The Diva Duo
Richard Seah
T S Lim
"If you don't know about music, you can forget about sound," Lim says.
Lim plays the harmonica well enough to be judged among the best in the Asia-Pacific region. He is also trained as a tenor. Lim loves the music of Gustav Mahler and is a member of the Mahler Society, Singapore. Although classically inclined, he appreciates a wide range of music. And sounds.
As someone passionate about music, Lim takes special care in the design of his amplifiers to have them convey the full range of musical expression - to make his DIVA equipment "intensely musical".
"Anyone with basic electronics knowledge and a calculator can design hifi equipment," Lim says. "But not many are as deeply involved in music as I. Not many know how to make the sound more musical, more human."
Lim first became fascinated with hifi at the age of 8, when he went into a recording studio with his school's harmonica band and realised that the equipment there sounded much better than the radio set at home. He built his first amplifier during his teens and has not stopped since.
As an audiophile, Lim is among the few and fortunate who had the opportunity to actually "study" the art of hifi, with masters in Hong Kong and China.
Richard is a person of many talents who, at one time, wanted to become a professional musician. He played the trombone in school brass bands, orchestras, jazz big bands and even in nightclubs.
His greatest gift, however, is in writing and he became a successful business journalist.
Following the entrepreneurial spirit that runs in his family, Richard went on to publish his own newsletter on natural health and later, co-founded an organic foods store.
He surprised many friends when he ventured into the hifi business in 1977, opening a high-end audio store called The Soul of Music. "It's not such a drastic change," Richard jokes, "from hi-fibre to hifi."
Richard is also an explorer. His gift is in being able to find really good things - good food, good books, good ideas, good music - and great audio equipment like DIVA.
When Richard met Lim, he was totally amazed that Lim's hifi system, which cost less than a third of his, sounded far, far superior. Richard was converted. Immediately, he offered to help Lim market his DIVA equipment.
Thus began a close working relationship that continues to this day.