Venu's Acoustic Portait MTM speakers

[GeorgeO]

I happened to visit Venu's place and auditioned his MTM speakers and was to put it mildly, highly impressed by the sound. He has a valve preamp and a solid state power amp, also made by Siva or Corrson and the match was perfect.
Good to know that such products have been developed here in India.

 

[avidyarthy]

Acoustic Portrait, Lyrita Audio .... maybe a few others that we do not know of .... go by with the word of mouth. Exquisite product quality and performance. I was spellbound by the sound, the very high quality built of the pre, power amp and the FS speakers, when was at Venu's sometime back.

Very few make use of such availability ..... a majority of us tend to understand only global names ...... maybe, that is what is branding or brand image or our acceptance that anything 'phoren' would be more likely 'peace of mind'.

Would strongly suggest newbies to spend a good amount of time going through the exhaustive reports in this Forum ..... digesting them .... then, making purchases. Do not show MY impatience during that procurement phase. It is not that I ended up buying something moderate, but it could have been better .......

 

[captrajesh]

They are made using high end scanspeak drivers & very well made. I've listened to them; they are as good & comparable to any high end brand but without the fancy price tag.

 

[anm]

foreign brands have quality processes and publish measurements. Indian brands may not be having setup to even take simple measurements.

 

[iaudio]

GeorgeO, I had listened to Venu's rig back in June and was mightily impressed. I will be definitely be paying another visit to spend some more hours listening to some good music on the Acoustic Portrait set up.

Thankfully, I have been able to sample some great Indian hi fi( all credit to my beloved hfv brethren) like Lyrita, Acoustic Portrait, Audire etc.

Ananth, as you said, many Indian brands do not have the most informative websites, transparent spec sheets, the best fit and finish, build quality etc. But in the end, the proof of the pudding, is in the eating. And hell, I find the Acoustic Portrait pudding highly satisfying!

 

[arj]

IF you are not brand conscious and go only for sound then the Acoustic portrait are really great bargains..especially if you have the AP amp as well.

They have a great synergy together. having heard Siva's speakers and amps over the ears, cannot really recommend it enough especially at those price points.

 

[maniac_2004]

whats the cost for the acoustic portrait speakers btw?

 

[santhosh]

George, good you started a thread on Venu's system...was wanting to do that myself.

Last Tuesday, Gobble and I visited Venu's place to audition his all Acoustic Portrait system. Very nice setup and like arj mentioned there is a synergy about the system. The speakers could hit you with some awesome bass and still sounded very detailed in the highs and very natural mids. Overall the system had a kind of a heft and attack about them, still not fatiguing. Venu also has an awesome collection of music. Had a great time and would like to visit him again as I had to leave after 2 hours since I was travelling the next day.

Venu's Gear:
Preamp - AP PM-1 (Tube pre)
Power - AP (Solid State)
Speakers - AP Floorstanders (MTM config)
Source - DVD Player->AP DAC (Venu had got it for a trial from Siva)

 

[GeorgeO]

Maniac

I think Venu told me that Corrson has stopped making speakers and now makes only electronic gear. The MRP was around 1.50L for the speakers, but since he was winding up these products Venu got a good deal-esp since he was buying preamp and power amp as well. Yesm his music was also good, and he also had a DAC from Corrson in his chain, couldnt figure out which of all his components was the one making the sweetest music-maybe all of it combined!

I plan to build a similar MTM floor stander system and now having heard what the 8545K can do, I will speed up work on the project. My system uses the D 2905-9500 tweeters not the 9700 that Corrson used.

 

[heliumflight]

I've also listened to Venu's system and found it quite nice.

--
helium
SB Classic> Lyrita DIY DAC Philips TDA1543 > Lyrita SET GM70 + PMC TB2/ Vintage highly modified B&W DM4 > Lyrita ICs + Cables => MUSIC

 

[avidyarthy]

Can't say why I did not mention in this thread before, a near similar set-up is there with iaudio ........ all AP .... pre ... power ... and speakers. It is of the slightly older genre. Incidentally iaudio had picked this up from Venu only, as I was informed.

Lookwise, yes, Venu's new set up takes the cake ......... but my ears were more inclined to iaudio's..... also had noted the 3D imaging there. Possibly, speakers at Venu's had not broken in when I had visited him, and the placements also were'nt exactly where it would have been ideal. Venu had called recently to inform of the fantastic improvement after a bit of playing around with placements.

 

[captrajesh]

Can't say why I did not mention in this thread before, a near similar set-up is there with iaudio ........ all AP .... pre ... power ... and speakers. It is of the slightly older genre. Incidentally iaudio had picked this up from Venu only, as I was informed.

Lookwise, yes, Venu's new set up takes the cake ......... but my ears were more inclined to iaudio's..... also had noted the 3D imaging there. Possibly, speakers at Venu's had not broken in when I had visited him, and the placements also were'nt exactly where it would have been ideal. Venu had called recently to inform of the fantastic improvement after a bit of playing around with placements.

Iaudio's speakers have Vifa drivers whereas Venu's speakers have Scanspeak drivers, which are a cut above. I find it surprising that the former won you over. I've not heard Iaudio's setup though I can relate to how they sound as I also have Vifa driver based speakers from the same company.

 

[rikhav]

Iaudio's speakers have Vifa drivers whereas Venu's speakers have Scanspeak drivers, which are a cut above. I find it surprising that the former won you over. I've not heard Iaudio's setup though I can relate to how they sound as I also have Vifa driver based speakers from the same company.

Hi Capt
I am not saying that Venu's system is not up to the mark but its not always what components are used, its the way it is implemented

Siva, I am sure with his designing prowess could create an equal magic with the Vifa drivers as well

 

[GeorgeO]

Venu did say that Siva has used premium components in his MTM, like Mundorfs etc, so as Rajesh felt, this was probably his flagship product. I dont have anything against Vifa's, ina well designed system drivers can be made to perform well. FWIW,Vifa Scanspeak A/S as a company positions Scanspeaks at the upper end and Vifa at the entry level of their product range.

 

[captrajesh]

Lookwise, yes, Venu's new set up takes the cake ......... but my ears were more inclined to iaudio's..... also had noted the 3D imaging there. Possibly, speakers at Venu's had not broken in when I had visited him, and the placements also were'nt exactly where it would have been ideal.

Iaudio's speakers have Vifa drivers whereas Venu's speakers have Scanspeak drivers, which are a cut above. I find it surprising that the former won you over. I've not heard Iaudio's setup though I can relate to how they sound as I also have Vifa driver based speakers from the same company.

Hi Capt
I am not saying that Venu's system is not up to the mark but its not always what components are used, its the way it is implemented

Hi Rikhav,

I don't get this

I had commented on Avidyarthy's post whereas you are implying that I'm referring to your post?

 

[rikhav]

Hi All
All i was trying to say is that don't write off products with lesser known components
Someone who does not know what he is doing can screw up a design even if he has Mundorfs, Scanspeak, etc etc to his disposal

I understand that Siva used Vifa drivers in the earlier version of the said speakers and he would have done equal hard work to get the best out of the Vifa drivers

 

[santhosh]

Thanks for the clarification Rikhav but still did not understand your statement. We are talking only about Acoustic Portrait/Siva and not any other brand/person. So, screwing up of design (by someone who does not know what he is doing) does not even arise as it is the same person, but two different products, designed by the same person, in two different price ranges.

I can safely say that Venu's system sounds better than some more expensive systems that I have heard. I am yet to listen to iaudio's system but (to be fair) would still prefer not to compare unless they are in the same room, same music, everything else etc.

 

[rikhav]

Hi Santosh
That was just an example

In general we go behind bigger names. So even with Vifa drivers I am sure Siva would have created an equally good speaker.

If the speaker made by Siva using scanspeak drivers is marginally better then the one used making Vifa, I would say the Vifa is the winner keeping in mind the pricing

So this was just a general statement made by me. Maybe it was not put up well by me and I am sorry for that

 

[iaudio]

I got my audio set up from Venu himself, when he upgraded to something higher up in the Acoustic Portrait chain. So again, whatever I am enjoying is his good selection of components, and Siva's top notch work, of course.

What avidyarthy felt is what is similar to my impression after listening to Venu's setup. The 3D imaging in my set up is slightly better. And this I feel is solely because of the difference in placement/room/ rack in between in my room compared to Venu's. Venu's Scanspeak based AP's need a lot of space to breath, which was restricted in his flat, at the time when I listened to it. Also there was a rack with a 32 inch flat panel display in between the speakers. Comparitively my living room is bare/ascetic and my speakers are placed a coupla feet ahead of the rack which may be the reason for slightly better 3d imaging. Otherwise the Scanspeaks are a notch or two above, compared to my Vifa based speakers.

I guess what Rikhav was trying to say was that a speaker might not be superior over another just because it uses superior components. Rather, it depends on the implementation. In this case, though, IMHO it doesnt hold, as they are both designed by Siva of Acoustic Portrait, who sure knows what he is doing

Captain, Santhosh I am sorry that we have not been able to meet at my place and listen to some good music at my place. Hopefully, will work it out soon!
RC, Cap'n?

 

[square_wave]

I am very familiar with the MTM model and also the electronics. They are True hi-end gear. I have known the designer for many years now and he started designing all his electronics and speakers to outclass gear which costs substantially higher. Speakers are extremely tough to sell in India unless it comes with esoteric badges so he has discontinued them for the time being.

The current lineup of amp , dac and preamp are extremely high quality gear. Apparently they have some plans on the anvil and the brand will be back with a bang soon with a nice line-up.

Need to visit Venu soon !