Visit to Sonodyne showroom

[Prakash Kumanan]

I visited the Sonodyne showroom in Kolkata with hope of a better demo than what I got from Bangalore. This was a very disappointing visit, though the sales person was helpful in playing the speakers and amps of my choice.

I demoed Sia 310 with 1501 bookshelf speakers, source - cambridge audio cd player, the sound quality was bright and scattered. Reminded me of Bose 301 speakers which have this reflective sound signature. Tracks demoed were tabla instrumental and dire straits. Also tried Sia 320 and Sonus 2605 and this too was loud, bright and did not appeal to me.

I had a comparatively better experience in Bangalore though they don't have a dedicated listening room.

I thought I will zero in on a stereo system for 2014 but i guess my hunt has just begun...

 

[elangoas]

I visited the Sonodyne showroom in Kolkata with hope of a better demo than what I got from Bangalore. This was a very disappointing visit, though the sales person was helpful in playing the speakers and amps of my choice.

I demoed Sia 310 with 1501 bookshelf speakers, source - cambridge audio cd player, the sound quality was bright and scattered. Reminded me of Bose 301 speakers which have this reflective sound signature. Tracks demoed were tabla instrumental and dire straits. Also tried Sia 320 and Sonus 2605 and this too was loud, bright and did not appeal to me.

I had a comparatively better experience in Bangalore though they don't have a dedicated listening room.

I thought I will zero in on a stereo system for 2014 but i guess my hunt has just begun...

Partnering source & amp make a big difference for the speakers....

I think Cambridge Audio CD player has a bright sound signature which is why might have felt like that....

I have had this experience in Chennai too.....I saw Sonodyne Avant speakers with a dealer & asked him how is the performance of Avant 345 FS which costed 65K 3 years back....

The dealer immediately replied that the speakers are not worth the money....

Later i was able to take Sonodyne Aavnt LCR250 for a home dome for almost 2 weeks time & to my surprise it was simply stunning.....

How is that the same speaker sound brilliant to one & not worth the money for someone ?

So i didn't rely on any one's Opinion about the speaker... I simply knew what it is capable of & hence i recommended it to my brother...hyeah:

 

[RMCWS]

I demoed Sia 310 with 1501 bookshelf speakers, source - cambridge audio cd player, the sound quality was bright and scattered.

Were you at the South City Mall showroom? I saw a similar 2 channel set up last time I was there.

As elangoas mentioned, partnering sources, amps and matching speakers make a BIG difference but I found it extremely difficult to do so. Even at the same showroom when I asked them to play only the fronts speakers for me and disconnect the sub, centre and rear as I was only looking for Sonodyne fronts, they simply refused to do so and said that the system can be demoed in 5.1 mode only. hyeah:

I was very disappointed with the sales personnel, but only opted for Sonodyne because of its reputation, to match with my existing Sonodyne centre and also recommendation from this forum in my budget.

 

[Prakash Kumanan]

Were you at the South City Mall showroom?

Yes I was there yesterday afternoon.

@elangoas - I guess the CA cdp may have added on to the brightness. At Bangalore I guess they had used a Yamaha amp and the speakers were a little warm sounding. Also the sales person there told me 2605 can be paired with Yamaha RX V375 (AVR) which is 70W per Channel (6 ohms, 20Hz-20kHz, 0.09 % THD, 2 ch driven)

 

[elangoas]

Were you at the South City Mall showroom?

Yes I was there yesterday afternoon.

@elangoas - I guess the CA cdp may have added on to the brightness. At Bangalore I guess they had used a Yamaha amp and the speakers were a little warm sounding. Also the sales person there told me 2605 can be paired with Yamaha RX V375 (AVR) which is 70W per Channel (6 ohms, 20Hz-20kHz, 0.09 % THD, 2 ch driven)

Yamaha RX V 375 is under powered for Sonus 2605 if u run them full range...

Let me give you an other example...

Onkyo AVR's are usually said to be more on the brighter side.... Also many had reported Sonodyne Sonus speakers also on brighter side.....

I had an Onkyo AVR (Non HDMI) @ home which i wanted to partner it & check the sound signature... The source was FLAC & WAV files from PC thru Optical Output.... The partnering was very good...

So i went ahead & booked Onkyo TX NR 818 which i have paired with Sonus speakers & in my Opinion is excellent pairing for all genre of music...

 

[meimeimade]

Yamaha RX V 375 is under powered for Sonus 2605 if u run them full range