Hyderabad HFV meet ? Interest check

[s_sachin]

Thanks for the review Pandu and thaks to everyone for a wonderful day. Apart from the music and the setup's it was great to meet up with so many folks sharing the same passion !

Sorry i could not join for the beer afterwords , hope you guys chilled out. Next time for sure and we should make another meet soon.

Ironhorse - sorry dude i have your smoke pack and had to leave in a rush. Will catch up one of these weekends.

Sameer thanks a lot for all the arrangements and the efforts you had taken. Planning and execution spot on. And thanks also to Sid and for all the useful tips and information.

And yes Ironhorse waiting for the photos. Thanks for clicking away today.

 

[BLASTO]

Guys, I guess that the important takeaway from the meet is that the CD player is an important component of the setup. We usually do not give credit to the component.

I say this because, the squeezbox had downloaded Flac file and I had the same (song) downloaded flac written into a CD using Nero which I used in my CD player. To my ears it made a world of difference. Soundstage was narrow, Bass and Treble overpowering the vocals and something was a miss. Adding DAC magic to the equation did not help too.

Between the B&W and Paradigm S4, I prefer the S4 all the way even if they costed the same. The B&W did not impress in bass. Add to that it costs 4 times of the price of S4. Am I missing something? Comments?

Also, The Ushers, if they were setup correctly (which many doubt), does not sound like 2L speakers atall. Again IMO.

Regarding the PSB, I will let you know once sachin brings them to play with my CDP. Iam sure they will sound better than the NAD+DAC magic combo (based on demo of SqueezBox+DACMAgic+Roetel combo). This is the only speaker we did not test with a CDP. (Damn the time crunch).

 

[BLASTO]

And nice meeting you guys. Made quite a few friends today.
Did not think 16 would turn up.
Kudoos to all.

 

[s_sachin]

Yes blasto .. get the cdp soon man .. cannot wait to test it on my system. Actually that was one of my wish for the meet.

Also agree with blasto on the Paradigms. I think they sounded the best among what I heard today.

 

[BLASTO]

BTW, All my downloads are from,
Lossless album ! Music for your Soul !

You have to just download and burn as audio CD using Nero. This is international version (Not the Indian Sony version, So better).

Here is Hell Freezes over. (Which has Hotel California)
Hell+freezes+over | Lossless Album ! High Quality Music Blog ! FLAC APE ALAC MP3

You should mostly find what you are looking for here. Use search box.

Pandu.. You know what to do.

 

[BLASTO]

Also agree with blasto on the Paradigms. I think they sounded the best among what I heard today.

I was fourth on queue if he ever plans to sell them, 2 minutes after the demo..
You will be far behind.. Probably 16th.. hyeah:

 

[s_sachin]

Damn you

 

[Kevian]

Thanks to Pandu & Prakash for giving due credits to SSS. Their efforts and coordination of this event gave many of us an understanding on the details of music and equipments.

I'd like to expand a bit on SBT testing.

Track: Hotel California (Vinyl Rip) on SBT and Original Live version CD on MH CDP.

1. SBT>>Rotel Amp>>Paradigm S4.
   Volume Level: 12o Clock
   Observations: Absolutely shallow, Highs were too prominent, Boomy bass. A total disappointment for me personally.
2. SBT>>DacMagic>>Rotel Amp>>Paradigm S4
   Volume Level: 12o Clock
   Observations: Highs were controlled and listen-able, Bass was tight. Adding DacMagic to the chain gave some improvement
3. Music Hall CDP>>Rotel Amp>>Paradigm S4
   Volume Level: 10-11o Clock
   Observations: The original Live version was used to test this chain and improvement was remarkable. I'm not aware of internals of MH CDP, but it gave an amazing output and as far as my knowledge on musicalities, I felt everything was opened & sounding right(strictly my opinion, Gurus might shed some more insights)

Lesson learned by me is SBT is for entry level speaker setups. Mid & High end speakers needs better DAC(for SBT) or a dedicated CDP is the way to go.

Please reserve this opinion of mine till Pdhanwada does some testing with MH CDP Vs SBT at his place on S4 speakers and gives us a more elaborate review.

Apart from this, I've thoroughly and heart-fully enjoyed Ayon CDP, Belcanto Pre-Power combo and MH amp+cdp coupled with S4s and 805s. And the 2 components which surprised me big time were PSBs and Norge amp. I could not audition Chandan's amp+cdp as I rushed for lunch

Now, let the Gurus do some serious talking on the systems reviewed.

Thanks again to everyone who have initiated and participated in HFV meet.

cheers!!
Kevian

 

[pdhanwada]

Blasto,

Got you

We need to meet once over at my place may be some weekend. I would want your cd player to be tested in my place.

Let me know.

Thanks
Pandu

 

[Kevian]

I was fourth on queue if he ever plans to sell them, 2 minutes after the demo..
You will be far behind.. Probably 16th.. hyeah:

Link :licklips::licklips:

 

[BLASTO]

Blasto,

Got you

We need to meet once over at my place may be some weekend. I would want your cd player to be tested in my place.

Let me know.

Thanks
Pandu

Sure. Will do it sometime.

Edit: The Musichall CDP (& Amp) is definetely better than the NADs and Marantz which I auditioned during purchase. You can check my review in the forum. It had the BASS of the NADs and Midrange of Marantz and better highs than both. I auditioned it for 1/2 a day with my speakers before pulling out the cheque book.

Iam not sure if sound and vision has any left though.

 

[cha_indian]

I would like to thank all the people for making such a good event.

I really liked the Sachin's system simply for the fact that his would be the system with the most bang for the buck. Paradigms simply were so good .....head and shoulders above the rest that is no doubt about it.

My MHZS CD33 and Bada Amp compared quite well with most systems except the B&W and Paradigms. I actually changed the tubes to change the sound signature because i felt the sound might be too bright.... maybe i should i brought all my other tubes as well .... Tubes make a hell of difference in my amp. I wish i had brought my speakers and the display for my Media player because I am sure it would have surprised many people ...anyways maybe next time. Also i felt that the Rotel Amp was as good as Bel Cantos and Music Hall was not anyway less than Rotel!!! Norge Amp was very very good and I hope Shyam Bajaj does something in the looks department.

Some how the Usher speakers did not sound too good to my ears (just my opinion; no offence).

btw the CD which i got by lucky draw has very good music in it....Thanks for the sponsors

 

[BLASTO]

Norge Amp was very very good and I hope Shyam Bajaj does something in the looks department.

If only he sees the post.
I mean, Who puts a Green light switch on a black box? :sad:

 

[Tanoj]

Hello friends,

was waiting for updates and pics

Regards

Tanoj

 

[max123_ind]

Had a great time auditioning all systems and meeting like minded people.. thanks everyone who turned up and sidvee etc for setting up systems since 8AM and ppl who travelled from afar.

 

[cha_indian]

If only he sees the post.
I mean, Who puts a Green light switch on a black box? :sad:

Exactly man.... i am sure he must got this message many times but wonder what stops from making good looking cases....

The amp sounded so good that i am sure with even basic marketing the company could sell much more. To me it looked like a Voltage stabilizer !!

 

[BLASTO]

Hello friends,

was waiting for updates and pics

Regards

Tanoj

Iam sure aman is high and passed out.. hyeah:

 

[theironhorse]

oh not yet.. though we had like 4 pegs.. i am still a bottle down after attending a live session.. uploading pics and post them asap...


and yeah thanks to all the folks who made it happen....

 

[theironhorse]

thanks to sidvee and and sachin of all for initiating it and all you folks for making it a grand success in such a short time..

 

[sidvee]

.

Between the B&W and Paradigm S4, I prefer the S4 all the way even if they costed the same. The B&W did not impress in bass. Add to that it costs 4 times of the price of S4. Am I missing something? Comments?

Quick comments: actually the B&W N805 retail is $2000. It is a discontinued model. The S4 is a dicontinued model as well, and its retail is $3000 so actually it costs 50% more than the B&W. The replacement model for the N805 is the diamond 805 which retails in US for $5000 and from what I hear in india is in the upper 4 lakh range. There is no replacement for the S4 but there is a smaller s2 and a larger s6, not sure what their pricing is in India. I have attached links to more info. on both speakers. I also have attached info. on current speakers, the 805 diamond and paradigm s6.

Paradigm Signature S4 Loudspeaker Review (Audio Ideas Guide)
B&W Nautilus 805 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
http://www.stereophile.com/ces2010/bw_805_series_diamond_two-way_monitor/index.html
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/paradigm/1.html

Cheers,
Sid