Indian Hi-fi Equipment/Accessories comparable with best in class international products

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do you mean all parts used in the component should also be made in India? In that case, I doubt it. There would be some parts (eg specific transistors, caps) which aren’t necessarily manufactured locally

even Rethm speakers, which use Indian drivers, still have hypex amps in the bass section. Indiq listed above use Sanken transistors in their amps. Lyrita use imported speaker drivers and tubes
Yes, in past we had products from brands like Keltron where to ground levels things were made kn India. Not sure about transistors though! But caps, resistors , boards all fabricated in India . But these days I don’t think it’s very much possible nowadays.
 
Our forum members Aniket and Shaan are making very high quality amplifiers/pre amplifiers which are well accepted internationally by the members of various respected DIY forums. As they are manufacturing and selling fully built finished products also, IMHO their amps and pre-amps should have a mention here too. Though it's difficult to compare them with commercial brands because of having almost no "brand value", we should motivate/inspire them in their endeavor.
 
Our forum members Aniket and Shaan are making very high quality amplifiers/pre amplifiers which are well accepted internationally by the members of various respected DIY forums. As they are manufacturing and selling fully built finished products also, IMHO their amps and pre-amps should have a mention here too. Though it's difficult to compare them with commercial brands because of having almost no "brand value", we should motivate/inspire them in their endeavor.

@bhaskarcan, surely. Can you/anyone who has used/owned their products write an elaborate post on the same (in the outlined format) please?
 
Hi all,
Here are my impressions of AudiQs based on my visit to them, yesterday.
This is a long post and I hope I did justice to what I had experienced based on my non-audiophile ears :)
cc @Rud31 @PCA @ktks1
---

I came across Audiqs.com website and I reached out to them. The speakers looked great in terms of specs and looks.
Amit Jain, the co-founder reached out to me and spoke to me about his story, why he started Audiqs and his promise -- delivering high quality audio to Indians with everything 'Made in India'.

Had a very good initial conversation with Amit. He invited me over for an audition anytime to check out the speaker range.
Intrigued by the conversation -- I've decided to step out and go for an audition, to his house.

Following are the speakers that I had listened specifically for 2 hours:
Gold Achal - 3-way Floorstanding speakers (1" tweeter, 2*6.5 Mid-bass drivers, 1*8" bass woofer)
Platinum Mishra - 2-way Bookshelf speakers (1" tweeter, 1*8" woofer)

These were connected to a Denon x1300 AVR. The sub-woofer was off during the music listening session. I took my playlist on Apple Music and connected to the AVR via bluetooth. I've made notes for about 10 songs that I had played with both of the speakers. And, later also tested them with movie scenes.

Here are my impressions:
(Please note: I'm not an audiophile and the following are based on my limited knowledge. I don't have any experience listening to other speakers. Only listened to Q Acoustics 3020i and basic models of Pioneer & Polk before)

Gold Achal -- Initially, I had thought the sub-woofer was connected, but no. The bass from these towers is superb. Instrument clarity was great. The detail that these towers were producing was pretty good. Vocal clarity was a little off, initially. We then tried with 'Audessey EQ' off and the vocals sounded crisp. Thought the texture/richness in the vocals was missing when the singer was singing lower pitch. Classical songs sounded great. No doubt about that.

Platinum Mishra -- After completing the 1st round with the towers, we then moved to test the bookshelf speakers.
These have a very enjoyable sound. Definitely not as detailed as the Gold Achal towers, but you have to really look for the differences. The bass was not as high as it was on the Achal speakers. These will shine when paired with a sub-woofer to do justice on the low-end. I somehow felt that these bookshelves gave a certain richness to the vocals.

Playing with Saptak - the power amplifier
Next, Amit connected the speakers to the monoblock Power amplifier beautifully named as 'Saptak' (I really love their speaker names -- Achal, Aakar, Aalaap etc.) He connected the Gold Achals to the amp and played a classical song. My response: Mindblown
This is the first time I'm experiencing a power amplifier. Suddenly, there was a new 'presence' to the music. It's just mindblowing. A classical song I had played felt like I was transported to the space of the singer.

He then switched to the Platinum Achal towers (these are the flagship models) -- the aforementioned presence was even more detailed. The soundstage came forward, by a bit. I would say these towers combined with the power amp gave absolutely pristine sound. These are definitely more detailed than the Gold Achal towers.

Movie watching
The Center channel and 4 surrounds were turned on. There were 2 sub-woofers. (7.2.4 setup)

Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring -- Tested the following scenes: War sequence at the start of the film - Bass was very powerful. Clearly felt the rumble. Surround effect was great.
The scene where the fellowship is formed -- I felt that the texture was missing a little in the dialogue. I would've preferred it to be a little richer.
The snow mountain scene with avalanche falling. -- Bass & surround effect were top-notch.

Gravity -- the first sequence where the space station is destroyed. The surround and bass were top-notch. Again, would've preferred a little more richness in the dialogue from the center channel.

I wished I could've spent more-time with the movie watching but I had to leave!

Overall
I'm really glad that I met Amit and experienced AudiQs speakers. I was mesmerised by the music reproduction by them. (Also mentioned by Amit that they are specifically tuned for music.) He truly embodies customer-centricity and mentioned that even if I do not want to go with AudiQs, he would help me in choosing speakers from other brands, based on my needs.

PS: Amit also mentioned that they could custom-make the speaker finish based on one's living room furniture theme.
 
Thanks for the review and glad you enjoyed the audition. Happy to see local manufacturers come up with impressive offerings. Did you get a chance to ask for the prices? If yes, are these a good value for money?
 
Hi all,
Here are my impressions of AudiQs based on my visit to them, yesterday.
This is a long post and I hope I did justice to what I had experienced based on my non-audiophile ears :)
cc @Rud31 @PCA @ktks1
---

I came across Audiqs.com website and I reached out to them. The speakers looked great in terms of specs and looks.
Amit Jain, the co-founder reached out to me and spoke to me about his story, why he started Audiqs and his promise -- delivering high quality audio to Indians with everything 'Made in India'.

Had a very good initial conversation with Amit. He invited me over for an audition anytime to check out the speaker range.
Intrigued by the conversation -- I've decided to step out and go for an audition, to his house.

Following are the speakers that I had listened specifically for 2 hours:
Gold Achal - 3-way Floorstanding speakers (1" tweeter, 2*6.5 Mid-bass drivers, 1*8" bass woofer)
Platinum Mishra - 2-way Bookshelf speakers (1" tweeter, 1*8" woofer)

These were connected to a Denon x1300 AVR. The sub-woofer was off during the music listening session. I took my playlist on Apple Music and connected to the AVR via bluetooth. I've made notes for about 10 songs that I had played with both of the speakers. And, later also tested them with movie scenes.

Here are my impressions:
(Please note: I'm not an audiophile and the following are based on my limited knowledge. I don't have any experience listening to other speakers. Only listened to Q Acoustics 3020i and basic models of Pioneer & Polk before)

Gold Achal -- Initially, I had thought the sub-woofer was connected, but no. The bass from these towers is superb. Instrument clarity was great. The detail that these towers were producing was pretty good. Vocal clarity was a little off, initially. We then tried with 'Audessey EQ' off and the vocals sounded crisp. Thought the texture/richness in the vocals was missing when the singer was singing lower pitch. Classical songs sounded great. No doubt about that.

Platinum Mishra -- After completing the 1st round with the towers, we then moved to test the bookshelf speakers.
These have a very enjoyable sound. Definitely not as detailed as the Gold Achal towers, but you have to really look for the differences. The bass was not as high as it was on the Achal speakers. These will shine when paired with a sub-woofer to do justice on the low-end. I somehow felt that these bookshelves gave a certain richness to the vocals.

Playing with Saptak - the power amplifier
Next, Amit connected the speakers to the monoblock Power amplifier beautifully named as 'Saptak' (I really love their speaker names -- Achal, Aakar, Aalaap etc.) He connected the Gold Achals to the amp and played a classical song. My response: Mindblown
This is the first time I'm experiencing a power amplifier. Suddenly, there was a new 'presence' to the music. It's just mindblowing. A classical song I had played felt like I was transported to the space of the singer.

He then switched to the Platinum Achal towers (these are the flagship models) -- the aforementioned presence was even more detailed. The soundstage came forward, by a bit. I would say these towers combined with the power amp gave absolutely pristine sound. These are definitely more detailed than the Gold Achal towers.

Movie watching
The Center channel and 4 surrounds were turned on. There were 2 sub-woofers. (7.2.4 setup)

Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring -- Tested the following scenes: War sequence at the start of the film - Bass was very powerful. Clearly felt the rumble. Surround effect was great.
The scene where the fellowship is formed -- I felt that the texture was missing a little in the dialogue. I would've preferred it to be a little richer.
The snow mountain scene with avalanche falling. -- Bass & surround effect were top-notch.

Gravity -- the first sequence where the space station is destroyed. The surround and bass were top-notch. Again, would've preferred a little more richness in the dialogue from the center channel.

I wished I could've spent more-time with the movie watching but I had to leave!

Overall
I'm really glad that I met Amit and experienced AudiQs speakers. I was mesmerised by the music reproduction by them. (Also mentioned by Amit that they are specifically tuned for music.) He truly embodies customer-centricity and mentioned that even if I do not want to go with AudiQs, he would help me in choosing speakers from other brands, based on my needs.

PS: Amit also mentioned that they could custom-make the speaker finish based on one's living room furniture theme.

@dannyarcher, many thanks for sharing your audition experience with the Indian brand. First the website and now your review suggests this is a serious enterprise run by passionate owners who seem clear about what they are up to.

Coming to specifics, can you contrast the sound from the Platinum Mishra speakers with QA 3020i? Also, did you listen to the Platinum Mishra with the Saptak power amp? If so, how was it? And which preamp was being used when Saptak was in the chain?

Also, what is the dual mono blocks priced at? It has serious power (200+200 Watts class AB). Your review suggests this amp could be a serious contender for audiophile upgrade from an entry level integrated amp (first system for most of us). Please tell more about the Saptak power amp.

Also, what did you perceive is the AudiQ’s target sound signature and/or their ideology towards sound reproduction?
 
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Very intrigued by the product line , any idea regarding the price and specs of the power mono blocks Saptak...
Found this listing from them:
 
Very intrigued by the product line , any idea regarding the price and specs of the power mono blocks Saptak...
No idea. I haven't asked about the power-amp pricing.

@dannyarcher, many thanks for sharing your audition experience with the Indian brand. First the website and now your review suggests this is a serious enterprise run by passionate owners who seem clear about what they are up to.

Coming to specifics, can you contrast the sound from the Platinum Mishra speakers with QA 3020i? Also, did you listen to the Platinum Mishra with the Saptak power amp? If so, how was it? And which preamp was being used when Saptak was in the chain?

Also, what is the dual mono blocks priced at? It has serious power (200+200 Watts class AB). Your review suggests this amp could be a serious contender for audiophile upgrade from an entry level integrated amp (first system for most of us). Please tell more about the Saptak power amp.

Also, what did you perceive is the AudiQ’s target sound signature and/or their ideology towards sound reproduction?

My pleasure, @SachinChavan
Platinum Mishra with Power amp was also brilliant. No doubts. And, I don't think there was any preamp. But, not very sure.
I knew Saptak would be beyond my budget and hence kept mum about asking the price. You could reach out to Amit @ 70322 92587. You can say Vinay gave the reference.

Regarding the comparison with Q3020i -- I liked the textural quality on the vocals on Q3020i and the bass on them was surprising given how small they were. The AudiQs speakers are definitely more detailed and refined in their presentation. Also, it's expected that they'd have more bass given the size of the drivers. (I'm going to audition the Q3020i again today so that I'm doubly sure)

AudiQs sound signature -- It is neutral. Their philosophy, as told by Amit, was not to add any signature so that the sound reproduced is how the creators envisioned.
 
Hi all,
Here are my impressions of AudiQs based on my visit to them, yesterday.
This is a long post and I hope I did justice to what I had experienced based on my non-audiophile ears :)
cc @Rud31 @PCA @ktks1
---

I came across Audiqs.com website and I reached out to them. The speakers looked great in terms of specs and looks.
Amit Jain, the co-founder reached out to me and spoke to me about his story, why he started Audiqs and his promise -- delivering high quality audio to Indians with everything 'Made in India'.

Had a very good initial conversation with Amit. He invited me over for an audition anytime to check out the speaker range.
Intrigued by the conversation -- I've decided to step out and go for an audition, to his house.

Following are the speakers that I had listened specifically for 2 hours:
Gold Achal - 3-way Floorstanding speakers (1" tweeter, 2*6.5 Mid-bass drivers, 1*8" bass woofer)
Platinum Mishra - 2-way Bookshelf speakers (1" tweeter, 1*8" woofer)

These were connected to a Denon x1300 AVR. The sub-woofer was off during the music listening session. I took my playlist on Apple Music and connected to the AVR via bluetooth. I've made notes for about 10 songs that I had played with both of the speakers. And, later also tested them with movie scenes.

Here are my impressions:
(Please note: I'm not an audiophile and the following are based on my limited knowledge. I don't have any experience listening to other speakers. Only listened to Q Acoustics 3020i and basic models of Pioneer & Polk before)

Gold Achal -- Initially, I had thought the sub-woofer was connected, but no. The bass from these towers is superb. Instrument clarity was great. The detail that these towers were producing was pretty good. Vocal clarity was a little off, initially. We then tried with 'Audessey EQ' off and the vocals sounded crisp. Thought the texture/richness in the vocals was missing when the singer was singing lower pitch. Classical songs sounded great. No doubt about that.

Platinum Mishra -- After completing the 1st round with the towers, we then moved to test the bookshelf speakers.
These have a very enjoyable sound. Definitely not as detailed as the Gold Achal towers, but you have to really look for the differences. The bass was not as high as it was on the Achal speakers. These will shine when paired with a sub-woofer to do justice on the low-end. I somehow felt that these bookshelves gave a certain richness to the vocals.

Playing with Saptak - the power amplifier
Next, Amit connected the speakers to the monoblock Power amplifier beautifully named as 'Saptak' (I really love their speaker names -- Achal, Aakar, Aalaap etc.) He connected the Gold Achals to the amp and played a classical song. My response: Mindblown
This is the first time I'm experiencing a power amplifier. Suddenly, there was a new 'presence' to the music. It's just mindblowing. A classical song I had played felt like I was transported to the space of the singer.

He then switched to the Platinum Achal towers (these are the flagship models) -- the aforementioned presence was even more detailed. The soundstage came forward, by a bit. I would say these towers combined with the power amp gave absolutely pristine sound. These are definitely more detailed than the Gold Achal towers.

Movie watching
The Center channel and 4 surrounds were turned on. There were 2 sub-woofers. (7.2.4 setup)

Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring -- Tested the following scenes: War sequence at the start of the film - Bass was very powerful. Clearly felt the rumble. Surround effect was great.
The scene where the fellowship is formed -- I felt that the texture was missing a little in the dialogue. I would've preferred it to be a little richer.
The snow mountain scene with avalanche falling. -- Bass & surround effect were top-notch.

Gravity -- the first sequence where the space station is destroyed. The surround and bass were top-notch. Again, would've preferred a little more richness in the dialogue from the center channel.

I wished I could've spent more-time with the movie watching but I had to leave!

Overall
I'm really glad that I met Amit and experienced AudiQs speakers. I was mesmerised by the music reproduction by them. (Also mentioned by Amit that they are specifically tuned for music.) He truly embodies customer-centricity and mentioned that even if I do not want to go with AudiQs, he would help me in choosing speakers from other brands, based on my needs.

PS: Amit also mentioned that they could custom-make the speaker finish based on one's living room furniture theme.

Thanks for your detailed review. Really Happy to see new Indian Speaker Manufacturers on the rise. I hope they will get enough support and recognition from us.
 
My pleasure, @SachinChavan
Platinum Mishra with Power amp was also brilliant. No doubts. And, I don't think there was any preamp. But, not very sure.
I knew Saptak would be beyond my budget and hence kept mum about asking the price. You could reach out to Amit @ 70322 92587. You can say Vinay gave the reference.

Regarding the comparison with Q3020i -- I liked the textural quality on the vocals on Q3020i and the bass on them was surprising given how small they were. The AudiQs speakers are definitely more detailed and refined in their presentation. Also, it's expected that they'd have more bass given the size of the drivers. (I'm going to audition the Q3020i again today so that I'm doubly sure)

AudiQs sound signature -- It is neutral. Their philosophy, as told by Amit, was not to add any signature so that the sound reproduced is how the creators envisioned.

Thanks Vinay for the precise answers. A transparent signature (i.e.no signature) must be a challenging target to achieve at their price point. Especially that you also found the speakers detailed and refined. Surely a brand to track.

I checked but couldn’t find any audio recordings (Youtube videos) of their products yet. Did you by any chance record the audition? Would like to hear how they sound.

BTW, here is some customer feedback on their YT channel:
 
1. Manufacturer- Shaan

Brand Name: PeeCeeBee

2. Equipment categories made: (try and use categories as per HFV sub-forums): Amplifier, Pre Amplifier

3. Price range: Entry, Budget, Mid-priced, High-end, Luxury (for eg for speakers these will correspond roughly to INR <25k, 25-75k, 75k-2L, 2L-6L, >6L respectively - or use your own judgment here): Entry Level and Mid Priced, 60k to 1L

4. Product/s you owned/heard extensively: Heard Extensively and continue to do so.

5. Price advantage against comparable products from international brands: state in percentage lower than: At least 50% very conservatively.

6. What do you like best about these products: Add specs/design/build/performance/service - whatever applies, and elaborate: Biggest USP is GREAT SOUND. Custom Built w.r.t. power, class(A or AB), dimension of your rack ... can be made to match speaker requirements. Handmade, Directly from designer's workshop.

Maximum Power – 50WRMS/90WRMS into 8Ω/4Ω load with +/-35V PSU
Maximum allowed PSU voltage for 4Ω operation – +/-35V (with default clamp diodes and BD BJTs for Q9/Q10) and +/-42V (with higher voltage rated clamp diodes and MJE BJTs for Q9/Q10)
Frequency response (simulated) – ~2Hz to ~800KHz (-3dB)
AC gain – 23 (27dB)
DC gain – Unity
Input level for 50WRMS into 8Ω – 1VRMS
THD 100Hz 10W – 0.0005%, 1KHz 10W – 0.001%, 10KHz 10W – 0.002%
Slew Rate – 100V/uS
SNR – >100dB
Offset variation – +/-10mV

7. Comparable international brands in design and/or performance: Price wise Marantz, Cambridge Audio etc. But it easily sounds very hi-end.

8. Manufacturer’s Website or other contact details: https://www.facebook.com/shaanpeeceebee/

9. Any other information (not covered above):
Here are some user's reviews of the amplifier -
 
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1. Manufacturer/Brand Name: Shaan

2. Equipment categories made: Power Amplifiers : V4 50/90W and V4H 150/250W. Available as finished products or DIY kits of various levels of convenience: Bare PCBs, PCB + components, assembled and tested boards, components.

3. Price range: As it is a DIY product, cost depends upon components used and chassis parts, for V4H 150/250W it can be around 30-40k or more depending upon level of DIY work you willing to do and chassis used.

4. Product/s you owned/heard extensively: This is my first expensive setup, I had heard my current speakers Dynaudio Emit M20 with NAD 338 at dealers place while purchase. I also have Swan's active speakers for a smaller room but they can't be compared with this setup.

5. Price advantage against comparable products from international brands: I don't think there's any power amp with comparable specs available in market.

6. What do you like best about these products: Cost and satisfaction of DIY, controlled and powerful sound especially bass. It seems to shake the room after 11 o clock volume position. No hum or hiss at all(although my active speakers have some), has very good tonality in mid-range thus listening to vocals is a pleasure, transparent and dynamic sound, changes in power cable, signal cable, speaker cable can be easily heard.
No worries of malfunction and warranty expiration, components are easily available, you can fix on your own.
Full transparency in design : Circuit layout, BOM, specs, test results, drill templates for chassis all available on product page on diyaudio forum.
Tweek the amp as per your like e.g mosfet bias, cabling etc.
Support provided by Shaan : he has been always available to answer anything I needed.


7. Comparable international brands in design and/or performance: I am not aware.

8. Manufacturer’s Website or other contact details:

9. Any other information (not covered above): Some pics of amp in my setup :
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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