Audiophiles among celebs

Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra

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In our forum we are discussing about different issues. But have never seen any discussion on audiophiles among celebs so I would like to start it.
Of the celebs the first name that comes in to my mind is Satyajit Ray. He had a good collection of vinyl records. He had a collection of western classical . In an interview given by his wife Bijoya Ray I read that he had to dispose of his vinyls to meet some purpose. Matinee idol Uttam Kumar himself was a good singer and he had a Garrard turntable. He also must have a good collection of vinyls. Manna Dey was a perfectionist. It is said that he was never satisfied during rehearsal. At the time of recording his songs, mostly Bengali Adhunik he arranged his own musical hands spending money. He was very much concerned with the recording of his songs. The same can be told about our beloved Rahul Dev Burman. He had the same mentality as Manna Dey. While listening to his music on vinyls this fact becomes clear. Film director actor Gautam Ghosh has a passion for vinyls. Because in some of his documentaries he has shown some collection of it. Hemanta Mukherjee , the singer and music director also had a good collection of vinyls.
I am sure that many FMs here can say more than I on this matter. Friends please do come and write about it.
Sorry forget to mention the name of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino who are also vinyl enthusiasts.
Regards
 
Nice, thanks for starting this thread.

I would like to share some interesting fact which caught my attention while reading more about Norge Audio, India. Pasting incident described by none other than Mr. Shyam Bajaj man behind Norge Audio, India during his interview.

Quoted by Mr. Shyam Bajaj -
“I recollect a few of our celebrated customers very fondly. I remember RD Burman and Mohd. Rafi had paid for my systems. My sister’s very good friend’s father was an actor (Iftikar). He took me to Kishore Kumar. I took an amplifier with me expecting nothing. Surprisingly he asked me the cost and I said it cost INR 1200. He paid. I was shocked when Kishore Kumar paid because he had a reputation of being a miser—he would not even part with one rupee.“ :)

Source - great article must read

 
Nice, thanks for starting this thread.

I would like to share some interesting fact which caught my attention while reading more about Norge Audio, India. Pasting incident described by none other than Mr. Shyam Bajaj man behind Norge Audio, India during his interview.

Quoted by Mr. Shyam Bajaj -
“I recollect a few of our celebrated customers very fondly. I remember RD Burman and Mohd. Rafi had paid for my systems. My sister’s very good friend’s father was an actor (Iftikar). He took me to Kishore Kumar. I took an amplifier with me expecting nothing. Surprisingly he asked me the cost and I said it cost INR 1200. He paid. I was shocked when Kishore Kumar paid because he had a reputation of being a miser—he would not even part with one rupee.“ :)

Source - great article must read

Hi
Apbinu
Thanks for sharing. I don't know this matter. But I am glad knowing. Yes Kishore Kumar was famous as a miser :D too. However, I shall shoot you a PM to know more about your experience with Norge audio.
Regards
 
Manna Dey used to live Two buildings away from my house. Maybe his family still resides there, not sure . Maybe his bungalow is redeveloped into a skyscraper.

As a kid clearly remember hearing his voice doing riyaz while going to school. Early morning 730 am. Every day except Saturday and Sunday as that was school holiday :)

As a kid did not understand what was the need for him to do riyaz and never knew how big singer he was.
 
IMO all the singers are audiophiles because they can never avoid listening to music. For perfection they do riyaz almost every day and they listen to songs of other artists. However, Anjan Dutta , a famous singer, director, actor and Sumon chattopadhyay aka Kabir Sumon a popular singer in Bengal are audiophiles. Both of them have good audio collections. Anjan is passionate about western music. Sumon has love for vinyls. I can remember him doing a TV show on vinyl collectors in Bengal in late 90's.
Regards
 
While he didn't particularly mention it, Sushant Singh Rajput's home tour showcased his HiFi and home theater briefly.
Screenshot_20200831-091457-01.jpeg
Screenshot_20200831-091526-01.jpeg
Screenshot_20200831-091554-01.jpeg
Similarly, fans of Bosch might have noticed his HiFi, Ohm Walsh speakers, Marantz turntable and McIntosh pre/power amplifiers, and Jazz, as a key aspect of his character.
boschsys.824x0-is.jpg
Screenshot-009737.jpg
 
IMO all the singers are audiophiles because they can never avoid listening to music. For perfection they do riyaz almost every day and they listen to songs of other artists. However, Anjan Dutta , a famous singer, director, actor and Sumon chattopadhyay aka Kabir Sumon a popular singer in Bengal are audiophiles. Both of them have good audio collections. Anjan is passionate about western music. Sumon has love for vinyls. I can remember him doing a TV show on vinyl collectors in Bengal in late 90's.
Regards
I am not sure I agree. While most obviously love music and understand good sound, very few actually bother with equipment for reproducing the same. In fact so may use the stardard phone buds for listening ! Maybe they can hear the real thing live so why bother with systems which only approximate live ;)
 
While he didn't particularly mention it, Sushant Singh Rajput's home tour showcased his HiFi and home theater briefly.
View attachment 49143
View attachment 49144
View attachment 49145
Similarly, fans of Bosch might have noticed his HiFi, Ohm Walsh speakers, Marantz turntable and McIntosh pre/power amplifiers, and Jazz, as a key aspect of his character.
View attachment 49146
View attachment 49147
While he didn't particularly mention it, Sushant Singh Rajput's home tour showcased his HiFi and home theater briefly.
View attachment 49143
View attachment 49144
View attachment 49145
Similarly, fans of Bosch might have noticed his HiFi, Ohm Walsh speakers, Marantz turntable and McIntosh pre/power amplifiers, and Jazz, as a key aspect of his character.
View attachment 49146
View attachment 49147
Hi
Thanks for sharing. Yes Sushant is an exceptional one in the present day Bollywood with his extra ordinary merit so his choice for the audio video equipments will equally be amazing.
Regards
 
I am not sure I agree. While most obviously love music and understand good sound, very few actually bother with equipment for reproducing the same. In fact so may use the stardard phone buds for listening ! Maybe they can hear the real thing live so why bother with systems which only approximate live ;)

Exactly my thoughts!
 
I am not sure I agree. While most obviously love music and understand good sound, very few actually bother with equipment for reproducing the same. In fact so may use the stardard phone buds for listening ! Maybe they can hear the real thing live so why bother with systems which only approximate live ;)

It's a documented fact that most Western classical professionals - both conductors and musicians - do not own high-end systems, and many make do with just entry-level stuff or boomboxes.. That's because they don't listen to all the audiophile cues: soundstaging, imaging, tonality, freq balance, etc. Rather, they look for performance quirks in technique, tempo, interpretation. Also, as pointed out by arj, they know the sound of live instruments, and the fact that no audio system can ever get it right.
 
The discussion makes me wonder:

Are chefs foodies too?
Do sportsmen follow the sport?
Are teachers good learners?
Are writers voracious readers too?

Guess we’d like the answers to be yes. But we know it is person-specific.

But the thread is an interesting one. It says ‘celebs’ so we can even mention non-musical celebs that are audiophiles. Like industrialists? They have the resources... do any of them have the interest?
 
Some celebrities love HiFi electronics some don't, Very difficult to know.

1598879156156.png

Asha Didi (R D Burman) had Quad 303 and Quad 405 and probably matching Preamp. A virtual pat on the back if any one finds out what Tuner it is above Quad.
Regards.
 
The discussion makes me wonder:

Are chefs foodies too?
Do sportsmen follow the sport?
Are teachers good learners?
Are writers voracious readers too?

Guess we’d like the answers to be yes. But we know it is person-specific.

But the thread is an interesting one. It says ‘celebs’ so we can even mention non-musical celebs that are audiophiles. Like industrialists? They have the resources... do any of them have the interest?
Bohhot hard!
Bohhot Hard!
 
Nice, thanks for starting this thread.

I would like to share some interesting fact which caught my attention while reading more about Norge Audio, India. Pasting incident described by none other than Mr. Shyam Bajaj man behind Norge Audio, India during his interview.

Quoted by Mr. Shyam Bajaj -
“I recollect a few of our celebrated customers very fondly. I remember RD Burman and Mohd. Rafi had paid for my systems. My sister’s very good friend’s father was an actor (Iftikar). He took me to Kishore Kumar. I took an amplifier with me expecting nothing. Surprisingly he asked me the cost and I said it cost INR 1200. He paid. I was shocked when Kishore Kumar paid because he had a reputation of being a miser—he would not even part with one rupee.“ :)

Source - great article must read


What a wonderful interview - full of old world charm!
 
Punit Goenka, the CEO of Zee, has an all Steinway system. It cost him more than a million bucks. He flew the team from Germany down to his home, and they redid the entire place. His content is refreshed weekly by them. He listens to it once a week...
Great tidbit !! . Thats the standard OP of Steinway..you pay for the installation as well, Although thats more in the Lifestyle than audiophile category ;)
 
The discussion makes me wonder:

Are chefs foodies too?
Do sportsmen follow the sport?
Are teachers good learners?
Are writers voracious readers too?

Guess we’d like the answers to be yes. But we know it is person-specific.

But the thread is an interesting one. It says ‘celebs’ so we can even mention non-musical celebs that are audiophiles. Like industrialists? They have the resources... do any of them have the interest?
Hi
Sachinbhai
Thanks for your witty writing. But I think interest is the prime motivation. If a teacher has interest then he will read, research, find out new avenues and feel celestial joy. Situation has a vital role to play also. When you are facing collosal socio political forces, you will gradually lose that interest. I can't say about other people in other professions but can say that if one has interest ,he will achieve many things. The person's whom I mentioned in my post had interest so they are different from others. Uttam Kumar liked music so he could spend time listening to music. Same can be spoken about Raj Kapoor. Manna Dey always tried to be perfect, again interest so he spent his hard earned money to arrange musical hands just to make recording good. Both Rahul Dev and Ashaji were passionate about music therefore Pancham dada gave emphasis on good recording. Satyajit Ray was an audiophile and he collected vinyls from around the globe. He was passionate about music and his love for music manifests itself in his movies.
Now all the celebs are not the same. It is said that style is the man so celebs are also different in their attitude. Besides, I can't say that all the performer's are artists. An artist must have interest which a performer lacks.
Regards
 
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