I had the privilege of listening to Bhagwan's setup.
It was not pre decided but it was last minute decision
Everytime I have been to that side of Bombay to listen to a members setup, its always special. This is because apart from having terrific experience musically I was able to check out some good bikes and cars.
last time it was Dinyaar Bhai's Honda Fireblade and this time it was Bhagwan's remapped Rapid
First about the music.
First of all Bhagwan has no air and ego specially considering what he has achieved and to what level I am. He was all the more ready to discuss about any topic and willing to explain any query I had
I am sure most of us are familiar with his setup which consists of Cadence Canasya monoblocs, TAD bookshelves, PC based transport. I have forgotten the name of the DAC, cables
We listened to tracks mostly which were vocal centric (male and female both) and some western classical involving a single instrument (violin?)
The way the music was created was just jaw dropping. Everything was so balanced, all the instruments and vocals in the track were effortless to make out. The way the music was flowing was very engaging. The music had right amount of weight , extra ordinary details and very smooth
The overall setup was so transparent and resolving that even a novice like me could detect a change in sound when pre to power interconnect was changed.
For many of us, it gets very difficult to distinguish in sound when a cable is changed
All what is achieved by bhagwan is all the more commendable when one sees how much space he has to play with. Speakers are barely 2 inches away from backwall, still there was no bass boom at all even when the speakers are rear ported and with that the sound was also not thin
Whole roon has many paintings on the wall and so more reflections due to the glass on the frame.
The stage had very good depth and width and it felt as if the setup was actually in a much bigger room for the kind of stage was created and how instruments were placed on the stage
As of now I cannot think about any negatives about his setup. Maybe few years down the line, I would have gained enough experience to suggest him or any other audiophile some changes in their setup to make it sound more better
One more thing about his setup is that as good as his equipment is there is matching source material as well which is very well recorded. He has some insane number of albums (digital and in physical format)
This is one thing I have noticed with all FM's I have visted who have well sorted out setups that they have equally good collection of source material also.
All the setups I have heard have their own unique flavor and are top notch in their own regard
After the music session was done Bhagwan graciously showed his Skoda Rapid to me. I was more interested to look and feel the custom made seats he had installed. Later on, I came to know that he had also done a remap and installed a full fledged free flow exhaust
As expected the car drove extremely well and had a great sound too (emgine sound). I guess only a person like Bhagwan would have the balls to fully exploit the capabilities of the car in narrow lanes of Bomaby. The ICE on the car was also super good in its on way. Very well setup with zero vibration at insane volumes and sub is superbly integrated. You don't actually come to know a sub is there in the boot
All FM's I have visited till date have been gracious enough and very good hosts and Bhagwan was no different
I again thank him for giving me an opportunity to listen to his setup
Also thanks a lot Joshua for driving me to and fro
