WhatHifi Show Mumbai 3-5 March 2017

[bhagwan]

I was at the Show for 4 days.
Thursday 1500 onwards [for set up]
& Friday through to Sunday.
Initially I was to set up 2 room - Tannoy & Elac.
These 2 speakers I will not comment on.
Simply they were 'done' [tuned] by me.
Later on - I did the Hermit Audio Room [GamuT] only because he was my neighbor & requested me to help.
Therefore my comments from these 3 rooms will be 'excluded'
I shall post my write up in a few parts. Else this will become too long to read.
I will start with the 8th Floor.
The Elac / Denon Room.
I did not like at all.
Pure Confusion.
The Cinebells Room - 4 set ups in 1 room - I do not approve. Did listen, but the lesser said the better;
The Fairdeal Room - Harman.
Super.
Best Appointed Room @ the Show.
Excellent Visibility.
Product info was there.
I was very happy.
Cadence Room.
What Gear !
There was stuff in that room worth 3 CR ++
All Brand New.
Opened specially for the show & it showed.
Was too start.
Improved on all days.
Sounded the best on day 4 [Sunday]
The R 2 R with the YG was the Best !
I liked the SP-9 from Spndor with 300B Tube Amp.
Most Musical.
The Last room was 'confusion'
No one knew what was going on.
Gear was on display & no one knew what to play. Just 1 big noise room.
Lost Opportunity. Sad. Great Gear - Poor Display.

End of Part A

 

[panditji]

Aren't the SP-9 discontinued? If they have relaunched them, I would be most interested in hearing them sir... Can you confirm if the speaker you heard was an older model or has Spendor launched it again?

 

[tuff]

Aren't the SP-9 discontinued? If they have relaunched them, I would be most interested in hearing them sir... Can you confirm if the speaker you heard was an older model or has Spendor launched it again?

The one at the show was SP200. new model.

 

[tuff]

 

[tuff]

 

[panditji]

Oh ok... It was launched last year..I really liked the SP-100 R2 and this seems to be the floorstanding version of the same...

 

[G401fan]

The Spendor speaker connected to the Nagra 300B was the new D9.
Superb sounding combination. Triode magic.

 

[jls001]

I think Bhagwan meant the new Spendor D9.

Pic here: Spendor D9 loudspeakers

The SP200 is from a different product line.

 

[panditji]

The picture posted by Uday from the show, shows the SP200 which looks like the bigger version of SP100... The D9 is a different speaker but not sure it that was what Mazher heard at the show...

 

[Hassan Khani]

Any Idea of Indian Retail price of SP 200? 25K USD is USA price. Also D9 Price?

 

[panditji]

Hassan, I see you have added the Harbeth 40.2 and you are still interested in the SP200 (;-) ..

 

[bhagwan]

Aren't the SP-9 discontinued? If they have relaunched them, I would be most interested in hearing them sir... Can you confirm if the speaker you heard was an older model or has Spendor launched it again?

http://www.spendoraudio.com/Images/Spendor D9 New Product Information.pdf

This is the Model I heard.
It was a TYPO on my part.
I am sorry.

I liked this a lot.
Super Product.
It was making music with the 300 B Tube Amp from Nagra.

The SP 200 I heard - but did not like it at all. Very poorly set up.

The speaker I posted a link for is listed @ 6 lacs or a shade under - I think. Again unsure.

 

[bhagwan]

The Spendor speaker connected to the Nagra 300B was the new D9.
Superb sounding combination. Triode magic.

Spot on.
This was the Most Musical Speaker / Audio Set up @ the Show for me.
A close 2nd was the KII from Surat.
Sir,
Excellent hearing, I respect this.
Difficult to be in that room & not get 'carried' away by the YG etc.
This created music.
Retail Price of the Speaker is under 6 lacs - not sure.

 

[Hassan Khani]

Hassan, I see you have added the Harbeth 40.2 and you are still interested in the SP200 (;-) ..

It is a floor stander with 2 12 inch drivers. Never heard such a speaker. Sure should sound bass heavy. Just wanted to know the retail price, mostly out of my reach.

 

[G401fan]

Ajay Shirke mentioned that they can't make enough of the new SP200s-they're being snapped up immediately.
No idea about the price in India.

 

[tuff]

Found a YouTube video showcasing the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoqOCryJ8yA

 

[stargazer0808]

Spendor D9 was definitely the most musical speaker from the Show. But what are the observations on Image Speakers from New Zealand?

 

[bhagwan]

Spendor D9 was definitely the most musical speaker from the Show. But what are the observations on Image Speakers from New Zealand?

Mr. Andy from Nordost did a very 'special' set up.
It was for pure resolution & no sound stage - set up.
It was done in a typical manner that Nordost does globally.
The emphasis was not for the sound but for changes in there of to be observed with different products being added & removed.
Very Clever what was achieved !

 

[Hari Iyer]

Mr. Andy from Nordost did a very 'special' set up.
It was for pure resolution & no sound stage - set up.
It was done in a typical manner that Nordost does globally.
The emphasis was not for the sound but for changes in there of to be observed with different products being added & removed.
Very Clever what was achieved !

To be very frank the Nordost was the only room where i enjoyed the most and also spend over 1.5hours of my total 2.5hrs in the show. Mr.Adny also did a comparison with and without the Titanium stands and my GOD the sound resolution was day and night. Without the stands, the vocals were chesty and the bass was very laid back and boomy with the same sets of cables. With the Titanium stand the bass was very resolved, without any boom and vocals very refined and life like.

Mr.Andy explained how the ground loop cable inductance and capacitance create havoc with the delicate audio signals and how removing the cable inductance and capacitance made such a huge difference. I am not sure how many of us could afford this solution as one meter cable was costing USD3000/-. I did not dare to ask him the cost of the 'Titanium' stands after that.

 

[bhagwan]

To be very frank the Nordost was the only room where i enjoyed the most and also spend over 1.5hours of my total 2.5hrs in the show.
I did not dare to ask him the cost of the 'Titanium' stands after that.

NORDOST - Sort Kones (Ea)
Accessories / Price $369.99 - This is Tatanium.

I was hoping all the FM's did the Power Cord thing that he [Andy] does !!
It would have been an 'eye' [actually ear] opener.