Hi Everyone: My first step to hifi

[skarvind]

Hi Everyone,

This is Arvind from Mumbai and I have been a visitor to this forum for a while. It was an afternoon in the Sunday book market in Delhi a few years, back that I saw a magazine with a pair of rather interesting looking speakers. It was a copy of the "Stereophile" magazine and they had a pair of Watt/Puuy 5 on the cover page. Their writing was detailed and exuded a genuine appreciation for the essence of audio. This somehow got me intrigued and curious and I began to follow the audio world like Alice in wonderland.

Much of the music I was exposed to as a child was carnatic and otherwise film music, though I not a musician myself. Much of my curiosity was a hidden dream , as I didn't have any penny to spare. Life's been better of late . Having spent much of my life curiously admiring something I could not touch, I am at a point where I can take my first step. Hope to share my own journey through this interesting world.

I currently live in rented accommodation, which although spacious is always liable to change. This puts me in a dilema, about how to setup my first system. I came across the A2 and A5 ( audio engine) and given my constraints, I thought these may be my perfect solution until I have a place on my own. I did find a couple of threads on A2 and lots on the net related to how wonderful and clean they are. I am however, circumspect if these are a good first step, and would like to hear suggestion from others here.

Thanks & Cheers
Arvind

 

[skumar]

Welcome to HFV and I am sure you will have a good time, both with your upcoming setup as well as the forum members here.

If you can state your preferences (movies/music), source (DVDP/CDP/PC/Ipod etc), Stereo/2.* or AVR/5.* speaker setup and your budget, you will get flooded with suggestions.

Also, go thru this post for starters...

 

[skarvind]

skumar, Thanks for your reply.

I mostly listen to Film music and popular music and occasionally carnatic. I have very definite liking for prose and poetry, which essentially translates to music with a lot of vocals. I am also emotionally moved equally by melody ( especially flute veena etc) and rhythmic dance tracks ( although not a absolute bass buff). I am also a movie buff, but can live without absolute low end slam. I do get a little edged out by a lot of shrilly high end ( probably due to the nature of the systems I head music in).

My current budget is around 40k.

My current room is a 9*9 ft (app) room and I can't do with a pair of stands (a rented accommodation and house changing). Also for similar reasons I am not sure I need to invest in separates for Amp and speakers. I feel it is prudent to avoid a separates purchase until you have a home of your own. Any experiences and advices welcome. For I a while I anticipate my source to be my DVD player and my laptop.

I did have a look at PSB alphas and the NAD a while back. They did sound nice. Given , I have a single okay room So I looked at A2 and the A5, hoping they might save me the problem. Would these work out as a good medium term investment ?
I have table for now to hold the speakers, I guess its a rhetoric, but How can I work around with the stand problem ? ( use weights ?)
Would A2 be better for a small room ( they are front ported so no standup waves i guess) ?
Any other experiences and suggestions.

 

[psychotropic]

I have the A2s, they are lovely, and stunning for the price....the mids and highs are handled beautifully....bass is very good for the size, but if you need the thump you're not going to get it from the A2s, but it's lean and taut and reproduces the bass notes accurately.

I just started my hi fi journey yesterday by picking up a used marantz CD63SE for 9k, and it sounds quite good with the A2.

Since you're in Mumbai and audioengine's distributor is in mumbai, why don't you go there and have a listen to both the A2 and the A5, those guys are very nice and very helpful and I am sure they'll be happy to oblige. contact amandeep at [email protected]

skumar, Thanks for your reply.

I mostly listen to Film music and popular music and occasionally carnatic. I have very definite liking for prose and poetry, which essentially translates to music with a lot of vocals. I am also emotionally moved equally by melody ( especially flute veena etc) and rhythmic dance tracks ( although not a absolute bass buff). I am also a movie buff, but can live without absolute low end slam. I do get a little edged out by a lot of shrilly high end ( probably due to the nature of the systems I head music in).

My current budget is around 40k.

My current room is a 9*9 ft (app) room and I can't do with a pair of stands (a rented accommodation and house changing). Also for similar reasons I am not sure I need to invest in separates for Amp and speakers. I feel it is prudent to avoid a separates purchase until you have a home of your own. Any experiences and advices welcome. For I a while I anticipate my source to be my DVD player and my laptop.

I did have a look at PSB alphas and the NAD a while back. They did sound nice. Given , I have a single okay room So I looked at A2 and the A5, hoping they might save me the problem. Would these work out as a good medium term investment ?
I have table for now to hold the speakers, I guess its a rhetoric, but How can I work around with the stand problem ? ( use weights ?)
Would A2 be better for a small room ( they are front ported so no standup waves i guess) ?
Any other experiences and suggestions.

 

[skarvind]

My first step to hifi ( Got an A2 Audioengine!! and it went POOF!!!)

Thanks psychotropic,

I did order the A2 , from Bajaao.com. They had it cheaper there and the audio products people directed me there , as it was closer to my place. I got a black one, which was delivered to my place late on thursday. They were definitely more than a handful for my small room.

Managed to settle down with some old hindi tracks, and settling to their sound signature. Friday morning, I started it off and after a couple of minutes decided to switch off, as i had to run off from some chores. About 15 mins later, i returned and switched it On.. and poof. No, not really, no poofs, but the A2s wouldn't start. After a million attempts at all the plug points, I gave up and called bajaao.com.

Felt pretty heart broken at it, it was my first hifi purchase. The rep came over and picked it up. They have promised me a new piece tomorrow. Hope this one turns out ok. I guess the power brick went off. The rep at the bajaao.com office said he wanted to figure out what happened himself. I am equally curious anyway.

Hope i will be able to spend the week with a new piece. I would like to know if there is a any voltage stabilizer/power conditioner I should use. Don't want this to happen again. I guess many here have similar experiences.

 

[TechHead]

Hi Arvind/cranky.

Yep, I've had 3 sets go, luckily all within warranty. Ashu at bajaao.com is probably pakaoed from answering my calls.

Luckily, the last set has lasted the longest.. 9 months and counting. Purchased the set in Jan '08. Also, power in my area is fine. No worries on that count.

As cranky said, it's the luck of the draw,and mine seems to be holding so far.

 

[psychotropic]

strangely mine have worked flawlessly from day one. damn sad that your first piece just popped it. Let's hope your replacement is a trouble free one. How did you like the sound on your initial listen?

 

[skarvind]

Thanks Everyone,

Yes, Ashu at bajaoo.com, did say he wanted to see what's wrong, as it never happened before. I had a funny feeling ( in a nice way) that he wasn't entirely being honest there. He is a nice bloke mind you and their service so far has been good. Stereophile in their review did point out that they changed their units thrice or so!!. Looks like a common problem for the A2s.

I had little time with the first unit as it got delivered late in the evening. I pretty much had my jitters on for a while so really couuldn't have gauged the sound anyway. I needed my personal "nervous vibes breakin" before I could relax and enjoy the music.

I was also struggling with the placement (room is almost square), as I was mainly depending on my table(a little wobbly). In the current setup I had to place it laterally,along the middle of the longer wall. My bed parallel to it on the opposite wall. The good bit was that my ears while sitting on the bed where right on the tweeter axis. I did have some observations though:

1. The sound was very even ( but not dry) when I was on axis.
2. Off axis ( standing almost beside the speakers) there seemed to be some extra bass. The speakers were quite close to the wall (1/2 - 1 ft), due to the placement. My guess was the front portedness would insure me.
3. I found he soundstage to open up, (not sure really, it was different from the "surround" most systems come with) in a sense that , the music seemed less direct and more relaxing , when i was right against (my back) the opposite wall . I guess i needed to give them some breathing space between their face and mine .
4.I didn't like the sound setting both their faces in the same parallel line.Instead angling both of them inwards, in a manner that their axis may intersect just before my face seemed to help. ( very early thoughts)
5. As for the size of my room, the loudness and bass seemed good enough. My roomie was super excited seeing the pair, and jumped to close the window, when I cranked the volume over 50 %. This may be premature , but for most mumbai A2 may suffice for loudness.
6.Some old bad recordings sounded really bad

At this moment i hvan't received the new one. hope today or tomorrow. Pretty excited about it and the forum, would look to share more info on it. Its pretty exciting already discussing with you folks.
Cheers
arvind

 

[psychotropic]

yes the A2s sound better toed in to form a triangle the third corner of which is a bit behind your head. i place them on a wooden cabinet, on two thick law books, and about 6-7 inches from the wall. the rear walls (facing the A2s) have a thick-ish curtain.

once again, hope your replacement piece is trouble-free.

Thanks Everyone,

Yes, Ashu at bajaoo.com, did say he wanted to see what's wrong, as it never happened before. I had a funny feeling ( in a nice way) that he wasn't entirely being honest there. He is a nice bloke mind you and their service so far has been good. Stereophile in their review did point out that they changed their units thrice or so!!. Looks like a common problem for the A2s.

I had little time with the first unit as it got delivered late in the evening. I pretty much had my jitters on for a while so really couuldn't have gauged the sound anyway. I needed my personal "nervous vibes breakin" before I could relax and enjoy the music.

I was also struggling with the placement (room is almost square), as I was mainly depending on my table(a little wobbly). In the current setup I had to place it laterally,along the middle of the longer wall. My bed parallel to it on the opposite wall. The good bit was that my ears while sitting on the bed where right on the tweeter axis. I did have some observations though:

1. The sound was very even ( but not dry) when I was on axis.
2. Off axis ( standing almost beside the speakers) there seemed to be some extra bass. The speakers were quite close to the wall (1/2 - 1 ft), due to the placement. My guess was the front portedness would insure me.
3. I found he soundstage to open up, (not sure really, it was different from the "surround" most systems come with) in a sense that , the music seemed less direct and more relaxing , when i was right against (my back) the opposite wall . I guess i needed to give them some breathing space between their face and mine .
4.I didn't like the sound setting both their faces in the same parallel line.Instead angling both of them inwards, in a manner that their axis may intersect just before my face seemed to help. ( very early thoughts)
5. As for the size of my room, the loudness and bass seemed good enough. My roomie was super excited seeing the pair, and jumped to close the window, when I cranked the volume over 50 %. This may be premature , but for most mumbai A2 may suffice for loudness.
6.Some old bad recordings sounded really bad

At this moment i hvan't received the new one. hope today or tomorrow. Pretty excited about it and the forum, would look to share more info on it. Its pretty exciting already discussing with you folks.
Cheers
arvind