DIY Valve Amps

It's all about demand and supply.

But that measure consider the no of hi end HIFI brands currently being manufactured in China and compare that to India.

Cadence amps are targeted at the serious audiophile. Not many of those around. Its a specialty product.

Secondly, not many in India have the expertise to make a product that sounds like a cadence valve amp.

Manek.

chine mfgs supply it because they are the OEMS to western cos..thats all !
Apparently the cadence guy had also gone to chine forst, but seeing the huge IPR violation there decided to come to india..almost every china mfg is a OEM to a brit/german or US manufacturer.

another factor, perhaps more important as per a chinese friend is, that china has a large no of audiophiles. they are much more spending oriented than indians who are savings oriented. hence they have been spending big money on audio whike we still scringe at it..thats all ! ..just a matter of priorities ! it is only now that we have started thinking thet entreprenueship is good or there are other options in life other being a Dr/Engr/MBA !

i still feel we need to mature.i mean Indians at least.c'mon the moment you talk to them about good speakers costing 70-80k they raise their eyebrows and frown.but if some one spends lakhs on a meaningless modern art to adorn his room they would go on and on praising it.....it's more of sterotype thinking..... yes it is prefernces.they give you lectures when you talk about spending lakh on a good music system.but praise you if you dump the same money on some foolish designer stuff.........

lets face it, china is the manufacturing capital of the world today. So why not valve amps ?

Indians , today do spend, its not that they dont. remember two months ago our Finance Minister put a curb on people spending becuase they were spending too much. Every audio shop had people from the tax department asking for purchase details...

So when people spend you curb them, when people dont spend you ask them to spend......

Thats the state of affairs in our country.

manek.

Has anyone got a chance to audition Shanling products. Manufactured in China , I think Chinese design . Supposed to be very good and have some very good reviews

Best regards
Deepu

i have auditioned the Shanling CDP.
to me the Valve output was not very great..it looked better than it sounded, but the Solid State output was pretty good.

I have heard that they become phenomenal after modding..but they are a bit expensive

check out Xindak products for a low cost option...

Hey Arj,
That's exactly what I was trying to say.China benefits not just from being a VFM OEM, but also has the added advantage of having an enormous domestic market.Take cellular phones for examples, China has a subcriber base of 305mn, as against 50mn in our country.

Anyway here is a suggestion, why don't we organise ourselves into a pressure group and lobby Manmohanjee,Chidambaramjee and Montekjee to reduce import tariffs of HiFi gear with the end objective of coverting the vast majority from "remix" garbage to refined music.

Manek can be the Chairman

What say you folks

Cheers
K

sorry, krish....have better things to do than deal with politicians

I grafefully decline the offer but Prithvi would make a great spokesman as he is in thick of the buisbess.

Regards,

Manek.

formong a pressure group to lobby these useless and brain less politicians is a sheer waste of time ....even if you make any of the jeeee's the chairman you mentioned ( manmohan or chidambaram)it's not gonna help the situation partner.these guys are busy minting crores....it's we who need to change....remember we are the minority here.....our audiophile preferences are a major joke to the rest of 99.99999% fellow citizens.......to hell with the tax reduction and other shit....atleast let them not interfere in our business..........

amen to that.
i completely agree with sub_boss. as long as the rest of them don't interfere in our interest, i'm happy.

Guys,
total waste of time, do you think this country will ever change???????

My dad who is an Extra Master (above Ship Captain) has been in the merchant navy for many years travelled all over the world and today he is 76 years old. He had a chance to settle down in Singapore many many years back in his hey days, but he refused to move all of us lock stock and barrel as he thought that "MY INDIA WILL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER" & thats why he decided not to settle down for good in Singapre, guys I am talking 1973-74.

Today he tells me that he made the biggest mistake in his life for staying back in India (GUYS THIS IS PERSONAL) So pls dont take it to heart.! India has never improved and he tells me to get out and see the world, how the other countries have progressed & were INDIA stands!!!!!!

Today guys to be very frank, I am trying like hell to get out. I feel I am too over qualified and we are ten years back in audiophileland compared to other countries.

Do you actually think that our politicians will listen to us, they are interested in making money for generations and thats it.

thats why my saying is: MERA BHARATH MAHAN!

Sorry to be rude to anyone, but those who dont agree, thats upto you. End of story.

If I go on it will be forever so lets end this damn topic here. No wonder all the youth want to get out of this country.!

Guys

I agree to what Prithvi says , we are far behind, But one thing is there . Outside India we are second class citizens whatever any one says. Well you can make your millions by being a second class citizen and that is another story

I know again not everyone will agree

Best regards
Deepu

well..tthis is Off topic but in the past 10 years I have lived in the the US, Europe as well as Singapore and agree that living there has its high points (Especially as a Audio lover ). but to me living in India is something else and whenever I am abroad (Which is too aften these days) I just yearn to be back..hence never took up the options of settling at any of thos places

So different strokes for different folks and One mans fish..etc etc and all that holds true here I guess !

I sincerely believe that India has progressed in the past 10 years and every time I come back I can see the difference which has come up.
I feel my quality of Life is Much higher in India (Yes very true..most places abroad a Maid/driver etc etc are Unaffordable)
I genuinely feel that as an individual i have more rights as well as am more independant here and am actually a first class citizen with all rights(I am sure it is all in the mind..)

yes there is corruption/negligence/dust/pollution etc etc..but just that is not enough to get me to leave..!!!

with the manpower we have here and the the raw materials.yes we can progress much faster.there is no doubt that it will happen some day.but iam too selfish as I want to see those good days when iam alive and not after i R.I.P

it's not just the audio stuff ,every thing seems to be indiffrent.but as arj mentioned I love to be a first class citizen...i mean king of my own lil kingdom,.....
c'mon guys we can beat all other brands as with cadence stands head to head with the big names.we need more .....I mean we deserve healthy competition among ourselves.....and rest of world buys stuff from india :D.i guess then i will have dealership for Indian brands in germany or britain ...busy selling indian made stuff.of course the premium stuff....

Different people would have different takes on this, but, having lived in India and abroad for a number of years, I would whole-heartedly agree with Prithvi.

Quality of life – well, depends upon how you define it. Developed nations have made systems/processes so damn user friendly. Life is valued there and steps taken to protect it continually. Hired household help is available everywhere. Drivers, well, my car is much better than anything I could get at even three times the price in India, and the roads are so much better, India cannot even think of coming close, so who needs a driver? First Class Citizenship? IMO the only ones enjoying this privilege in India are politicians, Govt. officials, thugs and goons and not common law abiding citizens.

I too would love to see India at the top, but with the kind of leaders we have, that seems to be only a pipe dream. On a daily basis, as well as in the long run, to me it is a no-brainer that developed countries have a lot more to offer to an ordinary individual than India does.

every thing is beyond repair....so let me atleast dream about my music system.atleast I have power supply to use em here.hheehhehhee to hell with any sorta citizenship.as long as we don't get things at fair prices and conditions don't improve......or maybe refuse to improve.......or politicians are eating up the funds which go into infrastructure and other sh*t ...I have decided there is really no need to discuss about it.....end of topic from my end .beep.........beep..........beeep....phut

Correction, not all is lost!!!

I find it better to buy Hindi CDs in India

Yes guys, I agree that we are 2nd class citizens in other countries, but people respect you for what you are and what qualifications you have. Never in any other part of the world will you find a electrical engineer drive an auto, but in india you will! Yes happend to me, the guy spoke fluent english and I asked what the hell he was doing driving an auto and he said that he could not get a job, bcoz everyone wanted experience and you cannot buy experience.

Well yes I too love india for the people, the warmth and the fact that ur are the 1st class citizen, but>>>>>>>>>> what about the other problems.

Just let me give you a small example:- When I was in Spore for the show, I met my old friend for at his place. Then we both walked to a bus stop, he already had a credit card (pre-paid) for the MRT & BUS, all he did was wave it in front of the machine inside the bus and it knows at what stop you entered. Well as I did not have the card, I had to to drop a few pennies into a machine and out came my ticket (no bloody bus conductor, saying CHANGE ILLA Sir!).

When we got to our stop that we wanted to get off, my friend just waved the card again at the exit and the machines knows from where you travelled and where you got off. We got off near DOBHI GHAT which is a subway station. Guys thats the real name in spore! Again as I did not have the card, I put in $2 into a machine and I got a card, which I waved in front of the machine at the station and so did my friend and we got into an MRT train (no train driver) whole train air-conditioned, LCD TV inside, with great music and announcements as to which station is next and on which side the platform will come, etc.

We got out and again both of us waved our cards and then I went back to the machine and put my card into the machine. The machine ate up my card and returned my change of 80cents, as I had used only 1.20$. And for my friend, as he had used the bus to come to the station, his fare on the train was less by 30%, why???? Beacuse he used the bus.

Now look at the trains in MUMBAI! and imagine yourself.

Period.

I blame our huge population & the chalta hia! attitude! This is my last post on this. !!!!

Yeah ! look at the trains in Mumbai !
Atleast Mumbai has trains

we are actually hijacking this poor man's thread with other sutff. I know sometimes we all want to crib and get things off our chest.

Excusable to a point but lets get back to the thread content which is DIY valve amps.

Manek.

to add...I was told that corrson in bangalore is about to launch a DIY valve pre-amp based on an older Marantz model I believe....any info on that ?

Manek.

I agree with you Manek, see where this thread landed! Hee! Hee!

Yes Siva was just hear and he is the proud owner of the first PLINIUS SA-102. He is going to use this for demo purposes. He is taking the right approach. His DIY valve amp just finished the MF pre that he still ownes. The chassis is in development stage and very soon it will be launched. Will keep you informed.

Siva must be on this forum, he's a great guy willing to help out.

Rgds

Prithvi

Prithvi,

You had started on a Turntable project . any progress on this

Best regards
Deepu

Yes finally got the platter made and the suspension, still on it will take a lot of time to finish it.
Rgds
prithvi

Prithvi,

Let us know once you finish. Would love to have a demo

Best regards
Deepu

Hi Maneck,

Since you are close to Cadence and they make Valve amps.....What is your guess on how many (Valve Amps) they sell in India annually ?

Just wondering if there really IS a sufficiently large ( to be commercially viable ) market in India for "bottles".

Anyone else's feedback too is welcome, as long as you are not shooting from the hip !

Thanks

Dinyar

Not too many Dinyar I would think. I really dont have the figures, neither will I be able to get the figures...

The market for 2 channel amps in India is small and the market for 2 channel valve amps is smaller, many reasons like price, power perception, reliability, HT mania, etc.

There is a decent demand for "bottles"/"valves" per say globally so a valve manufacturing plant for export may not be a bad idea, I should think. Bhel manufacturers them I am told but dont know much about the quality or whether they are exported or consumed locally..

As far as it being commercially viable "The premium" one pays for valves, justifies its production, small, medium or large provided you are able to sell what you produce. The main stay of cadence is speakers and the amps are usually not made in numbers. A few must be kept in stock and the stock is replinished as items move.

Manek.

Thanks for the feedback...

Still, if I were to push for a Figure ?

Me thinks India probably buys 50 Hi Fi Valve Audio amps per year ?????????

Dinyar

Dinyar....

Maybe 50 maybe more...dont know but there is scope for exponential growth keeping the dynamic market conditions in mind. Most importantly since audiophiles are an extremely small tribe in India, need for education is paramount.

I for one am saving up for tubes as well.

Manek.


Manek.

Maneck - Thanks for your thoughts.

Pritvi - Thanks for the warm welcome. It seems that I registered many months ago, but did not keep visiting the board....

The Yahoo Newsgroup system, where each post is sent out as an E-Mail message to all members is what I prefer..

This board send out a message ( optional ) telling me that there is a new post....

Not quite as convenient...

Cheers

Maneck ( since you are considering "bottles" ) & anyone one else on this group, who are in Mumbai and would like to listen to the Prologue -2 ... Welcome for a listen and a drink..

Dinyar

thanks dinyar for the offer...I will take you up on it for sure.

manek.

I met a waiter in the US who was an out of job software engineer.
Anyway back to valves - remember enjoying the old tube radios we had a philips with 6-7 bands and I enjoyed the sound.
Vinod

well, valve amps have the same magic and more !!!!

Hi guys,

Sorry, I'm late joining this discussion. Didn't realise the scene was this active.

Let's not sell India short. We are, after all, a poor country. As far as valves are concerned, it's a matter of exposure. How many of you can go to your local audio store and even audition stereo equipment, let alone valve gear. Patience is required!

Even in developed countries like the US, ask an audio guy about tube equipment, and you'll get a blank stare. High end audio is always going to be an exclusive affair - from the point of interest, not necessarily cost.

There are people doing work on valve designs in India - just give them time. And you know, the internet, and forums such as these, are making it easier!

viren is right...valves will never be mass market again. The demand though is slowly picking up for two channel stereo.

Valves will always be for a select few and not for the masses.

I for one love them immensely.

"Valve Amplifier Ki Jai !"

Manek.

Hi! Viren,
So nice of you to join this forum, things are really hotting up. I guess you can now give all the forum members more info on your excellent products.
Rgds

Prithvi

viren.....as in viren bakshi.....hmmm quote a coincedence.

Welcome....welcome....