Pratyush J
Active Member
Friends, just a quick update; I will be travelling to Blore on official trip next week and will utilize it to audition other brands. Will keep this thread updated
Moving on from Elac F5 and Yamaha R-N303
- Thread starter Pratyush J
- Start date
This might help you to plan your visit. Indiq and Modern Audio Domlur ( for Qacoustics Concept 40 and elac FS) are missing in the post.
Post in thread 'HT upgrade recommendations' https://www.hifivision.com/threads/ht-upgrade-recommendations.80392/post-896401
Post in thread 'HT upgrade recommendations' https://www.hifivision.com/threads/ht-upgrade-recommendations.80392/post-896401
@Pratyush J my two cents would be buy used, specially poweramps and speakers.
These do not deteriorate easily over time and it will leave lot of money on the table for other things.
You will also get to learn from the gentlemen you buy from.
These do not deteriorate easily over time and it will leave lot of money on the table for other things.
You will also get to learn from the gentlemen you buy from.
Pratyush J
Active Member
Sure, will plan it accordingly
By nature I prefer a new setup / items. Also, when picking up something preowned, what plays on my mind is that the product was not good enough that's why someone is selling it and going for an upgrade.
Hello FMs,
Sharing the experience of my Bangalore trip in search for an audio setup. As a general observation, in almost all of the setups I had been to, all of the speakers were paired up with really high end AVRs / Amplifiers / CD players / Tube buffers running into lacs. They politely decline the request to pair the speakers with an average audio gear as they said they do not carry them. Even if they had them for display, they were not connected to the speakers. This was a big downer for me as I wanted to audition the speakers with both top and average audio chain to see how the speakers performed. This was observed even during my Delhi trip. Also, all of the setups were in an acoustically treated room, with perfect placement. What if I don’t have the liberty to have similar placement at my place? I have understood through multiple posts on this forum that sound in a treated room will be very different from what it will be in a regular room. Indiqaudio was an exception where in they had multiple centres catering to all types of requirements. They understood my requirements and asked us to come to their living room setup which will be very close to my listening environment.
Here are my impressions of various combinations I auditioned on my playlist. I am not technical enough to get into details, but will give you a good idea.
3050i: Bass was very good, vocals were good too, but the moment I increased the volume to my listening levels I felt the vocals taking a back seat. At extremely low volumes usually what we keep at night, bass was heard but vocals were difficult to come by. Played with Denon 3600
Paradigm 6000F: Vocals were good and sharp but bass was not as smooth as 3050i. Played with Denon 3600
Concept40: Great speaker to look at, what a finish! The vocals were really spot on, felt the sound stage right in front of me. Bass was less, probably with a subwoofer these would be great. Played with Denon 3600
Elac FS: Did not audition them as I wanted to move on from my older Elacs
KEF Q950: Very good and detailed sound. Right amount of bass and punch. But way over my budget as was the case with MA Silver 200 FS which I auditioned in Delhi. Played with Yamaha 2080
Indiqaudio: Very balanced with the best soundstage I heard so far, liked the bass a lot. It did not impact the mids even at high or extremely low volumes very similar to what I heard at their Gurgaon customer’s place. Played with their Amps and Norge 1000
A full day very well spent. Time and again I miss the benefits of living in a city like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai where you have so many options. After so many auditions my choices are MA Silver 200 FS / KEF Q950 / Indiqaudio. Objectively looking at all 3 this is how they will stack (Best-> 2nd best -> 3rd best) against each other:
Performance: Indiqaudio -> MA -> KEF
Looks: MA -> KEF -> Indiqaudio (They offer you custom shades, though and magnetic grills)
Price: Indiqaudio -> KEF -> MA
15-day trial: Indiqaudio
Considering the overall value, I have decided to go for Indiqaudio. I have burnt enough hours over last few months trying to find the best for me and it seems the wait is finally over.
Thankyou all the FMs who took time to share their feedback. I will post my impressions once I get my gear, probably by Jan end, really excited about this buy!
SiddharthY
Member
Good that you could audition and then decide whats best suited for you. There are FMs with Indiq setup (including me) who are very happy with the speakers which come as balanced and good frequency separation.
Enjoy the journey
Yogesh
Well-Known Member
Great Decision!
Amit's capacity will be very stretched with all the order's over flowing!
Great decision Pratyush. I am sure you will love them.
For IndiqAudio product I have only one Comment - A wonderful product designed and produced by wonderful person.
Pratyush J
Active Member
The speakers and amplifier arrived 10 days back before the committed timeframe . Was waiting for them to open up before posting the review. Pictures attached, please ignore the AV rack as it has some old and non-functional and some borrowed equipment.
First impressions: Speakers look solid, very nice fit and finish. Was worried about the sharp laminate edges, but they were finished and smoothened quite well. Their gold Saptak too has a nice aluminum front plate with matt top and side cover. The amplifier is around 12 Kgs
Out of box sound was bit raw and needed time to open up. Mids were little on sharper side and bass was lower than what I heard at their center. After listening to them for about 15 – 20 hours, the sound changed to a great deal. The mids / highs became very smooth, bass became more pronounced and much more enjoyable. After another 20 hours of listening, highs/mids did not see much change but bass kept on becoming more and more rounded. Have used them for about 40 hours which included music and movies and they are performing at a different level all together now. Even for movies, I don’t think I will need subs as the towers are sufficient. Even with the tracks with heavy bass, the mids don’t get coloured.
My room acoustics treatment is still under works but does their job very well. The best thing I liked about the amp is the tone lifts. Although I like the source direct for majority of the genres, HF + LF goes very well with EDM and Trans. I have played them even at late night at extremely low volume, still the sound stage, vocals, bass were very nice. This aspect was dearly missed with my Elacs, their bass was almost non-existent at very low volume.
To summarize, I am really impressed with the combo and is much better than majority of the setups I have heard so far even at twice the price. The source right now is my phone directly and hunt for a streamer will start soon once my budget battery gets charged. One line about Amit, a thorough gentleman, who ensures you get the most out of your purchase.
First impressions: Speakers look solid, very nice fit and finish. Was worried about the sharp laminate edges, but they were finished and smoothened quite well. Their gold Saptak too has a nice aluminum front plate with matt top and side cover. The amplifier is around 12 Kgs
Out of box sound was bit raw and needed time to open up. Mids were little on sharper side and bass was lower than what I heard at their center. After listening to them for about 15 – 20 hours, the sound changed to a great deal. The mids / highs became very smooth, bass became more pronounced and much more enjoyable. After another 20 hours of listening, highs/mids did not see much change but bass kept on becoming more and more rounded. Have used them for about 40 hours which included music and movies and they are performing at a different level all together now. Even for movies, I don’t think I will need subs as the towers are sufficient. Even with the tracks with heavy bass, the mids don’t get coloured.
My room acoustics treatment is still under works but does their job very well. The best thing I liked about the amp is the tone lifts. Although I like the source direct for majority of the genres, HF + LF goes very well with EDM and Trans. I have played them even at late night at extremely low volume, still the sound stage, vocals, bass were very nice. This aspect was dearly missed with my Elacs, their bass was almost non-existent at very low volume.
To summarize, I am really impressed with the combo and is much better than majority of the setups I have heard so far even at twice the price. The source right now is my phone directly and hunt for a streamer will start soon once my budget battery gets charged. One line about Amit, a thorough gentleman, who ensures you get the most out of your purchase.
Attachments
Many Congrats Pratyush.
after 100 hrs speaker will open up mostly but after 30 days or so speaker will be fully settled and you will have great surprise. This I observed personally
Enjoy !
Nicely summed up @Pratyush J , correlate with your initial impressions. I too felt the out of the box sound to be little raw with treble very meek , low bass output and mids were better than above 2 but not like audition. Just running it through for 10-15 hours changed the signature to a very enjoyable mid and treble with slightly punchier bass but quantity was still lacking, I too have used it for not more than 30-40 hours so far and have thoroughly enjoyed how it has now opened up with mids sounding magical, highs sweet & detailed and lows much more in quantity than before but have a feeling will need another 40-50 hours to open up to the level of the audition set at Amits place.
I have moved the Achal to the front along with the focals to give a decent listening time to both the setups.
This is the best part I like about Achal. Mid night listening while all family members enjoy their sound sleep I can enjoy my music in lowest possible volume. At low volume also the Achal delivers crystal clear crisp high , melodious mid and deep bass.
Only negative part , they are highly addictive
Pratyush J
Active Member
After about 2 more weeks of serious listening, the speakers have settled in completely. The sonic signature now compared to day 1 has become more open, expansive, smooth and much more enjoyable. You can listen to them for hours after hours and don't want to switch them off. Amit has been checking with me very regularly and answering my noob questions every time we connect. I thank all the FMs who helped me in choosing the right product
What are you using as source ?
Pratyush J
Active Member
Running directly via phone, adding a streamer very soon
Please do. You are using the worst possible source one could have in a stereo setup.
Pratyush J
Active Member
Can't agree more with you. Shifting city and settling in took bulk of my time. Finally with speakers and amplifier done, I am relieved. Hunt for streamer started and I should have it very very soon
All the best. If you have a Tidal masters account it would do good to get a streamer which supports MQA.
Also , if you have physical media (CDs ) , do try a CD player sometime when budget permits. I prefer CDs anyday to streaming.
And someday , if the itch starts , you can get into the vinyl rabbithole. There’s no turning back from that. Everything becomes secondary.
Pratyush J
Active Member
I am more into streaming no physical media as of now. To be honest, this current combination is sounding way better than anticipated even with direct phone. Have an old unused Motorola doing the dutyAll the best. If you have a Tidal masters account it would do good to get a streamer which supports MQA.
Also , if you have physical media (CDs ) , do try a CD player sometime when budget permits. I prefer CDs anyday to streaming.
And someday , if the itch starts , you can get into the vinyl rabbithole. There’s no turning back from that. Everything becomes secondary.
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