Notes in my diary: The warm full bodied sound of vintage speakers..

[rohitmusic]

There is a shop in the city I live in (Pune). It is a shop I have visited with my dad even since I was a child. So there are fond memories...

After many years added to my age... and after a couple of HiFi systems I often end up at the shop without any particular goal in mind.

As soon as you enter the shop you can see shelves of CDs stacked (Yes! Very rare in today's age) where serious "music lovers" (NOT "audiophiles") still buy physical CDs unaware of high resolution music, warm, bright, flat and all that Jazz.. they simply pick up an album of their choice, physically hold it in their hand. In doing so I end up chatting with a senior music lover we exchange words on the works of this artist (this does not happen buying music online). I end up asking him which system he plays it on.. He simply says a Sony system.. I ask I mean do you use an amplifier and sterio speakers?
"Yes, of-course it is sterio!" he exclaims politely with a smile.. I leave it there without travelling that path further..

The room is filled with full bodied and warm sound of "kaushiki chakraborty". The sound is so full-bodied and encapsulating making me ask one of the salesman "Which system is playing right now". He says it is an old all "Cosmic" system. I move towards the source to observe the system and it Says "Cosmic Lab" Amplifier and some big sized speakers put inside the cash counter one facing outward towards customers and another below the counter! (??!!!???) But who cares it does not matter. It sounds good anyways so why bother! The sound is full bodied and encapsulating.. The source being an old Sony CD player.. more like a CD player of a car sterio.

A small confession worth making: I have visited this shop many times and re-lived this experience again and again asking the same questions.. "which system is playing..........?" knowing the answers already...

I wonder why...?

 

[prem]

Hi rohitmusic

Many of the older vintage stuff gets the music right. The emotional quotient is very high. New, modern stuff gives a lot more details but to get the musicality from them is quite a task.

 

[rohitmusic]

Dear Prem Sir,
Greetings! Wonderful hearing from you! Hope you are doing fine!

When the sound starts filling the room it is almost like smoke of incense.. it encapsulates the room (although there is not much of the fancied sound stage and instrument separation and placement) It is an humbling experience..

It is one of submission and just getting sucked into the music.. Knowing there is very little to do with the equipment is liberating..

Every time I visit there I get a satisfaction hearing to the full bodied sound and the warmth just makes the ambiance so "full of music". It is as if you walk in there and sometimes you hear "Pandit Bhimsen Joshi" in complete bloom with his heavenly and masterly voice... the vocals just sound so full bodied so just linger around there and lose count of time.. It almost makes me feel these artists must be heard in this fashion only to make justice to their voices..

(I certainly would like to have a system like this in my bedroom setup... )

The warm, full bodied and encapsulating sound is almost like an experience one gets in a "Dargah filled with the aroma and smoke of the incense inside and around you.."

It is Music + something more (Emotion/Devotion)
There is something very clearly happening with "Emotions" with this kind of music around..

It is pure submission..

It is like you dont want anything more from the music.. the music is giving to you....

Hi rohitmusic

Many of the older vintage stuff gets the music right. The emotional quotient is very high. New, modern stuff gives a lot more details but to get the musicality from them is quite a task.

 

[prem]

Why don't you just replicate the system you hear in the shop? I am sure you can get the brand and the model numbers of all the components in the chain. Someone in the forum will surely have one to sell

 

[rohitmusic]

Prem Sir,
I certainly would like to do so. Infact I am planning to have a setup done for my dad who is an avid music lover.. Now I have learnt that we are "emotional music listeners" if that means anything on an audiophile forum

The amplifier seemed to be one of the Cosmic Lab series and matching cosmic speakers..
Even if there are other similar speakers that could give similar sound should be fine I guess...

Speakers like these have a really melodious and very addictive and encapsulating sound... it is almost meditative..

I am even thinking of replacing/supplementing my current main speakers with something like these..! These do a wonderful job of capturing the "Laya" and "movement"/"flow" of the music and pulling out every ounce of the emotion.... almost making you applause every note and being part of the flow...

I think I must make sure I listen to one of the "proper" speakers with acclaimed drivers of yester-years..

It is especially really nice for classical and vocal music.. many of the so called HiFi speakers seem to have everything but something is missing..

The "heart" is missing.. the Emotion..!!

 

[BLASTO]

My personal opinion is, when we make the setup and tweek it endlessly, 'we' assume the sound is not so impressive to 'us'.

To know about how 'your' system sounds, you should be asking the others who sit for the audition rather than asking yourself.

It is kind of equivalent to, "the best cooks most probably don't like the food they cooked'. It is all due to "being there" working with the setup and knowing the in and out of each and every part of the sound from your system which makes the sound not so pleasing to you. For someone else, it will sound divine as the food is not cooked by him.

Also, I have often times come across great music at times walking into some showrooms and end up seeing the actual systems to be pulz or bose or even creative. The conclusion I came up is, the installers somehow have the knowledge and resources to put a gazillion systems together and have knowledge of certain handful of combinations which work "for the most part" in any price range.