Cosmic lovers and noobs

[Keenedge121]

Hello,

This the first ever forum I have joined and this is my first thread. What made me do this? It's a bit of a story....

In 1988 my father in a act of sudden generosity, decided to buy me a music system...(till then I had a old Toshiba cassette player and I used to listen to Doors Boney M , MJ etc....cranking it up and desperately wanting to "feel" the music) ... And so just cause someone knew someone at the Cosmic factory at Chakala we made the trek and had a look.
I was blown away by the very SERIOUS looking Lab 5000 and 6000 composites....but budget was a ever looming sword and I saw this tiny Cassette amplideck matched sonically to COVOX dragon speakers. The only thing that made me buy it was it had a exotic and " foreign" sounding Nakamichi label along with the Cosmic.

Fast forward to 16 years later...I now live in Toronto have a house and my own mancave in the basement. I have a 5.1 marantz system the NR 1604 with a ps3 source powering mission speakers. I , in addition have a Numark dj console as a preamp with rotel power amp denon CD player and a audiotechica turntable powering 2 technic floor stranding speakers.

Can anyone please tell me why my humble amplideck in India that's now not able to play cassettes that's even missing the power on button, simply KILLS my current set up as well as systems I have auditioned that go into several thousand dollars??

The soundstage is not perfect, I have a 10 x 10 bedroom in Mumbai and the speakers are mounted near the ceiling. The imaging is so so....but what I have NEVER since experienced is the absolute warmth the soul the timber of music.

I recently heard Ishq Sufiyana and got goose pimples.....I was hearing inflections small nuances little harkats on the percussion I had NEVER heard before despite listening to that number for over a hundred times across various systems.

I apologize for the rAmble....I just would like to know if anyone has had a similar experience and if indeed anyone owns the cosmic Nakamichi line of equipment.

Regards

Keenedge121

 

[Danieljohn]

Re: Cosmic does that you

Try
PMC: IB1, MB2, BB5 speakers
PASS-LAB amplifiers trust me you will be more than satisfied
because these are the only sustitutes exsists for COSMIC LAB SERIES
amplifiers & COVOX-5000 & 7000 speakers

 

[Sumanta]

I have two friends here in Baroda who has dedicated their 50 years of listening to Cosmic systems.

I, hearing their system felt the warmth of emotion in voices in those songs of 60s and 70s they played.

I believe (screening my left and right brain), our reception and reaction to a song depends on many variables in addition to the music and the systems capability. Pre occupied notion about a certain system controls our brains too most of the time.

Music coming out of speakers made by me seems sounding better to me at times than the other one made by myself only based on the pre-occupied notion that I put less effort in making the latter one.

I believe, if you are enjoying music from your old system, then enjoy it. Do not try to find reason for that. If you can, bring that system to your mancave and get rid of the present one if so is possible.

As for me, playing with various systems gives me a child like joy of possession and joy of spending time in my play zone, all alone.

 

[Danieljohn]

I have two friends here in Baroda who has dedicated their 50 years of listening to Cosmic systems.

I, hearing their system felt the warmth of emotion in voices in those songs of 60s and 70s they played.

I believe (screening my left and right brain), our reception and reaction to a song depends on many variables in addition to the music and the systems capability. Pre occupied notion about a certain system controls our brains too most of the time.

Music coming out of speakers made by me seems sounding better to me at times than the other one made by myself only based on the pre-occupied notion that I put less effort in making the latter one.

I believe, if you are enjoying music from your old system, then enjoy it. Do not try to find reason for that. If you can, bring that system to your mancave and get rid of the present one if so is possible.

As for me, playing with various systems gives me a child like joy of possession and joy of spending time in my play zone, all alone.

WOW 50 years of Cosmic conditioning :licklips: I love to meet them & share my happy moments

 

[Sumanta]

WOW 50 years of Cosmic conditioning :licklips: I love to meet them & share my happy moments

All you need to do is to be in Baroda.

 

[ethan]

Hey!.... new member here and probably the youngest aged 16 anyway I'm an audio fanatic have several teac,akai reel to reels ,Ampex and zenith tube mono blocks,a badass Sansui Au 717 Along with a Tu 919 ,one Garrad 301,a Marantz model 30 and a nak 505 hooked up to 1970 pioneer cs 99a. The thing is that it is all in the pre amp design of the amp and how much lift it got .......for lower volumes I would prefer an amp with a loudness coupled pot so I can get the same punch as when listening at higher volumes... See that's what the manufacturers have left out In some amp they don't have a loudness coupled control that why you may find the cosmic more musical while your 5.1 is more dull and flat ......even though how good your amp is built it all boils down to the pre amp design of it....next in line comes the speakers I prefer vintage cause they have big woofers and eliminate a sub woofer that give that un natural bass and I prefer paper cones compared to kevelar cones that is the plastic ones .......I think this is a possible explanation why you miss your cosmic sound....
Thanks,
Ethan.

 

[Danieljohn]

Hey!.... new member here and probably the youngest aged 16 anyway I'm an audio fanatic have several teac,akai reel to reels ,Ampex and zenith tube mono blocks,a badass Sansui Au 717 Along with a Tu 919 ,one Garrad 301,a Marantz model 30 and a nak 505 hooked up to 1970 pioneer cs 99a. The thing is that it is all in the pre amp design of the amp and how much lift it got .......for lower volumes I would prefer an amp with a loudness coupled pot so I can get the same punch as when listening at higher volumes... See that's what the manufacturers have left out In some amp they don't have a loudness coupled control that why you may find the cosmic more musical while your 5.1 is more dull and flat ......even though how good your amp is built it all boils down to the pre amp design of it....next in line comes the speakers I prefer vintage cause they have big woofers and eliminate a sub woofer that give that un natural bass and I prefer paper cones compared to kevelar cones that is the plastic ones .......I think this is a possible explanation why you miss your cosmic sound....
Thanks,
Ethan.

:clapping:My Guru Ethan its Lovely Having you here.

Even I too Agree with everything you said Especially Abt Paper Cones.

Cosmic Tone Controls had Continuously Variable +/- 15dB at 30 hz & 15 khz !

I Feel thats the Reason they Sound soo Superb cuz that wher we are less sensitive.

Pls Correct me if I'm wrong Guru.

I'm Very Serious abt mentioning you Guru not being Sarcastic at all.

Thanks
Nikhil

 

[ethan]

Thanks guys I actually owe it all to my dad for giving me an introduction to vintage audio at maybe 4th std....I remember sitting with him when he used to adjust the bias of those revox or studer reel to reels or changing some parts of old tube or solid state amps and then finally the joy of hooking them up to the speakers and watching them work as it should and the quality of sounds they reproduced...as for my collection they were all Birthday gifts received in a non working condition like the tu 919 had a blown front end and the 99a's had rotten surround but with a Lil TLC they were brought back to working condition...

 

[robin mark]

:clapping:My Guru Ethan its Lovely Having you here.

Even I too Agree with everything you said Especially Abt Paper Cones.

Cosmic Tone Controls had Continuously Variable +/- 15dB at 30 hz & 15 khz !

I Feel thats the Reason they Sound soo Superb cuz that wher we are less sensitive.

Pls Correct me if I'm wrong Guru.

I'm Very Serious abt mentioning you Guru not being Sarcastic at all.

Thanks
Nikhil

My dear brother nikhil i been to delhi i found the oldest shop he got two turntables one is cosmic co gram 4000 mk 2. and technics sl-1500 he played both but i felt technics is good with noise cancellation there is no chat pat sound. asked him to connect cosmic mk2 the difference is cosmic got chat pat sound from the record but its sounding more clear and crisp with deep base. so i picked it up.

 

[Danieljohn]

My dear brother nikhil i been to delhi i found the oldest shop he got two turntables one is cosmic co gram 4000 mk 2. and technics sl-1500 he played both but i felt technics is good with noise cancellation there is no chat pat sound. asked him to connect cosmic mk2 the difference is cosmic got chat pat sound from the record but its sounding more clear and crisp with deep base. so i picked it up.

:clapping:God Bless u Robin for Remembering Me.:thumbsup:
Technics & other TT's sounds Good to Great but only Cosmic will connect to our hearts.hyeah:

You being a Musican used the right word "Base" The primary function of the bass is to provide a "Platform" of depth of tone

and aural balance to other instruments and/or vocalists playing further up the audio frequency range.

To do this, the bass part is typically one or two octaves below the other instruments or vocals.

Ther are some really Great TT Connoisseurs here they will help you fix any kind of Sound related TT Problems with ease.

I Request you to keep visiting Hifivision you will meet some really Great TT Aficionados.

As you know I still have our Records with me you can have them whenever you want.:cheers:

Love
Nikhil:beer:

 

[robin mark]

while coming back from delhi as i dono how to open the cartridge. i dint. since it was fragile after mentioning 1000 times still they dint handle with care. after reaching hyderabad airport waiting for luggage it has come up-side down :sad: i was really worried when i opened glass is safe but the diamond pin gone broken. very sad but true and that guy got few ceramic pins as well and its expensive. i wanted to have diamond needle. let me know where i can get.

 

[ethan]

Congratulations on getting the cosmic good choice!.... If u have to buy a needle/cartridge please don't get a ceramic one cause your tonal quality will suffer a lot ,And the highs will distort.If you want to get a cartridge go for a diamond tip one.Get an Audio Techinica AT 91.Its is a really sweet sounding one and is recommend by many audiophiles. Also the replacement needle is easily available and very cheap.You can buy it from eBay and will cost around Rs.1500 more or less.But I can assure you it will improve your cosmic sound by a leap.
Thanks,
Ethan.

 

[Keenedge121]

Where are you based out of Ethan. Would love to audition that setup the next time I visit India

 

[ethan]

Hey yeah common down...I'm based at Mumbai.

 

[Keenedge121]

Re: Cosmic does that you

Hi Danieljohn...I looked up the pass labs amp and the PMC speakers...the pass x250.5 retails for 8000 dollars and the speakers for 4000 thats 12000 dollars.

Phew my Cosmic nakamichi was 8500 rupees including speakers at the time.

Does anyone own or know anyone who owns the cosmic Nakamichi amplideck ? Was it different than the Lab series

 

[koushik]

Fast forward to 16 years later...I now live in Toronto have a house and my own mancave in the basement. I have a 5.1 marantz system the NR 1604 with a ps3 source powering mission speakers. I , in addition have a Numark dj console as a preamp with rotel power amp denon CD player and a audiotechica turntable powering 2 technic floor stranding speakers.

Can anyone please tell me why my humble amplideck in India that's now not able to play cassettes that's even missing the power on button, simply KILLS my current set up as well as systems I have auditioned that go into several thousand dollars??

The soundstage is not perfect, I have a 10 x 10 bedroom in Mumbai and the speakers are mounted near the ceiling. The imaging is so so....but what I have NEVER since experienced is the absolute warmth the soul the timber of music.

I recently heard Ishq Sufiyana and got goose pimples.....I was hearing inflections small nuances little harkats on the percussion I had NEVER heard before despite listening to that number for over a hundred times across various systems.

Keenedge121,

Hi and welcome.

Well, to say from my experience, I have owned and listened to many setups of that period (1975-90). I owned few latest range as well and somehow settle with what I have now.

My finding is, Indian recording (both old and new bollywood kind of stuffs) sounds amazing on those setup from equipment made during that period (75-90). The lush mid and texture and timbre to die for. But they missed proper imaging, soundstage et al. These are ofcourse budget setups not highend systems. A thing to notice was that they all contained paper cone tweeters, a midrange driver and a big woofer with bass and treble controls. So, the harsh and bright Indian recordings get somewhat benefited from paper cone tweeter, which make them sound sweeter by rolling of the highs (as they are not as resolving as modern dome tweeters).

My 2 cents.

 

[koushik]

Moreover, today's budget setup with same circuit but low quality components used from China are one of the culprit for not keeping up to that quality of sound.

If you can get some old stuffs from UK or Japan, those are still gem in the rough. It is hard to beat a Old Sansui or a old Quad, Nakamichi.

 

[Keenedge121]

So true Kaushik....interesting side note...I picked up some old Mission speakers..just bookshelfs , used. They sound so rich and warm with my new Marantz amp, something to be said about British speakers and Japanese vintage audio
Has anyone tried the new Focals with their flax drivers...

 

[Danieljohn]

Hello,


Can anyone please tell me why my humble amplideck in India that's now not able to play cassettes that's even missing the power on button, simply KILLS my current set up as well as systems I have auditioned that go into several thousand dollars??

Keenedge121

:lol:Hi your post made me think you are not satisfied with your current setups which costs several thousand dollars ! than your humble Cosmic-Nakamichi [not Nakamachi Japan] Deck.
Pass Labs also makes small Integrated Amplifiers & 30 watt Power Amps in the past also so you being in Toronto I'm sure you will find plenty at various bargain sales it goes for PMC speakers too.
I had/have Big Cosmic Amplifiers/Speakers & CO 60 also which you had combined with some cassette deck & called it Nakamichi.

Nikhil

 

[Keenedge121]

Hello folks

It's been a long hiatus and I happened to revisit the posts several years later..i will try pmc pass labs combo.
I recently heard the bw dm685 s2 bookshelves and heard the same mellow sound.
Ethan I am visiting mumbai and would love to meet up and hear your setup.
Call me on 9920653529 if you are available till the 13th of Oct 2017.

Vik