Benefits of a forum like HFV: Make friends, listen and experience varied audio/video gear

[vivek_r]

I had been “stalking” Yogi Bear’s posts, especially his for sale ones for a while. And happenstance I was in Jaipur and so was he. So I snuck off for a while to see what his gig was. Helped me in the last stretch by getting his driver to navigate

What an amazing experience. A whole lot of valve amplifiers (all DIY) connected to his DIY stand mount. No you didn’t miss the bass! There was an enjoyable amount of it. Typical valve bass - phat!!!

He played via his EC designs dac (he has 2!) and his DHT preamp. First was a 6080 PSE tube and the next was 6L6SE both in pure class A. The latter was more powerful and so bought in more oomph and the former was lovely, but was looking for a more sensitive mate!

The amps were all beautifully finished. And his bedroom with several amps in progress only shows he has a patient wife.

Lovely visit and hope to sample his awesome amps in the future.

 

[Megmeg]

You can find plenty of bragging from humble to outrageously amazing here in different threads.
Here is one: https://www.hifivision.com/threads/showcase-your-audio-video-setup-here.1167/page-132
Getting an invite to visit and listen to a FMs set up is however a different endeavour. A clue may be in the title of this (current) thread

yup, made some friends alrdy!

 

[Nikhil]

I had a chance to visit FM Analogous this past weekend on Saturday afternoon. Had a really good time getting to know him and truly enjoyed his warm hospitality. He even arranged lunch at short notice after getting to know that I had not eaten. After eating we settled in to his cozy listening room for an afternoon of listening.

On tap was his Graham Audio LS 5/9 driven by a Karan Audio Integrated. I will leave him to describe the rest of his chain but from what I could gather he was anticipating the arrival of an EC Designs DAC. Analogous is the kind of guy who has heard his fair share of gear. His room had another two pairs of speakers including a Croft Integrated on standby. We started off with the Karan Integrated and later switched to the Croft.

We started off with some Queen (Another One Bites the Dust) and the Graham 5/9s came alive filling the room with the signature foot tapping bass line. Cued up Bohemian Rhapsody and let the song build up to its famous chorus line - the Graham Audio / Karan combo was in complete control. Keeping on with playing more familiar numbers, the Grahams just bathed us in good vibrations without missing a step. It was really interesting to see from his playlists that Analogous and I had similar taste in music. Before long it was time to switch to the Croft Integrated and see what this gem of an amp brought to the party.

While the Karan integrated brought oodles of power and grip to the sound the Croft was a more organic sound that clearly showed great synergy with the Graham 5/9s. Without giving much away to the Karan, the Croft held its own with the same Queen tracks from earlier. Before I knew it, it was time for some tea and Mrs Analogous brought in some exquisite Darjeeling tea which was just perfect for the occasion.

Post tea I just felt like listening to some female vocals which I felt would sound really nice on the Croft / Graham combo. Started off with some Annie Lennox (Memphis in June), Alison Krauss (It Doesn't Matter) and Maeve O'Boyle (Facing Home) and it didn't disappoint. Decided to close the session with some Buika from her Niña de Fuego album. Perhaps Analogous will share his impressions as well but in my opinion the Graham / Croft has a synergy that is special.

I came away from my visit with Analogous having gained an appreciation for another "audio passionate". The guy clearly cares for great sound and has an appreciation for what it takes. As the saying goes, there are many ways to Rome and Analogous is one of those familiar with many of audios by lanes. In line with the over arching theme of this thread - it truly felt wonderful to meet another forum member and listen to his wonderful setup.

Many thanks to FM Analogous for a wonderful afternoon!


.

 

[Analogous]

There must be an old adage that goes “ the best things in life become better when shared” Nikhil’s visit for an afternoon of music, discussing audio matters and other topics is a great example.

I was expecting some one with far more experience in audio matters than I. He was that and much more. He is a “music first“ audiophile ( is that a thing? ). It was fortunate we share similar tastes in music. Equipment is important but musical experience is the key?

Inviting him to choose the play, I was immediately reminded how important the choice of music is in appreciating a stereo set up. I was also thinking why everyone can not be a good DJ, but that’s a topic for another thread.

Good choices bring out the best in our set ups, Poorly thought out choices can ruin the fun. Nikhil’s choices were stellar and I was delighted with his choices across generes. Buika was a delightful new discovery. In between songs we had discussions on “audio matters” (of course), anecdotes and more.

In his observations above, he has succinctly described the synergy between different components. The Croft- Graham sound beautiful together.
This is another reminder for me that well engineered equipment with fantastic measurements do need good partnering, good music and a matching room to bring out the best from our setups. Good company to appreciate all this is a bonus.

Listening to our systems through the ears of another person can sometimes be delightful. If the person is a seasoned audiophile capable of describing his/her insights well, that is a rare privilege. I had this when Nikhil visited.

It was a pleasure to meet and host Nikhil for an afternoon. I look forward to his next visit.

 

[VSTEREO]

Date : Sunday, 01-10-2023
Location : Chennai
Members: @linuxguru ,@tnvijay ,@Kannan ,@VSTEREO,@srinisundar and 5 more hifi vision members and non members

Gears:
Amps : PP Tube amp made by @tnvijay
Speakers : 1) Dali Oberon 5 and 2) Vintage Infinity BS (modified by @Kannan)
Transport/Sources : Wiim Pro, Arcam ST60, Marantz CD 4000 and a simple Bluetooth dongle. Apple music, Spotify and DSD files
DAC : Teac UD-301 and Arcam ST60 inbuilt DAC

Another nice Sunday with full of music and food. Its been almost six months we, Chennai members had met so, we decided to meet on 1st of Oct at @linuxguru residence. We had few new members this time who has missed last meet.

This time, we had quite a lot of Transport and Arcam ST60 performed really well. Convenient factor of Wiim Pro is high and it performed well. Morning session went off with trying the combinations of gears and speaker positions. Post lunch, we had settled with the well known Tamil and English tracks and used Wiim Prod (Coaxial Out to), Teac UD 301 (RCA to), Tube power amp (Belden speaker cables to), Dali. The combination performed very well (15x25 non treated room) and we all enjoyed the day.

A big thanks to @linuxguru and @tnvijay for hosting the meet and the members for making a day enjoyable.

 

[srinisundar]

Date : Sunday, 01-10-2023
Location : Chennai
Members: @linuxguru ,@tnvijay ,@Kannan ,@VSTEREO,@srinisundar and 5 more hifi vision members and non members

Gears:
Amps : PP Tube amp made by @tnvijay
Speakers : 1) Dali Oberon 5 and 2) Vintage Infinity BS (modified by @Kannan)
Transport/Sources : Wiim Pro, Arcam ST60, Marantz CD 4000 and a simple Bluetooth dongle. Apple music, Spotify and DSD files
DAC : Teac UD-301 and Arcam ST60 inbuilt DAC

Another nice Sunday with full of music and food. Its been almost six months we, Chennai members had met so, we decided to meet on 1st of Oct at @linuxguru residence. We had few new members this time who has missed last meet.

This time, we had quite a lot of Transport and Arcam ST60 performed really well. Convenient factor of Wiim Pro is high and it performed well. Morning session went off with trying the combinations of gears and speaker positions. Post lunch, we had settled with the well known Tamil and English tracks and used Wiim Prod (Coaxial Out to), Teac UD 301 (RCA to), Tube power amp (Belden speaker cables to), Dali. The combination performed very well (15x25 non treated room) and we all enjoyed the day.

A big thanks to @linuxguru and @tnvijay for hosting the meet and the members for making a day enjoyable.

All in all it is a happy Sunday meet particularly in a non-treated room. It is so nice of @linuxguru to host a bunch of audiophiles roaming across his room with ease just changing the gears. Happy to meet hear @tnvijay amp after a long wait.. Happy to meet and get introduced with Dr.Jeganathan.. Happy to see lot of newly wedded folks to stereo carrying their stuff with great enthusiastic.

Just adding few photos..

 

[rajagopal_j]

Date : Sunday, 01-10-2023
Location : Chennai
Members: @linuxguru ,@tnvijay ,@Kannan ,@VSTEREO,@srinisundar and 5 more hifi vision members and non members

Gears:
Amps : PP Tube amp made by @tnvijay
Speakers : 1) Dali Oberon 5 and 2) Vintage Infinity BS (modified by @Kannan)
Transport/Sources : Wiim Pro, Arcam ST60, Marantz CD 4000 and a simple Bluetooth dongle. Apple music, Spotify and DSD files
DAC : Teac UD-301 and Arcam ST60 inbuilt DAC

Another nice Sunday with full of music and food. Its been almost six months we, Chennai members had met so, we decided to meet on 1st of Oct at @linuxguru residence. We had few new members this time who has missed last meet.

This time, we had quite a lot of Transport and Arcam ST60 performed really well. Convenient factor of Wiim Pro is high and it performed well. Morning session went off with trying the combinations of gears and speaker positions. Post lunch, we had settled with the well known Tamil and English tracks and used Wiim Prod (Coaxial Out to), Teac UD 301 (RCA to), Tube power amp (Belden speaker cables to), Dali. The combination performed very well (15x25 non treated room) and we all enjoyed the day.

A big thanks to @linuxguru and @tnvijay for hosting the meet and the members for making a day enjoyable.

All in all it was a fun session. Thanks @linuxguru for hosting, @tnvijay for the lovely amp build, and others who lugged their equipment all the way for our pleasure.

 

[raj12345]

All in all it is a happy Sunday meet particularly in a non-treated room. It is so nice of @linuxguru to host a bunch of audiophiles roaming across his room with ease just changing the gears. Happy to meet hear @tnvijay amp after a long wait.. Happy to meet and get introduced with Dr.Jeganathan.. Happy to see lot of newly wedded folks to stereo carrying their stuff with great enthusiastic.

Just adding few photos..

Plz tell more about the horn speakers as seen in last pic if possible. On which driver it is based on. Any video playing these horns shall be beneficial.

 

[VSTEREO]

Date : Sunday, 04-Feb-2024
Location : Chennai
Members: @tnvijay ,@VSTEREO,3 more hifi vision members and 5 non members

Gears:
Amps : SE Tube amp made by @tnvijay and JLH 8 watts
Speakers : Vintage Infinity BS (modified by @Kannan)
Transport/Sources : Allo USBridge & Flac files
DAC : Teac UD-301

Had organized a meet specifically for Illayaraja music and a group of around 10 Illayaraja fans participated in the meet. It was a great 4 hours where we had a short speech presented by a Tamil writer/poet Mr. Samraj about Illayaraja followed by playing a selective 15 raja tracks ranging from 70's to 2023. It was a very wonderful day!

Here are some pics:

 

[Kannan]

Missed this meet as I am out of town. I am sure you all had a great time.

 

[VSTEREO]

Yes sir. It was a great day!