The V-Tec engine screams like a banshee as Suri downshifts for the switchbacks. Sitting adjacent in the passenger seat, I brace myself for the body roll, but there is none, as the car holds its line through the corner without drama, firmly planted to the tarmac.:clapping: The suspension and the new Yokohama tires do their job well, while the wiper blades struggle with the typical Kerala downpour. Rallynut, ironically, in the backseat, mumbles, grumbles and does some more about queasiness but never mentions stopping. We are on a mission, an Audio Yatra, to listen to the best loudspeakers that Bangalore can offer, in search of awesomness in the hi fi world.
hyeah:
Many more twisties and arrow straights later, we enter the choc a bloc traffic of Bangalore city and head over to our first stop for the day, Santhol2 aka Santhoshs residence. We meet Santhosh and Saikata and after the usual pleasantries, we make way quickly upstairs to the AV den.
Open Sesame- Door to Santhoshs theatre
Santhosh is a guy whos got the best of both worlds, a great audio as well as video set up. Just like hes got a mad hatter car as well as bike in his garage!
His audio set up comprises of:
Source: Marantz Cd63se, Squeezebox
Amp: Adcom Pre GFP 345 and Adcom power GFP 345
Speakers: B&W Dm610
Santhol2s audio setup
B&w dm610
Sultans of Swing-Dire Straits: Good excitement and slam but Mark Knopfler s voice was getting drowned amidst it all.
Taal se Taal mila-Taal OST: The sound of the water drop in the beginning was very clear and smooth. The very deep LF in the opening drum beats though not as deep as preferred , was still very impressive especially for standmounts without a subwoofer. The main problem was that the highs were quite harsh( a characteristic of this CD to an extent) with some sibilance with Alka Yagnik singing.
Saraswati-Into the Light: Again good detail level and separation, but the mandolin lacked body and sweet tone. The fast, high notes at the last 30 seconds of the track were a little bunched together, but the accompanying bass guitar had good texture.
Hotel California-Eagles: This particular song was played via the Logitech Squeezebox rather than the CDP. It sounded surprisingly good. The final applause as the track ends sounded very realistic.
Temptation-Diana Krall: The opening cymbal was immediate enough but once again the speakers were not bringing out Diana Kralls full bodied vocals. Vocal imaging could be obtained in a very narrow sweet spot only.
Overall, the speakers present detailed sound but could do with better mid range. I have to add that these standmounts delivered impressive bass, be it with the Chinese drums track from Marantz test disc as well as the Taal track.
We watched a few minutes of Avatar on Santhoshs video set up and I have to say I was very impressed by the Emotiva pre. The video from the Ps3 through the Optoma hd20 was also fantastic.
P.s I got to watch some more of the movie later that night, as I crashed at Santhoshs place for that day. However my plan to ride his RD350 went down the drain because of limited time!
Video set up
Emotiva umc 1
Light dimmer controls
His turntable
Exotic instruments lend charm to the theatre room
Now only the likes of Suri and George with their huge palatial houses can afford this sort of luxury.:sad:
.here is a one man's personal multiplex/theatre,no wonder santhosh needs to be dragged outta there so that he may be reminded what the outside world looks like!!!heh.very good experience indeed for me,can only imagine the time involved,the pain and dedication it must have needed to get it to where it is.kudos santhosh,i'd gladly get a ticket for a show at ur place,anytime
