Mid to high end speaker options

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

Does not ARN deal with JBLs as well ?

Yes they do. Not sure if they stock Revel though, but Hyderabad dealer does not. BTW I should clear one thing, both the local dealers I talked to were very polite (and this has been the case with all dealer's I have dealt with or talked to over the years), and in-fact I have given Vector close to a 7 figure order for a relative's HT, so I know them quite well. Just frustrates me that they do not stock higher end eqpt., understading of-course perhaps the market does not warrant it.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[bhagwan]

Re: Rockport technologies

It is 14' x 12, Dr. Bass.
Cheers,
Sid

Sir,
This room is not too large;
In light of that, I would strongly suggest you look @ Stand Mount Speakers.
Floor Standers will not work.
1680 cubic feet - should be approximate volume of your room.
Large speakers with anything above 8" woofer will find it very difficult to play in your room - my humble suggestion.
Tannoy - Residential - Summary
You could consider this speaker too;Turnberry SE
There is a Indian D & D for it in New Delhi.

 

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

Large speakers with anything above 8" woofer will find it very difficult to play in your room - my humble suggestion.

I agree Bhagwan, hence on my list there are at-least 3 book shelf designs. However I have tested some small floor standers in my room, and they worked as well, so I am keeping that option open, but as you rightly said 8" woofer is the upper limit
BTW please do not address me as "Sir", compared to your knowledge and experience of high end audio I am still an amateur, so I should be calling you "Sir":lol:.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[neo]

Re: Rockport technologies

Nice thread am I've been in a similar boat for a while ,around $20k is the budget wherein the speakers are appealing to me, but have a very awkward area to place the speakers & hence contemplating taking the plunge.
All the best.
Cheers

 

[Dr.Bass]

Re: Rockport technologies

Hi Sid, that room size may not be the ideal for floorstanders, especially the big ones. Anyway, you will be getting home demo of speakers so let us know how it goes.

 

[bhagwan]

Re: Rockport technologies

Hi Sid,
Anyway, you will be getting home demo of speakers so let us know how it goes.

I hope / pray & wish this happens;
However, I am not so sure of what will come out of it...
a]
D & D's may not have stock
b]
If they have stock - they do not want to demo it - else it will sell as Demo Stock & the value of their product goes down.
c]
If they have stock & are willing to give demo - will they ship it to a client for a 'home demo' ?
A few questions that x-ed my mind - so I am putting them down here;;;

O.T. How many DAC's did you demo @ 'home' before you purchased the Ayon ?
i.e. Did the PD / dCS / Electrocompaniet / Nagra / Metronome / Wadia / Esoteric / Accuphase / Classe / Audio Research / Reimyo / EMM etc. come to your place ? All these are represented in India - I think..
Besides a DAC is small & can be easilly transported & set up & has no moving part - so no damage is possible - yet, I am not so certain how many D & D's will spare their DAC's for a In House Demo

 

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

Actually on DAC's Bhagwan, only the PBD was offered for home demo., but I did not avail of it because I read of some noise issues with the PBD3. Not sure if other DAC's are present in India, and I am sure none of them are present in Hyd.
However on speakers - Avalon is available in Hyderabad from Audiopeople
and of course Raidho and Evolution are in Coimbatore.
So above 3, I am sure of home demo.
Rockport, if they open their Hyd. showroom should also be possible.
Not very sure of others - so hence my list that I shared early on.
Anyways if I have to buy without home demo., I might as well get used from AudioGon or other sources, I have a good C&F agent whom I use for work, it will cost me half of the Indian price or less (does not matter that used eqpt. is not allowed etc., it will be cleared in Hyderabad Customs), but I am quite sure I will not buy without home demo., IMO it is pointless - the associated demo. equipment will be different, room will be different, my listening position will be different etc. so regardless of the money spent the effort of finding a new speaker will be wasted if I don't like the speaker in my room.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[bhagwan]

Re: Rockport technologies

Actually on DAC's Bhagwan, only the PBD was offered for home demo.,
Not sure if other DAC's are present in India, and I am sure none of them are present in Hyd.
Sid

O.T. How many DAC's did you demo @ 'home' before you purchased the Ayon ?
i.e. Did the PD / dCS / Electrocompaniet / Nagra / Metronome / Wadia / Esoteric / Accuphase / Classe / Audio Research / Reimyo / EMM etc. come to your place ? All these are represented in India - I think..

OK;
I understand.
However, all the products I mentioned are 'represented' in India.

I think Audire will oblige with Home Demo - so I assume.
Rest of the D & D's may not have a home demo policy - so I believe - I may be 100 % wrong....

 

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

Rest of the D & D's may not have a home demo policy - so I believe ....

You are right Bhagwan, but in my limited experience, usually if you are buying a high value component, then some of them oblige. Also to be honest on DAC's I did not spend too much time, as I liked the Ayon sound and wanted to stick with it. Anyways will see how it goes, however I am in no hurry, so will take my time till hopefully I find the right speaker.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Nikhil]

Re: Rockport technologies

...
However on speakers - Avalon is available in Hyderabad from Audiopeople
and of course Raidho and Evolution are in Coimbatore.
So above 3, I am sure of home demo.
Rockport, if they open their Hyd. showroom should also be possible.
...

Just went over to the Rockport website ... wow beautiful speakers!!
(... and they use Audiotechnology Denmark drivers)

Would love to get to listen to them if they show up in Hyderabad!

 

[arj]

Re: Rockport technologies

..
Anyways if I have to buy without home demo., I might as well get used from AudioGon or other sources, I have a good C&F agent whom I use for work, it will cost me half of the Indian price or less (does not matter that used eqpt. is not allowed etc., it will be cleared in Hyderabad Customs), but I am quite sure I will not buy without home demo., IMO it is pointless - the associated demo. equipment will be different, room will be different, my listening position will be different etc. so regardless of the money spent the effort of finding a new speaker will be wasted if I don't like the speaker in my room.
Cheers,
Sid

at this price makes sense to get a home demo since you intend to keep your amps. IMHO the only time you can risk blind is if you are willing to change your amps/cables to get a better match.
regarding room, i believe one can reasonably fit any speaker (ie reasonable !) into any room..just that a lot of time needs to be invested in it. and the speakers you have chosen are pretty reasonable

of course you cannot put a Wilson Max in a 10x10 but 14x12 is a reasonable room for most speakers (except the wilson max ).i have decent floorstanders playing in a 14x11 and i do have a problem of space but that is because of the immovable woodwork...which makes it much smaller from a placement point of view

 

[Staxxx]

Re: Rockport technologies

If the speakers won't come to you, then quite often I have taken my amps to them. It isn't the same - particularly as I am sensitive to room interactions - but it is better than nothing.

 

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

at this price makes sense to get a home demo since you intend to keep your amps.
of course you cannot put a Wilson Max in a 10x10 but 14x12 is a reasonable room for most speakers (except the wilson max ).

I agree Arj. My observations from my limited experience has been that 2 factors take paramount importance of speakers coupling with the room:
1. Obviously low frequency is the biggest bug-bear of any room, so it is very critical how far into the room does the speaker have to be pulled out, so it does not excite the boomy frequencies and over power the room with bass.
2. Directly related to 1, if you pull the speakers far into the room, how far is your listening position so that the drivers on the front baffle (if more than 2 way) integrate seamlessly.
In my case, 4 corner placed GIK 244 panels (and additional 2 at 1st reflection points) gives me smooth low bass response up until about 60hz (I have measured my room frequency response). I have a room node (peak of about 7-8 db), at around 40hz till 20hz, but my music choice never goes there so I am fine (in movies it is a bother but I have located my subwoofer such that it is managable). Secondly I am limited to a 8' distance between my listening position and the front baffle speaker (considering that I pull the speaker out about 4' out into the room and sit 2' away from the rear wall). So it is paramount that any speaker I get works within these limitations, and hence my insistence of a home demo.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

If the speakers won't come to you, then quite often I have taken my amps to them. It isn't the same - particularly as I am sensitive to room interactions - but it is better than nothing.

I agree Staxx. but in my case the amp weighs 60kg., so there is no way I am lugging it anywhere. It has been sitting in the same spot, from the day I bought it a few months ago, and I rearrange other equipment around it. However the Symphonic Line Kraft 250 is a very neutral amp., with a miniscule bias toward the warm side, so most speakers should work with it, and I do not plan on changing amps. for the next 5 years at-least.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Re: Rockport technologies

Bhagwan, in the turnberry photos, most home pix are with speakers quite close to the rear wall... Is that characteristic of this model, that it can be kept quite close to the rear wall (generally my understanding is that high sensitivity speakers can manage better with less space behind them compared to sub 90db makes).

 

[nosortf]

Re: Rockport technologies

I agree Arj. My observations from my limited experience has been that 2 factors take paramount importance of speakers coupling with the room:
1. Obviously low frequency is the biggest bug-bear of any room, so it is very critical how far into the room does the speaker have to be pulled out, so it does not excite the boomy frequencies and over power the room with bass.
2. Directly related to 1, if you pull the speakers far into the room, how far is your listening position so that the drivers on the front baffle (if more than 2 way) integrate seamlessly.
In my case, 4 corner placed GIK 244 panels (and additional 2 at 1st reflection points) gives me smooth low bass response up until about 60hz (I have measured my room frequency response). I have a room node (peak of about 7-8 db), at around 40hz till 20hz, but my music choice never goes there so I am fine (in movies it is a bother but I have located my subwoofer such that it is managable). Secondly I am limited to a 8' distance between my listening position and the front baffle speaker (considering that I pull the speaker out about 4' out into the room and sit 2' away from the rear wall). So it is paramount that any speaker I get works within these limitations

Sid

Very scientific in approach Sidvee. Rooms and wifes don't like loudspeaker boxes. Science can solve only one of these.
I suggest you choose a speaker with an F3 that is between 50-55 hertz, and let the room do the rest.If you get the house demo, lucky boy.

 

[Dr.Bass]

Re: Rockport technologies

Bhagwan, in the turnberry photos, most home pix are with speakers quite close to the rear wall... Is that characteristic of this model, that it can be kept quite close to the rear wall (generally my understanding is that high sensitivity speakers can manage better with less space behind them compared to sub 90db makes).

Gerry, it can be kept anywhere in the room and it still makes sweet music however it is not recommended to to keep it close to the walls. They did use to have models which were meant to be placed in the corners in the past:
Tannoy GRF Silver 15" Corner Speakers Pair Excellent Working Condition RARE | eBay

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Re: Rockport technologies

Dr Bass, thanks, I see, understood. I had also seen Tony of PFM place his monitor golds fairly close to the walls, though they would certainly not need any reinforcement for bass etc. But what a Beautiful pair in this ad you have posted, very expensive too, just the shipping mentioned in the ebay ad is more than what people at times consider spending on their speakers.

 

[Dr.Bass]

Re: Rockport technologies

Sid, your approach is admirable. You want to do it the purist way even if that means you pay more (much more). I would still say please open up your options a little more. Couple of things to ponder:

1. India is still a budding audiophile market, so as Bhagwan said, many brands dont even have a representation here. Whichever do have, their dealers are not always well stocked. Then there are dealers who have stock but find it outrageous to give a home demo! Couple that with the size of our country and the whole logistics issue is a nightmare. In an already shrunken audiophile market, you have further eliminated at least 90% of the candidates with this one criteria

2. Among all other components in the chain, speakers are the most easiest to identify and form an opinion. I agree the whole chain has a role but it will be safe to say that in most cases, at least at this level of playback, most speakers can be graded in one of these categories after a reasonably extended audition:
a) Yes
b) May be
c) No
Isnt that a good enough start ?

Your electronics will allow most of the speakers to play to their true potential so it is not about component matching. If it is just about room matching I would suggest that should not be the sole criteria of a speaker purchase. There are many speakers which doesnt present any evil in terms of room loading but over all sound average (in the long term). I would also say, it has never happened that I loved a speaker in one room and hated it another room unless there is something really drastic in the setup.

IMO, I think you should start going around and listen to as many potential candidates as possible. Take up the offer from Bhagwan if possible. If you would like to visit Singapore I can help fixing up appointments with some of the best speaker auditions here, or whichever you would like to listen to. 5 years back when I was planning for a speaker upgrade, I travelled to Singapore only to audition speakers, there were only 2-3 speakers I thought were worth buying after auditioning about 50 speakers here! Even today they are the only speakers I feel worth buying out here for that budget. So, I think it is not all that difficult if you would like to give it a try. You will be surprised how many speakers you will actually end up disliking

 

[sidvee]

Re: Rockport technologies

Thanks Dr. Bass,
Really appreciate your offer of assistance when I visit Singapore. I will definitely look forward to that. However, I will exhaust some of the options in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai first, simply because I travel to these places and can check out options there first. I have been in touch with Sound of music, and they have the discontinued Mira II's at their Bangalore showroom. So that is first on my list, hopefully in the next few weeks.
And regarding home audition, yes I agree with on most of what you say, but this is going to be my last speaker purchase for the next 5 years, so I do not want even a slight doubt whether they will work or not in my room. For instance on my last speaker purchase the Harbeth Shl5, I spent 2-3 hours listening in the Singapore dealer's room and about 12 hours listening in the Malaysian dealer's room, and though now I feel I have the best placement in my room, I still feel some of the exceptional soundstage depth I heard in Singapore is missing. I also feel some of the phenomenal imaging of these speakers, that I heard at the Detroit dealer about 5 years ago, is also missing, and I know these are entirely room related. So since the Harbeth shl5 is relatively inexpensive I am fine with the compromise, but at $20k I want the full potential of said speaker to show up in my room.
Cheers,
Sid