RETHM SPKS MADE IN INDIA AT CES 2005.

thats excellent we indians are marching ahead in the hifi race

Can anybody tell me where I can audition a pair. Their website does not have any Indian addresses or phone numbers. Made in India??

Also I notices prices in the region of $7500 a pair. Made in India??

Roshan

Prithvi, are u sure it is Made in India ?
It is owned by a person of Indian origin..but doubt if it has anything to do with India otherwise..

Dear Arj,
It is made in cochin and the person who makes it is Mr. Jacob George also known as suresh who also happens to be a personal friend.

Rgds

Prithvi

yes arj,

made in cochin...I have spoken once to the man as well. He has introduced his own line of amps and cables as well....am I right ?

manek.

Can we audition one in bangalore ????

Yes Abhi very soon at my place, but they are not cheap at all. Cheapest model will be upwards of US$ 2500/- approx, I think so. Prices yet to be fixed for the indian market by Jacob.

Abhi dont waste ur time auditioning stuff that is not in ur budget as
1. You will get disappointed and not even buy what you were trying to buy.
2. You may keep putting off buying a hi-fi system &
3. You will get totally confused.

Just for namesake auditioining is ok if you want to appreciate quality, but remember that you got to pay for quality.

Rgds

Prithvi

Hi

www.rethm.com has the full details and price ranges . Take a look at that . They have given some contact numbers in Kerala also

Best regards
Deepu

Prithvi,
You are right by saying that. I also dont waste much time in going all the way auditioning very high end products. Actually I didnt know that RETHM are that expensive, I thought a decent pair of towers will be well within 40k . But anyway thanks for your information and suggestion.

Manek,
You should audition the Rethms.Marbin Colah distributes them in these parts.

More so since

a) you are/were contemplating upgrading to the Avitas
b) that you mainly listen to Jazz and Western Classical music.

Marbin had a pair lying around (2nd Rethms, I think ?)and we happened to hook them up with my Roksan Kandy.Stuff like Handel's water music, Keith Jarett and Astor Piazzola sounded absolutely stunning.

Stuff like Nitin Sawhney did'nt sound right, but that was to be expected.

Definitely worth an audition if emotion in accoustic music moves you.

Cheers
Krishnan

Krish,

I heard them at the AV revolution at grand hyatt and was woefully disappointed when I played Oscar Peterson, Mahalia Jackson, Brahms sym no 4 and Diana Krall for good measure(all very good recordings),....not just me but 3 or my friends as well. I know that a hotel room is not the proper environment at all and they are quite fussy about room placement.....but they just did not cut it for me. I also read that they sounded great to certian reviewers and others, so best of luck to them !

Secondly my uncle has a pair of lowther full frequency speakers and I sure dont want to take that path currently. I've heard his speakers since I was a child(he is a single driver folded horn fan!). Cant say I like any of his speakers sets too much. BTW...those lowther drivers foam surrounds do disintegrate within 2.5 yrs in Indian weather,my uncle used to get them repaired at the lowther service centre in london very often, he has the means to do it and the passion for lowther as well. Not for me.

To me, the avita is the sweetest sounding speakers in its budget. The electrostatic panel is divine, the mid/bass excellent. I dont plan to upgrade in a hurry but the avitas are the sound I'm looking for

to each his/her own poison

to put it another way....one man's fish is another man's poison ! heh heh !

I feel it is more about the sense of belonging that makes you feel the brand we own are the best . thus if cadence sounds best to you..it's best (it's best actually no doubt about it)..my neighbour kid argues his SONY hifi with 7000 watts can rock the earth.phrffffffff...hhahahaha. .thus one man's poison is another man's fish.umph

Manek schrieb:

to put it another way....one man's fish is another man's poison ! heh heh !

mm.. Fish is called poisson in french

yep.....I know arj.....
the original phrase does go "One man's fish is another man's poisson" very nice and dry british humour !

manek.

Hi Manek,

I share your views on the Lowthers.

To those who like them, Lowthers are almost a religion, but they did absolutely zilch for me. Despite the massive reflex horn loading, there was hardly any appreciable bass. I had heard a lot about their magical qualities with respect to voices, but when I actually heard them, played with a Unison Research SET amp, I was sorely disappointed.

To my ears, they simply played loud.

big ears, to me the lowther/rethm performance was devoid of any emotion, lack lustre, as if just notes were being played....I just did not connect to the music I played on them at all, keeping other properties or rather lack of them aside.

Music on my cadence aritas is such an emotional experience everytime I hear them and a very comforting feeling....perfect tool to unwind !

Manek.

I concur !
I had auditioned the LothX series quite extinsively.
they do have usable response down to 40 Hz, but "SPL levels are pretty low.hence the Bass is fast but not hard hitting.
Thought they sounded very good with Vocals (Rebecca Pidgeon et al) but the Rockability factor is missing.
I think they should do very well matched with a Rel Strata sub

Manek,

Unfortunately, haven’t heard Cadences for a long enough period to form a firm opinion.

Also, the only time I did so, it was at an AV show at the Lands End, and it was immediately after an extended session with a Audio Analogue Maestro / B&W Nautilus 801 combo.

Disservice to the Cadence combo actually, the Maestro / 801 would be a tough act for any one to follow.

Big, ears, if you do get a chance...do a long listen to the cadence avita (entry level electrostat)...quite divine and amazing for their price in India....if you get a chance to hear it with their canasya monoblock amps then I guess you are in for treat !

801 could be compared to the Cadence Arca....Arca is truely a beautiful speaker.

The magic is in that electrostatic panel....!

Manek.

Manek,

Is the Arca the top of the line speaker in the Cadence range, and how much does it cost?

There is something about electrostatic panels, have heard some very good Martin Logans and was struck by their speed. Too expensive for my pockets, though.

Guys,
There does seem to be this strong opinion that the Lothers "shout".

However that is not the case with the Rethms.Not atlest to my ears.

Arj, I do agree that bass response of the horns are a bit of an issue.However I think they are most suited to those whose tastes are firmly rooted in Western Classical or Accoustic Jazz.

Also i wonder whether adding a sub, even something like a Rel would solve the Bass problem.Would not timing be an issue ?

Krishnan

The Arcas retails for around 300K.Right Manek ? BTW I think that they would give the Martin Logans a tough run .I'm sure manek will agree

yes arca is their top of the line model. I think it costs 5 lacs here in India per pair.

You are right about the electrostatic panels...they have the magic !

The martin logan has a good panel but dynamic driver bass integration leaves a lot to be desired from the what I have heard. The cadence giuys have intregrated their dynamic speaker to the electrostatic panel quite amazingly ! thats the beauty of these speakers.

The magnepan planars are also very nice ,the 3.6's especially. Unfortunately they need a sub or two to really make an impact.

manek.

The Arcas retails for around 300K.Right Manek ? BTW I think that they would give the Martin Logans a tough run .I'm sure manek will agree

krish,the last I heard was 4.5 lacs + taxes....i could be wrong...

Krish, I dont thik the arca's give martin logan a run for their money, I think they lick them hollow !

But thats only my opinion. Either way they are both very expensive and it will take me another decade before I can afford them (wife permitting)! So I dont worry about how much they cost presently

manek.

Thanks,

Shall certainly try and listen to the Arcas when next in good ol Mumbai.

Whereabouts is their showroom?

big, ears...and the avitas...dont miss out on the avitas...acra's I dont think will be available for audition in bombay. You will have to go to the cadence factory in pune to do so.

manek.

Strata is quite fast..but timing of the Lothx is definitely an issue with the REL Storm.
I had heard the Martin Logan Grotto and the REL Strata with the ML Mosaics and I thought that both the subs kept up with music pretty well..and the Mosaics are pretty fast speakers as well

Krish schrieb:

Guys, There does seem to be this strong opinion that the Lothers "shout". However that is not the case with the Rethms.Not atlest to my ears. Arj, I do agree that bass response of the horns are a bit of an issue.However I think they are most suited to those whose tastes are firmly rooted in Western Classical or Accoustic Jazz. Also i wonder whether adding a sub, even something like a Rel would solve the Bass problem.Would not timing be an issue ? Krishnan

Manek,
I knew that you would say that I on the other hand thought it best to underplay the comparison.

But i do agree.Martin Logan does benefit from the rub-off of being a better marketed brand like so many other well known hifi brands.

I;m sure the Arcas are immensely better value for the money.

K

Krish,

The rethms have modified lowther drivers with that wooden phase plug that I was told reduces the "shout". I think that part has been handled well by Rethm compared to the original lowther design of their driver with folded horn.

Someone I know in jersey says he has effectively integrated the magnepan 3.6 with a pair of vandersteen subs and they are a match made in heaven.....so maybe we have an alternative here for fast rhythmic subs...

Thats another reason why I dont play around with subs too much and always prefer time aligned speaker designs with reasonable bass extension.

Manek.

Would agree with you there, Manek.

It is quite difficult to integrate subs with your speakers. Quite detrimental too, IMHO, unless you are an absolute hard rock fan, and like thumping bass all the time.

If, like me, you are into detail and soundstaging, i.e., the very magic of 2 channel stereo, then you don’t have any need for a sub with your music. Sub fortified music may sound impressive for the first few minutes, but it gets quite fatiguing after a little while.

Good speaker manufacturers try to achieve sound that is as close to natural as possible, so why ruin their hard work by adding something that was not meant to be there?

Of course, HT is another matter…

actually the dynamics of classical music (Western) also suggest either a full range (sub 35 Hz)floorstander or a Sub Sat.
But Sub sats can be as good or even better than a floorstanding setup..once you can manage to position the sub(s) which in itself is an art, and not as easy as two speakers

Eg the Cabasse Artis Sub-Sat..sounds perhaps as Amazing as any high end floorstander I have heard
Also the new NHT sub sats,the Avant Gardes (with built in powered Subs) etc are all really amazing.
But they all come at a Cost!

Hi Arj,

Sure, but then Sub/Sat systems are designed in that fashion by the manufacturers from scratch and therefore work well together. They undergo hours of testing and re-designing in state of the art labs / engineering facilities under scientific conditions and what finally emerges is a product that is complete.

But, buying a pair of speakers from some manufacturer and adding a sub made by another manufacturer with the hope they will miraculously jell together in your home….?

big ears...thats why one as far as possible must use subs from the same family of speakers....but then to each his own.

manek.

true not easy. thats why u need to
1. First adution and find a sub which matches your speakers/Amps
2. Finetune placement for optimum sound.

Rel, for eg, has an option to use the same signal as the speakers . Since Most obious Tonal characteristics appear only 500 hz and above, as long as you are crossed over below 60 Hz, you should do fine...

There used to be someone from Jersey, US in this forum who had a pair of Vandersteen 2qs with Magnepan (with Cary setup) who was happy. Have heard of Rels going very well with Quads, Gradients as well as Cabasse.

Anyway as the saying goes..One mans fish ....;)