INTERVIEW: BYUNGSOO YEH

1. When have you started your passion for high end audio? And who influenced you? family, friends? A composer or maybe even a movie?

From the time I was very young, there was a phonograph in the house. I was watching my father and older brother listen to music, I think I developed a love of music instantly. And then, when I was in the first year of middle school, I was 13 years old, I happened to read a book called Radio Works (1) in the school library and was introduced to a new world.

From that moment on, I started assembling a beginner-level vacuum tube radio and that took me around 1-2 years. After that, life kept me busy and I didn't pursue the dream, but when I had a bit more time in my life, from the early 40’s, I got into audio life again. Even now, I can't forget that book that had such a great impact on the course of my life.

2. Can you describe the first sound system that you owned that you were really proud of, what did it consist of?

The first audio system that I can say I was happy with consisted of a McIntosh C-22 preamplifier, McIntosh MC-275 power aplifier, TEAC CD player and BOZAK CS-4000M speakers. I still have all of them except the CD player and they work great, 30 years after.

3. Which songs do you use to test new equipment? for example, a new set of speakers? Also, do you have a large music collection?

I just play tests with this and that with whatever I'm usually listening to. However, I have yet to hear a loudspeaker that reproduces orchestral music well, so I test it with male and female voices, chamber music, or a cello or violin concerto.

A long time ago, I had a discussion with some audiophiles about how many sources of music is proper to have. The prevailing opinion was that even if we have a large music collection, we don't listen to more than 300 records, vinyl I mean. So three times that, about a thousand records, is enough in my view. If you have more than that, you can't remember them all.

4. Which concept is more important to you when listening to your favourite music in a high end context: frequency response, dynamic range, imaging, resolution?...

Frequency response, dynamic range, and resolution etc. are all factors that need to be balanced, not prioritised, and the importance of these factors can vary depending on the genre of music.

For example, Jazz prioritises dynamic range over frequency response, Classical music requires frequency response and resolution to be better than dynamic range. And, for male and female vocals, I personally believe that resolution and imaging is paramount. (2)

5. When did the passion for Western Electric Horns start? And why the 16A ? How long did it take you since the beginning of the interest to actually start building the 16A replicas you make?

I have been enjoying my audio life with Western Electric horns for about 13 years now. Before that, I had considered the Altec A4 system as my lifelong companion, but one day I heard the WE 16A sound for the first time at Mr. Chung's (3) house and it changed my mind about listening to audio forever.

In general, larger horns are more musical than smaller horns, and among Western Electric horns, the 12A + 13A horn combination is the best, followed by the 16A. For home use, 16A is much more recommended so I ventured into the 16A.

I tried to buy the genuine 16A but it was too expensive, so I decided to make my own. It took about 1 year from the start of the first replica trial to its final success.

6. How long does it take to fulfil an order? Care to give us some details regarding pricing and conditions?

Once we receive the order from the buyer, the production time for shipment is about 40 days.
The waiting time and Customs clearance for the shipment to leave S. Korea is about 10 days, and the sail takes about 35 days to Europe and 25 days to North America. So, for Europe, it takes a total of about 85 days from order to arrival at a European port. Packed in two export wooden crates.

I leave you with the lowdown of a recent order of WE 16A horn replica to Europe: the price at the port of shipment in South Korea is 8,215 euros FOB and the sea freight to Europe is 660 euros. CIF to a European port is 8,875 euros. These prices will remain unchanged in Korean currency until the end of 2025, but of course it may increase or decrease depending on exchange rate fluctuations.

As a side note, if you knew what the market price of the genuine WE 16A horn was, you'd probably fall over backwards in shock. They were not sold in traditional marketplaces but rumours already pointed to some being traded for 6 digits, and that's one of the many motivations for making the 1st replica, I loved the sound but couldn't afford it. From that moment on, I continued making them, not for the business but because I was retired from my job and want to share this great pleasure with other enthusiasts.(4)

7. Are the clients for 16A replicas knowledgeable about the technical side? Given how rare the 16A are, do they know how an original WE horn actually sounds? Do they request measurements from you to compare to the original?

Now, we can put this sound from the WE 16A horn on top of the Everest in the Himalaya mountains and we evaluate all of the other sounds against that standard, one speaker maker might say it's 70% accurate, another might say it's 80%, and so on.

Most of my customers don't know much about the technical side of things, but when they make contact with the sound of the original WE 16A horn, they keep the experience of that sound in their minds for a long time. And, when most of my clients see my blog, they have the feeling that my replicas will sound just as good and knock on their chests with excitement.

A famous American audio critic visited me once. He listened to a piece of an old pop record and exclaimed that he now understood what the standard of sound really should be. I asked him what he meant, and he said that many high-end speaker makers in the world say that their sound is the best, but they have no standard of sound to evaluate it against, so they have not been able to make an objective assessment after all.

8. In all your years of being a dedicated audiophile which speakers have you listened to that came close to the WE experience? Altec Voice of the Theatre? Any modern ones? I must confess I have never listened to any WE horn system…

I've listened to all the famous vintage speakers, for example the JBL Paragon and Hartsfield, the Electro Voice Patrician IV and 800, the silver coaxial speaker in the Tannoy Autograph cabinet, Altec A7 A5 and A4 (I have the A4 now), Klangfilm Eurodyn and Bionor, Western Electric Motiograph and the Klipsch Heresy, etc…

As far as high-end speakers go, I've been to many audio shows for many years and listened to just about everything that is famous and desirable. Out of these many loudspeakers that I experienced in many decades, the WE 16A + WE 555 driver combination came second..., and the very best was the WE 12A + 13A horns + two pairs of WE 555 driver combination.

That is in my book the holy grail of listening experiences. (5). Some enthusiasts use two 16A horns to get perfect stereo, and some people like a lot of bass or their favourite music has a lot of lower frequencies so they use a subwoofer, which adds a lot of low end, but you lose resolution. When there is an excess of bass, it can be very muffled when you tune into a FM station and listen to the announcer's voice. I don't recommend it, but some enthusiasts prefer more bass and they probably don't listen to FM anyway.

9. We can read that most of WE Horn systems are now only available in S. Korea, Japan and China. Is the new Audeum Museum in Seoul the definitive sign that S. Koreans are in love with vintage audio at the moment?

In our effort to get a good sound that is close to the original sound played in opera houses and concert halls, we found they are the best of the large horns made for theaters in the 1920's by the Western Electric Company in the United States. They became popular in Japan and Korea in the late 20th century, and spread to China in the 21st century, and now the influence is working its way back to the United States and Europe.

The Audeum Museum (6) was built to preserve the cultural heritage of mankind, as it is sad to see the most complete audio devices of a glorious past disappear, and also to prove that they sound better than today's High-End audio.

10. What is your opinion on digital vs analogue: the dominance of audio streaming for the young generations (Spotify, Tidal...) and the resilience of turntable and other physical recording formats?

Streaming music is definitely nice for its convenience, and the revival of turntables and LP vinyl is proof that analog sound is still very appreciated at present, including newer generations.