On a sudden work visit to Chennai today, I managed to snag a few hours off to visit Audire's newly opened showroom in Nungambakkam - right next to Taj Coromandel. I was very impressed by the location and more importantly the demo. room itself. A pair of massive Ascendo M-S speakers anchored the main listening room, amplified and sourced by devialet front end. As my visit was unexpected, Sharath and Sandeep both were unable to be there in person, but they generously set up an open house for me with one of their helpers (they were in touch with me throughout the audition via sms & voice - talk about real time virtual presence:lol
. Only condition, I had to bring my own music, which I did in the form of sony vaio laptop running Jriver mc19 and some of my favourite Flacs and wav's. I was floored by the performance of the ascendo's, and Sharath's setup prowess. The soundstage was so holographic that I sensed the presence of the artists in the room (I was listening to my own music on my laptop) and imaging was uncannily lifelike. On some small jazz ensemble's like The Claudio Fillipini trio, the resolution was so amazing, I heard details like the bassist breathing which I had never heard before on my system in effect lifting the clichd veil of audiophile lore. The ascendo's took charge of the large, well appointed listening room and played music. Though they are imposing and physically large they just melted into the room. Sharath has treated the room with Acoustic treatment from a German source and he has done a commendable job. I spent an enchanting 90 mins engrossed in music ranging from Moby to Miles. I was not 100% satisfied with the bass extension for such large transducers and Sharath concurred, perhaps needs a little more experimentation in setup - to my ears there appeared to a mild overhang. Sandeep mentioned that they just opened shop a couple of months ago, so they are yet to be fully staffed but soon they will be open for business during regular work hours. Needless to say I was quite impressed by Audire's set up and if you have the time /and you happen to be in Chennai you should get in touch with the aforementioned gentlemen and audition the setup. Highly recommended.
Cheers,
Sid
. Only condition, I had to bring my own music, which I did in the form of sony vaio laptop running Jriver mc19 and some of my favourite Flacs and wav's. I was floored by the performance of the ascendo's, and Sharath's setup prowess. The soundstage was so holographic that I sensed the presence of the artists in the room (I was listening to my own music on my laptop) and imaging was uncannily lifelike. On some small jazz ensemble's like The Claudio Fillipini trio, the resolution was so amazing, I heard details like the bassist breathing which I had never heard before on my system in effect lifting the clichd veil of audiophile lore. The ascendo's took charge of the large, well appointed listening room and played music. Though they are imposing and physically large they just melted into the room. Sharath has treated the room with Acoustic treatment from a German source and he has done a commendable job. I spent an enchanting 90 mins engrossed in music ranging from Moby to Miles. I was not 100% satisfied with the bass extension for such large transducers and Sharath concurred, perhaps needs a little more experimentation in setup - to my ears there appeared to a mild overhang. Sandeep mentioned that they just opened shop a couple of months ago, so they are yet to be fully staffed but soon they will be open for business during regular work hours. Needless to say I was quite impressed by Audire's set up and if you have the time /and you happen to be in Chennai you should get in touch with the aforementioned gentlemen and audition the setup. Highly recommended.Cheers,
Sid
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