Hello from UAE

[Subbu68]

An electrical engineer by profession who wanted to be working on audio systems from when I was a kid. Grown up seeing my father repairing valve radios and transistors as his hobby (not an engineer by profession though). Learnt about valves and transistors from Henry Jacobowitz's books my dad had. Passing through the 50's by age.

With a nomadic style of working as a commissioning engineer in early career and later NRI life in small apartments in UAE never had the luxury of space for DIY. Entry to mid-fi / hi-fi started with small component systems National, Onkyo and a Bose 321 (that burnt through my pocket and felt my Onkyo sounded way better) and later a Yamaha separates and Jamo towers.

Found time and resources to dabble into the childhood hobby of DIY only in the past 6 years by building a Elekit TU-8200 valve amp and TU-8500 pre amp. Excellent sounding SE amp with auto bias and Triode, Pentode and Ultra-linear modes. Driving a set of Klipsch Heresy IIIs (Special Edition) and a KEF Kube 12b sealed sub. Music in on a Synergy NAS (>PC> iFi Nano DSD DAC>amp)and Denon CDP and a Yamaha tape deck to complement.

What brought me to this forum was the thread on Ahuja 12FRX full rangers. Could not hold myself from scratching my credit card and got a pair of them from Dubai dealer (though expensive than getting when I go to India for next visit - maybe / may not be). Hoping to build a OB OR cannibalize Klipsch (though I don't want to) and put these Ahuja's in the Heresy cabinets to enjoy the FR experience that I dreamt of when my neighbor in Kerala used to blast the place with his Philips AV separates and a set of full ranger in the 80's.

 

[drkrack]

Welcome to the forum...
Some pictures will be a good addition, especially of the DIY stuff...
Quite happy to know about Ahuja FR drivers availability in overseas counters.

 

[Subbu68]

Welcome to the forum...
Some pictures will be a good addition, especially of the DIY stuff...
Quite happy to know about Ahuja FR drivers availability in overseas counters.

Would have to start convincing my wife for the OB. She is bewitched by the beauty of Klipsch Heresy IIIs. Old school look in California Black Walnut (though is pretty tan color ) and lamb's wool grill. (see photo)
Found the Ahuja's just naked speakers equally enjoyable as Klipsch HIII though some of the body is missing.

 

[adas]

Welcome @Subbu68

 

[aeroash]

Would have to start convincing my wife for the OB. She is bewitched by the beauty of Klipsch Heresy IIIs. Old school look in California Black Walnut (though is pretty tan color ) and lamb's wool grill. (see photo)
Found the Ahuja's just naked speakers equally enjoyable as Klipsch HIII though some of the body is missing.

Lovely setup @Subbu68, My OCD is acting up, and I see that the TV is not centered with the AV stand
I love the speakers and the stands! They look like a perfect match for a Leak IA and a CDT, looks-wise, of course.

Cheers & Warmth!

 

[Nitin K]

Welcome Subbu, you got a very neat & nice setup.
Is the Dubai shopping festival still attractive for electronics with heavy duty discounts for especially the previous year's models ?

 

[Subbu68]

Lovely setup @Subbu68, My OCD is acting up, and I see that the TV is not centered with the AV stand
I love the speakers and the stands! They look like a perfect match for a Leak IA and a CDT, looks-wise, of course.

Cheers & Warmth!

Hi

Thank you for the compliment. The AV rack is IKEA and bought to match HIIIs that are Black Walnut. The speaker stands are again IKEA stools matched to Klipsch . The weight of speaker keeps it stable. The dimension of HIII is such, it needs a custom built stand. In fact Heresys are made to be placed on floor but it muddies the sound for me. UAE is not a good market for AV - at least Abu Dhabi.

The TV is not centered to accommodate my laptop to feed the stereo . TV is not my property and she is not bothered about placement.

BTW it is pure stereo not a HT.

 

[Subbu68]

Welcome Subbu, you got a very neat & nice setup.
Is the Dubai shopping festival still attractive for electronics with heavy duty discounts for especially the previous year's models ?

Hi Nitin

Thank you for the compliment

After building the amp and getting the Heresy's I am not following the DSF much. I can see fliers of discounts often not just DSF but also Ramadan , Summer Surprises, Year end etc. but not sure if the market is as strong as it was before. All hifi shops in Abu Dhabi where I live folded up. There is only one multi brand shop with very few to choose from and a Yamaha showroom with nothing much to demo. Most people perhaps have weaned away from Hi-Fi to "Ear-fi" and BT, HK / Marshall boomboxes and of course Bose - the majority of population being floating. Bose is now selling in Lulu hypermarkets !!

There are some shops in Dubai but going there is a day's work.

 

[Nitin K]

Hi Nitin

Thank you for the compliment

After building the amp and getting the Heresy's I am not following the DSF much. I can see fliers of discounts often not just DSF but also Ramadan , Summer Surprises, Year end etc. but not sure if the market is as strong as it was before. All hifi shops in Abu Dhabi where I live folded up. There is only one multi brand shop with very few to choose from and a Yamaha showroom with nothing much to demo. Most people perhaps have weaned away from Hi-Fi to "Ear-fi" and BT, HK / Marshall boomboxes and of course Bose - the majority of population being floating. Bose is now selling in Lulu hypermarkets !!

There are some shops in Dubai but going there is a day's work.

Most welcome Subbu. Glad to see that the Ahuja's made you join the forum. They were a huge hit back in the day as PA systems.
What you say is true about earfi especially with a lot of the new gen.
VV & Sons at Al Fahidi street, Dubai use to have a great collection of Luxman, Marantz, Missions and JBL in the mid nineties and use to offer great discounts. Bose products were very popular in Dubai. I guess s lot must have changed by now . Anyways have a nice day.

 

[aeroash]

All hifi shops in Abu Dhabi where I live folded up. There is only one multi brand shop with very few to choose from and a Yamaha showroom with nothing much to demo. Most people perhaps have weaned away from Hi-Fi to "Ear-fi" and BT, HK / Marshall boomboxes and of course Bose - the majority of population being floating. Bose is now selling in Lulu hypermarkets !!

Interesting indeed! I assumed HiFi was popular in UAE. Is what you say true for the whole of UAE or isolated to Abu Dhabi?

 

[Subbu68]

Most welcome Subbu. Glad to see that the Ahuja's made you join the forum. They were a huge hit back in the day as PA systems.
What you say is true about earfi especially with a lot of the new gen.
VV & Sons at Al Fahidi street, Dubai use to have a great collection of Luxman, Marantz, Missions and JBL in the mid nineties and use to offer great discounts. Bose products were very popular in Dubai. I guess s lot must have changed by now . Anyways have a nice day.

Oh, yes we had Ahuja PA system in our school - remember a transistor amp and column speakers. I used to hover around it when they set up for school functions.
I guess you are familiar with Dubai. VV & sons was a great place for hi-fi. They closed in Abu Dhabi first and now perhaps in Dubai too. I did not see that shop last time I went to Al Fahidi in 2019.

Interesting indeed! I assumed HiFi was popular in UAE. Is what you say true for the whole of UAE or isolated to Abu Dhabi?

It is true for Abu Dhabi. Got frustrated looking for options to change my Yamaha amp earlier (only had Denon, Marantz & Yammy)and took the DIY route. But that was a revelation and a return to valve amps (had tinkered around a valve radio to extract the "amp" to build my first amp some 40 yrs ago).

 

[Nitin K]

Oh, yes we had Ahuja PA system in our school - remember a transistor amp and column speakers. I used to hover around it when they set up for school functions.
I guess you are familiar with Dubai. VV & sons was a great place for hi-fi. They closed in Abu Dhabi first and now perhaps in Dubai too. I did not see that shop last time I went to Al Fahidi in 2019.

Yes, I was there in 1995 for a short time . My favourite place to hang out use to be VV and sons as one of the sales person was from Mumbai who were very friendly. Really sad if it has shut down as they use to keep reference level amps there.
Another good place if I am not mistaken was Vanilla music in Deira Dubai, golf club especially for Nad and other European amps. I am sure that must have shut down too.

 

[RRR]

Welcome to the forum.
There are many DIY enthusiasts and their threads which may interest you.
Cheers