Hifi system budget-5 lakhs

[ajay124]

I am not sure if it makes sense for a company to claim they have designed a particular speakers to sound good with one particular genre. While a speaker desiger may be able to control how his speaker renders a particular genre, there is no way he would be able to control the rest of the components which will be hooked up with his speakers by potential buyers. And he would not be able to control the acoustics of the buyers room or the placement of the speakers.

Some of the claims which manufacturers, designers and reviewers make are nothing more than advertising spiel. If a designer claims that a particular speaker sounds good with rock music, he may be speaking the truth, or he may simply be targeting fans of rock music, who are in much larger numbers than fans of jazz or classical music. I was speaking to someone knowledgable about the domestic audio trade and he said that the total number of Bryston or Accuphase amps sold in India would probably not even be in triple digit figures. If on top of that, Bryston or Accuphase claimed that their amp was specifically built to sound good with one genre of music, then it would be a case of marketing hara-kiri.

In the early 80's, Herbert Von Karajan is supposed to have pushed the industry into increasing the running time of CD's from the originally planned 60 minutes to 80 minutes, because he felt it would be a sacrilege to split the 70+ minute 9th symphony of Beethoven over 2 CD's. It is a measure of Karajan (and the 9th symphony's) clout that manufacturers relented and we have CD's with a running time of 80 minutes instead of 60 minutes. Such anecdotes make for great advertising copy, but I wonder if they are true. Perhaps one day someone will build a pair of high end , limited edition speaker, which are only meant for playing Beethoven's 9th symphony

 

[ranjeetrain]

I have no idea what is so difficult to understand, or why it is so difficult to understand, but the point that certain speakers excel at some things better than the other that they are supposed to do, is indeed simple to understand.

Every loudspeaker is a design. And every design has +ve and -ve associated with it. How the design will be used (applied in practice) will determine how useful it will be in the desired area of application.

I have explained this before on this forum and I will give it a shot again, but I will certainly not do that ever single time someone comes up with this question. I stand to gain nothing by investing my time in to changing anyone's opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Whatever floats your boat, your mileage may vary, to each his own, put it howsoever you wish to put it.

If it was possible to design and build an equipment that could do everything well, then

(1) There will be no pressure cookers, microwaves, ovens, grills. Everyone will cook in "Tandoor" because a tandoor will be able to cook everything.

(2) There will be no roller skates, roller blades, bycycles, tricycles, motor bikes, cars, truck, helicopters, jets, and rockets. There will be just one vehicle, bullock cart, that will be able to handle all transportation needs.

(3) There will be no tablets, fablets, netbooks, laptops, desktop, server blades, clusters. They will just make computers and everyone will just buy "computers". There will be no gaming machines, or graphics machines. They will just be machines.

(4) There will not be CRTs, and Plasmas, and LCDs and LEDs and AMOLEDs. There will just be TVs. There will be no pull downs there will be high speed scanning, all TV will just display dots in various colors and that will suffice.

(5) There will be no drugs for insomnia, there will be no drug for diabetes, there will be no drugs for low blood pressure. There will be only one type of drug, and it will be called "Somrus".

What will be even more interesting will be the fact that this Somrus will taste the same, regardless of what it is mixed with, plain 8Ns H2O, corbonated+sweetened water or lemon extract. In fact it will not even matter whether they are stored in a hard anodized iron mug, or a 100% copper mug, or a treated zero reaction alloy, prior to consumption. No matter how they are stored, what they are mixed with, they will taste the same to all the people.

 

[anm]

While a speaker desiger may be able to control how his speaker renders a particular genre, there is no way he would be able to control the rest of the components which will be hooked up with his speakers by potential buyers.

that is where recommended electronics, synergy, auditions come in. You desire to have a certain kind of sound from a speaker. You pair it with electronics and audition the result. If you don't like it, you try with other recommended components, read around the internet, take inputs from other audiophiles, and audition again.

A real and relevant example:
I love lyrita harmony speakers for jazz and hindi music/ vocals. But they have their limitations to other genres and movie playback. They ARE designed for certain genres in mind. Viren can not control what you will attach to these speakers, but he STRONGLY suggests that you put his tube amps with them. Of course, you can use an AVR with them.

 

[2chFreak]

ATC SCM50 ATSL 30th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKERS | eBay


with a tube preamp ..

simple, warm-sounding & highly resolving ..

 

[square_wave]

A large ATC speaker with a capable amplifier or the Blumenhofer Fun 17 with the trigon preamplifier and power amp. Both will sound a bit different but let your ears decide.

 

[longshanks]

ATC SCM19<-SIA2-150 or Musical Fidelity M6500I or M6I<-Calyx DAC or M2tech Young Dac<- PC or Macbook.

Focal Chorus 836W or 836V <- Musical Fidelity M6500I or M6I <-Calyx DAC or M2tech Young Dac<- PC or Macbook.


Get cables made of pure copper from mogami or furutech.

Best of luck

 

[magma]

hmm
for amplification you should seriously consider this

the GRYPHON pre and power power -a sparingly used is on the market but in bloody super condition - pet free,dust free environment

probably the rolls royce of SS amps


or if new look at the following
focal 1008be
accuphase 250

 

[longshanks]

GRYPHON makes brilliant amplifiers but his budget is 5 lakhs

 

[ranjeetrain]

@Magma

Who is selling Gryphon pre-power? I am on a look out for one, but they said they wanted both my kidneys in return. If there is a way to get them without parting with kidneys I'll be happy to take them.

 

[sarge_in]

If you are open to importing from US, I would also research Salk (HT3 or HT2-TL), Philharmonic, Ascend Acoustic towers. Audition in India would be almost impossible though - I only know of one person in India so far who bought the Salk SongTowers. These are all sold direct, so you save a significant amount that would have gone to dealers - but would of course have to spend on shipping and customs.

 

[avidyarthy]

........ and the Salks are Transmission Liners too ....

 

[sarge_in]

........ and the Salks are Transmission Liners too ....

True! The SongTowers and HT2-TL certainly are TL...I am not so sure about the HT3 though. TL makes the speakers easier to place - can go closer to walls - I have read of Jim Salk guiding people from HT3 to HT2-TL for this very reason, as well as for higher sensitivity. But if one has the cash and space for HT3 and appropriate amplifier, it would certainly outperform the HT2-TL.

I wish there was a way to hear your custom TL speakers, avidyarthi!

 

[dinyaar]

Hi
There are so many options for this budget for an amp & speakers.

Since you have inherited a brilliant Esoteric X03 SE I think you will have to be even more careful of the partnering amp & speaker.

ATC / Focal (Electras) are good suggestions. B&W is a nice speaker but IMO the action starts with the 804 but at 6 Lac, well thats a bit steep for a USD 7500 speaker. I dont know if gear that virenji makes will float your boat (just an educated guess reading some of your comments on your requirements).

I too would subscribe to the theory that it would be damn difficult to get a set up that does all types of music well even if one is willing to spend truly big bucks. Maybe a well partnered Magico !!!!! I know a Wilson does most things well. For me I would prefer something MORE MUSICAL even if that means less slam / impact/ dynamic ability.

My suggestion Accuphase E 350 (now replaced) paired with the Focal Electra 1028 along with the Esoteric should be a blast.
Prices of Focal locally are very good (forget the mark up its actually lower than US Retail) There were some NOS E 350s that were going at great prices & in my opinion an Accuphase is an amp that does almost everything & is better built than anything I have seen & should last over 2 decades so its actually an investment.

Rgds

PS Now be a sweet guy & swap your XO3 for my X05 for all the 'good advice' !!!! HAHAHA

 

[malvai]

^^^
i second that. the accuphase/focal/Xo3se is a good option apart from the Trigon/blumehoufer/xo3se!

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Anhad, try to listen to Moon i7 integrated amplifier in combination with Thiel CS 2.4. It was magnificent, and I almost bought Moon myself. I think Grattan Vaz may still have that piece, and both items together may be within your budget.

 

[neo]

Since you are in Delhi you should give speakers by quadral a listen. I've heard them briefly & they seemed good for rock & party stuff. They are sold by the same people who do Cambridge audio. I guess some one form Delhi will give the perfect name & location.
A big JBL might also work.
Cheers

 

[malvai]

Anhad, you can speak to FM Bhagwan. He has a pair of excellent sounding Manger speakers.

these are better than ANY option you'll otherwise get. Also, you will get them at 1/4th the current MRP... and will leave the rest of your budget for a very very good amp...

there is another FM called RBalagopalan who might have a Symphonic Line integrated amp...

 

[Anhad]

thank you all for your replies, really appreciate each and every ones contribution.
i finally went ahead and bought myself a pair of sonus faber cremona elipsa.
one of my clients was selling his pair of speakers to upgrade to a pair of focal stella utopia's, it was just too good of a deal to pass.
he had it paired with a mark levinson power/pre, but sadly he is not ready to part with his amplifiers as he is gonna be using the same to power his new setup which leaves me at the altar to make a really costly investment towords the amps.
i bought the sonus fabers for 4 and a half lakhs but the best part is i dont have to make an immediate payment.

i have to bother you guys again for opinions on what amp to buy.

regards
Anhad

 

[avidyarthy]

WOW ....... some buy!

Where are you in Delhi? Won't mind getting my Krell to hear these speakers myself on a weekend, IF you are someplace closeby ........

 

[Anhad]

I live in shanti niketan
You are most welcome to come by any time, that ways i can also get a good listen and some much needed advice.