Sonodyne's New Amp SiA 102R

Have you had a chance to audition it ?

K

I had the chance to audition it. It sounded better than its predecessor SA-8000 (atleast to me) though the Sonodyne guys say that it is the same amp with digital display but I dont think so....it has some differences when compared to SA-8000 (still on demo) and hence the difference in SQ.

Well I cant comment much about its comparision with Pulz or even the NAD 320bee. But it may lose out to NAD on mids is what I feel.
Overall performance can be judged only after an A/B comparision......But but but, it is worth giving a try if you are stuck in that 12k budget area.

hey Abhi,

hows the remote, is it fully functional??

Ok...havent tried, but it has source selection, volume, mute for sure....Tone controls, I dont remember...
What else ???

What else ???

??? you should've had a good look at it

.....I was more interested in the sound quality and related stuffs....Ultimately that is what affects our buying decission.....

thanks for the smart answer...well i know that thats what every individual looks for..good sound....but as you've already mentioned that it's a lil better than 8000 there's lot be desired...tell me won't you look for system with added features too??? and at 12k i fear what can anyone get???

Ya, thats the catch, its priced at 12k and it has to be compared with amps which are similarly priced..

One thing I can say that it is quite dynamic (like most of the Sonodyne products), it rocks till 10 0 clock position and looses out after that. So if someone likes to be within that limit then I dont think he can complain about this amp, but people like Sub-Boss who like to push it really hard with their 'HORNS' may not be able to live with it for long....

Otherwise it would be neck to neck competition between the Sonodyne Vs Pulz Vs Yamaha (entry level)..

hey abhi it's not that dude..there's a lot at least i consider when i decide on a purchase..i want full function remote like the one atleast NAd has....ease of use...one more thing dude these guys need to stand upto markety if they intend to survive...

yah thats anyway there....when they produce something in India at 12k, it should actually match the imported stuffs which are retailed here for 20k, afterall the 20k includes so many taxes and dealer margins. But that doesnt seems to happen here.
They (companies like Sonodyne) happily price their products in lines with the imported ones while quality still being an issue.

Ar'nt we discounting manufacturing volumes here? Big brands can survive with slimmer margins due to sheer economics of scale.

I didnt understand at Bangalore why did Sonodyne kept their audition room particularly at THE FORUM when i went there it was very noisy and the side walls wre with glass and I think i t is not the right place to audition but perfect place to market. But when i visited prithvi`s place it was very very calm. I think sonodyne must have an other audition location.

sandeep you are right when you pointed that Sonodyne showroon is in a wrong place..but to pull in customers for a lesser known brand they have to make it visible.

Sandeep,
I will tell you this is one of the better steps Sonodyne has taken throughout.....Having a showroom/listening room in FORUM is really worth it. By this Sonodyne is not only showing its products to the people but also doing it majestically, People believe more on FORUM brand than the Sonodyne brand, and that will affect Sonodyne in a very positive way....

Moreover having a showroom next to BOSE and having products better than them at 1/4th the price itself is a eye-opener and a strong way to make their presence felt...

You cant achieve this anywhere else in Bangalore....take it as granted (atleast as of now)..

I had been there and I was surprised when people were rushing towards Bose demo room and hardly any one in sonodyne showroom.

yah...thats true, but most of them are there just to satisfy their curosity about BOSE and not for serious listening nor for serious buying.....

And anyway the kind of unreasonable prices BOSE has marked their products with, it is worth seeing...

But in the process, whatever few audio enthusiasts visit that place are quite attracted towards Sonodyne as well, and moreover after looking at BOSE price tags Sonodyne looks very affordable to most out there....and thats another positve aspect of it....

Can you imagine a simple pair of computer speakers (no sub-woofer included) sounding just about ordinary priced at Rs.10,000 ???? You can see that at BOSE outlet there....

I want to see who buys them...
For that price you get a whole computer....

Abhi Pani, be careful before making such comments.. you are hurting the interests of BOSE..watch out for BOSE fans

It will be interesting to see if what happens to Bose brand image if they were to reduce the 10k speaker pair to so Rs. 500. Will people still show the same interest and flock to audition the Bose?

Dear Rajesh people who like BOSE are who feel :

1. Schumacher is the best F1 driver.
2. Ferrari is the fastest car.
3. Ninja is the fastest bike.
4. Salman khan has the best muscles.
5. Aishwarya Rai is the most beautiful.
6. Tendulkar is the best batsman....
7. Metalica is the best in metal...etc etc

and not to forget these above mentioned category of people can be judged by their limited exposure to anything..and the saddest thing is they tend to argue what they beleive is true and even more saddest thing is 95% of people are that..so 95% people buy BOSE no matter what happens to their pricing...

1. Schumacher is the best F1 driver
hmmm....this can get into a more heated argument then bose
bose speakers are just average sounding pieces of audio gear but definetly not worth its asking price but i do admire their marketing strength considering they are a multi million dollar company .
before this goes into another bose bashing posts,it would be wise to cut short this and provide some more info on sonodyne new amp

ya there you see...

Senna............(1)


well it's not just the first point..you gotta stand by all then we'll argue..

I AM SO CAREFUL....YOU KNOW ME...

schumacher by sheer number of wins does qualify as the best there is....very debatable but nonetheless true :-) I'm no schumacher fan but even I have to admit he is one of the best , if not the best

manek.

Bose makes purely tricky marketing. But sonodyne sounds better far better than Bose. Once when i went to Bose showroom they demonstrated the speakers they had like Lifestyle.. Just after a minute i said to stop it coz it was hurting the ears. Those were not plesant but just irritating and after that i saw those small speakers connected to a pc and the value of that speaker was like other creative speaker but I didnt satisfy I found suddenly a guy beside me took out Rs 10000 from his pocket and just bought it. He said I love these speakers... I was..... I didnt say anyting to them but the lifestyle system was about 1.7lakhs change even other guy was ready to take that...

I call that excellent marketing no matter what is the quality is they are just selling out like anythng.....

But i found my friend who got Bose system and gave me a surprise to me. I said that once you listen to my speakers. He listened and said man you might have said me then itself i might have got the speakers. Like that many people realize after they buy Bose. Coz even what I have observed is that as time goes on many find their speakers ( mean like bose speakers or so ) they dont get satisfied.

My experience of Bose speakers.... they are just fun speakers.

Sonic Master :

But i found my friend who got Bose system and gave me a surprise to me. I said that once you listen to my speakers. He listened and said man you might have said me then itself i might have got the speakers. Like that many people realize after they buy Bose.

Normally people who go for BOSE hate the idea of being compared to other brands..it's good your friend did give up and agreed he picked up rot..I've argued with many only to realise I was deep in shit pit with pigs...you know pigs enjoyed it I didn't..

I happened to hear these in the comapany showroom at Forum.

The sales chap played the standard "Hotel California" from "Hell Freezes Over" album.

I heard them partnered with a pair of sonodyne floorstanders and then the bookshelves

I was pretty disappointed.

With the floorstanders -Woolly flaccid bass,almost no mid range and shrill treble.

They sounded marginally better with the bookshelves in the bass area but the treble was again very shrill.

In both cases I could sense almost no soundstage.

Maybe it was the showroom ( too much glass ?), maybe it was the speakers but I must say that I was very disappointed.

K

when i had been to sonodyne showroom(the forum) that was way back in 2004 i did listen to their two channel set ups their two stereo amps and these sonodyne guys use the "hotel california" track to demostrate their products and they usually turn the bass pot to the max -did u observe that and not to mention the glass rooms probably a another reason for the music to sound bad i wasnt impressed with the sound either at that time it was their sa8000 amp and infact it was just a short demo and the way they had placed the speakers no way u cant even get a decent soundstage- definetly not the place to audition the setups
BTW what is the price of this new amp?

I asked for all tone controls to be set to "defeat".

13K is what the salesman said, I think.

K

Pramod,
I am sure someone who had auditioned just before you might have turned the tone controls to max otherwise they normally keep all tone controls to flat. I have been there several times so I can say that confidently.........

Also, given the kind of arrangements done there, its just painful to audition their stereo setups.......
One cant even sit for a while or do some experiments with toe-in kind of stuffs. It is just to show people that they have some hifi products thats all.

Sonodyne's small floorstanders are useless (1605) but the big ones (2605) are good. Worth purchasing if you are on a budget. I have heard them at Oranges & Lemons in Mumbai.

surprising thing is that some members in this forum have mentioned that the older sonodyne amps sound much better then the new ones as they say "old is gold" probably holds true.

I have 2605 and I am very happy with them. I am now looking at completing my speaker set with rears and the sub.

I was happy even with SA8000 but then I heard it in a very quiet demo room at AVMAx exhibition at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. It so happened that Sonodyne had the best demo at that place....a simple bluesy song with very few instruments.

Which amp are you using with 2605 ?? Which other amps did you audition before buying this set ?

Okay, don't laugh now.

At present, I am using a simple Bevox stereo amp (my old one) but I am about to buy a surround sound processor. I am wondering whether to try out MP606/MPA6150 or go for Pioneer VSX-AX5Ai-S. The problem is that if I decide to try out MP606/MPA6150 I will have to wait till I go back to India but once I am back I cannot lay my hands on the Pioneer one which I could just carry back with me.

As I said, I had first heard 2605 with SA8000 and it was great.

Hi,
I am looking for an entry level amp around 20k with remote. I listened to the Sonodyne amp at Forum. The bookshelves were not impressive. The midrange floorstanding speakers sounded better. Which are the speakers best suited for the amp? How is the build quality?
Is there any other good amp in this range?

hey,

I'm waiting for Sonodyne's new showroom to open up in two weeks time (or so i'm told) ... Its coming up at the 'atria' mall at Worli in Bbay...

Waiting to hear and evaluate their products properly... In the forum in b'lore they were only playing a silly home theatre when i went which was boomy and appalling.

rgds,
vikram.

Sonodyne has a structured demo - a very well planned & executed one - if I may say.

They first play some music in 2 channel mode & then a small excerpt of a movie is played.

Their gear is not bad for the price. Not exactly 'audiophile' quality, but hey what an effort from an Indian Company......

Touch Screen operation on the Electronics et all !!! I liked that idea, pure gizmo. May not be good for the audio part of it, but it sells !!!!!!

Yes, Anindya Ashok Kumar Mukherjee in going to open the new showroom in Ataria - i.e. when ever it opens [Ataria] !!!!!

It will be a nice option to consider.

The best product they make in my opinion is their sub.

BHAGWAN69

Their gear is not bad for the price. Not exactly 'audiophile' quality, but hey what an effort from an Indian Company...... Touch Screen operation on the Electronics et all !!! I liked that idea, pure gizmo. May not be good for the audio part of it, but it sells !!!!!!

Don't you think that NAD, though a bit more expensive here in India, offers better value ?

This message has been created automatically!

The topic has been split and some postings have been moved. The new topic is called: "NAD C320BEE"

bhagwan69 schrieb:

Their gear is not bad for the price. Not exactly 'audiophile' quality, but hey what an effort from an Indian Company...... The best product they make in my opinion is their sub. BHAGWAN69

bhagwan69 schrieb:

Their gear is not bad for the price. Not exactly 'audiophile' quality, but hey what an effort from an Indian Company...... The best product they make in my opinion is their sub. BHAGWAN69

For the first part I second you wholly....they have grown with time.

Apart from the Sub I love their AVR the most....its got awesome surround processing and and sounds good on music also.......all these for a very low price tag.

What is a good price to pay for a NADC320BEE in Bangalore?

No clue mate.Members from B'lore could answer that better.

NAD is far,far superior to Sonodyne.In fact if you know somebody in or about to visit Dubai, than I suggest you pull a few favours and import both the amp and CDP.

I know somebody who did just that and waddya know, he got the combo for a paltry 19,000 bucks ( and that's Indian rupees I'm talking of )

I had been to the Music Ranch few months back..and had auditioned the NADC320BEE and the Tannoy fusion ( dont remember the exact model)...it sounded good to me.
He quoted 20K for the NAD and 35K for the Tannoy...I told him that I would get back to him.....but never did so. The combo was way above my budget.
:))

Krish schrieb:

What is a good price to pay for a NADC320BEE in Bangalore? In fact if you know somebody in or about to visit Dubai, than I suggest you pull a few favours and import both the amp and CDP. I know somebody who did just that and waddya know, he got the combo for a paltry 19,000 bucks ( and that's Indian rupees I'm talking of )

Hi !

I do not want to sound like the person that likes to disagree, but this is not right !!!

NAD is present in India; They have an official importer / distributor [La Kozy Electronics]. They carry stock, offer demo, install the product, provide service & warranty.

For all this they do, we should support them. That is the least we can do to promote audio as a 'business' in India. If we so called 'audiophiles' start by-passing the dealers / distributors here in India, the trade will suffer.

I do understand if you want to buy a product that is not represented in India, and then one goes & gets it from abroad, but if a product is there at your door step, spend a bit more & support your local dealer. It will pay you in the long run. Besides, you can also do a buy back through the same dealer when you want to up-grade at a later date.

If you find the price to be very very different, sit & talk to the dealer, ask him to offer a bit more discount, you go up a bit, make him come down a bit & every one is happy;

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DEALER / DISTRIBUTOR

I urge you.

Please do take what I have said in the right spirit, it is not about NAD & La Kozy, but about audio & any gear in general.

Sorry, but I did not mean to offend any person [Krish - specially - sorry buddy].

Regards,

BHAGWAN69

P.S. I am not associated with the trade [audio] in any manner. Just an audio buff & well wisher for the industry.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DEALER / DISTRIBUTOR I urge you. Please do take what I have said in the right spirit, it is not about NAD & La Kozy, but about audio & any gear in general. Sorry, but I did not mean to offend any person [Krish - specially - sorry buddy].

Bhagwan,none taken.

I am merely expressing a POV.

If you feel that you are really getting true value for that extra 21,000 bucks in terms of service, after sales etc, hey who am I to convince you otherwise.

BTW the premium in this case is 100%.

I do understand if you want to buy a product that is not represented in India, and then one goes & gets it from abroad, but if a product is there at your door step, spend a bit more & support your local dealer. It will pay you in the long run.

hi bhagwan,

with the kind of lousy after sales service most dealers give, why support them????? look after your own interests and pocket i say!


note: i say 'most dealers' i'm sure there are exceptions. still gotta find one other than viren of lyrita who's max support and zero sales push (and i havent even bought from him yet...)

well warranty and buy back are drawbacks but then considering the money savings...

Sir,

I do not intend to get into an arguement with you over this, but is it possible that the difference in the price could be because of the Import Duty + Octroi + VAT that will not be paid by the person that brings the NAD gear from Dubai or where ever else ?

However, I too feel that some dealers / distributors in India have some 'crazy' margins; That too is not justified.
Hence, I suggest a middle path, go up a bit & make the dealer come down a bit, meet in the middle & close the deal.

The other issue is that most Dealers / Distributors keep their M.S.R.P.'s very very high, this is for the 'bargaining' & 'discounts' that cleints keep asking for, hence, if one is serious & asks for a 'good' price, more often than not, the D/D will make some concessions !!!

I apologise once again if I have said somthing that may have offended you; I just want to support the Indian D / D & want to see the industry prosper etc. etc.

Regards,

BHAGWAN69

i agree with you bhagwan. we need to support indian guys but the way most of them treat customers gets my blood boiling thats what i meant. no offence taken whatsoever. its just a topic i feel strongly about. so was merely making my views heard. no arguments

on second thoughts i'll edit that to say we should support indian guys who genuinely care about giving customers a good experience and use their knowledge to show them the alternatives without shoving something down the potential customer's throat.