Classic Indian amps of late 70's

[Anil kumar]

Hi all, here are the scanned pictures of COSMIC hifi components sold during late 1970's. I got this product brochure from a COSMIC dealer in 1980, i still have it. They had excellent Amp & turntable range, i had CO-60 markII for many years.

 

[Anil kumar]

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

Again typical you ! yes these are some of the best india had to offer !!

Also noteworthy are orsons (sony-orson as famously known after the JV) and sonodyne Uranus series !!

I never had the pleasure of owing any but a freind owned the Cosmic 150 that you've mentioned and have heard them extensively,I'd say they are by far the best of indian Hi-fi units produced !!

Regards.

 

[Kamal]

Ah yes, how those pictures bring back the old days !
My first intro to component based Hifi stereo was thru Cosmic System( forget the model), owned by a rich guy in Bareilly.
Before that, we had the standard Philips radio with a Garrard record changer connected to it, then a Radiogram ( ever heard of those ? a hit dowry item, it was! ).
Thanks, Anil for sharing the images (& keepng the brochures all these years ).

 

[Anil kumar]

Thanx Sreekanth & Kamal for the comment.
Sreekanth: earlier models were transister versons (not STK type). Uranus series had STK transistors, sounded bad. They were made to go with equalisers, sounded terrible. I had uranus II for 5 years, i shall post the pictures tomorrow. Only uranus series turntable was acceptable because of Audio Technica diamond stylus & heavy alluminium platter.


Anil

 

[rikhav]

I own a Cosmic Lab concert series 6 amp. I had maybe purchased it 8 years ago. Its quiet different from the one mentioned in the scanned pictures but the power output is same - 2 X 150 watts rma at 4 ohms

I was very young, maybe 17 when i purchased it and had no idea about the hi-fi scene in india. Only way I knew Cosmic was that its factory was just a few buildings away from my father's office
Thanks to Sreekanth I came to know few weeks back that it was one of beter made indian amps.

I also want to add one more thing. There is one manufacturer based in Mumbai who mainly makes speakers and has dealership of same brands and is also into sound setups for pubs, home theatre and more. I wont write his name. That guy told its silly to purchase such low quality amps. I took his word and was almost about to sell my Cosmic amp and would have accepted anything i got. This was about 5 years back. Luckily, i just thought of keeping it and now i am using it after keeping it unused for a couple of years.
I don't say that now i feel its as good as medium budget amp made in UK or USA but still its of decent quality taking into consideration it's price

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

It is in fact a very decent one and sound wise too !! I'd still say that it sounds much better then some of the US and UK stuff that you mentioned thats being sold under the So called Hi-End badge !!

Am glad you decided to keep it !! As with guy/company you talk of,I think I got it !! don't worry bout them kind !! there are always people like them who'll always discourage something that don't even have a clue of !!

Regards.

 

[Kamal]

Rikhav wrote-
" That guy told its silly to purchase such low quality amps. I took his word and was almost about to sell my Cosmic amp and would have accepted anything i got "
Let ONLY your ears be your guide BUT train them to differentiate & evaluate-
do make it a habit to expose yourself to as wide a variety of eqpt as poss to build up your listening & discerning skills.

 

[rikhav]

Point noted Kamal

During that time I had a very limited exposure and did knew anything about the hifi scene in india.

 

[Anil kumar]

Here is what i had during 1990's. here is the product brochure from Sonodyne, i still have the turntable. It came with Philips & Bolton drivers.

 

[redlag]

Hi,
A freind of mine is selling his Cosmic CO 60 amp for Rs 1000. The cosmetic condition of the amp is not very impressive. I want to know whether its a good bargain or not. I want to use it with my turntable.

Cheers

 

[rikhav]

Hi,
A freind of mine is selling his Cosmic CO 60 amp for Rs 1000. The cosmetic condition of the amp is not very impressive. I want to know whether its a good bargain or not. I want to use it with my turntable.

Cheers

First of all check if your speakers play well with the amp. The amp does not make that much power so it should be able to feed your speakers well
And secondly check if the amplifier is working well. If the sound suits you, Rs. 1000 is definately worth spending

 

[redlag]

Thanks for the quick response...
I am planning to borrow the amp for a while to test it at home.. if its compatible with my existing speakers, only then I will take it...
and then working on its cosmetics will be another task

 

[rikhav]

Thanks for the quick response...
I am planning to borrow the amp for a while to test it at home.. if its compatible with my existing speakers, only then I will take it...
and then working on its cosmetics will be another task

Just post the specs of the speakers you are planning to connect. Maybe some members can help you if it the combo will work well or not
About the amp, only after listening you will be able to judge how good it still is

 

[Anil kumar]

Hi redlag, CO-60 is a good sounding amp (20 watt RMS @ 8 ohms) with a basic phono stage. I was using the same amp with Technics TT, sounded very good.

Regards,
Anil

Hi,
A freind of mine is selling his Cosmic CO 60 amp for Rs 1000. The cosmetic condition of the amp is not very impressive. I want to know whether its a good bargain or not. I want to use it with my turntable.

Cheers

 

[kaushik]

redlag,
why not to get a replica front panel done ... forum member

soundsgreat may help u ....


i found at anils place vintage amps are very sweet sounding ...

 

[IndianEars]

The pictures brought back a flood of old memories.

Sorry Guys, I do Not share your enthusiasm for Cosmic products. Personally I found their sound VERY poor and the products shoddy.

As an engineer, when I looked inside, it was even worse than the outside

The CO-60 was probably the least offensive of the COSMIC products. Their LAB 3000 and LAB 5000 Amps and speakers were Terrible sounding products, at fancy prices. I am glad that the company died.

COSMIC had to its credit, the registration of "KOSS", and "Nakamichi" Band names in India. It registered these and other brand names as its own brands, in India, and even tried marketing its shoddy products under these brand names.

Its best prioduct was probably the Akai GXC-39 Cassette Deck that it rebadged / sold under a JV in India.

On the other hand, there were FAR better products, buy other companies.

The NOVA amplifiers ( AN 101 and 201 ) were SUPERB for that time and age. Also the fit and finish was WAY superior.

I alos liked the BEVOX speakers.

And dont forget the Arphi "Super-Challenger" speakers. VERY Good products for that time.

There was also ENBEE who made some good amps and a 12 Band Equaliser...

 

[redlag]

As soon as I got hold of the amp this afternoon, I rushed back to home taking half days leave. I have connected it to my Philips and Aiwa turntables. SOUNDS SWEET. Listening to Pink Floyd's Us and Them now...
Having said this, I cant understand one thing: why do I have to connect my turntable to AUX (not phono)??? If I connect my turntables through Phono, a loud thud happens.. no music...

Also, being old, this boy is a bit temperamental. I have to sometimes gently tap AUX or Phono switch to release clogging sound. My guess would be here that it needs a thorough cleaning from inside. Aux and Phono switches on the amp are toggle (only one can be selected at a time).
I had to get up from my PC to do the tapping again...
Any guess why its happening?
if there is no solution the I will have no other option other than returning it..

 

[venkatcr]

Redlag, it is possible the connections inside have become loose, or the solders have dried out. You may need to go point by point with a multimeter, and re-solder many of the connections.

Is it worth it?

Cheers

 

[voodoochild]

hey redlag,

the tapping that you hav to do is just due to a loose contact at the base of the toggle aux/phono toggle switch. the same used to happen with the function switch of my Videocon. got it set right in a jiffy. no point returning a decent amp only coz of that right?

cheers
rahul