Absloute Lack of Authorised Dealerships / Outlets selling Branded HI-fi Separtes

[ajay124]

With rising incomes and a stratospheric rise in real estate prices, there is a large and growing class of affluent people in the cities, towns and metros of India. The wealth is there to sustain a HIFI revolution in India. The awareness and need has to be created. In my hometown 'old money' and 'new money' is pouring into buying bigger houses, bigger cars and holding bigger weddings. But music, reading and travel is very low on the agenda. There are plenty of grossly expensive, gross looking automobiles, congesting and infesting, the hitherto calm and orderly avenues of our cities. The 'drivers' of these cars do their music listening only in the car. Bollywood, bhangra pop, ghazals and bhajans. At home they 'relax' in front of a television set. With a cheap blended whiskey, and over spiced, over cooked food . Mention a 10K+ music system to them, and the inevitable response is "Oh! you mean Bose. Nahi yaar, too expensive"

 

[ssf]

But music, reading and travel is very low on the agenda. There are plenty of grossly expensive, gross looking automobiles, congesting and infesting, the hitherto calm and orderly avenues of our cities. The 'drivers' of these cars do their music listening only in the car. Bollywood, bhangra pop, ghazals and bhajans. At home they 'relax' in front of a television set. With a cheap blended whiskey, and over spiced, over cooked food . Mention a 10K+ music system to them, and the inevitable response is "Oh! you mean Bose. Nahi yaar, too expensive"

Ajayji, stop making fun of me will you !!! :lol:

I too am a bit disappointed with the lack of opportunities to audition systems that I would like to spend my hard earned money on. But at the same time, I really can't find fault with retailers not wanting to stock high end gear when at most times their customers would look at a 20000/- rupee receiver, roll their eyes and buy the boomiest of mini's for half the price and walk home with a huge grin on their faces.

 

[himadri]

HI
I live in a small town in Chattisgarh called Bhilai but have relatives , friends, acquaintances in most of the metros with considerably more disposable income than myself so let me share my point of view:
Audiophile sound is something like the classical arts- needs exposure, time ,patience and constant practice through critical listening , hence will always be sought by a particular group of individuals and not the masses.
Higher disposable incomes is no guarantee for acquiring audiophile systems.Even if acquired for social reasons, will lie unused till exposure to it for sometime at least builds the taste for it.(Read investment of time, inclination and effort ).
I don't think it is any different in Developed countries except for differences in income levels in real terms which consequently generates more volumes of sales hence bringing down the cost.
Internet and cheap telephony has revolutionized information availability for hobbyists, so location becomes secondary.Internet banking and ever growing courier service does not hinder acquiring high end systems (of course provided you have the moolah for it.)The same facilities have also ensured the availability of most of the high end brands in india.
Its only service by qualified technicians which is the question mark but anyway its more dealer specific.
SO THINGS ARE NOT AS BAD AS THEY SEEM TO BE.
Cheers
Himadri

 

[denzong]

The point that was raised is in India HiFi equipment is difficult to source, which is true, yes there are reasons, I see most of the members living in Bangalore/Pune/Mumbai/Delhi/Kolkata.......hv you ever lived in these small towns, if yes then you know from heart what I mean

Now there are famous HiFi dealers who deals with amps worth more than 100K, whats the average income of a music lover in India? whom these dealers are serving? why they are selling products which has a tag of six months salary of a common person? in one hand you sale audio products (which even ppl in US are reluctant to buy) in metros and on the other hand you say we are serving audio enthusiasts - is that fair??

just my 2 cents

i come from a place called as gangtok (now you can go and start your search to find where it is), a place which maybe has just 10-15 electronics store in the whole city. but i have seen people using the best of the hifi stuff there.

 

[denzong]

The issue here is not one of patriotism and there is no need for any emotional outbursts. It is a simple fact that because of the low average per capita income in this country, only a very very small percentage of people can afford to buy the expensive Hi-fi products which normally start from at least Rs. 10,000 plus onwards. It is simply a question of demand and supply and public tastes and preferences. Most people are happy with buying cheap all- in-ones or cheap home theater systems which you can get for as low as Rs.5,000.

What other contribution you expect a common buyer to make in this area to improve the situation - apart from having a demand for these products and which unfortunately remains a demand due to high pricing and low availability factor. Hope you get the point.

you have just answered your own question. so think about it again.
why cant you act in the common interest. no ones telling you to go go take a dealership and give the products without discounts.
as of me i have already taken 2 steps in this regards.
1. i had shared details about a european company who makes brilliant hifhi equipment. i had contacted them but since i could not afford the stuff myself i offered it to the forum guys (not on sale threads) and he deal was good because i was getting a decent discount as well.
2. i am trying to bring vinyl in the indian market. 8 months back i didnt know much about lps (apart from what i saw in my dads collections). but today i can say that i am offering lps in a big collection to all which probably no one has in india. lot of people in the forum know about this

these are my two cents of contribution to the hifi society in india without putting in money but still able to dish out some decent stuff

 

[denzong]

Thanks again.
I do not think it is worthwhile to go through the labor and pains of trying to buy Hi-fi components form within India where there is hardly any easy access, availabilty for auditioning etc before buying. It is also not worthwhile travelling a few hundered or thousand kilometers to any Metro city physically to examine and audition any product. Moerover the prices in India are hugely higher than outisde India say in the UK.

So I am foced to buy from the UK and am making arrangements accordingly. I also have a plan to visit London in the near future and can slect the products I need myself during that trip.

since you have staid in UK and keep travelling that you can say that. but what about the rest of us.

 

[Audio Slave]

HI

I don't think it is any different in Developed countries except for differences in income levels in real terms which consequently generates more volumes of sales hence bringing down the cost.
Internet and cheap telephony has revolutionized information availability for hobbyists, so location becomes secondary.Internet banking and ever growing courier service does not hinder acquiring high end systems (of course provided you have the moolah for it.)
SO THINGS ARE NOT AS BAD AS THEY SEEM TO BE.

Himadri

Buying a Hi-fi component without seeing and auditioning it first hand yourself is simply out of question for most serious prospective buyers / music lovers including me. That facility is not available in most smaller cities and barely available in bigger cities. Moreover no dealer stocks so many brands and complete range of products. So then what use are Internet banking, telephones, courier services in this case? Simply besides the point and quite irrelevant.

 

[Audio Slave]

you have just answered your own question. so think about it again.
why cant you act in the common interest. no ones telling you to go go take a dealership and give the products without discounts.
as of me i have already taken 2 steps in this regards.
1. i had shared details about a european company who makes brilliant hifhi equipment. i had contacted them but since i could not afford the stuff myself i offered it to the forum guys (not on sale threads) and he deal was good because i was getting a decent discount as well.
2. i am trying to bring vinyl in the indian market. 8 months back i didnt know much about lps (apart from what i saw in my dads collections). but today i can say that i am offering lps in a big collection to all which probably no one has in india. lot of people in the forum know about this

these are my two cents of contribution to the hifi society in india without putting in money but still able to dish out some decent stuff

denzong

Perhaps you have not understood my comments fully.
For buying and owning a Hi-fi System I do not think it should be necessary for each prospective buyer to sacrifice a life time and start a revolution and wait for the results....It is not worth it. Moreover everybody can not be a social reformer which perhaps you have decided to be. In any case this (promoting use of Hifi in India) is not such a worthwhile cause to devote your entire life time for.

 

[Audio Slave]

denzong

The effort you are recommending would be something like first digging a well each time you want to drink some water to quench your thirst.....

 

[denzong]

Well I am not devoting my life or love on reforms. I am here to try to bring some more value in indian hifi user

 

[denzong]

You are thirsty and there no water around so you would have to dig the well my friend

 

[Audio Slave]

You are thirsty and there no water around so you would have to dig the well my friend

On the other hand you would try to move (migrate) to a civilized place where clean tapped drinking water is available 24X7 .....and you can devote your energies in doing something better than wasting a life time in digging wells...

 

[Audio Slave]

With rising incomes and a stratospheric rise in real estate prices, there is a large and growing class of affluent people in the cities, towns and metros of India. The wealth is there to sustain a HIFI revolution in India. The awareness and need has to be created. In my hometown 'old money' and 'new money' is pouring into buying bigger houses, bigger cars and holding bigger weddings. But music, reading and travel is very low on the agenda. There are plenty of grossly expensive, gross looking automobiles, congesting and infesting, the hitherto calm and orderly avenues of our cities. The 'drivers' of these cars do their music listening only in the car. Bollywood, bhangra pop, ghazals and bhajans. At home they 'relax' in front of a television set. With a cheap blended whiskey, and over spiced, over cooked food . Mention a 10K+ music system to them, and the inevitable response is "Oh! you mean Bose. Nahi yaar, too expensive"

Absolutely right.

 

[himadri]

Buying a Hi-fi component without seeing and auditioning it first hand yourself is simply out of question for most serious prospective buyers / music lovers including me.

Absolutely. Research/discussion/Auditioning is a continuous process and can be clubbed intelligently with visits to acquaintances/dealer concentric locations.
Cheers

 

[Audio Slave]

With rising incomes and a stratospheric rise in real estate prices, there is a large and growing class of affluent people in the cities, towns and metros of India. The wealth is there to sustain a HIFI revolution in India. The awareness and need has to be created. In my hometown 'old money' and 'new money' is pouring into buying bigger houses, bigger cars and holding bigger weddings. But music, reading and travel is very low on the agenda. There are plenty of grossly expensive, gross looking automobiles, congesting and infesting, the hitherto calm and orderly avenues of our cities. The 'drivers' of these cars do their music listening only in the car. Bollywood, bhangra pop, ghazals and bhajans. At home they 'relax' in front of a television set. With a cheap blended whiskey, and over spiced, over cooked food . Mention a 10K+ music system to them, and the inevitable response is "Oh! you mean Bose. Nahi yaar, too expensive"

Possibly a result of bad 'sanskar' and 'karma' in this birth and previous ones if one believes in the Hindu philosophy of life...

 

[ajay124]

Ajayji, stop making fun of me will you !!! :lol:

I too am a bit disappointed with the lack of opportunities to audition systems that I would like to spend my hard earned money on. But at the same time, I really can't find fault with retailers not wanting to stock high end gear when at most times their customers would look at a 20000/- rupee receiver, roll their eyes and buy the boomiest of mini's for half the price and walk home with a huge grin on their faces.

Sunil

I like you too much to ever want to make fun of you

My weak attempt at describing the spending habits of the nouveau rich and the born rich, was aimed at folks who happily spend 20L on an automobile, but would be seized with horror, if asked to shell out 2L for a decent stereo system, or 2K for a decent duty free single malt

Incidentally, the best whisky commonly available in India under 1K, is Glen Drummond Blue. I recently had the pleasure of gradually consuming a bottle, over several rain drenched evenings, in Goa. Great! Almost as good as the popular highland malts like Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Glenmorangie being sold for three times this price in India. I have not come across 'Amrut' an Indian single malt which has been recommended by folks on this forum, but would love to try it

 

[psychotropic]

This has all the symptoms of an argument, except that everyone seems to be broadly in agreement. In India there are fewer hi-fi dealerships and fewer brands available. In any given city in India, these options are much less than that in a comparable city in the UK or the US. Prices for many brands are much higher in India, but there are also brands like Usher and Cambridge Audio that have competitive pricing in India.

But on the flip side, it's not like there aren't options. Between Chennai and Bangalore, I have the opportunity to listen to and buy brands including the usual Marantz, NAD, CA, to Arcam, Cyrus, PSB, Creek, Music Hall, Usher, ProAc, Rethm, Ayon Audio, Peachtree, Symphonic Line, Odyssey, MBL, Dali, Monitor Audio, Klipsch, Elac, Martin Logan, Epos, Wharfedale, AAD, Paradigm, and a whole lot more (the names i've quoted are just off the top of my head, from what I recall having seen/heard at dealerships in the two cities). So if I had a bit of patience, and a serious budget, I think I could assemble a very satisfying system without having to get anything brought down from abroad.

There are certainly constraints, and we do lag behind the west considerably, but it's not a desperate, desolate wasteland either. But maybe North India is worse off? I don't know.

 

[ssf]

Sunil

I like you too much to ever want to make fun of you

My weak attempt at describing the spending habits of the nouveau rich and the born rich, was aimed at folks who happily spend 20L on an automobile, but would be seized with horror, if asked to shell out 2L for a decent stereo system, or 2K for a decent duty free single malt

Incidentally, the best whisky commonly available in India under 1K, is Glen Drummond Blue. I recently had the pleasure of gradually consuming a bottle, over several rain drenched evenings, in Goa. Great! Almost as good as the popular highland malts like Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Glenmorangie being sold for three times this price in India. I have not come across 'Amrut' an Indian single malt which has been recommended by folks on this forum, but would love to try it

Ah, my friend, when Glen Drummond was first introduced in my town,I got myself a bottle and I liked it quite a bit. Stuck to Rum after that as it was lighter on the pocket

But we are going OT.

I was once asked by an acquaintance of mine as to why I was planning on spending the kind of money I was planning to spend on HIFI as no one was ever going to know about it. He advised me to spend that amount to upgrade my car !!! No wonder then that we don't see many HIFI dealers around stocking expensive equipment :lol: I think we should be thankful for the ones who are around

 

[Audio Slave]

Ah, my friend, when Glen Drummond was first introduced in my town,I got myself a bottle and I liked it quite a bit. Stuck to Rum after that as it was lighter on the pocket

But we are going OT.

I was once asked by an acquaintance of mine as to why I was planning on spending the kind of money I was planning to spend on HIFI as no one was ever going to know about it. He advised me to spend that amount to upgrade my car !!! No wonder then that we don't see many HIFI dealers around stocking expensive equipment :lol: I think we should be thankful for the ones who are around

What is the use of wealth if it can't be displayed and exhibited for the benefit of the neighbors and all others to see? How would anybody know you can afford it all......

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

So I am foced to buy from the UK and am making arrangements accordingly. I also have a plan to visit London in the near future and can slect the products I need myself during that trip.

I have never travelled specifically to buy, so really do not know what countries would head the list in terms of availability and pricing of goods, along with ease and cost of travel, but, of the two countries that I do visit from India, Singapore is a relatively comfortable flight time, and can, if one is able to take advantage of budget-airline special offers as and when, be reached very cheaply indeed. I don't have to tell you about the cost and experience of getting to London :sad: