South India Audio Meet-2013

[thevortex]

Captain - you missed my post congratulating the entire team

 

[captrajesh]

Captain - you missed my post congratulating the entire team

Apologies. The omission was made inadvertently. Edited my post to include the posts.

 

[srinisundar]

In the recently concluded South India meet at Hotel Savera on 10th March, 2013 everybody loves the Vintage combination of Spendor LS3/5a + Quad II combo + Modern Byrston DAC + Lyrita Pre which was played at the end of the listening session at Dealers room.

Everybody heartfelt what music is and how it can make them to feel if properly sounded.

Here you go below with few photos of same.

Posted here too. Spendor LS3/5a + Quad II

Here we went with extended music seesion with KEF LS50 with Quad II ++ other

 

[GeorgeO]

Thanks Rajiv(Quad amp), Srini(DAC)and Nasser(speakers) for this evening session.

 

[srinisundar]

Thanks Rajiv(Quad amp), Srini(DAC)and Nasser(speakers) for this evening session.

May be if possible we can bring those to Banglore meet too

 

[KiranPS]

Good to know that you are happy with the show.. Needless to mention the MBL bookshelves sounded like floor standers with outstanding sound when paired with Dared tube amplifier and would like to know I believe you are the lucky one to book the last pair ? .

I did not go with the MBL 311 E since they did not match my parasound a21. They sound great with MBL gear and with the dared tube amps , like at the show.

They are still up for grabs at the Audio People.
So anyone interested can contact them.

 

[GeorgeO]

Srini

I told Rajiv and Capt Rajesh to not be in a tearing hurry and charge back to Madras, when you guys come to Bangalore. Plan to either come the previous evening and go back by the last train. Santhosh and I would be happy to reciprocate and offer some home auditioning opportunities.

George

 

[ajinkya]

First of all, apologies for the week overdue post. I was immediately caught up with a project deliverable so did not have any time till today. Happens with most of my other responses too...I start some conversation in a thread and have to leave midway because work comes up.

Having said that, here are my observations about the excellent meet:

1. A big thank you to Capt. Rajesh, Rajiv, Srini, and Murali N., again. I know you've received a lot of thank you's but I think the meticulous organisation of the meet and your hard work fully deserves each one of them.

2. Similar thanks to all the sponsors who gave us all a chance to listen to some outstanding equipment, and who were always ready to help out with track selection, questions, and general information. I know it must have been hard work to transport, set up, and repack all those heavy items, so thank you for keeping up your enthusiasm throughout the meet.

3. I made a new friend in GrubyHalo who was kind enough to pick me up, treat me to a hot Tamil breakfast at a great restaurant that I did not know existed, was excellent and informative company during the meet, and who has rekindled my interest in DIY ... and South Indian coffee techniques

4. I have been invited by Rajiv and Santosh to listen to their audio at home, an offer that i will definitely take up when free. And the offer was made by both in a genuinely welcoming way, which shows the love they have for music and exposing more people to good sound.

5. Room 1 was the MBL solid-state room and was basically a comparison between the Thiels and the Avalons. I preferred the Thiels for almost every song played because the voices sounded more holographic through them. However, there was one drums track that made us understand why the Avalons were priced so high. These speakers made the song visceral...every beat was reproduced with raw emotion and stunning power. The Thiels sounded soft and weak in comparison.

Lesson learned: what I had mentioned in my Guidelines post on this forum...Know yourself. Each speaker will reproduce some genres of music better than others, even the top-tier ones. Understanding what you listen to most often will help you choose a better speaker for your listening habits. It may not end up being the costlier one.

6. The Musical Fidelity and the Monitor Audio's sounded good for the music played. But I immediately missed the detail and slam that the MBL setup had. My wallet, however, did not miss the several lakhs in rupee weight that it would have lost had I wanted to buy the MBL setup.

7. The Kef room sounded boomy because of the lack of space. However, the flagship Kef really stood out as the best among all, even floorstanders. It held its own with bass and details. Must listen.

8. Room 3 was the most musically appealing, from my viewpoint. The tube amps with the Arista speakers was a magical combination and I spent the most time listening to it. I tried different songs and combinations and everything sounded melodious, soothing, and beautiful. Capt. Rajesh should NOT sell these speakers...he should buy the Dared amp and convince his wife in military style (Sorry Thad...its too much pain to see these speakers go :0 )

9. The modified Kef horn-loaded speakers blew me away. End of story. The voices had a holographic presence, even more than the Arista. The tube synergy was excellent, the music had everything and more. Gruby and I made an interesting comparison between the two speakers on the "Another brick in the wall" track. Through the Arista, the track sounded ... nice. But there was definitely slam missing, some element of detail that was less. Switch to the Kefs and ... Wow! That was the only emotion we both felt. Pink Floyd came out, shook our hands, said "Thank you for freeing us"... and continued singing. The modified Kefs were the rockstars in this meet. Thank you Chacko for being patient enough to explain the design modifications and history of these speakers. Again same point : The Arista's were excellent speakers and would make many happy. However, if rock is your main music, go for the Kefs.

10. The Genelecs stunned me as much as they did Thad. He has written extensively on the sound, so I won't repeat except saying Ditto to everything.

11. Thad was the most elegantly formally attired South Indian in the meet.

12.The Spendor-Quad combination sounded ... just right. That is the best way to describe them. They did everything right...every note was natural and effortless. They did not go as low as others, the Kef flagship bookshelf model beat them in details and power...and still they sounded less fatiguing, more melodious than any other speaker in the Kef room. GrubyHalo sms'ed me in the middle of his meditative listening trance and asked me to drop everything and hear these. After I heard them, I understood his urgency! I also understood what Rajiv meant when he wants to listen to the music, not the frequency response. But the engineer in me is very curious about the FR...I have a feeling it will be almost flat except for a mid-bass hump to give it that British warmth. If anyone has a FR plot of the Spendors, please point me to it.

13. I also noticed that tube amps do not add anything "warm" to the sound. A good tube amp and a good solid-state will produce music in the same beautiful way...at least in the comparisons I did with the two units. I did not hear the so-called tube sound anywhere. All I heard was what I would expect with any well-engineered solid-state as well.

14. All in all, I met some very nice and interesting people, and listened to some very nice and interesting equipment. What more can one ask for?

Regards,
Ajinkya

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

But the engineer in me is very curious about the FR...I have a feeling it will be almost flat except for a mid-bass hump to give it that British warmth. If anyone has a FR plot of the Spendors, please point me to it.

Here you go. The LS3/5A response is not flat. But boy does it sound good.



ls3/5a frequency response - Google Search


This is an article you should read .

God is in the Nuances | Stereophile.com

Quoting from the last page of the article.

our motto should be the closest approach to the original emotion.

Another article worth reading.

http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/138/


Regards
Rajiv

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I did not hear the so-called tube sound anywhere.

Ah, yes... none of the sound that those of us who do not know modern-day tubes but may have false prejudices would have expected to hear. Just natural. Of course, same was true of the Quads, which are nothing like modern-day (as I said: almost as old as me!). Back in 1959, I was listening to an over-warm, booming Radiogram: the Quads were nothing like that. Well, back in 1959 my upper-middle class parents simply could not afforded the Quads, let alone the full system: High Fidelity was not only just for the enthusiasts, it was absolutely only for the rich.

Thank you for your kind comments, ajinkaya: I found a personal style I like, and stuck with it ... The credits go to FabIndia and Kerala Handloom!

I certainly have nothing against Capt Rajesh's speakers (although they wouldn't be my choice if I was buying). It seems the problem is with Mrs Rajesh. Perhaps she'll be convinced by the new amp sound! perhaps I will, too, next time I visit.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Room 3 was the most musically appealing, from my viewpoint. The tube amps with the Arista speakers was a magical combination and I spent the most time listening to it. I tried different songs and combinations and everything sounded melodious, soothing, and beautiful. Capt. Rajesh should NOT sell these speakers...he should buy the Dared amp and convince his wife in military style (Sorry Thad...its too much pain to see these speakers go :0 )

Most of the members attending found this room to be the most satisfying musically.

At the meet I could not do much serious listening but what little I heard of the Dared 6L6 amp in combination with the Cadence Arista's was very good and made me want to listen to this combination again. So last evening Srini,Nasser,Sashi and I went over to Capt's home and had an extended listening session with the Dared+Arista combination .

This is the best I have heard Capt's system sound. I know that Capt has been trying many components in his system to get the "magic", I think that with this combination he may have found it.

perhaps I will, too, next time I visit.

Thad, if possible you should drop by and listen Capt's system now. It really does sound very good now.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[Staxxx]

Rajiv, what an interesting article "God is in the Nuances" is - thank you. Part of the initial hypothesis is what i was referring to in another post on 100k DACs earlier this week. I agree with some of what he says and often when you think he will go one way, he goes another....

Two excerpts that I liked (and perhaps may be pertinent to the listening experience of this meet):

"Yet there are millions of people out there who buy what, in our enlightened eyes, passes as junk, as lo-fi or no-fi: rack systems, boomboxes, cynical mid-market efforts with a maximum of bells and whistles, and so on. If you demonstrate a high-end system to these people, sure, they'll hear the difference. But to the eternal dismay of high-end dealers and manufacturers alike, these people will not then go out and buy a decent system. They return to their modest home systems and are quite content with them, even though their ears have been opened and they now know that there are much better systems out there to be had.

In many cases this may be because these people's interest in music is not high enough to justify an expensive system. Yet we all know there are a lot of people out there who love music, have decent record or CD collections, make enough money, and still can't be bothered about the High End. The usual lament is that they have either been corrupted by the mainstream press or that they have cloth ears.

I'm not so sure about that. Because the reverse is also true: people with excellent home systems can listen to something as humble as a car stereo (a topic that has often popped up in Stereophile) and still have a profound musical experience. This, to me, indicates that even for those of us who do have considerable experience of really well-reproduced music, enjoyment is not necessarily linked to high-end sound. It seems that much of the high-end sound experience is just that: an experience of sound, not of music-generated emotion....."

and another (perhaps slightly contradictory or explanatory?):

"The conclusion Ackermann drew from this is that the sound of modern hi-fi is the result of a learning process. When told that a certain sound is what they should aim for, often enough people will accept this concept of sound as their internal reference."

Although I definitely do not agree with the rant against digital systems (which has been debated endlessly in other parts of this forum), I like the statement above, which is definitely as true of analogue, tube or digital systems. But this is something perhaps many would not like to hear. To put this article in a little perspective, it was researched in the late 1990s and published in 2000. Things have progressed and he does also mention his hope for SACD etc. and technological progress to bridge his personal divide.

However...

Is the fault (or the issue) perhaps in linking two very different passions????

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thad, if possible you should drop by and listen Capt's system now. It really does sound very good now.

Yes, indeed: is the Dared acquisition going to turn permanent? The jury (Capt and Mrs) still out on the speakers? Will make sure I get there soon

By the way: is it "daa-red," or "dare-d?"

 

[GeorgeO]

Daa-red from what I understand. I agree the combo of the Cadence and Dared amps was very very nice.

 

[KiranPS]

The Dared tube amps did have a little more highs in them, so we were able to hear more details in the music. All the tube amps I've heard so far used to be lacking there. I guess they have revised the circuits some what suit the modern ears trained on solid state and HT setups.

 

[srinisundar]

The Dared tube amps did have a little more highs in them, so we were able to hear more details in the music. All the tube amps I've heard so far used to be lacking there. I guess they have revised the circuits some what suit the modern ears trained on solid state and HT setups.

You should hear the Cayin and you will not tell it is an tube amp.. It should be more suitable with MBL to get more highs than Dared for your expectation.

 

[KiranPS]

I've not heard the Cayin Srini. After hearing the details in 96 kHz music it's hard to go back to more smooth presentation. I guess it's more about the mood also, sometimes we like smooth warm music, sometimes we like hi-res details.

 

[srinisundar]

I've not heard the Cayin Srini. After hearing the details in 96 kHz music it's hard to go back to more smooth presentation. I guess it's more about the mood also, sometimes we like smooth warm music, sometimes we like hi-res details.

Yep, i agree.

Regards

 

[john_k_antony]

The Dared tube amps did have a little more highs in them, so we were able to hear more details in the music. All the tube amps I've heard so far used to be lacking there. I guess they have revised the circuits some what suit the modern ears trained on solid state and HT setups.

I thought highs were pronounced with Klipsch speakers when played with Dared. I felt Dared sounded more warm with Cadence.

-John.

 

[captrajesh]

A big thank you to Capt. Rajesh, Rajiv, Srini, and Murali N.

Thank you for your generous comments and a nice writeup. Since we the organisers were shuttling between rooms, not only could we not listen to all the gear but were also not in a proper frame of mind for a proper listening session. So we were expecting the participants to post their thoughts and impressions for all the FMs reading this thread as to what exactly transpired in the meets.

The modified Kef horn-loaded speakers blew me away.

I think the drivers are Klipsch, not KEF; could someone confirm? I hope Byjuchacko would chip in.

Gruby and I made an interesting comparison between the two speakers on the "Another brick in the wall" track. Through the Arista, the track sounded ... nice. But there was definitely slam missing

At the venue, we have connected the speakers with Audio Art SC5 speaker cables. Somehow one of the banana plugs has come loose which was required to be soldered. So the next day, when I was checking out the speaker amp combo at my house, I had connected them with my Straightwire Maestro cables (Similar to the one used by 'Audio People' at the venue) The slam was back. I wish I had carried them to the venue.

Yesterday, Rajiv, Srinisundar & Mohamednaseer came over to check out the Dared amp combo with the Aristas. Having painstakingly building his system to suit his taste of sound, Rajiv is an expert in looking out for the fine nuances in music, like the attack and decay of Piano notes, the air around the Saxaphone or drums etc; Likewise is Mohamednaseer. They have successfully demonstrated that these are better reproduced through the Audio Art than the Straightwire albeit at the cost of some slam.

Capt. Rajesh should NOT sell these speakers...he should buy the Dared amp and convince his wife in military style

is the Dared acquisition going to turn permanent? The jury (Capt and Mrs) still out on the speakers?

Of course yes; the way the amp played with my speakers, I've decided not to sell the speakers much to the chargin of my better half who now turned bitter.:lol: Byju was generous enough to let me retain the amp for a few days.

However, Byju suggests another Dared amp VP845 which is far better match to the Aristas. I intend to visit Angamaly shortly to check them out and then decide.

Will make sure I get there soon

Looking forward to your visit Thad.