I had been to Siva place today. Lovely experience. There was a power cut when I reached and so I had to wait. There was one other gentleman who busy in conversation with Siva. As he signed off, he introduced himself as Venu. It was a pleasant surprise. I am mentioned that I knew him from the forum and he was equally surprised.
We talked about GST, Import duties etc for some more time before Venu left.
The power came back and we started with the audition. I was very to see that his room was mostly untreated but for a diffuser or something like that on the front wall. I made a note of the room's geometry. It was pretty square and the speakers had a lot of breathing space. Mr.Siva had pulled up an integrated amp (solid state) right from factory line for a demo and so it had not broken in. He also opened up the casing and showed me the power supply for each of the section (not that I understood what it meant).
We started with Ilayaraja's nammura mandara hoove CD. The music was wonderful. Vocal Imaging was bang at the center and separation was brilliant. The bass was tight but not boomy. I told Siva about the magic that was being created which was missing at my place. Siva mentioned that it could be because of a lot of things starting from transport, to DAC, to AMP, to speakers and to the room as well. I wouldn't blame my AVR completely as I get some magic while playing vinyl. I made a mental note that the el-cheapo dvd player should no longer be a transport even though I just use the digital out from the player. So, one more item in the shopping list.
After listening to a couple of more tracks, we switched over to digital files. Aruna Sairam's
Kalinga Narthanam has become my reference file in the recent times. AP's DAC and integrated amp brought the song to life. I had heard it last in NAD C375BEE + Tannoy Revolution combination. AP's performance matched the output in terms of detail and texture. Only difference I can recall is that Tannoy's output was least a couple of feet closer to me than AP. I would give the benefit of the doubt to AP as the amp was brand new. AP's system revealed Arun Sairam taking breath to leap over one of the difficult segments of the Thillana.
Overall thought I had was that AP's DAC and Amp were really good but it wasn't a giant leap from what I have. After that Siva played Hindustani recording made at his place. That's where the system revealed what it was capable of. The huskiness of the voice, beauty of harmonium reeds were so appealing. I am never a big fan of harmonium music as I usually find them too jarring. I realised that with good content, the DAC and AMP would take us to a different world. Now, please do not ask me about bit rate, format, etc of the content nor the sampling capability of the DAC. I am an accountant and all that I can record is my subjective experience.
One more song was played. It was a recording made in open air in a school function. A young girl was rendering a Hindustani piece. The innocence of the voice and amateurness of the pakhawaj was evident.
One common point with all these listening was that I had a doubt about how much his speakers were contributing to the experience. I requested Siva if I could bring my bookshelves next time around to see if the magic conjured by his DAC + Integrated Amp would have the same impact even without his wonderful speakers. Mr.Siva and his wife Mrs.Jaya were great hosts. It was an afternoon well spent.
Next in line, I would like to fix up an appointment with soundsgreat and explore his creations.
P.S: Sorry guys, no pics this time as I was too much in awe. I shall request him and click a few the next time.
P.P.S: An afterthought after starting the P.S as "Sorry guys" - Is Audiophile community strictly men-only group? should this be a separate thread?
I owe visits to Raghu and Aurobindo's place now. Hopefully, I should do it before September ends.
