srramanujam
Active Member
Almost a year back, I started my search for a simple audio system. Neo has a helpful and knowledgeable brother who is my colleague. He steered me away from home theatre and sony towards hi-fi. I was a bit aghast to learn that I may have to spend 60K for a simple system. Still, my initial searches and auditions goaded me to up my budget to close to a lakh (my initial search - http://www.hifivision.com/what-should-i-buy/2705-options-2-channel-system-around-60k-music-2.html ). Since then i have become a little indifferent to the budget, about two lakhs sounds ok and the temptation to spend upto three lakhs without the wife knowing (is there ever such a thing?) is real.
My initial six months were spent sporadically in listening to KEF IQ5, Mezzo 2, B & W 685, MA BR2, MA RS1, Quad, PSB Epos, Marantz 6002 & 7001, I think, CA 640 and NAD. Through the course of it I realized that I pretty much liked all these systems. If I had been given a deadline I may have pretty much settled on one of these. Among these I liked the way CA + Mezzo 2 sounded. I also found Marantz 6002 + MA RS1 very clear, which I later on was told is synonymous with being bright. I listened to it for close to 2 hours though, courtesy Boom a Rang, one of those people who restore your faith in dealers.
One of the things I was clear on was that I would wait till I am sure. The "wait" part has played out for a year, but the "I am sure" part is not yet on the horizon. Towards the end of this post, I may get to asking those questions all over again.
The reviews of Lyrita by Kamal and grubyhalo prompted me to call Viren when I was in Delhi on work. I didnt have any of my own music and Viren played some classical music that he has, and the demo cd. I later on went with my own CDs. The first part of this post is pretty much about that experience. I feel that I should share this experience since Viren has invested about four hours of his time on my experience. To make things objective, I am splitting this into three parts a) My entirely subjective impressions about the interaction, b) the listening environment and c) the listening experience.
The interaction Among the seven or eight auditions that I have been to, this was easily my best experience. I dont want to even remotely sound condescending, but a face to face meeting with Viren redeems faith in commerce. He appeared genuinely interested in giving me a warm listening experience, without any strings (although I started with a rude question about the price just to make sure that I am listening to a system that I can afford to buy). I came back with a feeling that if this gentleman is creating something for you, he also puts in 100% trust into it. With his approach, he could possibly be selling hi-fi range like hot cakes if he chooses to be a distributor, but I guess hearts sing different tunes, and thats really the point.
The listening environment If I forget the thorough welcome his dog gave me (They scare me thoroughly, not entirely their fault), the environment is pretty much similar to what I am likely to find at home. The room has minimum furniture and no acoustic treatments ( I suppose, I cant make out in any case). The fan and the ac replicate the enviro that I would have at home. The CD Player was a Marantz 5001. Listening to the 2A3 SET amp and the harmony speaker together also replicates the experience that I am likely to face at home. In other auditions, I could just not visualize what the speakers will sound with other permutations. Atleast one of the components would be above my budget and therefore I cant figure out what I should attribute the quality of music to. Virens house and the combination atleast gave me a realistic feel of what I can expect at home if I were to settle on the same combination.
The second time I went, I reached at 7.30 and the listening spread over a wonderful dinner, which again brought the experience closer to home. I wasnt lucky enough for the coffee (I declined actually) or the banana cakes.
Listening experience I am pretty ignorant to explain in correct terminology. I will describe it in a way I felt it. The few vinyls he played (L Krishnan, Violin, Neil Diamond Beautiful Noise) sounded realistic and lacked the plastic feel that you get with high treble music. Most importantly, the speakers vanished in almost all instances and when I closed my eyes, I could only feel the music. The demo CD that he played was absolutely fantastic. The vocals, the chorus, various instruments were all life like. Some of it is surely attributable to the choice of high quality recordings. At the end of my first listening session ( about an hour) I felt relaxed. Thats what we should listen to music for, I suppose. The music kept ringing in my ears through the night, and it was a blissful experience.
About two weeks later, I met with Viren with a set of my own CDs. The experience this time was varied. Neil Diamond (Jazz Singer soundtrack) was rich in detail, but I felt it lacked the detail that I was able to notice in MA RS1. Jethro Tull, played by London Symphony Orchestra gave me the same feeling. I felt the detail was a bit lacking. Is it the lack of treble that I am used to (or) is it something inherent in the combination, I am not sure.
Kishore Kumar (finest moments by Music India) is one of the better recordings. I felt the combination exposed the limitations in the CD. A lot of the Hindi music is of similar inferior quality and will it be a pleasant experience listening to it in the combination. I have some questions.
Vocals are where the combination came into its own. Nityashree (Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai) felt like she was in front of me. The details were missing a bit though. Towards the end of the song, her voice falters in one place and it is sharply noticeable in KEF IQ5 and in Mezzo 2. I couldnt notice it as sharply in this combination. Balamurali Krishna was mesmerizing and in the middle of one of the most captivating songs (sheera sagara sayana) the power went off and I had to close shop reluctantly.
In between I listened to Shiv Kumar Sharma (good recording and a neutral listening experience). The best piece of the day was Journey by L. Subramaniam and Yehudi Menuhin. Its a fantastic composition which sounds lively in the most ordinary systems. In Virens combination, the sharpness was missing, but for the first time I could feel the pressure of the bow on the violin. It sounded magically raw, like both of them were playing two feet from you without microphones. Ditto for a saxophone piece of Kadri Gopalnath (Krishna ne begane from Charsur), I could feel the air blowing through the mouthpiece and I could feel a diaphragm throbbing (do saxophones have one? Or is it the reed). Another fast piece sounded unbearable, truly the fault of the music after the calm flow of Krishna ne Begane.
The second session was almost three hours, interrupted by a fantastic dinner, and again, the music did what its supposed to, soothe the nerves.
So my impressions over these four-five ours were
a) For vocals and wind instruments, a fantastic choice. Nothing I had heard till then, even came remotely close.
b) strings, which I listen to for most of the time, were not perceptibly different
c) the little bit of soft rock sounded better in other systems
I would like feedback on how this system compares with similar or higher priced (lets say speaker + amp combination under 2 lakh), for film, soft rock and pop. I feel that the better experience I had with other systems is part attributable to the listening room condition (careful acoustics I guess and some high priced components).
This is one system you would love in friends place you frequent. Will it cater to all your music tastes, I dont know, and would like some feedback.
Again, is the experience because of the tube amp or because of the single driver. Viren swears by the entire system approach, yet does one of them contribute to the better experience?
Do I have an alternative? Will the amp sound better with other tubes (which I have seen being mentioned in the threads) or with other speakers. Can I invest in this system, and if I still crave for the better experience from other amps, add a different amp for film and English music. Or add a different speaker for them. Maybe I can smuggle two amps into the house. But two sets of speakers, and I may have to find a new home.
I have read about cadence, mini watt and peachtree in other threads. What will they sound like (the logistics of listening to them is a bit far fetched for me right now). Can I listen to Lyrita somewhere in Bombay for an even longer period?
None of the systems I had listened to till then, haunted me. Lyrita does haunt and triggers many questions. The biggest existential question is, if I were to invest in this combination, it may seriously change my listening tastes. Will I be better or worse off with it, i yet dont know.
Independent of how I would decide, these five hours seriously changed how I would listen to music. It also introduced me to a gentleman who I would remember for many years even if dont get to talk or meet him again.
My initial six months were spent sporadically in listening to KEF IQ5, Mezzo 2, B & W 685, MA BR2, MA RS1, Quad, PSB Epos, Marantz 6002 & 7001, I think, CA 640 and NAD. Through the course of it I realized that I pretty much liked all these systems. If I had been given a deadline I may have pretty much settled on one of these. Among these I liked the way CA + Mezzo 2 sounded. I also found Marantz 6002 + MA RS1 very clear, which I later on was told is synonymous with being bright. I listened to it for close to 2 hours though, courtesy Boom a Rang, one of those people who restore your faith in dealers.
One of the things I was clear on was that I would wait till I am sure. The "wait" part has played out for a year, but the "I am sure" part is not yet on the horizon. Towards the end of this post, I may get to asking those questions all over again.
The reviews of Lyrita by Kamal and grubyhalo prompted me to call Viren when I was in Delhi on work. I didnt have any of my own music and Viren played some classical music that he has, and the demo cd. I later on went with my own CDs. The first part of this post is pretty much about that experience. I feel that I should share this experience since Viren has invested about four hours of his time on my experience. To make things objective, I am splitting this into three parts a) My entirely subjective impressions about the interaction, b) the listening environment and c) the listening experience.
The interaction Among the seven or eight auditions that I have been to, this was easily my best experience. I dont want to even remotely sound condescending, but a face to face meeting with Viren redeems faith in commerce. He appeared genuinely interested in giving me a warm listening experience, without any strings (although I started with a rude question about the price just to make sure that I am listening to a system that I can afford to buy). I came back with a feeling that if this gentleman is creating something for you, he also puts in 100% trust into it. With his approach, he could possibly be selling hi-fi range like hot cakes if he chooses to be a distributor, but I guess hearts sing different tunes, and thats really the point.
The listening environment If I forget the thorough welcome his dog gave me (They scare me thoroughly, not entirely their fault), the environment is pretty much similar to what I am likely to find at home. The room has minimum furniture and no acoustic treatments ( I suppose, I cant make out in any case). The fan and the ac replicate the enviro that I would have at home. The CD Player was a Marantz 5001. Listening to the 2A3 SET amp and the harmony speaker together also replicates the experience that I am likely to face at home. In other auditions, I could just not visualize what the speakers will sound with other permutations. Atleast one of the components would be above my budget and therefore I cant figure out what I should attribute the quality of music to. Virens house and the combination atleast gave me a realistic feel of what I can expect at home if I were to settle on the same combination.
The second time I went, I reached at 7.30 and the listening spread over a wonderful dinner, which again brought the experience closer to home. I wasnt lucky enough for the coffee (I declined actually) or the banana cakes.
Listening experience I am pretty ignorant to explain in correct terminology. I will describe it in a way I felt it. The few vinyls he played (L Krishnan, Violin, Neil Diamond Beautiful Noise) sounded realistic and lacked the plastic feel that you get with high treble music. Most importantly, the speakers vanished in almost all instances and when I closed my eyes, I could only feel the music. The demo CD that he played was absolutely fantastic. The vocals, the chorus, various instruments were all life like. Some of it is surely attributable to the choice of high quality recordings. At the end of my first listening session ( about an hour) I felt relaxed. Thats what we should listen to music for, I suppose. The music kept ringing in my ears through the night, and it was a blissful experience.
About two weeks later, I met with Viren with a set of my own CDs. The experience this time was varied. Neil Diamond (Jazz Singer soundtrack) was rich in detail, but I felt it lacked the detail that I was able to notice in MA RS1. Jethro Tull, played by London Symphony Orchestra gave me the same feeling. I felt the detail was a bit lacking. Is it the lack of treble that I am used to (or) is it something inherent in the combination, I am not sure.
Kishore Kumar (finest moments by Music India) is one of the better recordings. I felt the combination exposed the limitations in the CD. A lot of the Hindi music is of similar inferior quality and will it be a pleasant experience listening to it in the combination. I have some questions.
Vocals are where the combination came into its own. Nityashree (Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai) felt like she was in front of me. The details were missing a bit though. Towards the end of the song, her voice falters in one place and it is sharply noticeable in KEF IQ5 and in Mezzo 2. I couldnt notice it as sharply in this combination. Balamurali Krishna was mesmerizing and in the middle of one of the most captivating songs (sheera sagara sayana) the power went off and I had to close shop reluctantly.
In between I listened to Shiv Kumar Sharma (good recording and a neutral listening experience). The best piece of the day was Journey by L. Subramaniam and Yehudi Menuhin. Its a fantastic composition which sounds lively in the most ordinary systems. In Virens combination, the sharpness was missing, but for the first time I could feel the pressure of the bow on the violin. It sounded magically raw, like both of them were playing two feet from you without microphones. Ditto for a saxophone piece of Kadri Gopalnath (Krishna ne begane from Charsur), I could feel the air blowing through the mouthpiece and I could feel a diaphragm throbbing (do saxophones have one? Or is it the reed). Another fast piece sounded unbearable, truly the fault of the music after the calm flow of Krishna ne Begane.
The second session was almost three hours, interrupted by a fantastic dinner, and again, the music did what its supposed to, soothe the nerves.
So my impressions over these four-five ours were
a) For vocals and wind instruments, a fantastic choice. Nothing I had heard till then, even came remotely close.
b) strings, which I listen to for most of the time, were not perceptibly different
c) the little bit of soft rock sounded better in other systems
I would like feedback on how this system compares with similar or higher priced (lets say speaker + amp combination under 2 lakh), for film, soft rock and pop. I feel that the better experience I had with other systems is part attributable to the listening room condition (careful acoustics I guess and some high priced components).
This is one system you would love in friends place you frequent. Will it cater to all your music tastes, I dont know, and would like some feedback.
Again, is the experience because of the tube amp or because of the single driver. Viren swears by the entire system approach, yet does one of them contribute to the better experience?
Do I have an alternative? Will the amp sound better with other tubes (which I have seen being mentioned in the threads) or with other speakers. Can I invest in this system, and if I still crave for the better experience from other amps, add a different amp for film and English music. Or add a different speaker for them. Maybe I can smuggle two amps into the house. But two sets of speakers, and I may have to find a new home.
I have read about cadence, mini watt and peachtree in other threads. What will they sound like (the logistics of listening to them is a bit far fetched for me right now). Can I listen to Lyrita somewhere in Bombay for an even longer period?
None of the systems I had listened to till then, haunted me. Lyrita does haunt and triggers many questions. The biggest existential question is, if I were to invest in this combination, it may seriously change my listening tastes. Will I be better or worse off with it, i yet dont know.
Independent of how I would decide, these five hours seriously changed how I would listen to music. It also introduced me to a gentleman who I would remember for many years even if dont get to talk or meet him again.
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Sorry for the OT but could you send me the link to the album featuring Menuhin and L. Subramaniam? I am not able to find that particular album on the Internet. I am trying to find an album featuring both the maestros that was released as a cassette on the erstwhile CBS label in India. This particular album was the singular reason I started listening to western as well as Indian classical and I'd love to get it...
hyeah:
iron maiden, deep purple, led zep and other 70's staples...
) 
