KEI's new 2 channel Demo Room

[rikhav]

KEI recently shifted their office and demo room to a new address and few days ago I happened to pass by that area for work, so hoped it would be nice if I can able to hear their setup for a short time.

I called up Mr. Harsh Merchant who conducts all the demos at KEI and he advised me to come during lunch hours for a quick listen.

The room is setup by Mr. Harsh Merchant and acoustics done by Mr. Amit of Ultra Acoustic.

Following was the setup like the day I visited them
Speakers - Elac 509
Amplifier - NAD M32 integrated amplifier
DAC - inbuilt into NAD M32
Digital Source - Blue Sound 2
Analogue Source - None for now but soon to be installed
Cables - inakustik
Rack - Soundfoundatin (magma)

The sound had very good focus with very accurate imaging.
There was absolutely no harshness but at the same time each and every small nuances were presented without any effort and with very good Dynamics
Overall transparency was very good with textured bass and it felt as if the vocalist was right in the room specially in the bhajans I heard

In short the sound of the room and setup was very engaging and the music listening experience was very enjoyable.

The equipment will keep on changing as it's a demo room but the room has been made to sound rather well

Following are the tracks I heard
1) Penny from Heaven - Dorris Day
2) Keith don't Go - Nils Lofgren
3) Rudy - Supertramp
4) A lover in Berlin - Kari Bremnes
5) I can see clearly now - Holly Coles
6) Sunn Bhavara - OK Janu
7) More Pichwarwa Chandan - Channulal Mishra
8) Chiva , Shiva Shiva

 

[sidvee]

Nicely done. If possible can you share the contact details of Amit of Ultra acoustic.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Will there ever be a demo/listening room without any treatment that mimics a common living room in a household with usual sitting furniture and may be just carpeting? Of course no one setup can match the listener’s exact environment back home, but something that typifies an average living room in the city that the demo room is in and the segment the product range is aimed at?

 

[rikhav]

Will there ever be a demo/listening room without any treatment that mimics a common living room in a household with usual sitting furniture and may be just carpeting? Of course no one setup can match the listener’s exact environment back home, but something that typifies an average living room in the city that the demo room is in and the segment the product range is aimed at?

Unfortunately I think the answer is NO
Any dealer would like to demonstrate the best of what the equipment can do, so in demo rooms which generally don't have any furniture would have acoustic treatment

I understand where you are coming from but unfortunately no dealer / distributor would do that

 

[Deleted member 15865]

I understand where you are coming from but unfortunately no dealer / distributor would do that

Rikhav, yes, I understand. And therefore would expect most dealers/distributors to go the conventional way (ideal listening environment) for their demo rooms. All I am looking for is that one maverick dealer/distributor who bucks the trend. Actually if someone does that, he could advertise it as a value proposition to the customer - kind of WYSIWYG - rather, WYAIWYWH (what you audition is what you would hear). Don’t try pronouncing that though.

 

[keith_correa]

Will there ever be a demo/listening room without any treatment that mimics a common living room in a household with usual sitting furniture and may be just carpeting? Of course no one setup can match the listener’s exact environment back home, but something that typifies an average living room in the city that the demo room is in and the segment the product range is aimed at?

There are many small dealers (in Mumbai) who do not have a dedicated listening room. But then they do not mimic a typical living room either. All they have is a couch in front of the speakers. That's probably the closest one will get to a typical living room as opposed to the dedicated listening room where almost any gear will sound decent - till you buy it and listen to it in your living room.

 

[Hiten]

Rikhav, yes, I understand. And therefore would expect most dealers/distributors to go the conventional way (ideal listening environment) for their demo rooms. All I am looking for is that one maverick dealer/distributor who bucks the trend. Actually if someone does that, he could advertise it as a value proposition to the customer - kind of WYSIWYG - rather, WYAIWYWH (what you audition is what you would hear). Don’t try pronouncing that though.

One can do low volume and as near field as possible. It somewhat nullifies room interaction.

For typical living room environment the Dedicated Audio Dealers would require Pochhawali bai, Newspapers scattered here and there, kids playing, TV on, Loving Family member moving between you and speakers. Another member reminding you pending works
Regards.

 

[newlash09]

Rikhav, yes, I understand. And therefore would expect most dealers/distributors to go the conventional way (ideal listening environment) for their demo rooms. All I am looking for is that one maverick dealer/distributor who bucks the trend. Actually if someone does that, he could advertise it as a value proposition to the customer - kind of WYSIWYG - rather, WYAIWYWH (what you audition is what you would hear). Don’t try pronouncing that though.

Hi Sachin

Unfortunately I don't think that maverick will ever come. I read from the net that, what we actually hear is sound that is 40% direct from the speakers, with the remaining being the room. So a bad room will kill the speakers completely. So some kind of room adressing is required here. If no freedom to add room treatment , at least some DSP of some kind still helps. One need not necessarily go dirac. Even a small dsp with peq correction, will help in correcting room induced bass hikes, that kill the rest of the spectrum. Ask me...my system is a living example of that

All you hear is solid , gut wrenching bass with deep impact and phenomenal pace. But you will need to place a stethoscope on the mid range driver and the tweeter to hear the rest of the spectrum

 

[Kannan]

The AVLounge showroom in Chennai has four 2-channel demo rooms of different sizes and none of them are over treated except for diffraction panel in the rear and the front wall plus curtains on windows.

 

[newlash09]

The AVLounge showroom in Chennai has four 2-channel demo rooms of different sizes and none of them are over treated except for diffraction panel in the rear and the front wall plus curtains on windows.

Hi kannan...

I would love to visit this showroom in my next visits to Chennai. But don't want to waste their time as I don't intend on buying anything at the moment. This is the royal conundrum Iam in right now

 

[rikhav]

Even if you tell any good dealer / distributor having a demo room upfront that you are not going to buy anything, still they will have no issue to demo the setup for you
There are exceptions but most won't mind

 

[sud98]

I think there is nothing like a typical living room. Some have areas opening into dining room, others bare and still others have a lot of furniture. So unless you get a home demo, you are better off in well treated rooms where the only variable is the music system rather than the room.

 

[rikhav]

Heard the Elac 403 recently. I was told it is Andrew Jones designed speaker, this was told to me after I heard the speaker so the designers name had no bearing on my views on how the speaker sounded

I had a very brief listen but immediately I was surprised by the weight in the mids and over all bass. I was expecting it to sound slightly shallow for it's size but I was absolutely wrong.

Very small size of cabinet. For reference even the wharfdale 8.2 look big in front of them. I owned the 8.2, hence the comparison.

Another aspect of the speaker which too my by surprise was how coherent the tweeter and woofer played . Maybe this a trait of high end BS speakers but coherence was so good that it made me notice it straight away.

I have not heard many high end BS speakers but somehow the coherence was at a different level then I am used to hearing with GR research speskers of Joshua and nibanna speaker which I own.

Lastly the paint finish was as shiny as if can get and it had its own plinth in the bottom as it had port in the bottom.


The 403 wont be cheap. I think 1.5 lacs or above would be the MRP. But sound wise it was an experience for me on how well designed bookshelf speakers can sound .

I am sure many more speakers in it's price range would have similar traits but as I said before I have not heard many high end bookshelves.

Surprising part is that this speaker has never been discussed on the forum much.