I have heard the Lowther version at a friend's place. Owned the V2, V3 versions of the Rethm Saadhanas for the last 5 years and finally the latest and greatest Rethm Saadhana@2022 is in the house. Selling the older rethms was quite challenging. However, Jacob@rethm proactively helped to find a buyer. I only had to pay for the delta for this new design and shipping. So, Kudo's to the Rethm for this great Customer Service.
Changes:
Moved into a smaller room (27 ft to 19 ft) *13.8 ft. Replaced Holo-Spring Level 2 to the EC designs Dac.
EC designs is a fantastic dac , which won my heart even when I was listening to a stop gap Elac & Spender setup.
It is what i would call a "down to earth" dac , with no show-off.
Setup:
1. Wiim Mini => EC Designs Power Dac R=>Quinpu (Chinese hybrid AB amp) =>Rethm
2. Wiim Mini => EC Designs Power Dac R=>Lyrita (2a3) =>Rethm
Impressions:
Setup 1 is what i was most familiar with except for the dac change from Holo Audio to EC designs.
I put up the rethms exactly where my Elacs were placed (5.8ft into the room), adjusted the crossover point to 1 o'clock and the bass volume at 9 pm.
The first thing I wanted to try out is a ruthlessly bad recording but a real melodies song. It doesn't matter to be how good a system sounds if it's not able to play my favorites. Selected "Dil hoom hoom Kare" - Rudali @ Amazon music in wiim and hit play. This is a song, I always wanted to hear in a great system, but honestly none of the audiophile systems in the past except for a few headphones have done justice to the song. Systems seem to dissect the song to produce the highest high and the lowest low and what not. Where the older rethms sounded lively but thin, the newer sounded full bodied and emotional. Bhupen Hazarika had just the right weight in his vocals and still clear in the upper midrange. The natural reverb in his voice was clear and apparent. There was no grain or strain, just musical.
I immediately picked up the phone and asked Jacob "Are you sure the Full Range Drivers are the same?". He confirmed, "exactly the same".
I responded, " did you send me a broken speaker last time?". He giggled and said, "No! Were those so bad? The new one's are really a big upgrade actually!"
Indeed, it is! I followed up with all the Audiophile stuff (Chantal Chamberland / Jennifer Warnes / Stevie Ray Vaughan/ AR Rahman/Indian Ocean /Zakir etc ). Everything was way better in terms of connecting with music. More meat on the bones on the midrange and more control on the upper frequencies. It's not a subtle change, it's a big one. The bass blends easily into the lower midrange and has more visceral impact. The bass is more direct now, compared to a diffused presentation previously. The frequency ranges retain their character even when the volume is pushed, which is usually a weak point for augmented systems as was also evident on the older models. One of the key things I noticed was the speaker's ability to work closer to the front wall. The front firing bass drivers have given the flexibility to work with room placement. At some point I was leaning towards the Maargas , due to the reduced dimensions of my room, but Saadhanas can scale down at will. Obviously, you need some space to get soundstage depth, but the newer models can operate from 2 ft into the room easily without interacting with the room too much.
My setup 1 is not optimal, considering DHT is what is always preferred with full rangers, I ordered the 2a3 from Lyrita.
Going back to the same "Rudali" track (which now has become like a test tone than a track), I heard, what I could only imagine.
Music was more mellifluous than ever before. The tone & timbre became more addictive and relaxing. The soundstage depth increased considerably.
If Setup 1 could harp your nostalgia, the setup 2 will seduce you to listen to the lyrics, that you might have missed in the past.
This was my wife's favorite system, till date. She said nothing ever sounded so smooth and musical, in my room.
Every song I played injected a drop of 2a3 sweetness, which was so much believable, especially for old/harsh recordings.
This setup was a learning curve for me. Considering the 100DB sensitivity of the Rethms , the 2a3 should be driving it easily.
However, we audiophiles are not impressed so easily! There were certain dynamic strains when playing Rahman which I was not hearing with the 16W hybrid.
The vertical dispersion and soundstage width was somehow compromised and there seems to be less air between the instrument, which sometimes may be perceived as less detailed. I really wanted to retain the organic character, tonality of the 2a3 and add some power - That would have been a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, with heavy heart I returned the Lyrita 2a3 and I am back to my Setup 1.
----
The Lyrita for its price is a really wonderful piece of gear. Viren Sir is just a wonderful person to talk to.
I visited him yesterday. Heard the same amp with the Horns. They sounded lovely and unstrained thus projecting the 2a3 character very well.
So, it's not the amp, its more the pairing with the rethms or may be the size of my room (with heavy furnishing), which was throttling the 2a3s.
I am indeed constrained by the amp now in my system, especially after realizing the capability of a true DHT... so the amp search continues....
----
Still in my current setup, the Rethm Saadhanas can take me to a hell of a musical journey. It's not the highs or the lows, it's not the soundstage or the imaging, it's the way I am embraced by music every day is more real than anything else. I am confident that the speakers can take my system to the finale once i can find her soulmate.
I am quite proud of the esthetics too .... they look great in my new room (BOLD & BEAUTIFUL). Will post some pictures soon......
Changes:
Moved into a smaller room (27 ft to 19 ft) *13.8 ft. Replaced Holo-Spring Level 2 to the EC designs Dac.
EC designs is a fantastic dac , which won my heart even when I was listening to a stop gap Elac & Spender setup.
It is what i would call a "down to earth" dac , with no show-off.
Setup:
1. Wiim Mini => EC Designs Power Dac R=>Quinpu (Chinese hybrid AB amp) =>Rethm
2. Wiim Mini => EC Designs Power Dac R=>Lyrita (2a3) =>Rethm
Impressions:
Setup 1 is what i was most familiar with except for the dac change from Holo Audio to EC designs.
I put up the rethms exactly where my Elacs were placed (5.8ft into the room), adjusted the crossover point to 1 o'clock and the bass volume at 9 pm.
The first thing I wanted to try out is a ruthlessly bad recording but a real melodies song. It doesn't matter to be how good a system sounds if it's not able to play my favorites. Selected "Dil hoom hoom Kare" - Rudali @ Amazon music in wiim and hit play. This is a song, I always wanted to hear in a great system, but honestly none of the audiophile systems in the past except for a few headphones have done justice to the song. Systems seem to dissect the song to produce the highest high and the lowest low and what not. Where the older rethms sounded lively but thin, the newer sounded full bodied and emotional. Bhupen Hazarika had just the right weight in his vocals and still clear in the upper midrange. The natural reverb in his voice was clear and apparent. There was no grain or strain, just musical.
I immediately picked up the phone and asked Jacob "Are you sure the Full Range Drivers are the same?". He confirmed, "exactly the same".
I responded, " did you send me a broken speaker last time?". He giggled and said, "No! Were those so bad? The new one's are really a big upgrade actually!"
Indeed, it is! I followed up with all the Audiophile stuff (Chantal Chamberland / Jennifer Warnes / Stevie Ray Vaughan/ AR Rahman/Indian Ocean /Zakir etc ). Everything was way better in terms of connecting with music. More meat on the bones on the midrange and more control on the upper frequencies. It's not a subtle change, it's a big one. The bass blends easily into the lower midrange and has more visceral impact. The bass is more direct now, compared to a diffused presentation previously. The frequency ranges retain their character even when the volume is pushed, which is usually a weak point for augmented systems as was also evident on the older models. One of the key things I noticed was the speaker's ability to work closer to the front wall. The front firing bass drivers have given the flexibility to work with room placement. At some point I was leaning towards the Maargas , due to the reduced dimensions of my room, but Saadhanas can scale down at will. Obviously, you need some space to get soundstage depth, but the newer models can operate from 2 ft into the room easily without interacting with the room too much.
My setup 1 is not optimal, considering DHT is what is always preferred with full rangers, I ordered the 2a3 from Lyrita.
Going back to the same "Rudali" track (which now has become like a test tone than a track), I heard, what I could only imagine.
Music was more mellifluous than ever before. The tone & timbre became more addictive and relaxing. The soundstage depth increased considerably.
If Setup 1 could harp your nostalgia, the setup 2 will seduce you to listen to the lyrics, that you might have missed in the past.
This was my wife's favorite system, till date. She said nothing ever sounded so smooth and musical, in my room.
Every song I played injected a drop of 2a3 sweetness, which was so much believable, especially for old/harsh recordings.
This setup was a learning curve for me. Considering the 100DB sensitivity of the Rethms , the 2a3 should be driving it easily.
However, we audiophiles are not impressed so easily! There were certain dynamic strains when playing Rahman which I was not hearing with the 16W hybrid.
The vertical dispersion and soundstage width was somehow compromised and there seems to be less air between the instrument, which sometimes may be perceived as less detailed. I really wanted to retain the organic character, tonality of the 2a3 and add some power - That would have been a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, with heavy heart I returned the Lyrita 2a3 and I am back to my Setup 1.
----
The Lyrita for its price is a really wonderful piece of gear. Viren Sir is just a wonderful person to talk to.
I visited him yesterday. Heard the same amp with the Horns. They sounded lovely and unstrained thus projecting the 2a3 character very well.
So, it's not the amp, its more the pairing with the rethms or may be the size of my room (with heavy furnishing), which was throttling the 2a3s.
I am indeed constrained by the amp now in my system, especially after realizing the capability of a true DHT... so the amp search continues....
----
Still in my current setup, the Rethm Saadhanas can take me to a hell of a musical journey. It's not the highs or the lows, it's not the soundstage or the imaging, it's the way I am embraced by music every day is more real than anything else. I am confident that the speakers can take my system to the finale once i can find her soulmate.
I am quite proud of the esthetics too .... they look great in my new room (BOLD & BEAUTIFUL). Will post some pictures soon......
