Join the party: Mumbai HFV Meet 2011!

congratulations to santy, denom and hemantwaghe. This was a well organised meet.. and i enjoyed listening to the PMC's and DNM and ofcouse making new friends and renewing older ones..

Thanks are in order to all the distributors who took the trouble of lugging all those heavy eqpt along and taking them back after the show.

rgds,
mpw
 
I'm real glad that I could make it to the meet. A planned travel got postponed. It was without doubt a very well thought out, well organised, and well attended meet.

I reached the hotel at 10 AM and thought I would be greeted by an empty room, but was I wrong, boy! I was greeted by a roomful of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune audiophiles and dealers out to demo their wares, suited in the blue tee you see in the pictures. I was shellshocked to see such professionalism. Then denom kindly gave my a tee of my own and I wore it proudly. A further shock awaited me when he handed me my name tag and a nice lanyard. Very pro, very pro. On top of that, very well thought out scoring sheet were handed out. And lest I forget, the food was wonderful too.

Santy, denom, Hemant: you guys rock. 'Nuff said. We all look forward to the meet you 'will' organise next year:)

For me there were quite a few surprises:

1) DNM electronics and speakers - Mr Dilip Bajaj's "side business" efforts were wonderful. IMHO, they are comparable to higher-cost gear we often discuss on the forum. I don't remember the model number but I believe one was an integrated having inbuilt CD driving his bookshelf, making beautiful music together. A must consider for anyone thinking of buying affordable gear. Incidentally, Mr Shyam Bajaj of Norge is his uncle.

2) Surprise No. 2 for me was Hari Iyer's DIY TL 2-way, 42 inch FS. What it lacked in cosmetic finesse, it more than made up for it in the more important parameter of sound. Very good sounding, Hari.

3) PMC studio monitors: very balanced and neutral sound, but the surprise was the sheer level of undistorted SPL that emanted from the tiny monitors. Having heard a similar-sized Focal studio monitor that just couldn't make enough 'noise', this was quite a surprise. It also passed my unofficial, knuckle rap test with flying colours:)

4) The Quad gear (CDP, pre, integrated, 22L2) left me wondering and underwhelmed, however much I tried to like it. I blame this to all the gears being brand new, unpacked in front of our very eyes. Sufficient burn in would, I'm sure, change my opinion. Ditto to the Wharfedale Jade 5 which was also brand new and unpacked in front of us.

Thanks also to all participants who lugged their heavy gears to the venue. They gave us a glimpse and a slice into their audio world to us participants. Thank you, guys.
 
Hi all,

So much gear was on hand yesterday, it was madness!!!
Dunno where to start with, so I think the best thing for me to do is to share my views on what all I liked!!!

DNM Audio:
Name/Model NA : BS Speakers
DNM Enterprise Product
Name Model NA: Amp
DNM Enterprise Product
Name/Model NA: CDP with built in 30W Integrated Amp + Tuner
DNM Enterprise Product
Heard the pairing of these for the 1st time & was truly blown away, Truly. Reason being that I could not believe how good it sounded, the pairing has synergy & music played sounded good!!! Even more mouth watering was the price a total of 39 K gets you all of the above :eek:
I think this system was an eye opener not only for me but for guys who have invested lacs of rupees in their set-ups! Seeing their reaction was another :eek:

Quad Elite Series :
Integrated AMP
Elite Series Quad
CDS
Elite Series Quad
Power Amp
Elite Series Quad


WOW is all that I can say, truly enjoyed the Quad Elite synergy, I mean I now truly understand why Quad has its name in the market. I especially loved the CDPs performance. Pity that the remote was ultra cheap & prices were a huge :eek:
68k for the CDS, there is a model called CDP which has a built in Pre-amp that goes to 93K bigger :eek:
Wharfedale Jade 5 FS Speakers:
Product - Products - Wharfedale Hi-Fi
Another WOWOW!!! Like these were brand freaking new outta the box & they sounded Super!
I had reviewed the the Bigger Bros of the Jade5s, the Jade 7s, but was not so impressed by them & here the Jade 5s were totally the opposite! Maybe it was to do with the pairing & synergy of these with the Quads new Series Amps & CD player, but overall they were one of my favourite speakers on review!
Cost of the Jade 5s you ask, only 1.37L yes, you know whats coming next another :eek: The 1st pair of Wharfedales that I actually LIKED!!!! Thats HUGE for me but then the price :eek:
Next exciting pair of Speakers turned out to be the PMC DBS1+ Studio Monitor Passive Speakers. In 1 word - Super !
PMC Ltd
Infact the best way to describe them is like they taste like water, in short Neutral!
Beautifully demoed by the distributor who highlighted what these speakers are all about & what can they do. There also is a home version of these, PMC DB1i, which according to the distributor have different set of tweeters & cross overs. Prices you ask, hmmm 1.10L for the studio versions & 1.25L for the home versions :eek: pe :eek:
So there you have it, my picks of the Mumbai Hi-fi meet.
May the other attendees chime in with their favorites & more reviews.
:)
 
I completely agree Denom. DNM, Pulz, Norge are all good sounding products which should satisfy most. More importantly they will not break your bank.
 
For me there were quite a few surprises:
Yes Joshua that's what I meant in previous post. In audio hobby there are lots of surprises from audio people who stick to basic important things like amplification design/topology, critical parts etc. DNM & Norge being old players know what things are required for a good setup. I have a feeling these old companies though may be doing side business but also there is passion involved.
people who are in this industry will know what I mean.
Regards
 
Back in office .... after a whirlwind tour of Mumbai .... office work + HiFi .. :)

Kudos to The Three Musketeers ... San - Den - Hem .. :clapping: for a rip-roaring session on sound engineering and :clapping: for the invitees, distributors and participants for making the meet so involving.

To make such future events 'better' would like the liberty to pen down the GOOD and the BAD of what transpired. On the BAD aspect, PLEASEEEE, this is my personal opinion, and I wish it should not get 'fought' on tooth and nail. The idea here is to critique and not criticize ....

The GOOD ...
1) Very very informative meet .... many entities who were not known got a solid platform to showcase their wares for the benefit of the Forum.

2) Well choreographed ... sufficient time was provided for each combi to make a realistic judgement on the sound.

3) My interests ... on simple combinations of CDp/other source + Amp + Speakers got sufficiently covered ... with the following components which stood out for me:

a) Hari Iyer's transmission line FS .... WOWW ... when it came on, many people had just about started getting bouts of fatigue. Speaking for myself, well, I was awoken from the setting-in slumber! What depth, what clarity, so involving ... what soundstage ... all that within a budget of 30 k .. that was the figure dropped.

b) Mr. Bajaj's DNM series ... speakers + CDp + Amp. FANTASTIC VFM. I gathered it was 'Fabrique en China' on his designs. Floored @ 39 K on the package and ONLY 9 K for the speaker pair. No point ... repeat, no point running after the 'white skin' for their wares ... newbies, please take note ... no need to empty your pockets and 'break' banks for it.

c) AE BS speakers / Paradign Titan ... excellent. Adding ...... so were the small sized PMCs (at a different league), understandably unaffordable at 1.1 L a pair ..

The BAD .......
(repeating ... please, no discussions or reactions to the below. Just mentioning for the benefit of the community)

While the Demos on the combination was on, was getting to hear a lotta cross -talk from a group sitting behind .... that was rather irritating. Common guys, we have an assembly of like minded people who are seriously trying to understand and gather what good sound is from the showcased equipments. We had to fill up individual views on what we were hearing. It needed absolute silence with no background chatter on what high value equipment one owns or owned or what was let off for a song etc etc. This gathering was'nt for school going kids who had to be 'told' of this inconvenience ... it should have been 'understood'.

Because of this, had the patience to fill in data for the first 4 Demos ... just could not concentrate for the following ones.
 
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The BAD .......
(repeating ... please, no discussions or reactions to the below. Just mentioning for the benefit of the community)

While the Demos on the combination was on, was getting to hear a lotta cross -talk from a group sitting behind .... that was rather irritating. Common guys, we have an assembly of like minded people who are seriously trying to understand the gather what a good sound is from the showcased equipment. We had to fill up individual views on what we were hearing. It needed absolute silence with no background chatter on what high value equipment one owns or owned or what was let off for a song etc etc. This gathering was'nt for school going kids who had to be 'told' of this inconvenience ... it should have been 'understood'.

Because of this, had the patience to fill in data for the first 4 Demos ... just could not concentrate for the following ones.

I was part of this group;
I am sorry.
I did not realise I was disturbing - if you had got it to my attention - I surely would have kept quiet - I apologise.
I did not intend any harm.
:p
 
How did the topping amp compare with the other 'big' ones? :licklips:

Well it was clean,but couldnt go deep.Compared to DNM system,vocals were little thinner.We used DNM CDp & speakers with Topping.
DNM system is a very good solution as entry level.
Though I said entry level,dont consider it as low end.It is a serious stuff for medium room.

The sound is like a good hifi.Details are superb without Harshness.Bass with certain recordings was sounding as it should be.The gr8 thing was Bass & Treble was not dominating each other,but working as single unit.Vocals were rounded unlike thin.
 
^^ Impedance mismatch @ DNM speakers with the Topping .... only 5 ohms nom instead of the stipulated 8 nominal.

Due to the tight schedule, somehow could not get (forgot) to pair the Topping with Paradigm Titan, for all to hear. Thats an exceedingly good match.
 
Well it was clean,but couldnt go deep.Compared to DNM system,vocals were little thinner.We used DNM CDp & speakers with Topping.
DNM system is a very good solution as entry level.
Though I said entry level,dont consider it as low end.It is a serious stuff for medium room.

The sound is like a good hifi.Details are superb without Harshness.Bass with certain recordings was sounding as it should be.The gr8 thing was Bass & Treble was not dominating each other,but working as single unit.Vocals were rounded unlike thin.

Spiro & Avidyarthy, the Topping was paired to the Usher S520's.
 
Avidyarthy,

I am talking to few members next day and heard the same comments about somebody is talking over when music is playing... I should appreciate our chennai members in the last meet, it went on very well and there is a blind test too to find out which is playing like vinyl/cd/HTPC.. There is a pin drop silence in the hall once the gears are playing and there is an discussion also after each play completed:)

Your open comment is always appreciated by all and it will be an eyeopener for next meet for every chapter of HFV.:cool:

Regards
 
Back in office .... after a whirlwind tour of Mumbai .... office work + HiFi .. :)

a) Hari Iyers transmission line FS .... WOWW ... when it came on, many people had just about started getting bouts of fatigue. Speaking for myself, well, I awoken from the setting-in slumber! What depth, what clarity, so involving ... what soundstage ... all that within a budget of 30 k .. that was the figure dropped.

Sorry for posting a bit late, was travelling and completely occupied with office work.

First of all will like to thanks the 3 Hero's of the show Santy, Denom and Hemant for organizing the event so well.

The show not only gave everyone an opportunity to review many gears but also allowed DIYers like me to compare my products with other professional products. I never had the opportunity to compare my speakers with higher end gears and side by side with other high-end loudspeakers. I learnt a lot from the meet and i will always cherish the memories. I will be working over the weekend for further design improvements on the DIY TL further.

A big thank you for all the participants who appreciated the DIY TL effort. I would have like critical view from others who found the TL not up to the mark compared with Jade 5 or the QUAD. This will help me to understand my design flaws and allow for scope of improvement. I am certainly looking ahead for the next meet where i can demonstrate the revised version of the DIY TL that will help me to increase my knowledge base.

A big Thanks you to everyone of you for giving me the opportunity to participate and meet other music lovers in the meet.

Cheers,
Hari Iyer.
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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