What Hi Fi Show - Feb 2016 - Mumbai

The good thing was each and every distributor was eager to give a demo and ready to explain everything
The audio vector dealer was already packing up when I reached their room with Joshua and another friend. The person in charge was ready to power on everything for us but we felt bad on our part as they were already half way through the packing and told him we will come tomorrow


For me the best room was the one with jbl everest but the price of the setup with amps would easily cross 100 lakhs INR even after bargaining and dealer giving discount. So that I can't even dream of getting in this life

PMC room was second best. Then all in one AVM was doing a fantastic job. Sound had a superb tonality and super resolving without being a little bit edgy. The bass tone of ATL is very different but super tight

ELAC room for me was 3rd best as the price to performance ratio was just too good.

Sonus sound was super smooth but I guess way too polite and sugar coated. But superb imaging again

My first visit to the show and I was impressed.

As parag Bhai said luckily this time rooms were good acoustically

One surprising thing was no one promoting or playing any kind or network streamer or streamer plus dac. All had a CD player as source as one box solution or connected to dac

I thought network streamer would be the hottest item in the show. Most focus was on speakers
 
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Visited the show today afternoon. In order of visit, some impressions of the rooms.

The first port of call was the Nexus Audio room where a PMC twenty.26 floorstanding speaker was paired with the AVM Evolution CS 5.2 "all-in-one" box. This box is a CD player, a streaming receiver, boasting 330 watts, is a DAC with async USB, optical and coax interfaces, and supports practically all audio formats, and is also an MM/MC phono stage to boot! Cables were Soliton.

The speakers were set up quite wide, to fire along the shorter length of the room. The sound was very, very good. The AVM Evolution sure had a good grip on the speakers. This must be one of the best one-box solution in the market today. Of course one can't expect anything less when a room is set up by Khushrau Jilla of Nexus Audio;)

Next up was the Morel Sopran room. In the Morel speaker line-up, this beautifully curved speakers come in at one level below the top of the line Morel - namely the Fat Lady. The source was a top-of-the-line Marantz SACD player. A Marantz intergrated from the same line as the SACD player was used as a preamp, driving two Parasound power amplifiers. Unfortunately my photos are grainy due to the dark room and I can't make out the model numbers of the Marantz player and amp. Cables were Nordost Valhalla (1 or 2 - I am not sure). The window behind the equipment rack was covered by a huge mattress. The speakers need to be heard with the tweeters at ear level for it to sound right. For example, if one listens standing, the tweeters can get a bit too strident. To my ears this room sounded a bit too bright, percussions taking on a metallic tinge. The tonal balance was skewed and upturned. I could not place what caused it. May be wrong pairing of amp and speakers? I can't say for sure, but I learned today from experienced friends that Parasounds can be tough to get right. Close, but no cigar.

The next room had the full range of the Andrew Jones-designed Elac Debut speakers. The floorstanding F6 was playing. This is a three way bass reflex with 1 inch fabric tweeter, one 6.5" woven aramid fibre midrange, and two 6.5" woven aramid woofers. It is specced at 39-20000 Hz with a sensitivity of 87 dB at 2.83V at 1 meter, and 6 Ohms nominal impedance, going to a minimum of 5.4 Ohms. I guess that would qualify it as a fairly easy load for amplifiers, though one won't be expected to drive it with low-wattage amps. MRP Rs 76000. Also playing was an S10EQ powered subwoofer from the Debut line. This sub has all controls via a tablet or smartphone remote. The back panel is devoid of any controls. Electronics in this room consisted of a "norma Revo Digital Source" spinning CDs and a norma "Revo Amplifier". Cables were In-akustik from Germany. The electronics are many classes above the partnering speakers but served to raise the sound of these capable speakers. The sound of this room totally belied the budget nature of the speakers. I spent one of the longest time in this room. It was good. Period. Kudos to our forum member Bhagwan for setting up this room (one of the three rooms he'd set up for this show - this plus two Tannoy rooms). The subwoofer kicked in only when the program material required it and was unobstrusive otherwise. Just the way a subwoofer must be set up for two-channel :thumbsup: For those interested, the subwoofer is priced Rs 55000. The Debut B6 two-way bookshelves are priced at Rs 35000. The smaller Debut F6 floorstanders are priced Rs 70000.

Next up was the Tannoy Prestige room with the Turnberry (Rs 6.4 lakhs) and Kensington GR (Rs 12.8 lakhs). A Denon DCD 2000 was doing CD spinning duties. Hegel HD30 (Rs 4.49 lakhs) did amplification duty. The sound in this room was one of the very best in this edition of the What HiFi show. What we heard was the Tannoy Turnberry. Last year too the Tannoy Prestige room played very well. This time they've clearly bettered it. I don't recall the partnering electronics of last year, but the sound this year seems to have improved due to the total loving care shown in the placement of the speakers. These speakers are supposedly meant for placement near a wall, but I've always heard them at their best when given a wide space behind them. Prestige owners please take note. The room also had on static display a Hegel pre and power amp.

Up next was the huge JBL Everest (Rs 80 lakhs) room with Mark Levinson CDP, pre and power. I will state upfront that this room was the Sound of the Show for me. Where it edged past the Tannoy Prestige was the sheer purity of the music and the sheer blackness of the background; both had music dripping like honey. Neither has a modern hifi-ish sound, so some of us may not like them much, but one can't deny their musicality. This is not to say they have rolled-off highs and a spot-lighted midrange. Both sounded very balanced and resolved every little nuance in the music.

Up next was the Sonus Faber room where Rivera had on display the "budget" Venere (about 5.5 lakhs) floorstander and the Amati futura floorstander. Electronics was Macintosh throughout (MCD550 SACD player with built-in preamp, MB100 Media Bridge, and MA8000 Integrated amp). Cabling was Oyaide. This year, they've chosen to fire along the longer length of the room, with ample space behind the speakers. I heard a much more likable sound this year. We heard both speakers and they were both very good. The Amati futura obviously edged past the Venere but the Venere was no slouch. This room probably had the deepest soundstage this show. Some may term it laidback but personally I liked it. A lot.

The last room for the day was the Nexus Audio HT room where they had set up the PodiumSound Podium 1 distributed driver panel speakers. Electronics is from Artora (CDP-cum-pre and amp). Very mesmerising sound from these panels. I only thought the sound could be a bit weightier, otherwise it lacked nothing. There's no real sweetspot as it gets spread over a wide area since this speakers are designed to radiate omnidirectionally.

I could not visit many other rooms due to paucity of time. Also, I didn't go to any of the HT rooms as I knew I just won't have the time. As Bhagwan had been advising, it's a good idea to try and cover over two days at least. And take your favourite CDs - it's not wise to audition with unfamiliar tracks.

All in all, a very good show and a marked improvement in sound over the 2015 edition.

I have lots of photos. I will try to upload them in the next couple of days.
 
I think Rikhav and Joshua have correctly expressed the expo.
AJ towers are really fine speakers and one must not miss listening it.
Tannoys are really well sounding classy speakers.
PMC speakers shines as usual.
Rest will check today in details.

For HT lovers,Denon X5200 really surprised me with focal speakers.Sound was well calibrated.l hardly like Denon AVRs now a days.But this was good set up.
Also liked Nad with PSB speakers.Sound was detailed but not edgy.Can be enjoyed for long.Power was never short.
Arcam with Dali had good sound and power,but lacked refinement.
Arcam and Paradigm sounded very powerful,but very sharp.Also soundstage was not big enough.
Marantz SR6010 did not shine compared to other said combo.
Surround effects were not best.Also sound was edgy with Taga speakers.
Need to check rest today.
 
Visited the show on Friday morning and mixed response from my side. None of the HT setups were up and hence immediately went for the stereo speakers listen room. Others have already given their opinion and i give only my opinion which can differ with others views - so if you find them different please pardon me.

- Heco and Tannoy prestrige floorstanders sounded good and saviour of the day
- Another good sounding was the Epos floorstanders. I will rate the EPOS floor stander to be the best bet of price and quality in this entire show. Well done.
- Focal floorstanders were not good imo
- Morel was too bright and not phase coherent and was loosing balance on some recordings making you run away from the room
- Sonus faber was impressive and would have been happy with a little bit of more extension in the low end.
- PMC room was locked and came to know that it would be opened only on appointment
- JBL Everest was terrible considering the price tag
- TAGA was good considering the price though it was a bit boomy and laid back mids.
- Tannoy Heritage was good, but could not listen to my tracks as no one in the room for demoing and discussion.
- PSB T3 was good and considering the price tag
- Sonodyne active speakers were not connected and heard their HT setup. As usual chesty bass, laid back mid and bright highs. Always wondered how they design, review and relase for production with so many issues in their design. Need more subjective review experts for them to improve on their range.

My 2 paise. Again my own assessment. Could differ with others and please pardon me if you felt otherwise. Thank you.
 
A very well laid-out Show. The best I have ever been to, in India! I found all participants keen to answer queries and making efforts to showcase the wares with virtually 'no' exhibitions of stiff upper-lip. A welcome change!

I fully agree with a report earlier of the BEST price to performance for the 2-channel speaker was the Epos FS, with the Taga coming in a distant second. This, is from the point of a middle-class Indian buyer for 'serious' sound.

A big disappointment however, was the absence of any India-made product, both from the organized (except Sonodyne) as well as the unorganized. That, could have covered all at this Show.
 
just got back home from the show.

Firstly - well done to the organizers and the participants !!

My 4 hours were well spent.

All the folks have put in lot of hard work to show case their wares and so it will be unfair to single out on a very analytical basis. But my reference was my rig and the 3 familiar CD's i carried with me. This is a very subjective and personal taste and obviously with my limited experience - is not to be construed as the end all of it. After-all YMMV.

I carried CD's :-

Nina Simone - Greatest Hits
The Laya Project
Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven

a. The Taga F120 was a good speaker. I thought it deserved a better amplification and a better source. But the D&D would have it positioned at a price point and so i dont dismiss his choice at all.

The room was good and the staff courteous.

b. The PMC Twenty . 26 with AVM amp - made music - yes.... and as expected from KJ. Well done !

. The active floor stander Audio-Pro from Scandinavia ( Thane distributor ) made good music too.

d. Pleasure to meet Mr Jean from metronome audio and to spend half an hour talking about CD players and the intricacies of making a good source. Thank you for your time sir and thanks to Denom for leaving him at my mercy :lol:

It was heartening to listen to the Metronome CD8S - a very well built machine and my type of build - if it makes any sense.

e. The Naim Uniti - what can i say - making music again !!! There is something about a Naim that pulls me like a magnet but there is life beyond Naim too and that was evidenced by

f. The sweet sounding - emotionally connecting - pocket rocket - hats off to Creek CD player + Creek 50A amp + Acoustic Energy AE1 for making my evening !!!

If i were to start all over from scratch - i would have gone to the nearest ATM machine !!

I quote from stereophile - "...If you have a small room, or value midrange transparency and the ability to make the ends of your listening room disappear above bass extension (footnote 3), then the Acoustic Energy AE1 should be on your short list of speakers to audition. As far as I'm concerned, it redefines the art of miniature speaker design..." unquote

g. Thanks also to Mazhar for spending sone time with me. The Elac T5 are very good speakers as also the Hegel and Tannoy Tunberry combo.

Customers take precedence and i had to leave the room as i did not want to impinge on sales prospects for any D&D.

I see also that the age of converged audio source is upon us and we will have to work out a way to store our music collections and make choices accordingly.

Note : It was great to meet HFV members as well. Today was one of those days when i wanted to be alone and so i could not join some of you at the show for rounds etc... Sorry again.

regards
 
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Thank you to FMs "mpw, ghatgepatil, Hari Iyer, spirovious, jls001, rikhav" for the consolidated summary.
Special thanks to "spirovious" for the eye candy.

Coming to the converged audio trend, any products that stood out and said 'I will make life easy for you'?

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Coming to the converged audio trend, any products that stood out and said 'I will make life easy for you'?

Cheers,
Raghu

AVM CS 5.2 if price is not an issue

DAC / CDP / Streamer / 300 watt AMP in one box and super sounding

Absolute clutter free. Don't even need to buy a rack. No mess with cables
 
AVM CS 5.2 if price is not an issue

DAC / CDP / Streamer / 300 watt AMP in one box and super sounding

Absolute clutter free. Don't even need to buy a rack. No mess with cables

Just checked the features and spec; pretty impressive.
As you pointed out, many of us will have to take a second mortgage to afford this.

Thanks,
Raghu
 
Coming to the converged audio trend, any products that stood out and said 'I will make life easy for you'?

Cheers,
Raghu
If you need a budget stereo,then
Thonet and Vander speakers sounded good.Bookshelf speakers starts from Rs.22000.
It can play via Bluetooth.
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Second was Paradigm/anthem class D small amp with WiFi and anthem ARC inbuilt.Price around 50k around.
ev3kuw.jpg


Also would like to add Klipsch powered speakers around same range.If you don,t want to go loud,then very good sounding one.
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Thanks spirovious.
My 2-ch and HT setups are complete for now. No more additions/deletions/upgrades for a few years (unless some component goes bust).
But it is always nice to know what is trending out there in the market at various price points.
Great job on the pics. Don't worry they were not dull by any measure.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Continuing to my HT demo-

Marantz AV-pre with poweramp(I think ML) was very powerful.Gunshots in the movie just came on to chest. Subwoofer firing every shot with great power and control.Details were there,but high frequencies slightly rolled off.It reminded me B&W setup heard in 2003 expo.

Another setup was with ADA AVR which was equally good in terms of power and detailing were better.Some how subwoofer was not doing justice.It sounded under powered. Speakers connected can be seen in the next image-
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Sonodyne theater also was another great setup.I will say subwoofer takes the cake.It was very powerful and can be heard next room even when the door was closed.I can say perfect HT sub with chest thumping bass.Overall sonodyne pre-power had less fine details.But subwoofer has to be praised.It has less depth as in picture-
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Also heard Pioneer LX-88.Sound was very warm with TRIAD speakers.
I had good power,but not better than other system I heard.Nothing special here-
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Finally I liked Audiocontrol AVR connected to Swedish speakers.It was a perfect hometheater.It had power,punch.It presented every detail in the scene.The breath can be heard and very good depth in the sound. Subwoofer was flat and can be wall mounted I think.
Sound was superb.

To me Audiocontrol was best HT setup. Second was marantz pre + amp.
Third is confusing.For overall performance,I can vote Denon with Focal mentioned yesterday.For subwoofer effect,Sonodyne is way ahead.:)
 
Some more setups-

Acoustic Energy speakers
osecut.jpg

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Mcintosh setup-

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dotftc.jpg

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JBL Synthesis-

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But system I enjoyed the most was Denon ,Hegal and Tannoy-
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Thanks to Bhagwan who took efforts to sound Tannoys fantastic.
We couldn't resist to listen them again till they are packed up in the end.:)
 
he he..

we are missing your pics .... with the man behind the machine ;)

:-))

spiro - ek picture put up karo with you posing next to those mean looking JBL's

:

edit -- i should have checked the FB link first.. :lol:
 
at the show were there any acoustic panels / bass traps etc... displayed.. ??

did i miss anything on this front ?
 
I shall post my 'like' at the show.

# 1 = JBL Everest
# 2 = Sonus Faber Amati Futura
# 3 = Burmester 100
# 4 = PMC Twenty.26

I have not commented on the Tannoy & Elac - I had set them up & was intermittently manning those room - therefore have kept them out of my purview.

HT - Sonodyne # 1 & Proscella # 2
I had issues with both - bass alignment - but that is a different matter all together.

Special mention to the Musical Fad & Metronome Room. That was a very well executed & installed set up. Our very own FM 'denom' had done it & deserves applauds for it.

Overall, I liked the 'show' a lot & it was nice way to spend 4 days.
I only learnt & got away wiser.
I wish What Hi Fi the best for years to come & may there be many more shows like this.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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