Stereo Hunt in Kolkata (60k)

[tirthankar]

So after listening to my favourite two channel music in my 5.1 system, I decided I that I need a stereo now.

My musical taste is pretty varied, I listen everything from trance and metal to Rabindra Sangeet and Western Classical. But mostly I listen to Tagore, Classic Rock and metal, A R Rahman, English Pop & Country and Western Orchestra (Mozart, Brahms, Handel etc)

I set myself a budget of 60k for speaker and amp, and cautioned myself against trying to go over it. Also, I would prefer bookshelves because of space constraints.

But right on my first auditioning day it seems like.....

Anyway I started off my auditioning today. Had burnt the following songs in to an audio cd and used that. It covers my musical taste pretty well.

1. Scorpions - Winds of Change
2. Pink Floyd - Hey You, Coming Back to Life
3. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
4. Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
5. A R Rahman - Fanaa, Roja (Hariharan)
6. DJ Tiesto - Voila (Magik 6)
7. Leann Rhimes - How do I
8. John Denver - Sunshine on my Shoulders
9. Debabrata Biswas - Tumi Robe Nirobe (I guess only the bengali people will know this )
10. Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 05
11. Vivaldi - Spring: Allegro
12. Chopin - Nocturne No. 15 in f minor: Andante

All the songs were burnt from either flac or 320 kbps mp3

My first stop was at SKS Traders.

Quad 11l2 + CA Azur 550a

The quad had very good vocals, especially female vocals sounded too good. Acoustic guitar (Guitar section in beginning of Hey You and Coming back to life) sounded very smooth. There was good instrument separation, smooth trebles; solo violin had a sort of silky tone to it. Chopin's nocturne was making me dreamy, it was so good.
The bass was tight and punchy, not thumping. I was surprised to see such good bass from a small bookshelf.
But for some reason I felt it was too polite, neutral, if I may say so. May be the amp was being not able to drive it to its full potential.
Heavy Metal, especially Electric and Bass guitar, seemed a bit muddy and grating. This is not a combination for Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest fans. But ones who listen to mostly vocal centric or instrumental songs will most probably like it a lot.


MS Aviano 2 + CA Azur 550a

This combination was more of an all rounder compared to quad. The midrange and treble was refined and smooth, not as refined as quad, but unlike the quad it had a wider soundstage and sounded more involving.
It was slightly brighter than quad, and the bass was not as tight, but it played almost all the types of songs pretty well, especially trance/electronica, metal and rock sounded much better. The person at the showroom said it has only been a few weeks and the sound will open up further with more burn in.
I really liked this combination, and I would like to hear this speaker with a Marantz amp, as I think marantz may be able to tame the brightness. But marantz was not available for audition, only on order. In fact, nowhere in Kolkata is it available for audition.

Unfortunately my stay at SKS was cut short by the arrival of more customers, and as I had already taken up almost 2 hours, I took my leave and made my way to ProFX.


My intention at profx was to audition kef q300 and focal 706v. But unfortunately none of the two were available. So I listened to q100 and the 716v FS.

KEF Q100 + Denon 510ae

This was not too bad, and did many things all right. But after aviano 2 and quad, it didnt stand a chance. To my ears it was boomy bass, average midrange, thin trable - FLAT .. :indifferent14:


Focal 716V + Denon 510ae

Imaging!!! and Soundstage!!!

These were the first two things which hit me on listening to the focal. Both were fantastic. When I closed my eyes, I could feel the voice coming directly from front of me, and the music all around it. When orchestral music was playing, I could precisely place each instrument, cymbals, first and second violin, chello, everything sounded separate and yet as a whole.
This was also an all rounder, and did justice to almost all my music. Well, not that much with Metallica and Iron Maiden, heavy metal and hard rock are a different beast I guess; but everything else I threw at it I really liked the sound. Mid Bass and lower trebles were quite rich, male vocals (John Denver, Hariharan) had a very good ring, the deep voice of Debabrata was very nicely produced. And the fantastic imaging and separation played their part.

It was a bit bright, to tell the truth. Female vocals, electronica and solo violins sounded a little thin, not grating though. Maybe too fatiguing for a longer listen. The quad was smoother. But these are exciting speakers, full of energy. And they love amplification. Denon 710 opened them up even more.
I cant wait to hear them with NAD, if I can find the two together anywhere.

I will be returning to profx in 2 weeks, by which I am told q300 and 706v will be available. Hopefully the 706v and 716v wont be too different, I really want to stay with a bookshelf and within budget..

Price
Azur 550a - 24k
Azur 650a - 28.5k
Aviano 2 - 23k
Quad 11l2 - 34k

Denon 510 - 19k
Denon 710 - 27k
Q100 - 26k
Focal 716v - 47k

And obviously, I am looking forward to your valuable suggestions...

Thanks,
Tirthankar

 

[tirthankar]

Sorry.. I was so eager to post my experience I forgot to give even my requirements ..

Room size: 12 X 10 ft, basically my bedroom

Speakers will be placed along the 10 ft wall most probably, separated by around 6-7 ft max I'll say. Will need to be near the wall, max 1 ft from the walls.

My musical taste - Mostly Pink Floyd, Tagore, English pop and Soft Rock, Rahman, Old Hindi Songs, Metallica and Iron Maiden, Western Classical (especially orchestral music). But can listen to anything actually.

Please put in your suggestions. I know I cant audition every good combination in Kolkata, but anything you think will be good for me, please suggest.

Thanks,
Tirthankar

 

[drkaushik]

Very exciting inputs.I would ask you to try Yamaha S500 with Sonodyne 2605V2 if you can adjust FLS,as your budget is good.
Also their 2 channel preamp poweramp combo, if they are remanufacturing it.I had listened to them few years back and it was mindblowing.
There is a place in Camac street which sells Marantz.Forgot the name of the shop.

 

[yahoo0212]

So after listening to my favourite two channel music in my 5.1 system, I decided I that I need a stereo now.

My musical taste is pretty varied, I listen everything from trance and metal to Rabindra Sangeet and Western Classical. But mostly I listen to Tagore, Classic Rock and metal, A R Rahman, English Pop & Country and Western Orchestra (Mozart, Brahms, Handel etc)

I set myself a budget of 60k for speaker and amp, and cautioned myself against trying to go over it. Also, I would prefer bookshelves because of space constraints.

But right on my first auditioning day it seems like.....

Anyway I started off my auditioning today. Had burnt the following songs in to an audio cd and used that. It covers my musical taste pretty well.

1. Scorpions - Winds of Change
2. Pink Floyd - Hey You, Coming Back to Life
3. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
4. Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
5. A R Rahman - Fanaa, Roja (Hariharan)
6. DJ Tiesto - Voila (Magik 6)
7. Leann Rhimes - How do I
8. John Denver - Sunshine on my Shoulders
9. Debabrata Biswas - Tumi Robe Nirobe (I guess only the bengali people will know this )
10. Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 05
11. Vivaldi - Spring: Allegro
12. Chopin - Nocturne No. 15 in f minor: Andante

All the songs were burnt from either flac or 320 kbps mp3

My first stop was at SKS Traders.

[


MS Aviano 2 + CA Azur 550a

This combination was more of an all rounder compared to quad. The midrange and treble was refined and smooth, not as refined as quad, but unlike the quad it had a wider soundstage and sounded more involving.
It was slightly brighter than quad, and the bass was not as tight, but it played almost all the types of songs pretty well, especially trance/electronica, metal and rock sounded much better. The person at the showroom said it has only been a few weeks and the sound will open up further with more burn in.
I really liked this combination, and I would like to hear this speaker with a Marantz amp, as I think marantz may be able to tame the brightness. But marantz was not available for audition, only on order. In fact, nowhere in Kolkata is it available for audition.

Unfortunately my stay at SKS was cut short by the arrival of more customers, and as I had already taken up almost 2 hours, I took my leave and made my way to ProFX.

Its a good option... Bass is ample in the AVianos with clear midrange and smooth treble. I suggest you to avoid Denon Stereo amps as they are not as good as CA or Marantz or NAD.... Denon s good for AVRs..
If u want a brighter combo I suggest u to go for MS Aviano 2 and Marantz PM6003/4

If u want ..a not so bright combo... go for MS Aviano 2 with CA 550 amp..
I am sharing this from my experience... I am using PM6003 with Aviano 6 and its a very great combo... U cn go for d aviano s....

 

[tirthankar]

Very exciting inputs.I would ask you to try Yamaha S500 with Sonodyne 2605V2 if you can adjust FLS,as your budget is good.
Also their 2 channel preamp poweramp combo, if they are remanufacturing it.I had listened to them few years back and it was mindblowing.
There is a place in Camac street which sells Marantz.Forgot the name of the shop.

Thank you. I will surely take a look at sonodyne. Can you tell me which showroom of theirs will be better to visit for auditioning purpose?

Its a good option... Bass is ample in the AVianos with clear midrange and smooth treble. I suggest you to avoid Denon Stereo amps as they are not as good as CA or Marantz or NAD.... Denon s good for AVRs..
If u want a brighter combo I suggest u to go for MS Aviano 2 and Marantz PM6003/4

If u want ..a not so bright combo... go for MS Aviano 2 with CA 550 amp..
I am sharing this from my experience... I am using PM6003 with Aviano 6 and its a very great combo... U cn go for d aviano s....

Thank you for your input. I prefer a slightly warm and smooth sound. The combinations I liked today, MS + CA and the focal, though very clear, was a bit brighter than I like, which is why I was thinking of partnering the speakers with warmer electronics like Marantz(MS) or NAD(Focal). I was under the impression that Marantz is warmer than CA..

I did feel the denon amp was not being able to do justice to the speakers. I am actually planning to combine focal or KEF, if I choose any of them, with NAD, which should make them sound less bright.

 

[haisaikat]

tirthankar, I think you should try the 650A with Avinao 2, killer combo. Long back we heard this combo and the CA drove the Avianos like hell, my Denon AVR cannot do so . I plan to visit profx next week with a collegue for HT demo but will see if I can audition the Focals.

I think that you have visited the two best shops of Kolkata. The remaining ones are not that worthy. Of course please try out sonodyne as per kaushik's suggestion. I could have suggested you Yamaha amps but unfortunately apart from sonodyne shops these are not put on audition by shops other than Yamaha AV square who only plays them with Yamaha speakers which are not so good.

 

[drkaushik]

I would ask you to try south city mall.I have not been to mani square,so can't comment.
Remember other showrooms are acoustically treated unlike sonodyne.
Therefore,your combination will sound as in your home,maybe even better at home.
Please give me your feedback.

 

[Jonzilla25]

Very exciting inputs.I would ask you to try Yamaha S500 with Sonodyne 2605V2 if you can adjust FLS,as your budget is good.
Also their 2 channel preamp poweramp combo, if they are remanufacturing it.I had listened to them few years back and it was mindblowing.
There is a place in Camac street which sells Marantz.Forgot the name of the shop.

I tried the same setup when I was auditioning stereos. It sounds pretty good but is really laid back. I felt it sucked out some of the life from the music, especially for hard hitting bands like Iron Maiden. I actually preferred the ND7900 and landed up buying them.

 

[sivakuru]

My friend recently bought a Focal 714v for ~45k. IMO if you get the 716v for 47k,
you should grab it.

We auditioned quite a lot of FS and found Focal the best to our ears.
The FS that we auditioned were, Polk RTi A5, Wharfedale 10.7, Wharfedale 9.6,
Klipsch RF 52 (or 62 cant recollect), Jamo C4xx (again cant recollect exactly),
Paradigm monitor 7 v6.

 

[tirthankar]

tirthankar, I think you should try the 650A with Avinao 2, killer combo. Long back we heard this combo and the CA drove the Avianos like hell, my Denon AVR cannot do so . I plan to visit profx next week with a collegue for HT demo but will see if I can audition the Focals.

I think that you have visited the two best shops of Kolkata. The remaining ones are not that worthy. Of course please try out sonodyne as per kaushik's suggestion. I could have suggested you Yamaha amps but unfortunately apart from sonodyne shops these are not put on audition by shops other than Yamaha AV square who only plays them with Yamaha speakers which are not so good.

Thanks Saikat. I did feel that the CA 550 was not being powerful enought. But didnt have time to test with 650a.

I had enquired for as500 at Yamaha, but it is out of stock. Only as700 is there.

I had called Lakozy last week and it seems Promises near Kalamandir keeps NAD and PSB. I never knew that !! I had given them a call and they confirmed they have the psb Image and Alpha available for audition, and told me they will give me a call when NAD 326 is available as its on its way and should be here in 1 week.

I would ask you to try south city mall.I have not been to mani square,so can't comment.
Remember other showrooms are acoustically treated unlike sonodyne.
Therefore,your combination will sound as in your home,maybe even better at home.
Please give me your feedback.

Thanks. I will post over here about how I felt. Because of my office I get time for audition only during weekends, so it will be at least till end of the week till I can post something.

My friend recently bought a Focal 714v for ~45k. IMO if you get the 716v for 47k,
you should grab it.

We auditioned quite a lot of FS and found Focal the best to our ears.
The FS that we auditioned were, Polk RTi A5, Wharfedale 10.7, Wharfedale 9.6,
Klipsch RF 52 (or 62 cant recollect), Jamo C4xx (again cant recollect exactly),
Paradigm monitor 7 v6.

I agree, I had earlier heard the Polk RTi A5 and the Focal was much ahead in terms of clarity and separation.
Its only weakness is that I felt it to be a tad bright(though less than polk) and the bass slightly less tight than what one might expect from an FS. But that may very well have been the denon electronics. I have a hunch this thing can really shine with more high end electronics.

 

[rijuc]

SKS also has an Epos.. M5i I guess.. It was for 45k.. Was paired with the CA 550.. I played a couple of songs from Alterbridge's AB III and found it to be a very controlled speaker.. Just the right amount of highs and lows.. And the best part was, when you turn up the volume level, there is so much uniformity in the way the entire frequency range rises.. And while it hits the low notes, you won't really see the drivers moving!! You can give it a try..

 

[tirthankar]

SKS also has an Epos.. M5i I guess.. It was for 45k.. Was paired with the CA 550.. I played a couple of songs from Alterbridge's AB III and found it to be a very controlled speaker.. Just the right amount of highs and lows.. And the best part was, when you turn up the volume level, there is so much uniformity in the way the entire frequency range rises.. And while it hits the low notes, you won't really see the drivers moving!! You can give it a try..

Thanks. Will look for that too...

I'd like to share an experience here. By chance I made an acquaintance, and the gentleman invited me over to his house to have a listen to his stereo.

And boy!! what a stereo it was.

BLEW my mind.. TOTALLY !!

I should not have listened to it, ever...

I know I cant afford a system like that.. but the experience is etched in my mind.

It felt as if I was in the middle of the performance area.. what an INCREDIBLE sound stage..

It was a B&W matrix 802, driven by a quad 606 and a passive preamp. All heavily modded.

It was a fantastic experience...

 

[amanojp]

HI ,
Please let us know what you feel after listeinng to the sonodyne speakers... i am planning to buy them.

appreciate your response.

thanks,
Manoj

 

[srijith]

You can also try KEF Q300 BS very good speakers with Marantz PM6003....

 

[Acuity]

We have similar tastes in music

I've recently tried the Monitor BX2 (30k) with the Yamaha AS500 (25k). It was a terrific combination, a tad on the bright side, but I believe that's the more transparent sound. Both are Whathifi winners for 2010, and the pairing was also whathifi recommended. (I purchased this combo and my system is yet to be delivered).

I also auditioned the Monitor BX2 with a Marantz and that sounded pretty good as well.

 

[Flash]

Give the B&W 685 a try. However pair it with a Rotel or Marantz during auditions.

 

[tirthankar]

Thank you everyone for your replies and kind suggestions.

Because of some unforeseen circumstances, I had been unable to pursue this hunt since last week, neither have I been able to perform any new auditions. The same situation has also put me in somewhat of a cash crunch, and I am not sure of being able to cross 60k for speaker+amp+interconnect.

I have Sonodyne, KEF q300, Focal 706v and Epos M12i/M5i in my audition list. I am also thinking of Aviano 6, but am wondering if it will be too much for my room.
Also the KEF and Focal are not available for audtion at all at profx, the two weeks they said has now stretched to three.

I gave the dimension wrong btw, it is a 14 X 12 room, and not 12 X 10 as I had posted earlier.

You can also try KEF Q300 BS very good speakers with Marantz PM6003....

Thanks.. Does the combination sound bright to you? I have read some reports. But unfortunately I wont be able to audition marantz and will hav to draw my conclusions based on auditions with a denon amp.

We have similar tastes in music

I've recently tried the Monitor BX2 (30k) with the Yamaha AS500 (25k). It was a terrific combination, a tad on the bright side, but I believe that's the more transparent sound. Both are Whathifi winners for 2010, and the pairing was also whathifi recommended. (I purchased this combo and my system is yet to be delivered).

I also auditioned the Monitor BX2 with a Marantz and that sounded pretty good as well.

Thank you. I have also read in many places that the BX2 and AS500 is a very detailed combination, but it may be fatiguing for some in the long run. On thing I have realized, is that I prefer what is probably called a slightly warm sound.
But bad luck for me, I wont be able to audition the combo as MA is not available in Kolkata for audition, and neither is Marantz

Give the B&W 685 a try. However pair it with a Rotel or Marantz during auditions.

Thank you for the suggestion. But I am afraid that will be substantially over my budget. Still I will take a listen if I can find the combination.

One thing I have missed mentioning is my source. I will be connecting the analogue out of a xonar dx from my pc for now. I may add a DAC like the caiman later. And I will be adding a turntable in near future.

Can anyone give me an idea on how much money I should allocate for speaker cables and interconnects? I will need about 6-7 ft of wire per speaker and the pc to amp will be about 12-14 ft. As the stereo to rca cable will be passing near a ups, will I be needing well shielded cables?

Thank you.

 

[tirthankar]

Today I revisited SKS and auditioned the EPOS M12i and the Aviano 6. They didnt have M5i which I had also asked for.

I listened to the EPOS first, using the CA 650a amp. There seemed to be lots of detail, but it sounded too bright. Vocals were not smooth and sounded grating to the ears.
The sales person then paired the speaker with a Creek Evolution amp, and the sound immediately improved. The vocals were now a lot smoother and there was a lot of details coming through. The epos also had very good imaging and separation and a substantial amount of bass for the size of the speaker. I spent a lot of time listening to this, moving through my entire collection. Classical music, pop and soft rock sounded very nice. They were a very good pair of speakers, but with the Creek too, I felt the things were a bit too bright for my liking. The guy said the speakers had just been unpacked and hence were sounding so bright.

After that I listened to the Aviano 6 with the CA 650a and this had seemed to have better synergy compared to the combinations with EPOS. One thing to note was this had substantially more bass than any of the speakers I heard. electronica and music with heavy beats sounded better on this. It was also very detailed and had a very wide soundstage. A very good all rounder. But still a tad too bright

Before leaving, the dealer suggested I listen once more to the m12i with another amp he had. It was a 40 watt pure Class A amp, from a brand called Cayin, a name I heard for the first time.
But when the music started playing, I was astounded by the clarity and the smoothness. I had the niggling doubt that the epos was a substantially better speaker than what I was hearing, and this confirmed it. Everything was just right.. the first time in all my auditions. The sound was beautifully smooth and controlled, "rounded", if that is the correct term.. just the right signature I like.. warm, but not flabby and boomy and with beautiful imaging and clarity. :clapping:
I loved the sound of it.. it was the sort of sound I could listen to for a long time...

But when I asked about the prices my heart sank.
All of the prices seemed inflated, 50k for the M12i, 53k for the Creek, 45k for the Aviano, 30k for the 650a and 95k for the Cayin

My next audition will be q300 and focal 706v next week. lets see how it goes.

Can anyone please suggest a good warmish but detailed amp for the epos that wont break my bank. Below 25k will be preferered
Used in good condition will also do...

 

[tirthankar]

Double Post.. please delete

 

[tirthankar]

Today I went to the sonodyne store at South City.

They only had Sonodyne Integrated amps for audition, the SiA 320. I listened to the Sonus 2605 floorstanders.

Impressions: The speakers had a substantial amount of bass, good vocals and a wide soundstage, but there was very little instrument separation and imaging. The overall sound was somewhat incoherent and with edgy highs. It was a pretty large amount of speaker for the money, he quoted 27k for the pair, but I didnt like the sound that much. It was too fatiguing for me. I felt the aviano 2 was a better pair of speakers.
Maybe the amplifier was to blame, and the speakers might behave differently when paired with better amps from marantz or yamaha. Also the listening room was not ideal, with glass on both sides, and one side overlooking a busy shopping mall.
At the time they had nothing else to pair with the speakers other than the denon 1312 receiver. I left them my contact details in case they had something else for me to listen to.

Till now, the better speakers I listened to have been the epos m12i, focal 714v(yes it was the 714 i had listened to that day, not 716. The profx guy had mistaken with the name ) and aviano 6.
I also liked aviano 2 a lot. It is a definite bang for the back at the price.

But none of the amp matching had been to my taste, all of them were too bright for me to some degree, except the epos with the cayin. But that is substantially above budget.
Left for audition, PSB Image B6, KEF q300, Focal 706v.

I wish I had more amplifier options out here