@ Soundcraft,
Good points.
I have been following Indian products for more than a decade now.
However, there are very few designs out there which sound special ( Indian or western make ). The ones that never let you turn your music system off. They make a lasting impression upon your mind. When you encounter such designs, you write about them. You share the experience.
So far, I have encountered "some" such speakers from Cadence, Rethm, and some models from Acoustic portrait and Audire from India.
However, I have not personally encountered any other speaker brand that made a lasting impression from India. It would be great if people can share their experience with other Indian brands as well.
good perspective square_wave!
I have also been keenly following 'Indian' audio brands for a few years now - starting with my first listen of 'lyrita audio' way back in 2006 in Delhi.
I have heard select models of all the four brands that you mentioned (Cadence, Rethm, Acoustic Portrait & Audire) - and except for the Audire (IO2), I came away impressed with all of them. Even in the Audire's case, I don't think it was the speaker's fault - more the setup and matching
To the list, I would like to add a few more - though not all may be playing in the hi-end audio space. However, they still offer excellent value for money. I am only listing those brands that I have heard, and in no particular order:
- Lyrita audio: Excellent value for money valve amplifiers, horn and single driver speakers. Have heard quite a few products from this brand, and will wholeheartedly recommend their products if the sound floats your boat. Viren, the proprietor of Lyrita audio is a gem of a gentleman.
- Norge audio: Good starting point for a beginner, at costs far lower than any comparable international brand. One can set up a decent Norge based setup (speakers & amp) for less than Rs 25K. Sadly, the owner (Mr Bajaj) passed away last year, though I hear that his daughter is continuing the business
- Lithos Acoustic: Though Rajiv (the owner) focuses more on the HT segment since that caters to a larger audience, some of his speakers (the Kontra for example) are quite good for 2 channel audio.
- Enbee: This brand - though extinct now due to the death of it's owner (Mr Nakhra) a few years ago - was famous in the NCR area for high 'quality' sound. Having owned a complete system from this brand for the past 8 years, I have had no desire to change my setup - in spite of having heard quite a few combinations over the past few years. I know of a couple of people in the Delhi/NCR region who have owned Enbee setups for nearly 25 years!
Only a house shift towards the later part of this year - where this setup will not get enough space - has me looking for alternatives. And guess what? the Rethm Bhaava and Acoustic Portrait setups are a couple of serious alternatives that I am considering!
I am sure there are many more such Indian brands that provide excellent value for money - at different price points. Will be good to hear from other FMs too about such brands!
It is interesting to note that we cannot discuss any of these brands without talking about the owner/proprietor. This holds true for Cadence, Rethm and the other brands mentioned. Most of these brands are small, and are run as much from the passion of the owner as with the intention of making money. It is also easy to see the personalities of these gentlemen (no ladies in this business yet!) in their products. Having met quite a few of them, I also understand why they are not able to or are not interested in scaling up. They are mostly 'boutique' mom-and-pop setups offering a very personalized experience/products - something that is very difficult to scale up as a business.
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