srinisundar
Well-Known Member
Hi Square Wave,
Nice journey you have...ofcourse like the biggest realisations/ Influences in order.
Regards
Pls.post abt your journey to HiFi world
- Thread starter spirovious
- Start date
Hi Square Wave,
Nice journey you have...ofcourse like the biggest realisations/ Influences in order.
Regards
audio_engr,
very impressive journey :clapping:, enjoyed it thoroughly and we also have something in common.
Did my engineering in B'lore '86-90, and then my MS in US and lived there in detroit till 2007 b'fore moving back.
Moreover I love the B&W sound and hope someday to own the 800 d's.
I was also connected to audio industry mainly as a reviewer for on-line publications and a member of audiokarma (also did some consulting for higher end ht installations).
cheers
sid
very impressive journey :clapping:, enjoyed it thoroughly and we also have something in common.
Did my engineering in B'lore '86-90, and then my MS in US and lived there in detroit till 2007 b'fore moving back.
Moreover I love the B&W sound and hope someday to own the 800 d's.
I was also connected to audio industry mainly as a reviewer for on-line publications and a member of audiokarma (also did some consulting for higher end ht installations).
cheers
sid
Last edited:
the man is 91 this year - grand old man - a legend - did he accompany you on the piano - he did accompany einstein!
Pleasure is all mine Audio_engr. And all the other amazing members out here, it is indeed a privilege to be able to interact and share in your thoughts, views, journeys and most importantly your love of audio. I am humbled by the knowledge bank - that is HFV.
Cheers
Sid
Reading through the journeys of various esteemed members here imparts generous doses of much needed humility and again reminds me that in comparison, my journey - if it can be called that - has just started. It is nascent - in word and spirit.
As a child, even though I grew up around a gramophone my brother and I were too busy playing and/or watching cricket to listen to those scratchy records. I still remember that we would much rather listen to the little transistor radio than the record player. Knowingly or otherwise, that initial experience has coloured my views towards record players and to this day a scratchy record and the tape hiss jars my ears. Yes, I know, not all records are like that and I probably did not experience the best equipment, but the sum effect of all this is that I have no fascination of one day owning a record player myself to go with my recently acquired valve amplifier. Now, that is another story altogether.
Although we did not have professional singers or musicians in our family, my grandparents had a great sense of music and would be immediately able to recognize ragas when they heard songs and they would often regale me with stories of how they would attend concerts in 'those days'. A pity that I did not give those stories their due attention when I was young. My grandmother always used to resort to the song 'Alai Paayuthey Kannaaa' (a famous and melodious song on Lord Krishna) to get me to sleep - this much I remember from my early childhood. My father was a self taught and in my mind a gifted singer. He worked for a nationalized bank and would never fail to bring home trophies and shields for his singing ability. In many ways, my fascination for vocals stems from the tastes I learnt from my father - be it Pankaj Udhas ghazals or Kishore Kumar songs. The beauty of the human voice, to me, was much, much better than any instrument. It still is that way although I am slowly opening my eyes (ears, rather) to the beauties of various instruments and the art of coaxing emotion from objects other than the human vocal cords.
For a long time - till my mid 20's - I had no idea about Hi-fi. I used to listen to a wide variety of songs on computer monitor speakers, transistor radios or straight through the TV speakers. This, in my mind, helped me develop a thick skin as far as enjoying music - no matter what the system is like. Once when I was in the US on work - I had the chance of using an old pair of Altec Lansings from office. I was so smitten by that pair that I brought them home and I still remember there used to be music flowing from our computer speakers almost round the clock. And I used to relish waking up to music. I remember I used a multimedia player called Quintessential and setup an alarm song. Those were the days...
When I came back to India, I resolved to get a 'very good pair of speakers' for computer audio. The search led me to the Altec Lansing MX5021. I must thank the Techenclave community for the information provided on this front. After a year or so, I started seeing these ads about the 'best sound quality' being provided by Bose and Onkyo and others. I still remember visiting the Onkyo showroom and getting wowed by their Hifi systems (tape decks as well as AV Receivers). In the meanwhile I also got to listen to a few decent Sony Hifi systems (all in ones) at a friend's place. Most of the music I listened to was Indian in origin at that time. Classical or Fusion or Film music. For that matter, I still like these genres the best.
Around that time, there was no way I could have afforded a system from Bose or Onkyo. Once when I was almost convinced about buying a Bose Wave music system for around Rs. 20,000 (which seemed a right fortune to be spending on a music system at that time) , I chanced upon a few names in Hifi such as Marantz, Denon etc. That set off a wild goose chase around the internet and I finally ended up at The Audio People in Chennai getting a Marantz SR4001. Just prior to this - after a lot of research into budget speakers and after I had discovered Hifivision - I got myself a pair of PSB Alpha B1s from Raghu of Decibel. By this time I would have auditioned equipment at all the major showrooms available here at Chennai.
The idea at that point was to slowly build a 5.1 system. I had a huge confusion raging in my mind as to whether to add a subwoofer first or go for a better set of main speakers as the next upgrade. Please note that it was never a question of 'if' but purely a 'when'. In the end after a lot of dilly dallying I went for the EPOS ELS Sub. This was done without audition and so there was a lot of trepidation. But thankfully the subwoofer has never let me down and it is everything that I wanted it to be.
In the next phase, the biggest question raging in my mind was whether to go for a floorstander or to opt for good bookshelf speakers. Thanks to Raghu of Decibel, I could live with a couple of floorstanders for about a couple of weeks each - a Canton floorstander and an Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3. I found that for my late night listening sessions, there was no way that I liked the amount of bass that the floorstanders were putting out. I rather liked the way I could control the bass output with bookshelves. And when I wanted real hard hitting bass - if a tad looser - then I could switch on the subwoofer. I found that I also preferred the extra dollop of clarity and detail provided by bookshelves of comparable price. What this meant was that I picked up the EPOS M12.2 - again from Decibel.
All this time I had been using a Samsung DVD player as a source. Even before I had really understood what true audio quality was about, I had always been fascinated about various multi media players available on the PC platform. When I found out that a computer could successfully be used as a quality source for Hifi, I set about doing some research on these lines. Net result - I had myself a AMD powered HTPC with a ASUS Xonar D2X sound card within. The sound quality jump that I experienced consequently cannot really be put down on paper.
That meant that the only weak link in my chain was the amplification. The source was decent as were the speakers. Considering that I was (and my wife too) was more inclined towards music than towards movies or surround sound, I thought the best thing would be to go for a stereo amplifier rather than relying on my Marantz AVR to do all the amplification. By chance, my brother in law in Dubai was able to spot a great offer on the NAD C372 and we got it. This was again a quantum jump for me in terms of detail retrieval, sound staging and dynamics. For about six months I was blissful and content.
Hifivision is helpful in many ways. But promoting the state of contentment with one's own audio system components is not one of its strengths! So, the moment I started hearing about tube amplification, the upgradation demon in my mind woke up. In my mind I wanted to bring some steadiness to my acquisition spree. And considering my predilection for vocal based music and soft instruments I got into reading about how valve amplifiers were the best way to go. In this regard, I must thank the various Hifivision members who were most helpful in my pursuit. Rajiv, Stevieboy, HifiAshok, GeorgeO, Cranky and many others helped me in understanding what tubes actually were. But all this was nothing without actually hearing for myself what tube sound was. This was where a visit to Rajiv's house helped. I had transported my HTPC as well as my EPOS speakers there to hook up with his Lyrita tube amp. What I heard there was delectable and at a different level compared to what I was used to.
Long story short, Viren was kind enough to send his amp for a month's trial. About a couple of weeks into the trial period I was convinced. So the equipment chain was now simple and hopefully should stay steady for a significant period of time. HTPC Analog outs -> Lyrita 2A3c tube amp -> EPOS M12.2 speakers. Occasionally the EPOS ELS Sub too does duties - connected to the pre-out of the tube amp.
Today it gives me great pleasure to have my parents listen to their erstwhile favourite songs on this audio system. Sometimes when I see the rapt expressions on their face, I feel, all the expenditure is worth it. It is not all about others' enjoyment either. No matter how stressed I am coming in from office, an hour or two of enjoying music flowing through my system never fails to pick me up.
All this also raises an amount of curiosity in me regarding another subject. While growing up I never had the opportunity of listening to well balanced systems. But my 8 year old son is getting to do it on a daily basis. I wonder what its effect in the long term would be in his case. Time will tell.
In retrospect, I owe a lot to Hifivision and its esteemed members without whom I would not have been able to make it this far in my Hifi journey. I look forward to many more years with you and with music.
As a child, even though I grew up around a gramophone my brother and I were too busy playing and/or watching cricket to listen to those scratchy records. I still remember that we would much rather listen to the little transistor radio than the record player. Knowingly or otherwise, that initial experience has coloured my views towards record players and to this day a scratchy record and the tape hiss jars my ears. Yes, I know, not all records are like that and I probably did not experience the best equipment, but the sum effect of all this is that I have no fascination of one day owning a record player myself to go with my recently acquired valve amplifier. Now, that is another story altogether.
Although we did not have professional singers or musicians in our family, my grandparents had a great sense of music and would be immediately able to recognize ragas when they heard songs and they would often regale me with stories of how they would attend concerts in 'those days'. A pity that I did not give those stories their due attention when I was young. My grandmother always used to resort to the song 'Alai Paayuthey Kannaaa' (a famous and melodious song on Lord Krishna) to get me to sleep - this much I remember from my early childhood. My father was a self taught and in my mind a gifted singer. He worked for a nationalized bank and would never fail to bring home trophies and shields for his singing ability. In many ways, my fascination for vocals stems from the tastes I learnt from my father - be it Pankaj Udhas ghazals or Kishore Kumar songs. The beauty of the human voice, to me, was much, much better than any instrument. It still is that way although I am slowly opening my eyes (ears, rather) to the beauties of various instruments and the art of coaxing emotion from objects other than the human vocal cords.
For a long time - till my mid 20's - I had no idea about Hi-fi. I used to listen to a wide variety of songs on computer monitor speakers, transistor radios or straight through the TV speakers. This, in my mind, helped me develop a thick skin as far as enjoying music - no matter what the system is like. Once when I was in the US on work - I had the chance of using an old pair of Altec Lansings from office. I was so smitten by that pair that I brought them home and I still remember there used to be music flowing from our computer speakers almost round the clock. And I used to relish waking up to music. I remember I used a multimedia player called Quintessential and setup an alarm song. Those were the days...
When I came back to India, I resolved to get a 'very good pair of speakers' for computer audio. The search led me to the Altec Lansing MX5021. I must thank the Techenclave community for the information provided on this front. After a year or so, I started seeing these ads about the 'best sound quality' being provided by Bose and Onkyo and others. I still remember visiting the Onkyo showroom and getting wowed by their Hifi systems (tape decks as well as AV Receivers). In the meanwhile I also got to listen to a few decent Sony Hifi systems (all in ones) at a friend's place. Most of the music I listened to was Indian in origin at that time. Classical or Fusion or Film music. For that matter, I still like these genres the best.
Around that time, there was no way I could have afforded a system from Bose or Onkyo. Once when I was almost convinced about buying a Bose Wave music system for around Rs. 20,000 (which seemed a right fortune to be spending on a music system at that time) , I chanced upon a few names in Hifi such as Marantz, Denon etc. That set off a wild goose chase around the internet and I finally ended up at The Audio People in Chennai getting a Marantz SR4001. Just prior to this - after a lot of research into budget speakers and after I had discovered Hifivision - I got myself a pair of PSB Alpha B1s from Raghu of Decibel. By this time I would have auditioned equipment at all the major showrooms available here at Chennai.
The idea at that point was to slowly build a 5.1 system. I had a huge confusion raging in my mind as to whether to add a subwoofer first or go for a better set of main speakers as the next upgrade. Please note that it was never a question of 'if' but purely a 'when'. In the end after a lot of dilly dallying I went for the EPOS ELS Sub. This was done without audition and so there was a lot of trepidation. But thankfully the subwoofer has never let me down and it is everything that I wanted it to be.
In the next phase, the biggest question raging in my mind was whether to go for a floorstander or to opt for good bookshelf speakers. Thanks to Raghu of Decibel, I could live with a couple of floorstanders for about a couple of weeks each - a Canton floorstander and an Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3. I found that for my late night listening sessions, there was no way that I liked the amount of bass that the floorstanders were putting out. I rather liked the way I could control the bass output with bookshelves. And when I wanted real hard hitting bass - if a tad looser - then I could switch on the subwoofer. I found that I also preferred the extra dollop of clarity and detail provided by bookshelves of comparable price. What this meant was that I picked up the EPOS M12.2 - again from Decibel.
All this time I had been using a Samsung DVD player as a source. Even before I had really understood what true audio quality was about, I had always been fascinated about various multi media players available on the PC platform. When I found out that a computer could successfully be used as a quality source for Hifi, I set about doing some research on these lines. Net result - I had myself a AMD powered HTPC with a ASUS Xonar D2X sound card within. The sound quality jump that I experienced consequently cannot really be put down on paper.
That meant that the only weak link in my chain was the amplification. The source was decent as were the speakers. Considering that I was (and my wife too) was more inclined towards music than towards movies or surround sound, I thought the best thing would be to go for a stereo amplifier rather than relying on my Marantz AVR to do all the amplification. By chance, my brother in law in Dubai was able to spot a great offer on the NAD C372 and we got it. This was again a quantum jump for me in terms of detail retrieval, sound staging and dynamics. For about six months I was blissful and content.
Hifivision is helpful in many ways. But promoting the state of contentment with one's own audio system components is not one of its strengths! So, the moment I started hearing about tube amplification, the upgradation demon in my mind woke up. In my mind I wanted to bring some steadiness to my acquisition spree. And considering my predilection for vocal based music and soft instruments I got into reading about how valve amplifiers were the best way to go. In this regard, I must thank the various Hifivision members who were most helpful in my pursuit. Rajiv, Stevieboy, HifiAshok, GeorgeO, Cranky and many others helped me in understanding what tubes actually were. But all this was nothing without actually hearing for myself what tube sound was. This was where a visit to Rajiv's house helped. I had transported my HTPC as well as my EPOS speakers there to hook up with his Lyrita tube amp. What I heard there was delectable and at a different level compared to what I was used to.
Long story short, Viren was kind enough to send his amp for a month's trial. About a couple of weeks into the trial period I was convinced. So the equipment chain was now simple and hopefully should stay steady for a significant period of time. HTPC Analog outs -> Lyrita 2A3c tube amp -> EPOS M12.2 speakers. Occasionally the EPOS ELS Sub too does duties - connected to the pre-out of the tube amp.
Today it gives me great pleasure to have my parents listen to their erstwhile favourite songs on this audio system. Sometimes when I see the rapt expressions on their face, I feel, all the expenditure is worth it. It is not all about others' enjoyment either. No matter how stressed I am coming in from office, an hour or two of enjoying music flowing through my system never fails to pick me up.
All this also raises an amount of curiosity in me regarding another subject. While growing up I never had the opportunity of listening to well balanced systems. But my 8 year old son is getting to do it on a daily basis. I wonder what its effect in the long term would be in his case. Time will tell.
In retrospect, I owe a lot to Hifivision and its esteemed members without whom I would not have been able to make it this far in my Hifi journey. I look forward to many more years with you and with music.
Last edited:
Guys my journey has a unique twist (or at-least) unique to this thread as I have not seen any resembling mine.
My journey started back in '84 (yep I am a dinosaur:lol
when the first Maruti 800's hit the scene. I remember sitting in the drivers seat of the one we bought (I was in 10th grade, i think we paid 45k rupees) & it felt like I was sitting in a ferrari:lol: (so much for our socialisitic minded leaders for forcing ambys and fiats on us) and even drove like one with its 50 or 60 hp engine :lol:, but I digress. Anyways there was a blank plastic in the location where a stereo player should have been located. My dad, sensing my hi-fi abilities by then, put me in-charge of locating a good system for the car. Well I managed to locate a decent sony casette player, but try as hard as I could I could get no bass out of the dinky speakers that came as freebies with the player, because they were located in the c pillars which had no resonance cavity at all. That is when I forced my dad to consider placing a plank between the hatch and the rear seat and locating the speakers there (he was very reluctant to loose what little luggage carrying capability the lil 800 had). Anyways when it was done we gained a full octave of frequency and since then the hi-fi bug bit me hard.
I eventually switched over from car audio into home audio.
I started out with off the shelf rack systems - the first being an Akai bush (which had a cd player) when I was in 3rd year engineering. Later I went over to US in 90 and bought a sony rack system from a department store complete with sony speakers (I had been conditioned due to car audio that anything with sony on it was the besthyeah. Eventually I started moving up the ladder with my first serious system of a yamaha rcvr., cd player and cerwin vega speakers that cost $1500 in '94- serious money then to me at-least. After that I moved up to brands like NAD, KEF, Magneplanars, Acoustic Research, Atlantic Technology, DCM, Quicksilver, Conrad Johnson, CEC, Musical fidlelity, Ohm, Def tech etc. I also started spending time understanding acoustics and also took a college level course in it. We had a primitive anechoic chamber at Ford Motor co. where I worked (for squeak and rattle testing on shaker tables ) for a few years, and on weekends I would sneak in speakers and test them:lol:. Since then I have attended a lot of audio shows, reviewed eqpt. in on-line magazines, administered audio societies (in the mid-west area of US), consulted for HT installations and now back in Hyd. my home town and am a freelance consultant for the Automotive supplier industry.
Cheers - Sid
My journey started back in '84 (yep I am a dinosaur:lol
when the first Maruti 800's hit the scene. I remember sitting in the drivers seat of the one we bought (I was in 10th grade, i think we paid 45k rupees) & it felt like I was sitting in a ferrari:lol: (so much for our socialisitic minded leaders for forcing ambys and fiats on us) and even drove like one with its 50 or 60 hp engine :lol:, but I digress. Anyways there was a blank plastic in the location where a stereo player should have been located. My dad, sensing my hi-fi abilities by then, put me in-charge of locating a good system for the car. Well I managed to locate a decent sony casette player, but try as hard as I could I could get no bass out of the dinky speakers that came as freebies with the player, because they were located in the c pillars which had no resonance cavity at all. That is when I forced my dad to consider placing a plank between the hatch and the rear seat and locating the speakers there (he was very reluctant to loose what little luggage carrying capability the lil 800 had). Anyways when it was done we gained a full octave of frequency and since then the hi-fi bug bit me hard.I eventually switched over from car audio into home audio.
I started out with off the shelf rack systems - the first being an Akai bush (which had a cd player) when I was in 3rd year engineering. Later I went over to US in 90 and bought a sony rack system from a department store complete with sony speakers (I had been conditioned due to car audio that anything with sony on it was the best
hyeah. Eventually I started moving up the ladder with my first serious system of a yamaha rcvr., cd player and cerwin vega speakers that cost $1500 in '94- serious money then to me at-least. After that I moved up to brands like NAD, KEF, Magneplanars, Acoustic Research, Atlantic Technology, DCM, Quicksilver, Conrad Johnson, CEC, Musical fidlelity, Ohm, Def tech etc. I also started spending time understanding acoustics and also took a college level course in it. We had a primitive anechoic chamber at Ford Motor co. where I worked (for squeak and rattle testing on shaker tables ) for a few years, and on weekends I would sneak in speakers and test them:lol:. Since then I have attended a lot of audio shows, reviewed eqpt. in on-line magazines, administered audio societies (in the mid-west area of US), consulted for HT installations and now back in Hyd. my home town and am a freelance consultant for the Automotive supplier industry. Cheers - Sid
Last edited:
Very nicely said, Vortex. HFV is even threatening to turn a guy like me into an audiophile.
Very enjoyable read, your post is, Vortex. What I have always liked about all your posts is the level of refinement of expression they possess. And this one is no exception.
Regards.
spirovious
Well-Known Member
Thanks thevortex & sidvee for writng.
@thevortex : my journey looks like yours.I too listened so many Sony hifi,but cant afford due to budget.Many friends had 20k+ system that time & used to enjoy with them.I still remember one of my building mate had Philips amp + TT combo which used to sound gr8 & top on other hifi,but that time I was not knowing tech things.
Now I too own D2X ,but still missing stereoamp & will upgrade too.
@thevortex : my journey looks like yours.I too listened so many Sony hifi,but cant afford due to budget.Many friends had 20k+ system that time & used to enjoy with them.I still remember one of my building mate had Philips amp + TT combo which used to sound gr8 & top on other hifi,but that time I was not knowing tech things.
Now I too own D2X ,but still missing stereoamp & will upgrade too.
My son would be very excited about hearing this. Until a year ago my son's dream occupation was to be involved in R&D in a big auto company like Daimlar Benz or something. He was very excited when he heard that they were building a factory here in India.I have not asked him recently.
Sid, nice journey, and like mine, yours was also influenced in part by the stay abroad.
Regards.
Hai all,
Here's mine chronologically,
1977 - National mono cassette recorder
1980's - Stereo amp STK ( 10+10 W rms) + Philips DIY 8-inch 2way speakers+ National Panasonic Mono 2-in-1 + Philips Ceramic cartridge TT.
1985 - National RX C46F Stereo Component Tape Recorder
1988 - Philips Tape Deck AW 539 + COSMIC CO-60 Integ Amp (still working) + COVOX 3500 3 way Speakers + COSMIC BD 2000 TT
1994 - AKAI BD TT ( Cosmic TT got Damaged in Transit)
1999- National Mini Component System(70+70 W rms pc.)
2006- PULZ RS 180 DC Int Amp + DIY Speakers + Pioneer 686 DVD
2008 - Pioneer Equalizer GR-333 + SONY Twin cassette WEA-475
2009 - NORGE 2060 Int Amp + Craftel Speakers + Marantz CDP 48
2010 - .....................................?
Here's mine chronologically,
1977 - National mono cassette recorder
1980's - Stereo amp STK ( 10+10 W rms) + Philips DIY 8-inch 2way speakers+ National Panasonic Mono 2-in-1 + Philips Ceramic cartridge TT.
1985 - National RX C46F Stereo Component Tape Recorder
1988 - Philips Tape Deck AW 539 + COSMIC CO-60 Integ Amp (still working) + COVOX 3500 3 way Speakers + COSMIC BD 2000 TT
1994 - AKAI BD TT ( Cosmic TT got Damaged in Transit)
1999- National Mini Component System(70+70 W rms pc.)
2006- PULZ RS 180 DC Int Amp + DIY Speakers + Pioneer 686 DVD
2008 - Pioneer Equalizer GR-333 + SONY Twin cassette WEA-475
2009 - NORGE 2060 Int Amp + Craftel Speakers + Marantz CDP 48
2010 - .....................................?
Thank you kindly for the gracious words Asit -mine was purely chasing the best sound I could afford - unfortunately do not have formal musical training (something I plan to get into eventually). Regarding the auto sector all I can say is if your son is interested in joining one of the big auto companies - this is absolutely the right place and time - the Indian market is about to explode (set to double by 2012 to approx 2m units/annually) and there will be a huge demand. I used to visit China in the late nineties and they were where we are now at approx. 1m annually - but today they are at 10million plus annual units - bigger than US and biggest in the world(of-course US dropped due to the recession) and man talk about the salaries in the sector, quadrupled or more since I first began visiting. I can see the same thing happening here.
cheers
Sid
Hi Guys
My entry into HiFi has been a little different.
My father was an amateur Carnatic classical singer who believed singing was a God's gift and hence one should not charge for a concert. He was Tiger Varadachariar's disciple and was one of his favorites along with MD Ramanathan. But my Dad however decided to pursue education. Did his graduation from Presidency college in Chennai and followed it with a Masters in Science. He took up a job with the Government and travelled all over. I believe he is the only Carnatic vocalist to have sung with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. They used to have all night sessions in Lahore. When i was born in 1963 he had kind of settled in Mumbai. In my initial schooling years i was exposed to a lot of all night music sessions at home. Everybody from M S Subhalaxmi, Lalgudi Jayaram and Palghat Mani would come home and they would would have long music sessions with my dad. Unfortunately i used to hate Carnatic music and could never appreciate these sessions. At the same time my brother who was 10 years elder would love designing and building his own music systems. In those days i thought his speakers were weirdly designed. Today when i look back i realise they were wave guides. One incident i remember very clearly was when i smashed his turntable because i had got mad at him. There were quite a few industrialists who had their music systems custom designed by him. We used to have a lot of lps but they were restricted to classical. So i would never listen to the system at home. I always enjoyed listening to Hindi film songs. Film music was taboo at home. So i would quietly tune into Vividh Bharati and listen to them.
I was pretty decent at academics and so like my brother i too ended up at IIT. This is where i got initiated into Hindi film music big time and also got my first dose of Floyd, Led Zepp, Purple, Billy Joel. In the hostel we had a Cosmic Lab amp, a Philips turntable and Arphi speakers. This was my first exposure to branded stuff. To be honest my brother's stuff was way way superior. Unfortunately my brother expired when i was in IIT. My parents could not get themselves to listen to music on my brother's system. So they gave it away. After my brother's death my father lost interest in music and never sang again. He also became a lot more tolerant to the music i heard. So i was allowed to buy a Sansui system and listen to the music i wanted. I had a Sansui 717 amp, their direct drive turntable and 3 way speakers. Somehow i never liked the Sansui speakers. So replaced them with Scott. After IIT, since my parents were alone, i decided not to go abroad and chose to do my management from IIM. Since we were not clear where i would get a job post IIM, we decided to sell the system. The money we got actually funded my IIM education.
Post IIM, i joined Hindustan Lever in their marketing department. My job needed me to travel a lot. In 1990 i quit my job and set up my own business in Mumbai. Cassettes had become a big thing. So the first thing i did after quitting was to get myself a Technics component system. It was ok sounding. Had a separate power supply which surprised me quite a bit. CDs in the meantime had begun to enter the Indian market. So i dumped my Technics and got a Marantz CD 43, Yamaha pre power and Tannoy dual concentric speakers. Thr Yamaha pre power was soon replaced by Hafler pre power. Then on a trip to Singapore, I picked up a NAD pre power, Marantz 63 SE and PSB speakers. Combo was very decent sounding. Somewhere along the way upgraded to PSB top of the line and my NAD pre power with Sonneteer Alabaster. Then when we shifted home, changed my cd player to Sony 707ES which was a huge upgrade. Then the Sony ES got replaced by EAD transport and the EAD DSP 9000 Pro DAC with built in pre. The amp was replaced by Rowland Model 2, a very sweet sounding power amp. Then i had my first taste of Cadence electrostatics. So the amp and speakers were replaced by Cadence stuff. After the initial euphoria, found the system sluggish. The integration of bass was somehow not sounding very right on the Cadence speakers. Then came Martin Logan Odyssey. Obviously the Cadence amp could not drive it. So went in for Parasound JC1 monoblocs. Awesome stuff. Meanwhile the EAD transport got replaced by Mark Levinson 31 transport. Made a huge difference again. Then i got a chance to buy a used pair of Audio Artistry Beethoven speakers. Truly sublime stuff. With the internet explosion soon started getting exposed to a lot of stuff on SETs. Wanted to experience the SET sound. So once again dumped my whole system. Went in for Dehavilland 845 SET monoblocs, their Mercury Pre, Esoteric P70 Transport and D70 DAC along with Rethm Seconds. Since then the Dehavillands got replaced by RWA Sig 30.2 integrated which recently got replaced by Rethm Gaanam SET integrated. The Rethm Second were upgraded to the Saadhanas. Thats where i am today. I also wanted to share with you guys that everytime i went to audition a piece of equipment i would only listen to old hindi film songs and take a call since 60 -70 percent of the time i end up listening to old hindi film songs. I would also like to add that my wife never listens to the system but has been highly supportive in my HiFi journey. She never cribs when i keep changing my components. She is only happy that i am not into cars.
My entry into HiFi has been a little different.
My father was an amateur Carnatic classical singer who believed singing was a God's gift and hence one should not charge for a concert. He was Tiger Varadachariar's disciple and was one of his favorites along with MD Ramanathan. But my Dad however decided to pursue education. Did his graduation from Presidency college in Chennai and followed it with a Masters in Science. He took up a job with the Government and travelled all over. I believe he is the only Carnatic vocalist to have sung with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. They used to have all night sessions in Lahore. When i was born in 1963 he had kind of settled in Mumbai. In my initial schooling years i was exposed to a lot of all night music sessions at home. Everybody from M S Subhalaxmi, Lalgudi Jayaram and Palghat Mani would come home and they would would have long music sessions with my dad. Unfortunately i used to hate Carnatic music and could never appreciate these sessions. At the same time my brother who was 10 years elder would love designing and building his own music systems. In those days i thought his speakers were weirdly designed. Today when i look back i realise they were wave guides. One incident i remember very clearly was when i smashed his turntable because i had got mad at him. There were quite a few industrialists who had their music systems custom designed by him. We used to have a lot of lps but they were restricted to classical. So i would never listen to the system at home. I always enjoyed listening to Hindi film songs. Film music was taboo at home. So i would quietly tune into Vividh Bharati and listen to them.
I was pretty decent at academics and so like my brother i too ended up at IIT. This is where i got initiated into Hindi film music big time and also got my first dose of Floyd, Led Zepp, Purple, Billy Joel. In the hostel we had a Cosmic Lab amp, a Philips turntable and Arphi speakers. This was my first exposure to branded stuff. To be honest my brother's stuff was way way superior. Unfortunately my brother expired when i was in IIT. My parents could not get themselves to listen to music on my brother's system. So they gave it away. After my brother's death my father lost interest in music and never sang again. He also became a lot more tolerant to the music i heard. So i was allowed to buy a Sansui system and listen to the music i wanted. I had a Sansui 717 amp, their direct drive turntable and 3 way speakers. Somehow i never liked the Sansui speakers. So replaced them with Scott. After IIT, since my parents were alone, i decided not to go abroad and chose to do my management from IIM. Since we were not clear where i would get a job post IIM, we decided to sell the system. The money we got actually funded my IIM education.
Post IIM, i joined Hindustan Lever in their marketing department. My job needed me to travel a lot. In 1990 i quit my job and set up my own business in Mumbai. Cassettes had become a big thing. So the first thing i did after quitting was to get myself a Technics component system. It was ok sounding. Had a separate power supply which surprised me quite a bit. CDs in the meantime had begun to enter the Indian market. So i dumped my Technics and got a Marantz CD 43, Yamaha pre power and Tannoy dual concentric speakers. Thr Yamaha pre power was soon replaced by Hafler pre power. Then on a trip to Singapore, I picked up a NAD pre power, Marantz 63 SE and PSB speakers. Combo was very decent sounding. Somewhere along the way upgraded to PSB top of the line and my NAD pre power with Sonneteer Alabaster. Then when we shifted home, changed my cd player to Sony 707ES which was a huge upgrade. Then the Sony ES got replaced by EAD transport and the EAD DSP 9000 Pro DAC with built in pre. The amp was replaced by Rowland Model 2, a very sweet sounding power amp. Then i had my first taste of Cadence electrostatics. So the amp and speakers were replaced by Cadence stuff. After the initial euphoria, found the system sluggish. The integration of bass was somehow not sounding very right on the Cadence speakers. Then came Martin Logan Odyssey. Obviously the Cadence amp could not drive it. So went in for Parasound JC1 monoblocs. Awesome stuff. Meanwhile the EAD transport got replaced by Mark Levinson 31 transport. Made a huge difference again. Then i got a chance to buy a used pair of Audio Artistry Beethoven speakers. Truly sublime stuff. With the internet explosion soon started getting exposed to a lot of stuff on SETs. Wanted to experience the SET sound. So once again dumped my whole system. Went in for Dehavilland 845 SET monoblocs, their Mercury Pre, Esoteric P70 Transport and D70 DAC along with Rethm Seconds. Since then the Dehavillands got replaced by RWA Sig 30.2 integrated which recently got replaced by Rethm Gaanam SET integrated. The Rethm Second were upgraded to the Saadhanas. Thats where i am today. I also wanted to share with you guys that everytime i went to audition a piece of equipment i would only listen to old hindi film songs and take a call since 60 -70 percent of the time i end up listening to old hindi film songs. I would also like to add that my wife never listens to the system but has been highly supportive in my HiFi journey. She never cribs when i keep changing my components. She is only happy that i am not into cars.
Last edited:
srinisundar
Well-Known Member
Great Start of your Journey along with your father and brother and it was an good finishing touch to your journey ending( starting) with your wife:clapping:
spirovious
Well-Known Member
Thanks Prem for sharing.
spirovious
Well-Known Member
My pleasure,
I was curious to know how everyone turned into serious music lover & hifi.
Its really nice to read personal experiences.
hifiashok
Well-Known Member
very interesting read, prem.
can u pl. share what Cadence amp. and speakers you were using? were u using the EAD transport and DAC with these? what were the cables? any power conditioning?
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
