Denom's take on What Hi-Fi Show 2013

[denom]

Bravo Denom!

Also keen to hear your voice on any BS you may have listened to.

err.... yea, will write something on a couple of BS I heard, am currently going in a sequence, so will cover them when I reach them.

Sir,
Denom does not drink.
I never saw him with a beer in his hand when ever I visited the room.
He was always there - on all 4 days I was there [Wednesday to Saturday]
& I do not recollect him having any beer on any of the days.
Maybe, when I was not in the room - a few may have been had; I cannot say for certain.
He was like a part of Nexus Audio Video - sure must have been an asset to KJ during the show....well done !

'B' is correct! Plan was not to go overboard with the booze else would have not been able to make out anything from a dham - a - dham set-up to a refined one

As for being part of the 'Nexus', well I wanted to help KJ as much as possible since he is someone I need to learn a lot from. He is a Guru in the correct sense of the word :clapping:
Secondly, once all the rooms were covered, it was plain obvious that 2 rooms(Nexus Audio & Absolute Sound) stood out head & shoulders above the rest, in more ways than 1 alone. Hence I was seen mostly in these 2 rooms for the majority of the show to learn from both who have a diametrically opposite point of views(POV's). I will be covering both POV's extensively in the future posts as they arrive in the planned sequence.

Yay!

Denom sir well written! I am looking forward to all your reviews and pictures to further understand the stuff we heard.
Only attributes i could give a system was whether it sounded good to me or off, whether it looked nice or not.
But you can explain them so much more.

Denom was there on all the days i presume. He really listens carefully, takes down notes, clicks pictures, explains to people
around him what its all about and also engages the dealer in a discussion about the product. He's really good at doing this. Its a treat to learn that from him.

Moreover he was always smiling and encouraging and most people around were known to him.
All of which made it a really enjoyable show. Thanks.

About the beer, he did not drink till i was there. Hopefully he had some afterwards!

Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate it. I really hoped you had come with more time as the time you allotted for the show was less than optimal. Look forward to meeting again in future. You have also covered the show very well in the other thread, showing that you are a very fast learner.
:clapping:

Denom,

As usual, reading your reviews is always such a pleasure.

Keep up the good job. And when u have some time, come home for the good stuff:lol:, NOT beer.........+ help set up my system pls with your expert ears.

Ozz

Thanks Ozzy, appreciate it. Shall come over pretty soon to have a good music session at your place. Enjoy you new speakers

Denom
unfortunately thursday was the only day I was free to attend, otherwise I would have kept you in sight throughout the show! well, as you said, better luck next time!:yahoo:

No worries doc, we shall do some other 'meets' soon! Good to have friends with common interests

 

[denom]

Moving on to the next room coverage:

Audio Excellence:

Met the boss Mr. Anil Srivastava, who was available on hand to demo the following

Speakers: Legacy Audio Aeris (14L) with DSP Gear

(Aeris are the speakers without the grilles)

Amps:
Parasound JC1 Monoblocks (3.35L)
Parasound JC2 Pre (2.95L)
Parasound CD1 (2.9L)
All cables by wireworld

Legacy Aeris Speakers:
WOW, vertical black coffins to shake the dead out of 'em Some serious SPL being generated in this room & the room is just creating a damn nuisance, so much that the speakers are bellowing/belching/burping much to the discomfort of all present in it

These speakers are for people who like to go full tilt & become deaf in a jiffy! Serious power, serious grunt, but needs R O O M to breathe! The DSP kit comes along with the speakers but everything has its limits & the room showcased it to the hilt. Ideally a minimum area of 500sq feet would be required for them to stretch their legs & play loud distortion free music.

A rock arena replicated at home would be the ideal setting for these speakers. Having said that, I still liked them more than the Bryston Model T Speakers, which were the only other pair of speakers that could be 'compared' to them in the entire show. Wonder how some bone crushing death/black metal would sound through them??? Must take up Mr. Srivastava's offer to come over for an extended demo @ their demo room in Andheri

Interesting to note that Legacy Audio signature sound & Mr. Srivastava's personality go hand in hand hyeah: He is definitely the right person to be dealing with Legacy Audio.

The parasound electronics also played their part in the chain & synergised rather well with the Aeris Speakers.

 

[prem]

The Parasound JC1s are very good mono blocs. At that price it's kind of unbeatable. It got fabulous reviews at the time they were launched, sometime in 2004 I think. The legendary John Curl and Bob Crump designed that amp

 

[bhagwan]

The Parasound JC1s are very good mono blocs. At that price it's kind of unbeatable. It got fabulous reviews at the time they were launched, sometime in 2004 I think. The legendary John Curl and Bob Crump designed that amp

I too like this Amplifier.
It is super VFM;
The Legacy Speakers are excellent for HT use.
In fact the Audio Excellence Room on the 10th floor had a HT demo with the 'cheaper' Legacy Speakers & that was the 'best' HT room imho.

These Aeries need a 'large' room to play to their potential.
I have heard them before in Germany.
The Focus is owned by a friend & FM [sacd07] & he used to use it with a ML Pre & Power & Electrocompaniet EMC-1 [my old CD Player].

 

[prem]

I used to like the original Legacy Audio Focus. Then somewhere in early 2000 they modded their crossover. They moved on to a new sound which did not appeal much to me

 

[denom]

The next room being covered is the Dali/Arcam 2 channel room.

Speakers:
(Outer) Dali Epicon 6 (7.5L)
(Inner) Dali Fazon F5 (3.2L)

Amp(Integrated): Arcam FMJ A38 (1.89L)
CDP: Arcam FMJ CD17 ( 90K)
DAC: Arcam rBlink (21K)
Cables: Audioquest

Met Mr. Arun Vig of Imperial Sound, in the hallway & he requested me to hear this set-up for a few minutes. Arun has been known to me for a while & was telling me that I would definitely like this set-up. He was right as the Arcam/Dali Epicon 6 synergy was quite good & balanced. I did not hear the fazon speakers initially but later on with other FM's & that short listening session of the Fazon's was sufficient for me to get an idea of the fancy looking Fazons which target the lifestyle segment than the serious music lover segment. Having said that should be enough I suppose

The Dali Epicon series are the flagship series of Dali's & have a completely different sound signature to that of the rest of the Dali range. Very well balanced sound signature which when paired with the Arcams gave it an overall warmer & slightly laid back sound. This can result in longer fatigue free listening sessions for the music buffs. Personally I liked the Epicon6 but felt that they needed a more potent amp & source to make them really shine. I must also mention the finish of the cabinets, the demo pair had a Ruby Macassar High Gloss Lacquer which was beautiful & pretty exquisite. They need to be seen in the flesh to truly appreciate them :licklips:

I visited this demo room a couple of times to reaffirm my initial views on them.

For me the Epicon6 were one of the stars of the show. Good stuff indeed :thumbsup:

 

[arhantd]

Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate it. I really hoped you had come with more time as the time you allotted for the show was less than optimal. Look forward to meeting again in future. You have also covered the show very well in the other thread, showing that you are a very fast learner.
:clapping:

Thanks a lot for appreciating the effort. I had a great time there. Lack of time was a problem, it was my first show attendance so i had no idea one needed at least 2 days!
Next time i will visit for longer. Hopefully visit will happen soon to do more detailed auditions.

 

[denom]

Continuing with the Imperial Sound Demo Rooms, I next headed to their other room having the following:

Full Bryston Set-up Consisting of:

Bryston Model T Signature (Tower Speaker) passive with external crossover - Rs. 850,000 for a pair.

Passive Crossover (Can be tri amped)

Bryston BP 6 (Pre Amp) - Rs. 340,000

Bryston BDC 1 (CD player) - Rs. 225,000

2 X Bryston 7BSST2 (Power Amps) - 330,000 each

All cabling from Straightwire.

The Speakers look tall & imposing, but the finish is not so eye catching & is more in line with that of a pro audio speaker (no fuss & strict functionality focused upon). Arun informed me that the Speakers were brand spanking new & hence had not been burnt in yet. Played a couple of tracks but found the presentation to nothing really noteworthy of. Yes, it can do a big sound presentation effortlessly & had the brawn to play loud, but somehow did not have that finesse which made me feel that they sounded far too 'pro-sound' than 'home audio' relevant. Mind you, it could be due to the lack of above mentioned burn in, but for the price, they felt rather ordinary to me.
The Bryston Amps as usual had the authority to drive the speakers effortlessly, the CDP also quite good with regard to detail retrieval, but overall the all bryston set-up did not impress me :indifferent14:

Also felt that the set-up placement was compromised as the Bystons shared precious premium space with an all MBL set-up, due to which I feel both Bryston & MBL set-ups were badly compromised. Imperial Audio should have definitely taken an additional room to let both set - ups 'breathe' relatively freely in their own dedicated space. Serious overlook on their part as far as am concerned

Pic of the combined Bryston & MBL Set-ups:

Since the all MBL set-up was also in the same room, will cover it in this post as well :lol:

All MBL set-up Consisted of:

MBL 126 (Bookshelf Speaker) - Rs. 700,000 pair
MBL Speaker Stand - Rs. 60,000 pair

MBL 1531 (CD Player) - Rs. 642,500

Sorry no pic of the CDP, as I can't trace it

MBL 5011(Pre amp) - Rs. 693,000

2 X MBL 8011A M (Mono Block) - Rs. 460,000 each

All cabling again from straightwire

A strange pairing of MBL's, as the Speakers are their entry level & the electronics paired to them were not entry level, so am told yet again by Arun. On asking him why such a discrepancy of gears price wise, I am told that they wanted to showcase the High End Electronics of MBL, whilst the entry level speakers were far easier to deal with logistics wise. He said that the recommended Amp for the MBL 126 Speakers is MBL C51 (Rs. 625,000) and the CD player is MBL C31 (Rs. 510,000). I thought to myself, what is so entry level about their pricing???

Moving onto the MBL demo, I liked the speakers for sure. The sound is very interesting to say the least. A slightly forward sounding speaker with a prominence of mids & sparkling highs. The lows were definitely surprising for the size of the speakers & personally felt that the speaker has a very wow factor sound & looks wise. Again, these speakers would have shone more, had they got their sufficient breathing space & also if the room had been 'cracked' acoustics wise. I heard MBL gear for the first time & I definitely liked their sound signature. Free standing on their own in the room, they could have been one of the brighter stars of the show, for sure. Importance of exhibitors skills were yet again being brought to the fore.

 

[heliumflight]

The MBL's SM sure look like satellites in celestial space.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Speakers, but not as we know them

In fact, they are so much not-as-we-know-them that, the first time I saw them, I hardly knew what they were! Really I only got the clue from the fact that they were standing in a hifi shop

Since heard a pair of the floor standers. We talk about speakers disappearing, but these really do. Eyes closed, I could hardly point to them in the room. It's almost eerie!

 

[Ozzstriker]

Denom, you say the Bryston BP-6 retails at 3.4 lakh? How are our dealerships coming up with such astronomical figures? Today, at the click of a button you can find out the international price, you can't hide that....so I find it quite amazing that such preposterous prices are being quoted....they will just frighten any prospective buyer.....

 

[denom]

Have been meaning to complete the coverage, but have been quite tied up with work. Will finish the same now

I now come to the one of the last rooms that I need to cover & that too in detail.

I am talking about the Absolute Sound Room, headed by Mr. Jignesh Khatiwala.

Details of the set-up as follows:

Speakers:

Tannoy Turnberry SE Speakers Rs.400000 per pair

Tannoy ST200 Super Tweeter Rs.125000 per pair

Joseph Audio Perspective Speakers Rs.1100000 per pair

Electronics:

Bel Canto REF1000M (500W mono block) Power Amplifiers Rs.270000 each

Bel Canto DAC3.5 Mk II DAC/PRE - Rs.345000

Bel Canto VBS1 Power Supply Rs.145000

Bel Canto REFLink USB Controller Rs.145000

Bel Canto CD2 CD Player Rs.280000

Cabling:

Transparent Audio Power Cords for Both the power amplifiers, DAC and USB Converter (Total 4 Power Cords) with Euro Connector - Rs. 90000 Each. Reference Power Link (RPL) Standard Length is 2 Meters.

Transparent Audio Balanced Interconnect from DAC to Both Mono Blocks:
Reference Balanced Interconnect RBL1 - Rs. 390000 Pair per Meter .

Transparent Audio Music Wave Super Bi-Wire Speaker Cable - Rs. 160000 per 8 Feet Pair.

Transparent Audio Premium USB Cable to connect USB Converter to DAC: PRUSB2 2 Meter length cable - Rs. 60000

Absolute Sound also used their own designed & manufactured power line filter/extension to connect to wall socket. Details of the same as under:

Fully point to point 4 Sqmm Wiring using either Lapp-Germany or RR Kabel-India Cable, Lapp-Germany Pure Copper Lugs, Schaffner-Germany EMI/RFI Filter, Mennekes-Germany Euro/Schuko 16A Socket, Neutrik-Swiss 32A PowerCon Male and Female Connector, Custom made casing using acoustically neutral solid pine wood and MDF with internal damping.

Retail price at Rs. 18000 Each.

PICS:

The first 2 days had the Tannoy Turnberry SE, which are part of the flagship Prestige Series of Tannoy Speakers. They were paired with an all Bel Canto Electronics line up. Yes, I did find the pairing of the Turnberry SE with the Bel Cantos a little weird, but surprisingly the synergy was not bad at all. I was glad that I could hear the Turnberry SE speakers with the ST-200 super tweeters attached to them as well. Was also privy to how the ST-200s are integrated into the main speakers, due thanks to Jignesh bhai of Absolute Sound, who took me through the paces of a demo installation of the same.
Tannoy has a very well thought out procedure which can be done within a few minutes as the instructions/guidelines are quite easy to follow.

More about the Tannoys now! Their appearance has that typical old world charm associated to them, which just makes one appreciate the quality of craftsmanship that goes into building these speakers. Another unique feature of the speakers is their locking grille & fancy gold plated key. Something totally out of this world. I jokingly asked Jignesh about there being any handing over of the Golden Key ceremony to a buyer during delivery, to which he just laughed. I think there should/must be such a drama performed, as it would add more charm to the whole buying experience of the Tannoys

Onto their sound now. They just have a tendency to make music sound so beautiful, emotional, involving & absolutely provide that feeling of happiness. A very unforgettable sound. I just wished that a nice juicy tube amp was partnered with them to make them really shine. Looking forward to listening to any Tannoy Prestige line speakers paired with a tube amp in the near future.


The penultimate & last days of the show had the Joseph Audio Perspective Speakers replace the Tannoys in the rest of the above mentioned chain. This too was my first experience with Joseph Audio Speakers & was yet again impressed by the quality of the speakers looks & sound wise.

The Joseph Audio Perspective Speakers look quite sharp & handsome, again with lot of attention to detail to the finish of the cabinets. The Rosewood Veneer was gorgeous & the pics cannot do justice to how good they really look in the flesh. One can admire their looks for really long & not tire!

Sound wise, They easily filled the room with a very big sound for their size & image beautifully even off axis. They vanish and blend into the room so well. There wasn't just one thing that impressed me about the sound; it was a number of things. First off, the sound staging was incredible the music was live & thoroughly detached from the speakers. The highs were quite extended yet sober, the mids were textured and detailed, making voices sound exceedingly natural and real & the lows were deep and well defined but never overbearing. It is quite difficult to describe these speakers as one needs to hear them to really understand where am coming from.

It was also probably due to the long hours of setup time taken by Jignesh & his team, to achieve the level at which they played. Quality of their skills shone bright.


A few observations on the Absolute Sound Room:

1)Serious attention paid to the room deficiencies & issues were tackled smartly by usage of props which were part of the room furniture than any fancy room treatment gears. The room being cracked was highlighted to its limit.

2)Meticulous attention also paid not only to the way the gear is set-up & presented, but also to the creature comforts for the visitors. Right from mineral water, aerated drinks, energy drinks to comfort drinks followed by an array of munchies/snacks & to top it off with variety of sweeties. One could feel the warmth & readiness of the people behind the arrangements.

3)The demo room was always well aired/perfumed lightly & made inviting. Visitors were given ample time to listen to the set-up in an unhurried & leisurely manner. The choice of software(music) was huge & well thought of. Some happy visitors went back with a complimentary cd to boot, courtesy absolute sound!

4)Absolute sound also make custom made accessories right from racks, stands, cable elevators, power line filter/extension boards, spikes & what not. Serious attention to quality was observed in all of their products. The fact that they need to go public with their range is the need of the hour. Lets hope they do so soon & are easily accessible to 1 & all in the near future. I have yet to see such fine craftsmanship from any of the other known local entities that currently sell their wares in the market.

:clapping:

 

[denom]

And now its onto the last room review, that of Nexus Audio, which had a paltry (in comparison to the other rooms) set up of :

Speakers:
PMC Twenty.23 Rs.325000/- pair

Electronics:
Amplifier/Transport/DAC/Tuner/Phonostage(MM & MC): AVM C8 Rs.375000/-

Cabling:

Entry Level Audioquest Speaker cable Rs.300/- per Meter

What an anti climax. A sparse room in relation to the others, just 2 Speakers & an all-in-one. End of story. But wait, the story just began! I have already written quite a bit of the pairing of the PMC Twenty.23s & the AVM C8 in separate dedicated threads, so am not going to write anything more on them, except for what ever I heard earlier still holds true, even in the disaster of a hotel room(acoustics wise).

What I will write about is how the same level of sound was achieved by Guruji Khusrau Jilla(KJ) of Nexus Audio.

Here we have KJ, a veritable 1 man army, who came, saw & conquered(plundered) the room given to him. How one may ask? By doing a recce of the room a few days prior to the show, analyzing the room, its +ves(little) & -ves(lots) & then putting his years of experience to use. He realized what he needs to bring to the show, what will work well & what can be show cased optimally, rather than what most of the other exhibitors did, which was a show of might. His idea of an ideal set-up to showcase was one which conveys free flowing music, which connects with you instantly. Thats it. No BS, no glitz, no glamour, nothing. To say that his vision worked would be an understatement, as whoever was seen in the room, was found lost in sheer musical happiness. The fact that he also just put across a rather limited selection of music that covered almost every genre made things even more simple & unfussy.

Testimony to this fact was the steady stream of visitors, which included show visitors, industry biggies/co-exhibitors, What Hi-Fi/Haymarket teams of their various publications & lastly friends, who also supported him throughout the show, by gracing with their presence & help playing CDs/chatting with visitors who had queries on the set-up.

Couple of observations on the room:

First thing that came to attention was the sparseness of gear, followed by some unconventional placement of the gear, which was even more astonishing as the music just connected with you.

So many misconceptions were going out of the room, it was startling.
Some serious method to the madness & eccentricity showcased at its best by none other than KJ Case in point, a mattress used to kill the havoc played by the glass reflections. KJ identifies what can be used from the room, informs the hotel personnel to leave the mattress behind, uses it intelligently as an acoustic prop, others see his stroke of genius & try to adopt similar method, as in monkey see monkey do! "A mattress can be used for things besides sleeping on" Golden words uttered by the mad bawa! Next is the table used by him to place the AVM on op of. Its covered by a white cloth. Whether the white cloth worked its magic or not, it (table)definitely had some voodoo powers :lol: Even well known hifi accessories maker on our forum was baffled with some serious 'beard' scratching hyeah:

Yes, Demo Room No.1 was an equal hit, but most could not recover from the 1-2 punches of the room set-up, its accompanying music, followed by the question frequently asked by KJ. Beer? No, Shandy??, err No, Whiskey??? Errmm No. but whats happening???? A celebration? Party? Happy Shiny People.

Am sure KJ derived a lot of satisfaction from achieving what he did in his allotted room :thumbsup:


So there ends my take on the What Hi-Fi show 2013. Took me some time to finish, but glad I could. Hope my efforts have been appreciated :lol:

Learnt a lot from this show, a lot. Am glad I took time off to attend, interact with so many people, understand so many things about the industry as a whole. Made many new friends, met with old friends & some for the first time from the forum.


Look forward to attending the next one already

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Have been meaning to complete the coverage, but have been quite tied up with work. Will finish the same now

I now come to the one of the last rooms that I need to cover & that too in detail.

I am talking about the Absolute Sound Room, headed by Mr. Jignesh Khatiwala.

Details of the set-up as follows:

Tannoy Turnberry SE Speakers Rs.400000 per pair

Drool, drool ... visual and audio beauty I have heard and seen. And drooled over.

Tannoy ST200 Super Tweeter Rs.125000 per pair

The same, no doubt ...for younger and healthier ears

Bel Canto ...

Would be most interested to hear, but, sob, never knew their stuff was that expensive.

Cabling:

Transparent Audio Power Cords for Both the power amplifiers, DAC and USB Converter (Total 4 Power Cords) with Euro Connector - Rs. 90000 Each. Reference Power Link (RPL) Standard Length is 2 Meters.

Transparent Audio Balanced Interconnect from DAC to Both Mono Blocks:
Reference Balanced Interconnect RBL1 - Rs. 390000 Pair per Meter .

Transparent Audio Music Wave Super Bi-Wire Speaker Cable - Rs. 160000 per 8 Feet Pair.

Transparent Audio Premium USB Cable to connect USB Converter to DAC: PRUSB2 2 Meter length cable - Rs. 60000

Absolute Sound also used their own designed & manufactured power line filter/extension to connect to wall socket. Details of the same as under:

Fully point to point 4 Sqmm Wiring using either Lapp-Germany or RR Kabel-India Cable, Lapp-Germany Pure Copper Lugs, Schaffner-Germany EMI/RFI Filter, Mennekes-Germany Euro/Schuko 16A Socket, Neutrik-Swiss 32A PowerCon Male and Female Connector, Custom made casing using acoustically neutral solid pine wood and MDF with internal damping.

Retail price at Rs. 18000 Each.

Ye gods! (well, I think people do actually pray to these things )
Is this mass of expensive cables audiophile, audiophool ...or audiophetish?

Drooling turns to laughter

And how much is the wee block of acrylic?

This is not the first time that my drooling over pics of high end kit has been interrupted by rude laughter. What is this? Be-kind-to-cockroaches Day? It must be tough on them having to climb over those thick cables!

I wonder... If I pay for these fancy speaker cables, do I then have to put up with microphonics from which my humble ones don't suffer? And if there is some strange way in which it is possible that that might be transmitted to either speakers or amplifiers, what good would lumps of plastic do? Come on guys, at least give us hydraulic suspension units here hyeah:

Yes, I'm aware that there is some genuine theory, that in the real world can affect microphone cables.

OK, so tell me I'm talking nonsense because there is no audio intention at all ... just a desire to keep some very expensive audio kit, of the long thin kind, off the floor and clean! :clapping:

Wouldn't suit me. I believe in speaker cables as dust traps. I can hear the difference it makes.

This is quite funny, too...

Custom made casing using acoustically neutral solid pine wood and MDF with internal damping.

Just the sort of thing one needs for speaker cabinets. Oh, wait... this is the electrical extension box!

Of course, had I been there I would have been happy to just listen and dream. Denom's reviews and photos are much appreciated, as are those of others on different threads. Would that this even might come to Chennai!

 

[ghatgepatil]

Cables:
Even if one replaces the copper/silver wires with solid gold ones of equal diameter, it would/should not cost that much, given the quantity of gold used. Call them or just :lol:!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

More to the point, perhaps, even if one replaced them with ordinary-price copper, it would probably sound as good. Which, no doubt, is very good indeed.

But... each must empty their wallet according to their own wishes....

By the way, the Turnberries do come at a premium on a quickly-googled UK price, but nearly as bad as I feared, and discounts would probably close the gap further. There's a good mark for distributor/dealer . And I'm sorry I'm doing my best to cut into their cable margin, but a man's gotta do and all that. Just as a dealer's gotta do what a dealer's gotta do. And anyway, they know they don't have to worry about the likes of us. Many tongues will hang out over those cables as much as mine might do over the real kit there.

Some people might be surprised to hear that my tongue would have been hanging out once. They might also be surprised that it was only after I joined HFV that I started questioning this stuff!

 

[hemantwaghe]

Denom while you were taking notes of the sound quality of various music systems, I'm sure it goes without saying that you must have laid off the booze

Whyy??

I think you do not know Denom ...... he knows how to handle his booze..

And getting drunk in couple of light beers?? Nooooo not for dDenom!!

Come to mumbai with couple of bottles of single malt and we will show "how to enjoy music!"":clapping::clapping::clapping::yahoo::yahoo::licklips::licklips:hyeah:


"You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." - From Matrix