Intro - Me and my System

[sathya]

Hi AVcionados!

I am new to the Indian HI/AVForum but I am a manic about AV systems.

A little about me - I am currently based out of Bangalore - though I spent around 12 years living, studying and working abroad. During my undergraduate studies in India, I used to design speakers for friends and family (mostly infinite baffle systems using Thiele & Small parameters). My favourite is the servo controlled front loaded horns I built for my brother.

While living abroad I have auditioned several audio systems - Genesys, Infinity, Paradigm, Morden Short, Mission, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), Wilson Audio, Bang & Olufsen (B&O), Polk Audio, Klipsch, Focale, Q Acoustics, Jamo, Mark Levinson, Classe, Rotel, NuForce, Karma, SVS, Rel, Goodwin, Wharfdale, Monitor Audio, Meridien, NAD, Krell, Magnepan, Grado, etc

In 2002, I owned the following:

Speakers:
Front: Mission M72
Centre: Mission M7c1
Surrounds: Mission M7ds
Sub: Mission M70as

AV Receiver: Technics (85W RMS into 6 ohms x 5)

TV: 32" Sharp CRT (I forgot the model but was a 16:9 format)

Recently, I have upgraded my AV system to:
Speakers:

Front: Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) 703
Centre: B&W HTM7
Surround: B&W DS7
Sub: B&W ASW750

AV Processor: NuForce AVP17

Amplifier: Rotel RMB-1075
DVD Player: Oppo 983H
Blue-Ray Player: Pioneer BDP 51FD
CD Player: Bryston BCD-1
Media Player: Netgear Elite 9150
HDMI switch: Oppo HM31
Cable: Kimber Kable interconnects: Timber for the front and Tonik for Centre and Surround; 4PR biwired for the front and centre and KWIK 12 for surrounds

TV: Sony Bravia SXRD KS60R200A 60" Full HD

Power clean: Monster

MP3 Player

iPod Nano, iPhone B&W Zepplin for iPod speakers

I am really looking forward to sharing and hearing about AV systems and your opinions and experiences in this forum

Thanks!

 

[vinod_david]

Hi:

Welcome. Very nice setup.

 

[vint]

sathya,
Looks like you got an awesome setup Can you show us some pics ?

 

[afj]

seems like you've gone through a lot of brands. if you could post comparisons between them it would be very informative.

 

[sathya]

sathya,
Looks like you got an awesome setup Can you show us some pics ?

Hi Vint,

Thank you for your reply. I will be happy to put up my HT pics. Please give me sometime. I am shifting to my new house and am running around like a headless chicken trying to get things organised. But I promise to put up the HT pics within the next 10 days

 

[sathya]

seems like you've gone through a lot of brands. if you could post comparisons between them it would be very informative.

Hi Afj,

Yes, I have auditioned several AV brands. However, many of them are targeted towards different segments. For example, Mission is not as high-end as B&W, B&O, Wilson or Pardigms. But Mission can be compared (similar price points) with Bose. Several of my Indian friends and acqaintances have Bose. Suprisingly in India, most people feel Bose is the ultimate (many even go on to claim Bose is world's No. 1 speaker manufacturer). IMHO Bose is not an audiophile system - briefly, for the size, the sound of Bose is pretty good, that's it! Mission speakers are better than Bose in terms of overall performance. Similarly, Wilsons and Karma are way above the other brands I have mentioned above atleast in price points. The thing about AV equipment, as you go higher, the performamce you get is not proportionate with the price you pay i.e if you pay double in higher end, it doesn't mean you will get double the performance. Sometimes it has more to do with brand and hype than real performance. For example, Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is around the same price point as B&W but B&O brand is about style and design than pure audio performance. B&W speakers are about performance. If one considers B&W Nautilus (cost around US$125K a pair) and say Karma Grand Exquisite (US$390K a pair), in my opinion, the Nautilus is better performer than the Karma GE in terms of sound staging, timbre, bass and attack. So the best way to compare brands and models is to take two similarly costing systems and then do a comparison. I hope I have answered your question

 

[cha_indian]

hi satya,

Welcome to our forum!!
I am Chandan from Hyderabad. I am quite new to this HiFi thing...I dont own anything Hifi, but have plans to buy a Amp and a DAC. Already have Jamo S708 speakers.

Cheers!

 

[dinyaar]

Hi Satya,
Have a few questions.
Why the Nu Force processor and Rotel Multichannel for the B&W 700 series?Did u try other AV solutions for these speakers before taking the plunge. I ask as i was not happy with the Rotel gear for my 804/805s in a stereo set up.
What is your feed back on the new Bryston CDP? Is it all its made out to be?
I presume u bought the Kimber,B&W,Rotel, Nuforce from the bangalore dealer of AVI. Did u get a chance to compare the 804 V/S the 703 as ur fronts?
I ask all these questions as i am very familiar with all the above components that u own.Though i have sold the Rotel gear the B&W and kimbers will remain.
Rgds

 

[sathya]

Hi Satya,
Have a few questions.
Why the Nu Force processor and Rotel Multichannel for the B&W 700 series?Did u try other AV solutions for these speakers before taking the plunge. I ask as i was not happy with the Rotel gear for my 804/805s in a stereo set up.
What is your feed back on the new Bryston CDP? Is it all its made out to be?
I presume u bought the Kimber,B&W,Rotel, Nuforce from the bangalore dealer of AVI. Did u get a chance to compare the 804 V/S the 703 as ur fronts?
I ask all these questions as i am very familiar with all the above components that u own.Though i have sold the Rotel gear the B&W and kimbers will remain.
Rgds

Hi Dinyaar,

My first criteria was that whatever component I chose should have local presence and support (in the past I have made a mistake of purchasing several stuff from abroad and finally ended up giving them away due to lack of local support/service centres). I chose NuForce as I was looking for an audiophile quality pre-amp for my stereo at the sametime, wanted an AV processor for my HT. After a lot of research, auditions and reading reviews, I decided on NuForce. For the amp I was very clear about choosing a Class A/B amplifier (the B&Ws require lots of it and somehow I find the new cool running class D amps do not have that extra grunt to give that magical lows). And among the Class A/B amps Rotel is best in class. If you really want any better, then you need to go in for mono-blocks for which you need massive amounts of space (which I do not really have) and even more power!!
Yes I bought it from AVI in Bangalore (after flying to Mumbai specially to meet with Brian Cooper and the guys from B&W in June 08). Yes, I have heard all of the 800 series (including the Nautilus Classic!! while in the UK). The 800 series are brilliant speakers (except that the 805 is a little small on the lows - quite similar to the Missions I owned previously). I found the 703s had better lows than the 805. Secondly, I did not want to go for 800 series fronts and 700 series centre and surrounds (as the 800 series centre and surrounds are too massive for my room). 804 and higher are just awesome. Well if I had the money and the space it would be Nautilus Classic/Genesis Technologies Mark II with Mark Levinson mono blocks!!! Bryston is good. But if I had the option now, I would probably go for Meridien.

Cheers

 

[dinyaar]

Hi Dinyaar,

My first criteria was that whatever component I chose should have local presence and support (in the past I have made a mistake of purchasing several stuff from abroad and finally ended up giving them away due to lack of local support/service centres). I chose NuForce as I was looking for an audiophile quality pre-amp for my stereo at the sametime, wanted an AV processor for my HT. After a lot of research, auditions and reading reviews, I decided on NuForce. For the amp I was very clear about choosing a Class A/B amplifier (the B&Ws require lots of it and somehow I find the new cool running class D amps do not have that extra grunt to give that magical lows). And among the Class A/B amps Rotel is best in class. If you really want any better, then you need to go in for mono-blocks for which you need massive amounts of space (which I do not really have) and even more power!!
Yes I bought it from AVI in Bangalore (after flying to Mumbai specially to meet with Brian Cooper and the guys from B&W in June 08). Yes, I have heard all of the 800 series (including the Nautilus Classic!! while in the UK). The 800 series are brilliant speakers (except that the 805 is a little small on the lows - quite similar to the Missions I owned previously). I found the 703s had better lows than the 805. Secondly, I did not want to go for 800 series fronts and 700 series centre and surrounds (as the 800 series centre and surrounds are too massive for my room). 804 and higher are just awesome. Well if I had the money and the space it would be Nautilus Classic/Genesis Technologies Mark II with Mark Levinson mono blocks!!! Bryston is good. But if I had the option now, I would probably go for Meridien.

Cheers

Hi,
Thanks for the replies.
I graduated from the 603, 704 to the 804 and also have the 805s. I totally agree that the 805s cant match 704/703 in the lows but is otherwise excellent. I actually bought the 805s as i now live in a smaller apt and left back the 804s at my old home for my folks to enjoy. (I did try them in my small listening area but there is too much loading)
Yes i know Burge Cooper for quite a while and he has been more than helpful for all my B&W needs. I tried a lot of Rotel/Nad/Marantz/cyrus gear for the 805s and finally bought the Bryston Pre/power as i am very familiar with that sound. I too have a few kimbers in the set up(timbre,silver streak, 8TC) and have always come back to them after trying tons of other cables. I also tried quite a few SM other than the B&W and for whatever reason ended up with the 805s.
I asked about the Bryston CDP as i am hearing great things about its transparency and neutrality and was offered it at a great price but i thought i wait till they perfect their first cdp.
Thanks again and hope u really enjoy the set up.
Rgds

 

[sathya]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies.
I graduated from the 603, 704 to the 804 and also have the 805s. I totally agree that the 805s cant match 704/703 in the lows but is otherwise excellent. I actually bought the 805s as i now live in a smaller apt and left back the 804s at my old home for my folks to enjoy. (I did try them in my small listening area but there is too much loading).......
I asked about the Bryston CDP as i am hearing great things about its transparency and neutrality and was offered it at a great price but i thought i wait till they perfect their first cdp.
Thanks again and hope u really enjoy the set up.
Rgds

Well I consider you lucky to own the 804s!!! But you need lots of power. I think minimum 5 channel amp for the 800 series would be a Rotel RMB 1095 (RMB 1075 would be little under powered for the 800 series) though for 804s ideal would be the Classe mono blocks

So if you have sold the Rotel, what amp do you have now? What about your centre and surrounds?
Bryston is excellent. But due to the past listening experience, somehow prefer Meridien

 

[dinyaar]

Hi Satya,
Amps are Bryston Pre/powers(BP 6/4BSST) and the cdps are Arcam CD 192 and Yamaha CDS 2000.
Simple stereo set ups so no centre/surrounds.
The 4 B ST & 4 B SST 2 both have more than enough grunt being 250wpc and 300 wpc for both the 804 & 805s.
Actually the Rotels were sold in 2007 and have been thru quite a few combos till i again went back to Bryston.
Rgds

 

[sathya]

Hi Satya,
Amps are Bryston Pre/powers(BP 6/4BSST) and the cdps are Arcam CD 192 and Yamaha CDS 2000.
Simple stereo set ups so no centre/surrounds.
The 4 B ST & 4 B SST 2 both have more than enough grunt being 250wpc and 300 wpc for both the 804 & 805s.
Actually the Rotels were sold in 2007 and have been thru quite a few combos till i again went back to Bryston.
Rgds

The 4 B ST were designed by Stuart Taylor and heard they are brilliant classic Class A/B amps with extremely high levels of noise immunity. However, they are said to be a little withdrawn at the higher frequencies (treble). Do you feel so?

 

[dinyaar]

Hi again,
Well u could say the newer SST & SST 2 are more detailed but there is something about that old ST that i like more. There is a fluid, effortless,transparent output that i love.
To my mind they are also more robust than the newer amps.
Simpler design = more reliable in the long run.

Classe is not my cup of tea and is priced steeply. Sometime in the future i will consider a Mcintosh. Another option with a B&W set up is an electrocompaniet. Problem is both these brands are a problem to look after if things go wrong.
Rgds

 

[persiflage]

Isn't Electrocompaniet represented by Sushil Anand these days? I reckon support (both within and without warranty) should be readily available?

 

[sathya]

Hi again,
Well u could say the newer SST & SST 2 are more detailed but there is something about that old ST that i like more. There is a fluid, effortless,transparent output that i love.
To my mind they are also more robust than the newer amps.
Simpler design = more reliable in the long run.

Classe is not my cup of tea and is priced steeply. Sometime in the future i will consider a Mcintosh. Another option with a B&W set up is an electrocompaniet. Problem is both these brands are a problem to look after if things go wrong.
Rgds

Hi,
Well that's the problem in India. Many brands are not represented directly and hence service, repairs/replacement is a nightmare. Therefore, I have decided to only consider brands that are represented strongly in India though the choice you are left with then just plummets but you atleast have some peace of mind.