Amp + Floorstander Recommendations. Budget Rs.2L

[rpmahale]

There are lots of very good av equipments available on forums classified section and needs serious look if some wish ro invest in great sound quality in reasonable price. Recently We have came across some of the great floor standing speakers like B&W, Triangle and now focal. FM may raise requests for floor standing speakers in wanted section he may also get responses for Dali,Tannoy,Paradigm etc high end speakers owners. Once the speakers get finalized he may look look for matching amplifier. He may also request for complete stereo set up also. FM may also get pre owned Naim,Parasound, Rocksan within the mentioned budget but need to have little patience...
As far as new units are considered now availablity and audition has become a little difficult task and prices are also Jack up to new level.
Most of the FM purchase the products from rigorous test and audition. If product is available in same city then task becomes more easy and completely satisfying.
There are few great speakers and amplifiers in market for stereo purpose.
Monitor Audio Bronze 6, Dali opticon 6, Tannoy xt6f, , Fyne audio F502 are some of my favorite and among amplifier I may look for Cambridge Audio CXA61 or Marantz PM7000n. Combination may be little bright but will bring high level of music details. Addituinal benifite may be as CXA61 comes with USB Audio input where as Marantz comes with HEOS.
Audition before purchase to check your test .

 

[fLUX]

Just to add on to my previous point it all depends on how much more would you be willing to spend. If you are open to used market then nothing like that ( Focal Aria 926, Triangle Borea are good options currently in the used section).

If you intend to go for new set the Focal Aria 926 would be about 1.7-1.9L( depending on where you buy it from ) and a good PA ( considering a minimum of Indiq Saptak) will be about 90k. With your budget in mind I can suggest the below.
i) Qacoustics Concept 40 (95k) - These are very refined and sound really good. Bass is so so in this unit
ii) KEF Q950/ 750 - Bass is super punchy and deep. Soundstage is huge with good imaging , presentation is vedy forward and some say might get fatiguing for longer durations
iii) XTZ Spirit 11 - Neutral, very true to the source and very good details. Has sufficient bass , but lacks the sparkle in the treble region.
iv) Indiq Platinum Achal - Has lows probably 2nd best after KEF Q950 , Mids are subjectively the best among this lot and in terms of high they are detailed and at the same time sweet with just enough sparkle nd non fatiguing

My recommendation would be Achal followed by KEF Q950/Spirit 11

Did not audition Dali , PSB and Tannoy. SVS and Klipsch models were very bright.

On the PA side pardon my insistence on the saptak amp but none of the lower /similarly priced IA I owned came close to it ( PM6006/8006, CA 651A) . As suggested by Mayank you can get a paradigm PW link which is a streamer/dac/pre all in one. In future you can upgrade pre/dac as you wish to

 

[bornfi]

Not saying this is the best option but if I were in your shoes, I would contact @sadik to build a mid-size high efficiency speaker and would keep the same amplifier (that can be changed later on). A large speaker can change the experience drastically.

And for such custom built speakers, you get liberty of choosing best of the components, specially the crossover where everything gets masked.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Since you are in Mumbai, listen to the Wharfedale Linton Heritage with Audiolab 6000a at Hifimart. It can be a significant upgrade (scale, musicality, immersion) while retaining the Wharfedale sound signature you are used to. The combo should just about fit in your budget. Hopefully you have a reasonably sized room as Linton’s scale isn’t suited to small rooms.

A Wharfedale user would generally find most other brands strident, so don’t blind purchase based on recommendations and reviews unless you’ve auditioned the speakers hard and long.

 

[avtar2008]

Although it is a very less known brand, but see if you can find a RBH towers in india. I was lucky to get my hands on a demo piece, they are absolutely worth their premium price. They are perfect for both movies and music, although they have a little music sound signature.

I chose them after personally auditioning q acoustic 3050i, polk s/tsi/rti series, ma bronze 300, and getting feedback from friend who have auditioned dali opticons, castle knight, focal aria speakers before.

 

[oracle1974]

You may also want to state your room dimensions to get better recommendations.
Explore pre-owned options for the speakers if not for the amplifier.
Take your time to make a choice.
All the best.

 

[oracle1974]

Since you are in Mumbai, you can get in touch with Grattan Vaz who has set-up in Goregaon East. You can demo different speakers there.
Very reliable person to deal with.

 

[isoton]

Musical fidelity + Monitor Audio combo is superb.

 

[Bloom@83]

+ 1 from me as well. Do check out the Platinum Achal and Saptak dual mono. They are a wonderful combination one could get, and pairs very well any pre amp you throw at it. These speakers especially are very efficient and can be run even with a single digit watt amps. The combination of the two is the one to crave for.

Regards,
Som

What’s the efficiency?

 

[Pratyush J]

As per their website it is 94.5 dB and during discussion with Amit he shared a test video in which the sensitivity was hovering around 95 - 96 dB. Can't wait to receive my achals by next week

 

[sonic-wanderer]

Thank you, all! This thread is turning out better than I could have hoped for!!
Great advice and suggestions and sorry if I don't reply to each post.

Fair enough. You have not shared anything about the size of your room and listening distance, do you have sufficient space to pull out your speakers from the wall, etc. The room contributes majorly to the sound you hear. Wrong sized speakers for a room, or badly positioned speakers (ported keep flush agaisnt a wall) can ruin the most superb speakers.

Also, it would help to know what you liked about the Diamond 220. They are certainly laid back so Monitor Audio, Focals, etc which are more forward would not be recommended if you already like the Wharfedale type of sound. That will help eliminate options.

First, the room size is little over 200 sq ft. The speakers will be on either side of the TV entertainment console, placed along the midpoint of a wider side. Maximum space between both speakers is 9 feet, and the distance from speaker-to-ear is 10 feet. Speakers can be pulled out about 15 inches from the wall as the whole console is in a 2-foot niche (depth), which puts the right speaker in a slight corner.

The Diamond 220s were an impulse decision because they were "award-winning". I had heard other Wharfedales before, just not those particular ones. But I'm ready to move on to something with a bit more heft in the mid-range and deeper bass (especially at lower volumes) -- energetic without losing overall transparency.

If this was a poll, the Platinum Achals would have won already!

As someone has already mentioned invest first in good Set Floorstanders and buy the matching amplification later. There are lots of Good floorstanders on HFV classifieds currently.
Triangle Floorstanders
Audio Note AZ 2
Ascendo C6 etc

BTW, I'll be Selling my less than 2yr old, Focals Aria 926 floorstanders soon, as I have upgraded. You'll get many good offers if you can open a Wanted Thread.

Unfortunately, I don't have enough privileges to post in the Wanted section. But would be very interested in knowing the selling price of the Focal Aria 926 speakers.

Again, thanks everyone ... lots for me to think about!

 

[RRR]

Grattan Vaz who has set-up in Goregaon East. You can demo different speakers there.
Very reliable person to deal with.

Off topic but for the benefit of the OP....
Reliable if you are buying new.
In my experience proceed with caution with him for preowned stuff.
Cheers

 

[avtar2008]

If this was a poll, the Platinum Achals would have won already!

Although I never auditioned achals,but sometimes I feel FM have a soft corner for indiq being an indian brand, so, I suggest you to audition any speaker before buying them, since, a sound which is good for other, may not be same for you.

There are other products as well in your budget which offer similar sound quality.

 

[Pratyush J]

Thank you, all! This thread is turning out better than I could have hoped for!!
Great advice and suggestions and sorry if I don't reply to each post.



First, the room size is little over 200 sq ft. The speakers will be on either side of the TV entertainment console, placed along the midpoint of a wider side. Maximum space between both speakers is 9 feet, and the distance from speaker-to-ear is 10 feet. Speakers can be pulled out about 15 inches from the wall as the whole console is in a 2-foot niche (depth), which puts the right speaker in a slight corner.

The Diamond 220s were an impulse decision because they were "award-winning". I had heard other Wharfedales before, just not those particular ones. But I'm ready to move on to something with a bit more heft in the mid-range and deeper bass (especially at lower volumes) -- energetic without losing overall transparency.

If this was a poll, the Platinum Achals would have won already!


Unfortunately, I don't have enough privileges to post in the Wanted section. But would be very interested in knowing the selling price of the Focal Aria 926 speakers.

Again, thanks everyone ... lots for me to think about!

Hi @sonic-wanderer , I think your and my sound preferences match very closely. Here is my thread for a very similar requirement and budget. You can get more insights from that thread as it contains feedback from few other owners of platinum achals and their custom bookshelves. Their 15 day trial is a huge deal clincher for many of us, although I utilized my official Blr trip to audition achals and found them very balanced, similar to what many FMs have observed. For me, the mid range and accurate bass really stood out.

Happy auditioning!!

 

[Prodigy]

Although I never auditioned achals,but sometimes I feel FM have a soft corner for indiq being an indian brand, so, I suggest you to audition any speaker before buying them, since, a sound which is good for other, may not be same for you.

There are other products as well in your budget which offer similar sound quality.

What’s there to have a soft corner buddy. I think IndiqAudio is getting sold like hot cake not because it’s an Indian brand but it’s coz of the sound it can reproduce. The Achal’s do very well when stacked against most of them priced 2X out there. These are not budget speakers but a premium offering from an Indian company and I think that’s something some cannot digest.
I personally don’t think FM’s @NewBee2020, @vanga123 ,@girishtd8262 ,@fLUX would have purchased Achal because of any sentiments towards Indian brand. It’s all to do with what they are capable of.
Nothing personal but thought of sharing my view.

Lets exclude IndiqAudio from the equation here. Take Lyrita, Rethm, Sonodyne and so on. People like them too and that’s not coz it’s Indian, but for what they are in comparison to rest of the ones out there.

Regards,
Som

 

[avtar2008]

What’s there to have a soft corner buddy. I think IndiqAudio is getting sold like hot cake not because it’s an Indian brand but it’s coz of the sound it can reproduce. The Achal’s do very well when stacked against most of them priced 2X out there. These are not budget speakers but a premium offering from an Indian company and I think that’s something some cannot digest.
I personally don’t think FM’s @NewBee2020, @vanga123 ,@girishtd8262 ,@fLUX would have purchased Achal because of any sentiments towards Indian brand. It’s all to do with what they are capable of.
Nothing personal but thought of sharing my view.

Lets exclude IndiqAudio from the equation here. Take Lyrita, Rethm, Sonodyne and so on. People like them too and that’s not coz it’s Indian, but for what they are in comparison to rest of the ones out there.

Regards,
Som

I have just suggested him to consider other options as well and audition it before buying anything. Why you getting hyper about it.

 

[Pratyush J]

What’s there to have a soft corner buddy. I think IndiqAudio is getting sold like hot cake not because it’s an Indian brand but it’s coz of the sound it can reproduce. The Achal’s do very well when stacked against most of them priced 2X out there. These are not budget speakers but a premium offering from an Indian company and I think that’s something some cannot digest.
I personally don’t think FM’s @NewBee2020, @vanga123 ,@girishtd8262 ,@fLUX would have purchased Achal because of any sentiments towards Indian brand. It’s all to do with what they are capable of.
Nothing personal but thought of sharing my view.

Lets exclude IndiqAudio from the equation here. Take Lyrita, Rethm, Sonodyne and so on. People like them too and that’s not coz it’s Indian, but for what they are in comparison to rest of the ones out there.

Regards,
Som

What’s there to have a soft corner buddy. I think IndiqAudio is getting sold like hot cake not because it’s an Indian brand but it’s coz of the sound it can reproduce. The Achal’s do very well when stacked against most of them priced 2X out there. These are not budget speakers but a premium offering from an Indian company and I think that’s something some cannot digest.
I personally don’t think FM’s @NewBee2020, @vanga123 ,@girishtd8262 ,@fLUX would have purchased Achal because of any sentiments towards Indian brand. It’s all to do with what they are capable of.
Nothing personal but thought of sharing my view.

Lets exclude IndiqAudio from the equation here. Take Lyrita, Rethm, Sonodyne and so on. People like them too and that’s not coz it’s Indian, but for what they are in comparison to rest of the ones out there.

Regards,
Som

I 100% agree. I decided to spend 1L+ because of the sound output and not because they are made in India. Having auditioned so many international brands before, I did not get the same performance as I got from Achals

 

[Pratyush J]

I have just suggested him to consider other options as well and audition it before buying anything. Why you getting hyper about it.

@avtar2008 when you have not auditioned them then how can you compare their sound quality with other products available in that price bracket?
Your suggestion of going for an audition is absolutely justified, but calling out that FMs have a soft corner is not correct and undermines their honesty and neutral stance. The hugely successful group-buy is also a testimony of their sound quality.

 

[girishtd8262]

I have just suggested him to consider other options as well and audition it before buying anything. Why you getting hyper about it.

I read about the note written by prodigy.
Personally I took audition at Amit's residence.i travelled all the way from Mysore just for this.
Audition was at Amit's residence with no properly treated acoustics.i was impressed by the sound signature even my friend also felt the same.i was impressed by the way amit treats his customers .he took personal interest and updated me during various stages of its buildup. Now I feel v happy and satisfied about my decision of course they are indian it's an added advantage.no regrets from my side.
I strongly recommend people to go for it if possible get an audition I'm sure you will fall in love with them instantaneously

 

[NewBee2020]

I read about the note written by prodigy.
Personally I took audition at Amit's residence.i travelled all the way from Mysore just for this.
Audition was at Amit's residence with no properly treated acoustics.i was impressed by the sound signature even my friend also felt the same.i was impressed by the way amit treats his customers .he took personal interest and updated me during various stages of its buildup. Now I feel v happy and satisfied about my decision of course they are indian it's an added advantage.no regrets from my side.
I strongly recommend people to go for it if possible get an audition I'm sure you will fall in love with them instantaneously

I agree, I had a very good audition and went thru each and every detail about the product.
I will definitely recommend the anchals as I am very happy how they are performing.