the media room next to his listening room
I was fascinated by what had been accomplished by Winston and his team, and made several trips to Washington in 2000 and 2001 to visit the room, and to talk at length with him about what had gone into this extraordinary effort.
The house that Ma built: Looking from the garden and pool towards the entryway to Winston's listening room, 2001
Rick Gardner accompanied me on one occasion, providing his usual insights into the pluses and minuses of what he was experiencing. The results of all this…an interview with Winston, a photographic essay, and some notes from him on design…were extensive enough to be published in 2001 in Vol. 9, Nos. 2 and 3 of PF magazine, and then republished in PF after going online in Issues 1, 2, and 3.
Happier days: Paul Weitzel of Tube Research Labs, Rick Gardner, then with PF, and Winston Ma
For those interested in getting to know Winston better, I refer you to these articles from Positive Feedback's early days of online publication:
PFO Issue 1, "An Interview with Winston Ma, Part I: Ma's Entry Into Fine Audio," by David W. Robinson & Rick Gardner, HERE .
PFO Issue 2, "An Interview with Winston Ma of First Impression Music, Part 2," by David W. Robinson & Rick Gardner, HERE.
PFO Issue 3, "Winston Ma's Listening Room: A Photographic Update," by David W. Robinson & Winston Ma, HERE.
PF Issue 3, "Winston Ma's Remarkable Listening Room: Images and Some Design Notes,"
by David W. Robinson & Winston Ma, HERE.
Over the years, Winston and I remained in contact with one another, often by email, and, whenever possible, at audio shows.
Winston Ma in the First Impression Music Room at VSAC 2001
During the days in which First Impression Music (FIM) was producing SACDs, Winston made sure that I had all of his titles, which I reviewed quite favorably…they were fantastic. He asked me to help him edit his liner notes for the FIM SACDs, which I was very happy to do for him.
Everything that Winston did at FIM was done at the highest level of quality. His selection of recordings for his various reissue series reflected superior sensibilities, and a keen sense of what represented the finest in our trove of great recordings. He spent long hours assuring that he had the finest sources for his work, would travel to meet with production/mastering teams, and personally supervised every step of the process of his discs. This included some forays into pure DSD recordings in conjunction with Gus Skinas at The Super Audio Center.
River of Sorrow, a recording done by Gus Skinas direct to DSD, under the direct production supervision of Winston Ma, was in many ways the archetypical example of his sensibilities and values: A cost-no-object statement of a remarkable performance by masters of their instruments, with every detail lovingly perfected…note the stitching on the binder. This SACD, given to me directly by Winston, remains an honored treasure in my reference library.
In 2011, I was invited to a roundtable about DSD and high-resolution audio at Winston's home. Accompanying me on the drive was my long-time audiobud Jonathan Tinn of Blue Light Audio, another highly committed supporter of DSD. At this time, DSD's possibilities as a download format, decoupled from the SACD optical specification, were becoming evident, and Winston wanted to talk with a select collection of experts about it.
Winston's panel of experts for DSD and high-resolution audio. From left to right, Jonathan Tinn of Blue Light Audio, John Tucker of eXemplar audio, Michael Bishop of Five/Four Productions, Winston Ma of First Impression Music, Robert Friedrich of Five/Four Productions, an unknown Seattle-area Web specialist, and Rob Niemann of Rutherford Audio. Not shown is yours truly, who was behind the lens.
Winston Ma presiding at the 2011 DSD roundtable: A portrait
The Audio Powwow at Winston Ma's home, Bellevue, WA, 2011. John Tucker is on the right, seated next to Five/Four Productions' Michael Bishop.
Winston was, as always, the consummate host. We had a fine discussion about DSD as an exceptional download format. At the end, Winston said that he was interested in moving ahead with the research for the options for a download site. Alas, that research never led to Winston taking action on the idea. The tragic thing is that FIM's audio treasures now look as though they'll never be released to DSD, which is a real loss to audiophiles and music lovers everywhere.
Winston Ma serving tea, Bellevue, WA, 2011
The main reason for this lack of decisive action, so uncharacteristic of Winston, was his declining health. By the time of our meeting in 2011, Winston had already been diagnosed with brain cancer, and was suffering the effects of medical procedures to fight his condition. Those of us who were in attendance noticed the limitations that he was fighting, and was aware of. He apologized to us for the fact that he was not quite what he had been in the past, which was so typical of his courtly courtesy and deep politeness to guests. I knew from my conversations with me that he was struggling with dying in this way, but his essential calm and graceful repose remained intact to the general public.
Only good friends knew better.
Winston Ma in his garden, 2001
Over the next year or so, Winston's communications with me became more sparse, and finally faded away. We talked a time or two, but his ability to remember, to cast thoughts into speech, and his memory, all started to fail him. My main link to him over the past three years was via our mutual friend John Tucker, of eXemplar audio. He was a close advisor to Winston over a number of years, and kept me in the loop about his slow-motion losing battle with the cancer that finally took his life in May.
And so…
…here I sit, melancholy once again over the passing away of a dear audio friend. As you get older, this happens more and more, of course. But that doesn't change the sense of loss that grows with each passing year, as long-time friends are lost to the vicissitudes of time and entropy. It's a fallen world, for sure.
Winston's listening chair in his room…now empty.
Winston was a great man, a true heart, and a real brother in the world of musical treasures. Knowing him enriched me, and reminded me again of why I love the audio arts. These fellow souls…the folks who have shared my passion for the possibilities of recorded music…have been a joy to me.
Among that company, Winston was a true prince.
Farewell, good friend….
*********************************
[John Tucker, a close audio friend of Winston's, has supplied Positive Feedback with these reflections on his demise.]
John Tucker of eXemplar audio on the left, with Bruce Jacobs of Stillpoints at RMAF 2015
On Tuesday May 24th of 2016 we lost the most passionate man I've ever known in the audio industry. Winston Kam Hong Ma's many-year battle with brain cancer finally ended.
Winston did what he always did up until the last time I saw him. He continued working on his lifelong passion and set an example for how to live.
I'd known Winston for 20 years, and there was never a time that I didn't learn something from him. He was a shining light for all of us in the industry. He tirelessly supported and promoted his love of music and the audio arts. The list of people in our industry that Winston mentored, supported, and promoted included more of the great people in the audio arts than you can imagine. He was known far and wide for the gracious host he was, and for sharing his passion whenever he could.
There was so much more to Winston than most knew, though. He was the most humble man I've known and truly demonstrated how to live at every moment. Besides what many of us knew of Winston, he was a poet, a master calligrapher, a martial artist, a reviewer, and so much more.
Our dear friend and example in life will be missed in so many ways by so many of us.
[All photographs and image processing by David W. Robinson]
