The Chinese Way

Dr. Kang Zhang Boosts Maserati Sounds

The Chinese Way – Dr. Kang Zhang Boosts Maserati Sounds

It is not every day we get to sit in a Maserati, particularly one with this level of audio upgrade. We get the full low-down from owner Dr. Kang Zhang.

As we pull into Hartlands Village, Fleet, the beauty of the place strikes us. It's not your typical village with Medieval roots but a modern estate of executive homes in the picturesque rural landscape near Fleet in Hampshire.

We find Kang already sitting in his Maserati Levante, giving the battery a boost in preparation for our listening test. Once we have all shaken hands and exchanged greetings, he invites us into his beautifully appointed home and offers us drinks.

Clearly driven, Kang tells us he owns multiple businesses. The ones he shares with us include a Chauffeuring company that specialises in South Asian weddings. His cars are explicitly dressed to reflect the style and tastes of South Asians. This company is bustling, and he has just ordered a new Rolls Royce for his fleet. His first company came from a project he worked on with BMW, developing their parts ordering system. As a result of this work, he set up Designer Beemer, an online sales site for BMW parts to BMW franchised dealers.

He also has a business consultancy that helps broker deals between Chinese companies and the UK. This keeps him very busy, and he attends up to ten business meetings during meal times and drives 250 miles weekly. This takes the pressure to cook away from his wife, with whom he has a three-month-old baby. His mother, a chief petrochemical engineer in China, has also come over to stay while they get through these difficult first months.

Having been raised in Beijing, Kang arrived at Hull University in 2007, where he studied International Business. Upon completing his degree, he headed to London, where he was awarded a Master's at the Royal Holloway University of London and then a PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In terms of musical influences, Kang tells us he listened to primarily Western pop music hits, dubbed into Chinese, in China. He is fond of Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou, who has released 12 albums. Lately, these have become increasingly Western-sounding but still with influences from his musical roots.

Kang has previously dabbled in car audio but never had anything as big as the system that now fills the Maserati with sound. A lifelong car fan, he also has a Mercedes G-Wagon parked on his drive.

When he purchased his Maserati, he searched for a reliable company to install a Ghost Tracker/Immobiliser to protect his investment. He came across a YouTube video featuring social media star Shmee (aka Tim Burton) promoting Cambridge Car Audio (CCA). Kang contacted dealer principle, Adil Khokar, who impressed him with his knowledge and examples of their excellent work. As a result of this conversation, Kang decided that Cambridge Car Audio was the only place for him, so the car was duly delivered and underwent a lot of work, including amber lighting for when he stops in London to pick up his business associates and customers, a complete security system and the incredibly specified audio system we had gone to listen to. The work took five weeks. This may sound like a long time. However, the level and standard of work undertaken explain why it might have taken that time.

The A-Pillars carry some impressive tweeter builds. These house a pair of Audison Thesis TH 1.5 II Violino tweeters.  The tweeters themselves sit at the top of the range of Audison’s product offerings. They perform perfectly from 800Hz to 26kHz. They are physically large but well worth CCA's effort in presenting them on axis.

The tweeters blend well with the Hertz Mille Legend 1650.3 they installed in the doors. Similarly, the MPS 250 S2, 2ohm subwoofer in a stunning custom enclosure wraps the vehicle’s occupants in warm sub-bass tones that sound like they come directly to the listener's ears from the same source as the rest of the frequency range.

CCA has installed a pair of Audison Voce AV K6, 2-way component speakers in the rear. These provide a hi-fi experience for rear-seated passengers, and why not?

The speakers are powered and carefully controlled by a 12-channel Audison Forza amplifier (AF M 12.14 bit). Four pairs of channels are bridged to provide 180 watts each to the woofers in the front and rear doors, with the 2-pairs of tweeters fed by the remaining four channels. This is done to provide more power to the woofers. Bass frequencies require more energy than high frequencies. This explains why the Subwoofer has a dedicated amplifier. An Audison Forza AF M 1 D feeds the subwoofer with 1000 watts RMS. This is plenty to overcome the effects of the modesty panel CCA fabricated to hide the subwoofer’s presence from unwanted attention.

On-board Digital Signal Processing (DSP) controls each speaker's levels and crossover frequencies. The speakers are also time-aligned to optimise the sound stage for all vehicle passengers. A DRC remote control for the amplifier is mounted in a coin tray next to the USB ports. This allows for control of the subwoofer level in this system. This is always a good idea. A car on the move will cancel out sub-bass to varying degrees, depending on speed, road surface and amount of sound deadening used. The ability to nudge the bass up at motorway speed is highly desirable.

Kang mainly listens to the radio when driving around but also streams from an iPhone. I had a couple of Hi-res tracks that I wanted to listen to to assess the sound capability of this system. I plugged in my Samsung because an iPhone does not render Hi-res music well.

First up was “Extreme” by Moby. String stabs are quickly joined by an electronic keyboard then a tight band delivering a bouncy groove. This was extremely impactful as Mille Woofers and Thesis tweeters combined to deliver punch and a super-wide sound stage. Sub-bass was set just about right, but I knew there was much more in hand should it be needed. It wasn’t in my opinion, but I obviously had to try. As always, I first removed the sub-bass completely to see how much work the woofers were doing. I could quite happily enjoy this vehicle without the sub with the car parked up, although it may be a little lacking in specific genres. I raised the sub-level using the Audison DRC remote controller. The subwoofer integrates with the front end despite being under a panel in the boot. There is plenty of headroom, and the bass can become thunderous. I adjusted it back to my preference.

The extended album version of Chris Rea’s “Auberge” was next. I chose this because of the dramatic introduction. It features someone whistling the central theme of the tune while walking. The footsteps march right across the soundstage, and some bottles fall over. This sounded incredibly authentic as the Thesis Violino tweeters did there thing. The slide guitar intro is also very impactful, with a controlled and defined guitar sound, which was bright and precise but with a hint of a rock edge.

The track takes about 2.5 mins to get going, but when it does, the jaunty rhythm competently supports the song, adding plenty of energy. Sub-bass was not necessary for this track as all the action happens in the middle reaches—a highly enjoyable rendition, in my opinion.

Kang has himself a peach of an audio system in this vehicle. Cambridge Car Audio has created a great install, as always.

Dr. Kang’s Top Five Tunes

Lighters – Bad Meets Evil and Bruno Mars

Tokyo Drift - (Fast and Furious) - Teriyaki Boyz

⁠In The Name of Father - Jay Chow

Low – Flo Rida (Feat. T-Pain）

⁠Ru Yuan - Faye Wong