Craftel DGL-5000 HT Amp. from Audiocraft - Chennai

[venkatcr]

I think Venkat is a gentleman. Instead of posting a bad review, MAYBE he is just avoiding it. Venkat, shall we take this as a hint?

I agree I am a gentleman, but I will not hesitate to call a spade a spade. I have already auditioned the Craftel, and I will not be going to this extent if I did not find they provide good value for their money. Mark had taken my suggestions in good stead and made some improvements to the amps and speakers. I have yet to receive them from Mark. I shall start pushing him again, though I am bit embarrassed about pushing a manufacturer for such favours. But given the interest in these pages, I shall call Mark again today and see how quickly I can get the system for review.

Cheers

 

[anm]

all of us are eagerly waiting for your review Venkat Maybe I shall call Mark as well to ask him to send the review pieces to you. Last time I talked to him he said he is working on a new amp. I guess it is the same mosfet one.

 

[venkatcr]

all of us are eagerly waiting for your review Venkat Maybe I shall call Mark as well to ask him to send the review pieces to you. Last time I talked to him he said he is working on a new amp. I guess it is the same mosfet one.

Anm, it will be nice if you can also speak to Mark. That will mean added pressure on him.

Cheers

 

[yugaaa]

I am glad to find Craftel or AUdio craft being discussed here . I am proud to tell you guys that I was associated with Mark dad .

His dad was a real gentleman and a very hard worker ... He worked hard trying to perfect his designs and circuits .
The problem which every Indian company especially in the lifestyle or Consumer electronics is the aversion of the customer for anything Indian . Another major headache is the fact that none of the components avaliable locally are of any quality .

But , overcoming these is a challenge and that was what Mark's dad was . We worked on almost a hundred of designs and circuits and we mostly worked on discrete amplifiers .. but .. believe me the market was not so mature and most of them liked the STK based series better .. and they sold STK series and they .. did sell in nos. LOL .

We made a couple of mosfet amplifiers with IRF series of mosfets and we also tried the MJ series .. but nothing went for production .. it was still a learning phase and people wouldnt have bought the amplifiers anyways .. because of the component costs .

Regarding the speakers ,most of the drivers were hand made to specs and cabinets were made locally with the specs .

I dont know if Mark has designed a whole new bunch of speaker lines ..its been almost 4 yrs since I have been to their offices as I live in bangalore now .


But , trust me the amplifiers are really good bang for the buck series and they are well made with decent quality of parts and the circuits are all tweaked and fine tuned with hours of endless work and labour .

 

[venkatcr]

Mark has redesigned literally all his amplifiers and his speakers. His father had left behind some designs that Mark has picked up and completed.

During my last audition I had specifically mentioned some lacuna in his crossover design. Mark has taken this in an excellent way, located the bug and removed it.

I spoke to Mark a few days ago, and he has promised to send me a few prototypes for me to audition in about 10 days.

I am really looking forward to audition Mark's equipment.

Cheers

 

[anm]

Frankly, you have expressed exactly the same concern when people think about buying an Indian brand stuff, specially in electronics.

Most people do not have the money to experiment with experimental designs with 100s of hours of tweaking when international brands have that many years behind them multiplied by number of engineers working for them, and those who have money do not have time to spend in such experiments. Though there are lot of people who would better be dead than called cheap, and feel buying Indian can put them in that category.

I am the one with limited money, but have desire to experiment. Only issue is I do not have much experience.

Another major headache is the fact that none of the components avaliable locally are of any quality .

 

[spirovious]

anywhere in Mumbai to get Demo of Craftel amps?

 

[venkatcr]

anywhere in Mumbai to get Demo of Craftel amps?

I doubt it very much. Norge, Pulz, Lyrita, Audiocraft are all local players. Though Pulz has a branch in Chennai, the guys are more interested in selling to cinema halls then looking after a few consumers. When I visited Pulz in Mumbai, they were all 'we are going national', but I have not seen them executing that statement even after 2 years. Not that I blame them, As It should be, their activities are based on commerce, and the demand for their consumer products is very very small.

What we can do amongst HFV members if for a few members to have these products at home so that the local crowd can come and audition them. Since the numbers are small, I don't see this working any other way. This way we can at least cover the 6 large metros - Mumbai. Delhi, Chennai. Kolkatta, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. I am ready to demo Norge, Pulz, and Lyrita products at home, if this works out.

Cheers

 

[yelamolu]

hey guys ,
I own the same amp, which murugesan suggested. i telll you this amp can beat any branded amp with the basic audio processor. the speaker kit matching the amp is very good. i also used the same speakers on a high end sony reciever and they supported well. the speakers from sony sonded inferior. I can suggest that any branded amp people can buy speakers from craftel. they have a wide options and now audiocraft is run by Mr.Mark the son of the genius Murugesan who no longer exists. may his theme and work progress and may mr.murugesans love for music spread with his designs. his close friend and dentist for his family. Dr.Ramakrishna

 

[SAMUEL]

Welcome Dr.Ramakrishna. It's nice to have you with us.
Regards,
Sam

 

[diplomat]

Sorry to be off for long time and being the thread starter, its good to notice that much of discussion is still on my thread....
Just a loud thinking to all the experts here like Sri Venkatcr or Muthusami etc. from Chennai who already have exposure to the speakers Marc has as on date, is it worth considering front BS or FS from craftel instead of wharfedale diamond series may be 9.1 or 9.2 etc...???
I feel at the cost of wharfedale around 12 to 15K, the unit from Marc will have better spec and output. The use for me is to match with WH2 package and Marantz SR300 for 50-50 music and movies.
Looking forward to all ur views......

 

[venkatcr]

is it worth considering front BS or FS from craftel instead of wharfedale diamond series may be 9.1 or 9.2 etc...???
I feel at the cost of wharfedale around 12 to 15K, the unit from Marc will have better spec and output. The use for me is to match with WH2 package and Marantz SR300 for 50-50 music and movies. Looking forward to all ur views......

Diplomat, I will un-diplomatically say this. Speakers should never be bought without a personal audition. You live in Chennai. So call Mark up, fix a appointment, and listen to the speakers yourself. If I remember right, Mark has a Yamaha AVR with him. If you need to test with some other amp, you may need to carry the amp yourself.

At the same time, Mark's speakers provide excellent VFM.

As far as comparisons go, I am expecting a few samples from Mark, and only then will I be able to do a side by comparison with the Wharfedales.

Cheers

 

[diplomat]

Diplomat, I will un-diplomatically say this. Speakers should never be bought without a personal audition. You live in Chennai. So call Mark up, fix a appointment, and listen to the speakers yourself. If I remember right, Mark has a Yamaha AVR with him. If you need to test with some other amp, you may need to carry the amp yourself.

At the same time, Mark's speakers provide excellent VFM.

As far as comparisons go, I am expecting a few samples from Mark, and only then will I be able to do a side by comparison with the Wharfedales.

Cheers

Sir,
Your points are well taken and I also felt paying extra for wharfedale may not be worth when I was exposed to the units connected to yamaha AVR at his demo room on my last visit. Its always better to get ur views in this regard, I thought. Moreover I am bit far from Chennai (80KM). Keeping side by side wharfedale diamonds and the units from craftel for comparision is tough and may be ur exp. will help me once u get them for testing......
May be I need to get the entire package from him and get rid of WH2 for better tonal matching.....

 

[Muthusami S]

May be I need to get the entire package from him and get rid of WH2 for better tonal matching.....

My suggestion is to take the specs. of WH2 and discuss with Mark for matching the tonality, instead of getting rid of WH2. However, comparing only the specs. will not provide assured results. So it is better to take the pain of bringing WH2s and audition with the bookshelf or floorstanders. Audiocraft has mini towers with 8" woofers; they may be suitable to you as front speakers.

 

[anooj30299301]

Venkatji,

Waiting for Craftel reviews. Me too stuck with the recession bug. Just need a 1 day stand at Chennai(Just 1 night train trip) to audition but still not finding time. take leave for more than 3 days and its a 'ohhh.. You need 33333333 days, night shifts inclusive.

Anyways, considering POLKS, WHARDALES's and preferably DEFTECH's now, sice I watch movies most.

regards.

 

[venkatcr]

Venkatji, Waiting for Craftel reviews.

I have called Mark a few times, and he said eh will send me samples. I have yet to receive them. I don't know what else to do.

Cheers

 

[anooj30299301]

No problem ji.

I am also looking to speakers seriously from foreign manufacturers but I sincerely think Marks products warrants alook from my side.

I consider budget and of course good sound quality from movies. As you had said earlier, it pairs well with 663 and 5 years warranty. I have decided for a trip and will get with both pics and hopefully purchases.

Your review but meant a lot for music especially, movies I can judge...not abig deal I guess.


Will keep this post updated.

Thank you venkatji.

 

[sudhirbhan]

I have called Mark a few times, and he said eh will send me samples. I have yet to receive them. I don't know what else to do.

Any luck in the past 20 days Venkat sir?

 

[murali_n]

Hai All,

I have recently purchased a Floorstander from CRAFTEL, it consists of Two Woofers 8 inches (One Peerless Denmark which I had with me & One of Craftel make, One midrange, One tweeter) Mr.Mark had taken personal effort to match the same for my NORGE 2060. Presently it is being burnt-in, I will keep the forum posted about the performance and pics in near future.

N.Murali

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

Murali Congrats on the new addition to your rig :clapping: !!

Am sorry I couldn't help much with the design for the those Vifa's ! But as you may know Am stuck in delhi from past month or so ! thats the reason I couldn't !

Anyways please do post some pics of it and also post some initial impressions of the same !

Regards.