quality of indian branded speakers

[Ashenden]

Very interesting subject.Would like to extend the topic are to why we are unaware about Indian brands despite we have so many.
I think we should all promote Made in India audio industry to help get them world class and that would also save us lot of money and get better after sales service. I found some issue with existing manufacturers:
- Design. They have to go up from box piece to fluid designs.
- Cater to noise and hums in electronics.
- Cater to all and not just Indian music.
- proper marketing in all major audio magazines and media.
- Conduct shows / events to spread awareness.
- Tie-ups with Public addressing projects so as to generate money for R&D.
- Have DIY kits for ppl to make them familiarize with audio components and generate interest in Indian brands.
- Sponsor Audio related courses in famous institutes so as to generate knowledge and awareness.
- Have more flexible demo plans for customers like what SVS / HSU and other internet direct companies have in US.
- Give clear description of their products everywhere.
- Have proper demo rooms in their cities.
- Make complete packages and sell as Indian customers are too lazy at times(not all are) to do any research.
- Work more on soundproofing that blends well into Indian households as we do not have much real estate unlike US and other European nations. SO design should be clever.
- Rather than pulling other Indian counterparts .. work with them to create world-class hub as most developed nations right now are going in saturation phase while Indian market is opening up.
- using low quality products dents the image of Indian products in long run. The inspiration has to from top manufactures but at same time should be well within Indian mentality / imagination / tolerance and fresh appeal. Too much quirky design like some European brands in name of fashion might be too risky / costly.
- Cost should be not too cheap but not very costly either.
- Proper brands name / logos. This is the first impression that customer gets and most Indian brands screw it up royally.
- Show references . People in India always trust brands more that have better repute with the customers.
- Generate Media noise of all form.

Hope forum members would add more points so that Indian companies reading this keep all points as bookmarks and work on it.

Just my more than $0.2 cents.

Your points are valid and should help in building a brand. The Indian speakers will be at a fraction of the cost of similar sounding imported ones. This is where issues with dealers can prop up. Most won't be interested to stock a cheaper priced speaker that sounds as good as a higher priced imported one, as his relationship with other brands [imported ones] will take a hit. Direct sales through own or third party website will be the way, but then the costs of promotion will be huge too.

 

[edjamesx]

hey guys

Does the quality of indian branded speakers at par with the likes jamo, polk, wharfedales etc...

actually what i am talking about is that most of the parts are imported from like denmark etc..will the indian speakers be any good then...i also doubt research work here in india....

how about these new speakers from sonodyne are they any good? have anybody demoed them yet?

with whom would u compare at par these sonus 2605 V2's

You should see and experience Sonodyne speakers made in india .Especially their tower speakerss Sonus and Avant series.
Build quality and design is great as par with international standards and they are making waves around the world.

I have heard polk , kilpsch , dali , sonodyne ...i liked the sound of sonodyne - it sounded pretty well, very tight bass & balanced highs.

 

[Naturelover]

There are several Indian brands operating at varying scales of business.
Rethm, Acoustic Portrait, Lyrita, Sonodyne, Lithos, Torvin, Telome, etc.

I own Rethm and have heard Acoustic Portrait. Excellent speakers.
I haven't heard Lyrita speakers but their tube amps are very good.
Telome jewel cube speakers have been said to be better than Bose on this forum.

 

[satakumara]

I heard that audio craft (craftel) from chennai also doing some value for money products

 

[arj]

I would rate the acoustic portrait truly world class in terms of its quality. Since Siva is into live recording of Indian classical , they do sound very realistic as a full AP system. Rethm is of course a proven world class system.
Lyrita is perhaps the best sounding tube equipment at that price point you can buy in india. Viren has a philosophy he uses to design his equipment , very much focused

I have not been very impressed by either sonodyne or telome although I heard it many years back

 

[Naturelover]

I would rate the acoustic portrait truly world class in terms of its quality. since Siva is into live recording ot Indian classical , they do sound very realistic as a full AP system. Rethm is of course a proven world class system.
Lyrita is perhaps the best sounding tube equipment at that price point you can buy in india. Viren has a philosophy he uses to design his equipment , very much focused.

Absolutely.
Though, where would you put Acoustic Portrait against Rethm?

Thats wrong information Nature lover. I have compared Telome and Bose sat sub speakers side by side. Telome is nowhere near Bose. As a matter of fact, no speaker manufacturer can beat the Acoustimass when it comes to satellite/Sub speaker system.

I have not been very impressed by either sonodyne or telome although i heard it many years back

It's FM efernand1 who has praised Telome jewel cubes a couple of times.

 

[arj]

Absolutely.
Though, where would you put Acoustic Portrait against Rethm?

Difficult to answer since they very different philosophies and presentations, one being a Lowther based single driver and the other an MTM needing relatively high power !
Since AP system has the Amp and speaker designed together they synergies very well with wonderful bass. Rethm you need to find the matching amp and also the dialling in into the room is more complex , i guess due to the powered bass module, but once you do that you get wonderfully transparent sound . I actually like both, although for my room the Rethm would be difficult to position.

 

[Naturelover]

Have always wanted to hear them side by side or at least get impressions from someone who has.

 

[Hari Iyer]

I have said this before elsewhere in some other post and say that again " there is no demand for high end speakers in India". Period.

So it does not make any business sense in developing a mature or end of lifecycle products now.

 

[raj12345]

I have said this before elsewhere in some other post and say that again " there is no demand for high end speakers in India". Period.

So it does not make any business sense in developing a mature or end of lifecycle products now.

Whats the basis of saying this..

 

[Naturelover]

I have said this before elsewhere in some other post and say that again " there is no demand for high end speakers in India". Period.
So it does not make any business sense in developing a mature or end of lifecycle products now.

Why limit yourself to India?
Rethm sells most of their speakers abroad.

 

[arj]

I have said this before elsewhere in some other post and say that again " there is no demand for high end speakers in India". Period.

So it does not make any business sense in developing a mature or end of lifecycle products now.

I believe there is quite a decent market and they all go buy bose due to the brand. High end means different things to different people hence will call this a need for high quality sound. The headphone market is Booming ( not a pun but people do like bass)

The problem in india is how to get the information and product to the people who may desire it as our market is very segmented and they need different channels.

 

[tuff]

I believe there is no proper marketing for audio gear in India. Sure there is a bias when it comes to buying Indian vs phoren, but that trend needs to be broken if Indian brands need to succeed. It also does not help when people start recommending tube gear or expensive cables when most people want a decent sounding system for the right price.
Audiophiles are the best and the worst people to give advice to someone starting out or looking to better whatever run of the mill gear they have.
It gets overwhelming for most people. Look at Sonodyne, it is near impossible to get a simple audition for most people. But it can be super easy to audition Yamaha, Denon Marantz as they have done a better job at marketing themselves. Look at LG/ Sony/Samsung, selling inferior junk at every nook and corner. In the end, it is about accessibility about the gear that get's poor or no response from the average consumer. Rethm seems to have done a better job but in the end they are not in the same league price wise with most available brands.

 

[Ashenden]

Buchardt audio from denmark is doing a direct sales model and have carved a niche for themselves, by providing affordable high quality audio without the middle man. They make their products in China and do it in large batches of 1000+ units to get economies of scale. Products are well received by critics but not so famous.

https://www.buchardtaudio.com/

 

[keith_correa]

Buchardt Audio claim that they eliminate 60% to 70% of the cost by selling direct. Considering that their cheapest speaker has a price tag of €1040 (not cheap by any means!) that would mean that the cost if not sold direct would be ~€2600.
For that price I would expect near boutique parts in their crossovers - not run of the mill "Bennic" branded caps, sand cast resistors and wire inductors as shown on their website. Hell, I see an electrolytic there too.

 

[Ashenden]

Buchardt Audio claim that they eliminate 60% to 70% of the cost by selling direct. Considering that their cheapest speaker has a price tag of €1040 (not cheap by any means!) that would mean that the cost if not sold direct would be ~€2600.
For that price I would expect near boutique parts in their crossovers - not run of the mill "Bennic" branded caps, sand cast resistors and wire inductors as shown on their website. Hell, I see an electrolytic there too.

The brand was mentioned as a business strategy for selling Indian branded speakers.
Since you mentioned, you can check out S400 review on zero fidelity channel. The guy is very honest and rarely gives such a good opinion. S400 retails for $1800 and he prefers it over monitors costing $7k.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Whats the basis of saying this..

You can't sell one or two speakers a month and stay in business. No distributor will buy your product even if it's better than the best. Other competitors will blackmail them if they try to keep a better product than theirs. That's one of the reason Rethem and cadence don't have much presence here. Most distributors are bulk importers. So even if you buy a Dali or a Wharfdale or a Tannoy it's the same person importing them. So he doesn't mind as far as he is making money. Once a local guy sitting in a remote corner in India try to enter the scene his money chain gets disrupted and he won't allow that unless you too are selling through him. That's why local talent don't flourish in India as our biggest enemy is within and not outside country.

Why limit yourself to India?
Rethm sells most of their speakers abroad.

Hmm, Rethem does not sell speakers for a living. It's his hobby. His main business is architecture.

 

[tuff]

That is why marketing products is the key to success in the market. There is no internet presence of Indian brands, No professional reviews on YouTube, or else where. Heck, the websites don't have any pricing on them either( a strategy i never could understand), Hardly anyone 'sells' online. Either it's lamington road stuff or boutique high ticket items, nothing in the middle to fill the gap. I am sure there is a big market out there just needs someone to tap in.

 

[apk]

Having heard a large number of the 'Boutique' Indian made speakers over the past 10 years or so, I can confidently say that we can build world class speakers. I have heard Lyritas (right from Viren's initial Fostex based TL speakers, to his OB ones to the more recent Horn speakers), Acoustic Portrait (Bookshelves and Floorstanders based on Scanspeak drivers), Rethm (early version of Sadhanas), Lithos (Kontra, Q10 & Noa), Cadence (Avitas & Aritas), Audire (IO2) and Norge (can't remember the model). I have owned (and still own) Indian made speakers from the now defunct Enbee audio for the past 10 years, and can proudly say that most of the Indian made speakers can punch above their respective price points when compared to a similarly priced imported brand. This is not to say that any of the imported brands are bad - it's just that they have large overheads (marketing, sales & distribution costs) that reduce their value proposition compared to the 'boutique' offerings from our country.

Having said that - most of these companies will remain 'boutique' offerings since they are mostly one man/woman shops with a 'passionate' audiophile at the helm. The moment you have to scale up to being much larger than a one man shop, the costs add up (marketing, sales & distribution costs). So many prefer to remain just a 'boutique' shop selling direct and through word of the mouth references. That's just the reality, and we have to live with it. So if you are interested in these 'boutique' speakers, you will sometimes have to make an effort to travel/visit locations where the owners are based (or where these speakers are available to listen through a friendly customer). Many of these companies will fold up once the owner retires or passes away (as in the case of Enbee Audio).

I currently live in Australia which has a thriving local 'Audio' industry - many of them mom-and-pop shops not unlike the ones in India - started and owned by passionate audiophiles. Many do well because of good community support from local audiophiles, word of mouth references and reviews through forums (such as stereonet australia). Most of the large cities here (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelade etc) have regular get-togethers/events where local manufacturers are often encouraged to come and showcase their products. This gives them good visibility (within a niche crowd) without the associated marketing costs. However, similar to the case in India, many of them fold up once the owner retires or passes away.

I think we should be happy that there are quite a few 'boutique' companies present in our country, that gives us options beyond the 'imported' brands. We should encourage their work through reviews on this forum and hosting regular events where such products can be showcased. Expecting the owners to scale up, and improve their visibility through marketing 'efforts' is not always feasible, and we as the audiophile community here do need to play a larger role in promoting 'local' products.

You can't sell one or two speakers a month and stay in business. No distributor will buy your product even if it's better than the best. Other competitors will blackmail them if they try to keep a better product than theirs. That's one of the reason Rethem and cadence don't have much presence here. Most distributors are bulk importers. So even if you buy a Dali or a Wharfdale or a Tannoy it's the same person importing them. So he doesn't mind as far as he is making money. Once a local guy sitting in a remote corner in India try to enter the scene his money chain gets disrupted and he won't allow that unless you too are selling through him. That's why local talent don't flourish in India as our biggest enemy is within and not outside country.

Hi Hari,

A 'boutique' manufacturer cannot flourish using the same methods that other traditional 'deep pocketed' organisations do. That is setting yourself up for failure since the 'boutique' manufacturer will never have the financial muscle and distribution reach to compete on the same playing field. Marketing, Sales & Distribution models/mechanisms have to be different - you may have to sell direct, market through local 'audiophile' communities, and participate in events through hosting listening sessions etc. Having witnessed the success of local audio companies here in Australia, I can vouch for the fact that there are business models that work successfully for 'boutique' manufacturers. It may require you to take a different approach, but there is still 'reasonable success'. Very few of the local manufacturers here sell through distributors/retailers. They sell direct, participate in many local events, are commercial members on audio forums, contribute actively through sharing of knowledge on audio forums and leverage the power of social media as well as faithful community members to their advantage. There is no reason why we can't leverage the same concepts (adapted to our context) here in India.

 

[ghatgepatil]

Don't know how many of you will swallow this, but, is a fact. Most yearn to own a white-skin made product. A 'brown' local manufacturer barely would get back his cost irrespective of the sound quality he has been able to deliver, which usually sets him back thinking as to whether the entire effort was worth it or not.

Let any speaker manufacturer here disagree to what I have stated above. Take it from a horse's mouth.