At the outset, my apologies to all members of HifiVision, and to Sandeep Nair of Audire for the delay in this review. Sandeep sent me a few emails, and even made a couple of subtle calls. Unfortunately when I came back from Coimbatore, I was stuck up with some work, Diwali came, and my son landed from the US for a week. I needed three or four days to sit continuously and write the review, and I did that over the last few days.
Let us move on.
A few years ago, the Singapore government ran a national program where they encouraged all their citizens to be polite and respectful. This was part of their plan to take Singapore from an ordinary country to an advanced state in which they succeeded.
Coimbatore in India is one such city where everyone is polite, well behaved, and respectful. The waiters smile and advise you what to eat, the rickshaw drivers are pleasant all the time, and best of all, an accident is handled with calm and quietness.
This impression of the city was even more etched into my mind when I arrived at Audire. I was asked to reach their office on Mettupalayam Road, the road that goes from Coimbatore to Ooty. A little outside the city (about 10 Kms), Audire has a small office in a commercial center.
I was received by Mr. Sandeep Nair. An old friend of Sharath Chandran, Sandeep is the spokesperson for Audire, it??s marketing manager, and a few other things put together. Sandeep is also a budding film director, and has a taken a few short films. He is hoping to make it big in the Tamil film industry. During the day, I visited Audire twice and met with Sharath, and Dr. VL Chandrashekaran. I am really obliged to both Sharath and the good Doctor to have spent time with me in spite of the fact that one of Sharath??s aunts was seriously ill.
What impressed me most about all three were their humility in spite of the fantastic knowledge they have of audio and audio systems. When I had first met Dr. Chandrashekaran in Chennai, he told me he knew nothing about music and is just a Physicist who knows how to make good circuits. In this trip I understood he was pulling my leg.
(This photo, though a bit out of focus, shows from the left Sandeep Nair, Sharath, and Dr. Chandrashekaran)
Dr. Chandrashekaran is an established businessman in Coimbatore who has a successful business manufacturing power conditioning equipment for the medical industry. His son Sharath is a national junior badminton champion. Once, on a trip to Germany, he chanced upon a pair of Avant Garde speakers, and his love for audio was born. An electronics graduate himself, Sharath decided to become a DIY and build speakers. His initial attempts excited the Coimbatore market, and Audire was born.
??We do everything the opposite of what the industry does,? is what Sharath has to say about the company policy. ??We use single drivers, we don??t use bracing inside our cabinets, and we don??t use a crossover.? Today Audire makes speakers, discreet and integrated amplifiers, hand assembled speaker cabinets, speaker cables, power conditioning and other accessories needed for audio. All their drivers are sourced from Fostex or Feastrex.
(Some speaker cabinets under production)
??You would be surprised the number of times we have been asked this question ?? why are your speakers so big?? says Sandeep. ??We tell them miniaturization is good for cell phones but not good when you are pushing large amounts of air. It is a bit of a corollary. Our main attempt is to make our speakers disappear. And to do that we make them bigger, more inert, more solid, and to have more presence,? says Sandeep eulogizing the design philosophy of Audire??s speakers. ??If you want the best of sound, you have to be prepared to give it floor space,? continued Sandeep.
I then asked Sandeep the question that was there in all our minds. Are the Audire amps based on some international design? Meaning, of course, the FirstWatt. ??No,? said Sandeep. ??They are completely designed by Sharath??s dad, and made by us. We do talk to Nelson Pass very often. He is a personal friend of Sharath and me. We share ideas, and philosophy, but no, our amps are completely our own. Every component that is there in the amplifiers has been chosen by us after testing and trials.?
When I pointed out that there are similarities, Sandeep pointed out that there are only so many ways an amp can be designed. Any good amp will have just one circuit. So when you look at two amps with the same basic design circuitry, you are bound to find similarities.
Continuing his design philosophy, Sharath said that they speak very often to Nelson Pass and Hervé Delétraz's of darTZeel, makers of the NHB amplifier, one of the best amps in the world. ??We discuss our designs with these gentlemen and get ideas and advices. Even if we want, it will be impossible to copy their designs. The power conditions in India are a challenge as is the possibility of getting high quality parts. darTZeel and FirstWatt use boards that are just a few microns thick. It will be impossible to solder these kinds of boards in India. There is an ocean of difference between the way Delétraz's will solder his boards, and the way we can. Delétraz's has story behind every board, every screw, and every bolt, why they are there and how they affect the sonic signature. And he can prove it you mathematically and sonically,? said Sandeep.
??Some of our products have been in design for over two years. We pay attention to every part, as we have learnt from Nelson and Hervé,? said Sharath.
I envied these people. They were on personal talking terms with some living audio legends, and they were taking it so lightly.
Continuing their design philosophy, Sandeep said he and Sharath roam the world listening to artists, and either recording them or getting their CDs. Coming back to India, they then try to make their amplifiers and speakers replicate the sound they have heard as close to the original as possible.
This gladdened my heart. Here was a set of people who not only had a clear understanding of the physics and mathematics needed to design high end systems, but also understood music. And they married the two well.
Contrary to the impression he had given me in Chennai, Dr. Chandashekaran understood music well and enjoyed classical recordings. Sandeep covered new age music, fusion, and Jazz. Sharath covered the rest including pop, instrumentals, and other genres. ??Music is the most important part of HiFi manufacture,? said Sandeep. ??If you don??t understand music, you cannot create a good music system.? I nodded eagerly in agreement. ??There are two aspects,? continued Sandeep. ??One is how the music sounds, and the other is how to make the amp and speakers sound like that,? he said. ??When you are designing an advanced amp, you tend to lose focus on music as you are grappling with the electronics. But as you close the design and testing and come to the final testing, you have to come back to music. It is thus important to understand music,? concluded Sandeep.
??I am strictly not an audiophile,? confessed Sandeep. ??But I have the ear to understand how music should sound, and I can clearly identify a good speaker and amp. A system should make me emotional ?? whether sad or happy,? concluded Sandeep.
Let us move on to the demo room.
The room is roughly square in shape of about 20 feet by 20 feet. The floor is a wooden laminate and the walls are bluish grey in color. As you enter, the wall opposite has the equipment neatly lined with the amps in the middle and three speaker pairs on both sides. Immediately to your right as you enter the room is the listening sofa and a couple of chairs behind it. There is rack on the right of the sofa holding a number of CDs.
(The Demo Room)
Sharath wanted the room to be ??lively??, and has not lined all the walls with sound absorbing or diffusing material. He has located the reflection points and mounted large panels, literally stuck between the floor and the roof. No nails, no mounting material on the walls. These diffusers, if you may call them that, are simple large frames made with MDF, filled with glass wool sheets, and covered with black speaker cloth. Ingenious, I must say. The same panel has been mounted on all four walls. In addition, Sharath has also mounted a few bass traps kept diagonally across the corners.
The bulk of my audition consisted of the Argus Preamplifier connected to an Argus Power Amplifier. The DAC was a Benchmark DAC1. The source was a Marantz CD17 Mark 3 CD Player. The Argus amp is a Class A amp producing roughly 100 watts per channel. Literally the whole of the backside of both the pre and the amp are heat sinks.
(The Argus Pre amplifier)
(The Argus Power Amp)
(Side view of the rack)
(Rear view of the rack)
The speakers were Audire??s IO, a speaker that is about 3 feet tall. It contains a single Fostex 4 inch driver, and a custom designed back loaded horn. The speakers have a nominal impedance of 8 ohms, and a power handling capacity of about 25 watts with a frequency range of 77Hz-23KHz.
(Close up of the IO Horns. This is a demo unit and may not look too good)
(A view of the IO Horn??s back with the connectors being visible. Audire prefers to use naked wires for best connectivity)
All interconnects were from QED, and the speaker cables were made by Audire. I will talk about the other two speakers at the end of my review.
Sharath and Sandeep set up the system did a small test to see everything is working properly, gave me the remote for the CD player, and left the room. I had of course carried my own set of CDs.
The Review
I would like to start the review with a sort of preamble. I have never heard single driver speakers before. Most of you, if you have read my posts, would know that I do not like big and booming bass. I dislike the echo and boom created by sub-woofers. I hear most music at low volumes, and I want all instruments to be clearly audible.
Take Five from Time Out by Dave Brubeck
I started my review with Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. A 20 bit Re-mastered CD, this has two of Jazz??s master pieces ?? Take Five and Blue Rondo A La Turk. Most Jazz is in what is called a 4/4 time. Take Five is composed by Paul Desmond is 5/4, a very defiant time signature in music. The song starts with Joe Morello setting the rhythm with a very light drumming as if his sticks are caressing the drums. This is then taken up by Dave on the piano. After a few minutes, Paul Desmond joins in with the saxophone. Just three instruments, and the tune and the rhythm is simply delightful, a kind of tune that you keeps whistling in your mind. After about two minutes, it becomes a drum solo by Morello, which is what usually makes me sit upright. According to Dave, Take Five was never supposed to be a hit ?? just a Joe Morello drum solo.
I have heard this album and Take Five in particular umpteen times. But the Audire system shocked me. At low volumes, the positioning and clarity of the instruments was an ear opener, if I may use the term. I was just planning to increase the volume a bit when the drum solo started. But I need not have bothered. I now understand, it has been recorded specially for the drum solo and the Audire system revealed that to me. Believe me, every drum beat was a pleasure to hear. Tight with no reverbs at all. In many places Joe plays a fast roll of his drum sticks, and ends with heavy drum beat or two. You can clearly hear the difference in the Audire system. The words that came to my head was ??man, these drums sound so natural.??
Take The Long Way Home from The Very best Of Supertramp
I don??t know how many of you have heard the first number in this album called the School. It starts with a soulful sound played by John Helliwell on his saxophone. Rick Davies then starts the song. In between Bob Siebenberg leads into the main tune with a roll of drums that is picked up by the keyboards. This part of the song always makes me shake and nod my head in tune with the rhythm.
But the number I really love in this album is ??Take the Long Way Home.? Very similar to the School in the beginning, the number is started with a keyboards (piano sound) played at very low frequency, soulfully picked up by a wail from the saxophone. In the beginning, the drums are few and far between. They are played just enough to keep the rhythm in place. After about a minute and 20 seconds, the drums roll in and really pick up the rhythm.
In the Audire system, I enjoyed this number so much that I wanted to hear it again at a much higher volume than I usually listen to music. When Bob??s drums roll in, they are extremely sharp and short, leaving a wide space for you to hear the rest of the instruments. The twang of the guitars were a pleasure to hear with the vibration of the string clearly audible till the next note is picked up. Rick??s voice was always dead center with the instruments enveloping him from all sides.
Tandav from Fusion Mosaic Vol 1.
Bikram Ghosh is a genius and I must buy his Rhythmscape. How did I ever miss that album?
I was introduced to Bikram Ghosh by Fusion Mosaic, a compilation of World Music by Rhythm House of Mumbai. I was, one day, wandering through the aisles of Rhythm House, when a salesman came and literally begged me to buy the CD. I bought both volumes; got Vol. 1 stolen from me, shed some tears, and got a second copy. I actually bought the CD as I saw the names of Rahul Sharma, L.Subramaniam, Shankar Mahadevan, and Sivamani. If these guys ever get together, they can set the stage on fire. I once remember watching Zakhir Hussain and Sivamani on stage together at the Music Academy, here in Chennai. Every note and every tune laid out by Zakhir was dutifully repeated by Sivamani, of course with more presence as he was playing multiple drums. At the end Zakhir got so pissed off that he got up from his tabla, asked Sivamani to vacate his seat, and played the drums solo. And man, did he play! Even Sivamani was dumbstruck and was standing there with his head bowed in awe.
Though each number is Fusion Mosaic is a gem, I just love Tandav. I have mentioned about Tandav a few times in my posts, but again with the Audire, it was an ear opener. It was as if a veil had been lifted, and the music just came alive. The imaging was superb as was the holographic positioning of the instruments. If you remember, I had mentioned about the movement of a small bell that is played at various places across the stage. The max I have ever heard this bell was at ninety degrees to my left ear. The Audire system moved it some 60 degrees behind my ear. The speakers projected the sound so well, I felt the bell was being played behind me. Of course, as is usual in Indian classical, a tune is played by on artist and repeated by another. Bikarm Ghosh and Sivamani tease each other in Tandav setting a rhythm that is simply stunning. With the Audire, I just had to close my eyes, and I could imagine Sivamani??s scarf covered head bobbing to the tune. What can I say? The Audire system played Tandav like I have never heard before in my life. As I said, it actually brought it to life.
Do I dare to imagine Lord Shiva tapping his feet and itching to dance?
Raindance from Drums On Fire by James Asher and Sivamani.
Since the Audire System rendered all the songs I heard till now so well, I must confess went on to listen to Raindance with a bit of over eagerness. What was I hoping for? That the drums will hit me on the chest? Well the Audire system brought me down to earth very quickly. Playing the drums very transparently it laid each instrument precisely. The drums were fast and tight, the vocals were centered beautifully, and you could listen to each and every instrument clearly even when they were all playing together. The drums by Sivamani never overwhelmed the other instruments and quietly kept a tight grip on the rhythm.
Jamaica Farewell from The Best of Harry Belafonte
Around this time, Sharath must have been peeking in without my knowledge and wondering what I was listening to. He came in and suggested I listen to a few vocals both male and female. I had come prepared, and I had my first disappointment of the day. I eagerly inserted Cat Stevens (Best of), and the Marantz refused to recognize the disc. Damn! But I had a backup ?? the beautiful and baritone voice of Harry Belafonte.
Harry himself has sung Jamaica Farewell in 100s of different ways, and I am yet trying to get the original version that I heard 20 years ago and fell in love with. The CD I have (BMG 74321 789482) has 22 beautful songs of Harry including Day-o, Island In The Sun, Man Smart Woman Smarter, Michael Row, etc.
Jamaica Farewell is a very soft song. It starts with a guitar and Harry starts with ??Down the way where the nights are gay?.??, The second stanza (Sounds of laughter everywhere?.) is where the song gets really sweet with a violin playing at the back. In most systems, you will not even notice the violins as they are played at very low volume.
In the Audire system, Harry Belafonte was nice enough to take a few steps forward from the instruments so that his voice did not overwhelm the soft notes of the guitar and the violins. Very obliging of him, I must say. The separation of the singer and the instruments was phenomenal, with the voice of Harry floating dead center but a few feet in front of the speakers. I could hear the violins played beautifully to accompany and add a softness and soul to Harry??s voice.
Breathless from Breathless by Shankar Mahadevan.
From the soft and tuneful music of Harry I jumped into the heart pounding high speed song of Shankar Mahadevan. If you remember, in a few auditions before I had complained that I could not hear and understand Shankar??s words when the orchestra piped in. Most systems fail when Shankar starts the second stanza with ??kaisi meeti bathein thi woh kaisi mulakhathen thi???. At this point the orchestra steps back a bit, and thunders in with the words, ??usne bathaya mujhe aur samjhaya?.??
The Audire system came through with flying colours. The drums and instruments added a deep and powerful presence to the voice of Shankar, but never crossed or overtook his voice. And, at the end, when Shankar lets out his breath with a sharp ??whooosh??, I felt he was breathing into my ear.
The Breathless has been recorded at a slightly higher volume and has been mixed to surround you with music from all sides. A good system will do justice to the number by faithfully recreating the sound without any coloration. The Audire system did just that.
Dheera Dheera Chal Chaand Gagan Me from the Classics Revival # 15 ?? Latha Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
In this song, the stanzas are started by Rafi at a slightly high pitch with Latha singing immediately after him and maintaining the pitch. Rafi??s voice sounded perfect and natural while Latha??s voice was very bright. I pointed this out to Sandeep who mentioned that old film songs were always recorded with a high gain. He said the system could be fine tuned to handle this.
With most systems if you listen to Latha for a few hours you end up with ear fatigue and this is an issue with Latha??s voice and the way it has been recorded for the movies. On the Audire, you could listen to film songs for hours without any ear fatigue if you keep the volume a bit low. Of course, you have to get the system tuned to nullify the high gain.
2002 New Year??s Concert ?? Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
I was dying to listen to a Beethoven by Herbert Von Karajan, a Gustav Mahler by Zubin Mehta, or my favourite ?? Raga Mala ?? Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra by Zubin Mehta and Ravi Shankar. Unfortunately I had forgotten to take all these albums.
In 1873, Johann Strauss conducted and played the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in history. Since that day, the New Year??s Concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna have become stuffs of legend. For a conductor it is an honour to lead the New Year??s Concert. For over 100 years since 1893, only ten conductors have been given this honour and this includes legends such as Herbert Von Karajan and our own Zubin Mehta. I saw the 2002 concert sitting in a small hotel in Germany, and it was love at first sight.
The 2002 New Year??s Concert has been recorded live. In the Audire system I listened to two numbers ?? the Die Fledermaus overture (Track 1) and the Radetzky Marsch (Track 15). Both the numbers are in contrast to each other. The Die Fledermaus overture starts with a quick and hard introduction by violins leading to soft notes being played in very low volume. The Radetzky Marsch, on the other hand, starts with a thunderous roll of the drums followed by the violins playing the marching tune. To add to this, Seiji has done the unthinkable, He has invited over 5000 people to clap with the music.
My expectation from the Audire system was for it to recreate the sound stage, and in the Radetzky Marsch, the complete Musikverein hall. I was really surprised, because the Audire system did both without fail. Somehow when I was listening to both numbers the thought came to my mind is that the complete electronics of recording and playback is missing. It was as if the Orchestra was sitting in front of me. In Radetzky Marsch, a few members of the audience, in their eagerness, start clapping a little too early. In the Audire system you could hear single pair of hands clapping at a distance. This, in my mind, is by itself a great achievement in any system. It was as if the Audire system was made for orchestral music. How a 100 or more piece orchestra can sound so clear and have the sound stage in a single driver system beats me.
The Other Speakers and System:
Next to the IO Horns you see a set of speakers with three legs. These are called AF1. Though it looks as if it has two drivers, it has only one - the one on the top. The bottom driver looking component is actually a passive radiator. This has a horn inside that mirrors the frequencies created by the driver, and radiates it out. It is a kind of sophisticated port with a cone. Otherwise the cabinet is completely sealed. The three legs are filled with lead. The legs are mounted on a granite block, and there is another granite block on top of the speaker. I tried knocking on the speaker with my knuckles, and nearly broke my knuckles. They are that solid. So were the IOs.
In the evening, Sharath connected the Wavac MD-805 to the AF1s and played some music. This combination is in a different league altogether. A tube amp connected to speakers specially manufactured with high end drivers from Fostex. The clarity was enhanced and so was the soundstage. I did not do a serious audition, so I will not comment much on this combination.
Just before I left, Dr. Chandrashekaran came in and spent a little time with us. He wanted to show the last speaker, the ones on the extreme ends. These are part of the EM series, and contain drivers from Feastrex. The cabinets are made from alloys of different wood and fused together with epoxy glue. These speaker need power, not sound but electrical power to kick start the magnets. Audire hopes to release these speakers to the world sometime in June and will be the flagship of the brand. The little I heard, the word ??flagship?? fits those speakers very well. According to Dr. Chandrashekaran, these speakers have extremely quick response. I had a quick listen to drumming by Mick Fleetwood, the drummer of Fleetwood Mac. It was just phenomenal.
Conclusion:
To say that I enjoyed my audition in Audire is obvious. Did I sing too much of praise for the Audire system? Frankly this is one of the best systems I have ever heard in my life. The only genre they failed in was old Hindi film music. But be warned, the transparency of the system will make you throw away a few CDs you like. Bad recording, high gain, bad mixing, everything will be thrown in your face. Your room must also be very carefully conditioned. It must not reflect sound and the Audire speakers throw sound very very far. At the same time, the room must have some life.
The list price for the Argus Pre is 40,000, the Power 86,000 and the IOs 49,000 a pair. You will have a system that you will thoroughly enjoy all your life. The only additional things you have to buy are a reasonably good CD player and a DAC. I would say for about 2.5 lakhs you will have a world class system in your hands. (Sandeep, please correct me if I am wrong)
I have already told Sharath and Sandeep that I am buying one. I have the price list given by Audire. I am collating it into a single PDF file, and will post it tomorrow.
Cheers
Let us move on.
A few years ago, the Singapore government ran a national program where they encouraged all their citizens to be polite and respectful. This was part of their plan to take Singapore from an ordinary country to an advanced state in which they succeeded.
Coimbatore in India is one such city where everyone is polite, well behaved, and respectful. The waiters smile and advise you what to eat, the rickshaw drivers are pleasant all the time, and best of all, an accident is handled with calm and quietness.
This impression of the city was even more etched into my mind when I arrived at Audire. I was asked to reach their office on Mettupalayam Road, the road that goes from Coimbatore to Ooty. A little outside the city (about 10 Kms), Audire has a small office in a commercial center.
I was received by Mr. Sandeep Nair. An old friend of Sharath Chandran, Sandeep is the spokesperson for Audire, it??s marketing manager, and a few other things put together. Sandeep is also a budding film director, and has a taken a few short films. He is hoping to make it big in the Tamil film industry. During the day, I visited Audire twice and met with Sharath, and Dr. VL Chandrashekaran. I am really obliged to both Sharath and the good Doctor to have spent time with me in spite of the fact that one of Sharath??s aunts was seriously ill.
What impressed me most about all three were their humility in spite of the fantastic knowledge they have of audio and audio systems. When I had first met Dr. Chandrashekaran in Chennai, he told me he knew nothing about music and is just a Physicist who knows how to make good circuits. In this trip I understood he was pulling my leg.
(This photo, though a bit out of focus, shows from the left Sandeep Nair, Sharath, and Dr. Chandrashekaran)
Dr. Chandrashekaran is an established businessman in Coimbatore who has a successful business manufacturing power conditioning equipment for the medical industry. His son Sharath is a national junior badminton champion. Once, on a trip to Germany, he chanced upon a pair of Avant Garde speakers, and his love for audio was born. An electronics graduate himself, Sharath decided to become a DIY and build speakers. His initial attempts excited the Coimbatore market, and Audire was born.
??We do everything the opposite of what the industry does,? is what Sharath has to say about the company policy. ??We use single drivers, we don??t use bracing inside our cabinets, and we don??t use a crossover.? Today Audire makes speakers, discreet and integrated amplifiers, hand assembled speaker cabinets, speaker cables, power conditioning and other accessories needed for audio. All their drivers are sourced from Fostex or Feastrex.
(Some speaker cabinets under production)
??You would be surprised the number of times we have been asked this question ?? why are your speakers so big?? says Sandeep. ??We tell them miniaturization is good for cell phones but not good when you are pushing large amounts of air. It is a bit of a corollary. Our main attempt is to make our speakers disappear. And to do that we make them bigger, more inert, more solid, and to have more presence,? says Sandeep eulogizing the design philosophy of Audire??s speakers. ??If you want the best of sound, you have to be prepared to give it floor space,? continued Sandeep.
I then asked Sandeep the question that was there in all our minds. Are the Audire amps based on some international design? Meaning, of course, the FirstWatt. ??No,? said Sandeep. ??They are completely designed by Sharath??s dad, and made by us. We do talk to Nelson Pass very often. He is a personal friend of Sharath and me. We share ideas, and philosophy, but no, our amps are completely our own. Every component that is there in the amplifiers has been chosen by us after testing and trials.?
When I pointed out that there are similarities, Sandeep pointed out that there are only so many ways an amp can be designed. Any good amp will have just one circuit. So when you look at two amps with the same basic design circuitry, you are bound to find similarities.
Continuing his design philosophy, Sharath said that they speak very often to Nelson Pass and Hervé Delétraz's of darTZeel, makers of the NHB amplifier, one of the best amps in the world. ??We discuss our designs with these gentlemen and get ideas and advices. Even if we want, it will be impossible to copy their designs. The power conditions in India are a challenge as is the possibility of getting high quality parts. darTZeel and FirstWatt use boards that are just a few microns thick. It will be impossible to solder these kinds of boards in India. There is an ocean of difference between the way Delétraz's will solder his boards, and the way we can. Delétraz's has story behind every board, every screw, and every bolt, why they are there and how they affect the sonic signature. And he can prove it you mathematically and sonically,? said Sandeep.
??Some of our products have been in design for over two years. We pay attention to every part, as we have learnt from Nelson and Hervé,? said Sharath.
I envied these people. They were on personal talking terms with some living audio legends, and they were taking it so lightly.
Continuing their design philosophy, Sandeep said he and Sharath roam the world listening to artists, and either recording them or getting their CDs. Coming back to India, they then try to make their amplifiers and speakers replicate the sound they have heard as close to the original as possible.
This gladdened my heart. Here was a set of people who not only had a clear understanding of the physics and mathematics needed to design high end systems, but also understood music. And they married the two well.
Contrary to the impression he had given me in Chennai, Dr. Chandashekaran understood music well and enjoyed classical recordings. Sandeep covered new age music, fusion, and Jazz. Sharath covered the rest including pop, instrumentals, and other genres. ??Music is the most important part of HiFi manufacture,? said Sandeep. ??If you don??t understand music, you cannot create a good music system.? I nodded eagerly in agreement. ??There are two aspects,? continued Sandeep. ??One is how the music sounds, and the other is how to make the amp and speakers sound like that,? he said. ??When you are designing an advanced amp, you tend to lose focus on music as you are grappling with the electronics. But as you close the design and testing and come to the final testing, you have to come back to music. It is thus important to understand music,? concluded Sandeep.
??I am strictly not an audiophile,? confessed Sandeep. ??But I have the ear to understand how music should sound, and I can clearly identify a good speaker and amp. A system should make me emotional ?? whether sad or happy,? concluded Sandeep.
Let us move on to the demo room.
The room is roughly square in shape of about 20 feet by 20 feet. The floor is a wooden laminate and the walls are bluish grey in color. As you enter, the wall opposite has the equipment neatly lined with the amps in the middle and three speaker pairs on both sides. Immediately to your right as you enter the room is the listening sofa and a couple of chairs behind it. There is rack on the right of the sofa holding a number of CDs.
(The Demo Room)
Sharath wanted the room to be ??lively??, and has not lined all the walls with sound absorbing or diffusing material. He has located the reflection points and mounted large panels, literally stuck between the floor and the roof. No nails, no mounting material on the walls. These diffusers, if you may call them that, are simple large frames made with MDF, filled with glass wool sheets, and covered with black speaker cloth. Ingenious, I must say. The same panel has been mounted on all four walls. In addition, Sharath has also mounted a few bass traps kept diagonally across the corners.
The bulk of my audition consisted of the Argus Preamplifier connected to an Argus Power Amplifier. The DAC was a Benchmark DAC1. The source was a Marantz CD17 Mark 3 CD Player. The Argus amp is a Class A amp producing roughly 100 watts per channel. Literally the whole of the backside of both the pre and the amp are heat sinks.
(The Argus Pre amplifier)
(The Argus Power Amp)
(Side view of the rack)
(Rear view of the rack)
The speakers were Audire??s IO, a speaker that is about 3 feet tall. It contains a single Fostex 4 inch driver, and a custom designed back loaded horn. The speakers have a nominal impedance of 8 ohms, and a power handling capacity of about 25 watts with a frequency range of 77Hz-23KHz.
(Close up of the IO Horns. This is a demo unit and may not look too good)
(A view of the IO Horn??s back with the connectors being visible. Audire prefers to use naked wires for best connectivity)
All interconnects were from QED, and the speaker cables were made by Audire. I will talk about the other two speakers at the end of my review.
Sharath and Sandeep set up the system did a small test to see everything is working properly, gave me the remote for the CD player, and left the room. I had of course carried my own set of CDs.
The Review
I would like to start the review with a sort of preamble. I have never heard single driver speakers before. Most of you, if you have read my posts, would know that I do not like big and booming bass. I dislike the echo and boom created by sub-woofers. I hear most music at low volumes, and I want all instruments to be clearly audible.
Take Five from Time Out by Dave Brubeck
I started my review with Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. A 20 bit Re-mastered CD, this has two of Jazz??s master pieces ?? Take Five and Blue Rondo A La Turk. Most Jazz is in what is called a 4/4 time. Take Five is composed by Paul Desmond is 5/4, a very defiant time signature in music. The song starts with Joe Morello setting the rhythm with a very light drumming as if his sticks are caressing the drums. This is then taken up by Dave on the piano. After a few minutes, Paul Desmond joins in with the saxophone. Just three instruments, and the tune and the rhythm is simply delightful, a kind of tune that you keeps whistling in your mind. After about two minutes, it becomes a drum solo by Morello, which is what usually makes me sit upright. According to Dave, Take Five was never supposed to be a hit ?? just a Joe Morello drum solo.
I have heard this album and Take Five in particular umpteen times. But the Audire system shocked me. At low volumes, the positioning and clarity of the instruments was an ear opener, if I may use the term. I was just planning to increase the volume a bit when the drum solo started. But I need not have bothered. I now understand, it has been recorded specially for the drum solo and the Audire system revealed that to me. Believe me, every drum beat was a pleasure to hear. Tight with no reverbs at all. In many places Joe plays a fast roll of his drum sticks, and ends with heavy drum beat or two. You can clearly hear the difference in the Audire system. The words that came to my head was ??man, these drums sound so natural.??
Take The Long Way Home from The Very best Of Supertramp
I don??t know how many of you have heard the first number in this album called the School. It starts with a soulful sound played by John Helliwell on his saxophone. Rick Davies then starts the song. In between Bob Siebenberg leads into the main tune with a roll of drums that is picked up by the keyboards. This part of the song always makes me shake and nod my head in tune with the rhythm.
But the number I really love in this album is ??Take the Long Way Home.? Very similar to the School in the beginning, the number is started with a keyboards (piano sound) played at very low frequency, soulfully picked up by a wail from the saxophone. In the beginning, the drums are few and far between. They are played just enough to keep the rhythm in place. After about a minute and 20 seconds, the drums roll in and really pick up the rhythm.
In the Audire system, I enjoyed this number so much that I wanted to hear it again at a much higher volume than I usually listen to music. When Bob??s drums roll in, they are extremely sharp and short, leaving a wide space for you to hear the rest of the instruments. The twang of the guitars were a pleasure to hear with the vibration of the string clearly audible till the next note is picked up. Rick??s voice was always dead center with the instruments enveloping him from all sides.
Tandav from Fusion Mosaic Vol 1.
Bikram Ghosh is a genius and I must buy his Rhythmscape. How did I ever miss that album?
I was introduced to Bikram Ghosh by Fusion Mosaic, a compilation of World Music by Rhythm House of Mumbai. I was, one day, wandering through the aisles of Rhythm House, when a salesman came and literally begged me to buy the CD. I bought both volumes; got Vol. 1 stolen from me, shed some tears, and got a second copy. I actually bought the CD as I saw the names of Rahul Sharma, L.Subramaniam, Shankar Mahadevan, and Sivamani. If these guys ever get together, they can set the stage on fire. I once remember watching Zakhir Hussain and Sivamani on stage together at the Music Academy, here in Chennai. Every note and every tune laid out by Zakhir was dutifully repeated by Sivamani, of course with more presence as he was playing multiple drums. At the end Zakhir got so pissed off that he got up from his tabla, asked Sivamani to vacate his seat, and played the drums solo. And man, did he play! Even Sivamani was dumbstruck and was standing there with his head bowed in awe.
Though each number is Fusion Mosaic is a gem, I just love Tandav. I have mentioned about Tandav a few times in my posts, but again with the Audire, it was an ear opener. It was as if a veil had been lifted, and the music just came alive. The imaging was superb as was the holographic positioning of the instruments. If you remember, I had mentioned about the movement of a small bell that is played at various places across the stage. The max I have ever heard this bell was at ninety degrees to my left ear. The Audire system moved it some 60 degrees behind my ear. The speakers projected the sound so well, I felt the bell was being played behind me. Of course, as is usual in Indian classical, a tune is played by on artist and repeated by another. Bikarm Ghosh and Sivamani tease each other in Tandav setting a rhythm that is simply stunning. With the Audire, I just had to close my eyes, and I could imagine Sivamani??s scarf covered head bobbing to the tune. What can I say? The Audire system played Tandav like I have never heard before in my life. As I said, it actually brought it to life.
Do I dare to imagine Lord Shiva tapping his feet and itching to dance?
Raindance from Drums On Fire by James Asher and Sivamani.
Since the Audire System rendered all the songs I heard till now so well, I must confess went on to listen to Raindance with a bit of over eagerness. What was I hoping for? That the drums will hit me on the chest? Well the Audire system brought me down to earth very quickly. Playing the drums very transparently it laid each instrument precisely. The drums were fast and tight, the vocals were centered beautifully, and you could listen to each and every instrument clearly even when they were all playing together. The drums by Sivamani never overwhelmed the other instruments and quietly kept a tight grip on the rhythm.
Jamaica Farewell from The Best of Harry Belafonte
Around this time, Sharath must have been peeking in without my knowledge and wondering what I was listening to. He came in and suggested I listen to a few vocals both male and female. I had come prepared, and I had my first disappointment of the day. I eagerly inserted Cat Stevens (Best of), and the Marantz refused to recognize the disc. Damn! But I had a backup ?? the beautiful and baritone voice of Harry Belafonte.
Harry himself has sung Jamaica Farewell in 100s of different ways, and I am yet trying to get the original version that I heard 20 years ago and fell in love with. The CD I have (BMG 74321 789482) has 22 beautful songs of Harry including Day-o, Island In The Sun, Man Smart Woman Smarter, Michael Row, etc.
Jamaica Farewell is a very soft song. It starts with a guitar and Harry starts with ??Down the way where the nights are gay?.??, The second stanza (Sounds of laughter everywhere?.) is where the song gets really sweet with a violin playing at the back. In most systems, you will not even notice the violins as they are played at very low volume.
In the Audire system, Harry Belafonte was nice enough to take a few steps forward from the instruments so that his voice did not overwhelm the soft notes of the guitar and the violins. Very obliging of him, I must say. The separation of the singer and the instruments was phenomenal, with the voice of Harry floating dead center but a few feet in front of the speakers. I could hear the violins played beautifully to accompany and add a softness and soul to Harry??s voice.
Breathless from Breathless by Shankar Mahadevan.
From the soft and tuneful music of Harry I jumped into the heart pounding high speed song of Shankar Mahadevan. If you remember, in a few auditions before I had complained that I could not hear and understand Shankar??s words when the orchestra piped in. Most systems fail when Shankar starts the second stanza with ??kaisi meeti bathein thi woh kaisi mulakhathen thi???. At this point the orchestra steps back a bit, and thunders in with the words, ??usne bathaya mujhe aur samjhaya?.??
The Audire system came through with flying colours. The drums and instruments added a deep and powerful presence to the voice of Shankar, but never crossed or overtook his voice. And, at the end, when Shankar lets out his breath with a sharp ??whooosh??, I felt he was breathing into my ear.
The Breathless has been recorded at a slightly higher volume and has been mixed to surround you with music from all sides. A good system will do justice to the number by faithfully recreating the sound without any coloration. The Audire system did just that.
Dheera Dheera Chal Chaand Gagan Me from the Classics Revival # 15 ?? Latha Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
In this song, the stanzas are started by Rafi at a slightly high pitch with Latha singing immediately after him and maintaining the pitch. Rafi??s voice sounded perfect and natural while Latha??s voice was very bright. I pointed this out to Sandeep who mentioned that old film songs were always recorded with a high gain. He said the system could be fine tuned to handle this.
With most systems if you listen to Latha for a few hours you end up with ear fatigue and this is an issue with Latha??s voice and the way it has been recorded for the movies. On the Audire, you could listen to film songs for hours without any ear fatigue if you keep the volume a bit low. Of course, you have to get the system tuned to nullify the high gain.
2002 New Year??s Concert ?? Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
I was dying to listen to a Beethoven by Herbert Von Karajan, a Gustav Mahler by Zubin Mehta, or my favourite ?? Raga Mala ?? Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra by Zubin Mehta and Ravi Shankar. Unfortunately I had forgotten to take all these albums.
In 1873, Johann Strauss conducted and played the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in history. Since that day, the New Year??s Concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna have become stuffs of legend. For a conductor it is an honour to lead the New Year??s Concert. For over 100 years since 1893, only ten conductors have been given this honour and this includes legends such as Herbert Von Karajan and our own Zubin Mehta. I saw the 2002 concert sitting in a small hotel in Germany, and it was love at first sight.
The 2002 New Year??s Concert has been recorded live. In the Audire system I listened to two numbers ?? the Die Fledermaus overture (Track 1) and the Radetzky Marsch (Track 15). Both the numbers are in contrast to each other. The Die Fledermaus overture starts with a quick and hard introduction by violins leading to soft notes being played in very low volume. The Radetzky Marsch, on the other hand, starts with a thunderous roll of the drums followed by the violins playing the marching tune. To add to this, Seiji has done the unthinkable, He has invited over 5000 people to clap with the music.
My expectation from the Audire system was for it to recreate the sound stage, and in the Radetzky Marsch, the complete Musikverein hall. I was really surprised, because the Audire system did both without fail. Somehow when I was listening to both numbers the thought came to my mind is that the complete electronics of recording and playback is missing. It was as if the Orchestra was sitting in front of me. In Radetzky Marsch, a few members of the audience, in their eagerness, start clapping a little too early. In the Audire system you could hear single pair of hands clapping at a distance. This, in my mind, is by itself a great achievement in any system. It was as if the Audire system was made for orchestral music. How a 100 or more piece orchestra can sound so clear and have the sound stage in a single driver system beats me.
The Other Speakers and System:
Next to the IO Horns you see a set of speakers with three legs. These are called AF1. Though it looks as if it has two drivers, it has only one - the one on the top. The bottom driver looking component is actually a passive radiator. This has a horn inside that mirrors the frequencies created by the driver, and radiates it out. It is a kind of sophisticated port with a cone. Otherwise the cabinet is completely sealed. The three legs are filled with lead. The legs are mounted on a granite block, and there is another granite block on top of the speaker. I tried knocking on the speaker with my knuckles, and nearly broke my knuckles. They are that solid. So were the IOs.
In the evening, Sharath connected the Wavac MD-805 to the AF1s and played some music. This combination is in a different league altogether. A tube amp connected to speakers specially manufactured with high end drivers from Fostex. The clarity was enhanced and so was the soundstage. I did not do a serious audition, so I will not comment much on this combination.
Just before I left, Dr. Chandrashekaran came in and spent a little time with us. He wanted to show the last speaker, the ones on the extreme ends. These are part of the EM series, and contain drivers from Feastrex. The cabinets are made from alloys of different wood and fused together with epoxy glue. These speaker need power, not sound but electrical power to kick start the magnets. Audire hopes to release these speakers to the world sometime in June and will be the flagship of the brand. The little I heard, the word ??flagship?? fits those speakers very well. According to Dr. Chandrashekaran, these speakers have extremely quick response. I had a quick listen to drumming by Mick Fleetwood, the drummer of Fleetwood Mac. It was just phenomenal.
Conclusion:
To say that I enjoyed my audition in Audire is obvious. Did I sing too much of praise for the Audire system? Frankly this is one of the best systems I have ever heard in my life. The only genre they failed in was old Hindi film music. But be warned, the transparency of the system will make you throw away a few CDs you like. Bad recording, high gain, bad mixing, everything will be thrown in your face. Your room must also be very carefully conditioned. It must not reflect sound and the Audire speakers throw sound very very far. At the same time, the room must have some life.
The list price for the Argus Pre is 40,000, the Power 86,000 and the IOs 49,000 a pair. You will have a system that you will thoroughly enjoy all your life. The only additional things you have to buy are a reasonably good CD player and a DAC. I would say for about 2.5 lakhs you will have a world class system in your hands. (Sandeep, please correct me if I am wrong)
I have already told Sharath and Sandeep that I am buying one. I have the price list given by Audire. I am collating it into a single PDF file, and will post it tomorrow.
Cheers
Last edited:
