8Th Floor
STATEROOM – 1
VINSHEK MARKETING
BRANDS SHOWCASED –
WATERFALL AUDIO
SONANCE
CORNERED AUDIO
GALLO ACOUSTICS
In typical exhibition fashion, the above brands were scattered all over the room, with demoes of Waterfall Audio happening side by side. Rest of the equipment from the above brands lay as static displays thereby covering all available room.
STATEROOM – 2
A.K. INTERNATIONAL
BRANDS SHOWCASED –
FOCAL
NAIM
Here the theme was static display & static display only! Covering almost the entire range of Focal loudpseakers from wall to wall, they had kept a couple of Naim Muso & Muso QB, at the centre of the room, as probably the only thing that could be showcased of Naim currently, since A.K. International have just been honoured with the distributorship of the Focal/Naim brands in India.
We were especially sad to see only & not hear anything in this room.
STATEROOM – 3
KEI
BRANDS SHOWCASED –
PIONEER
ELAC
FYNE AUDIO
JVC
NAD
PSB
TOTEM ACOUSTIC
BLUESOUND
KEI used the entire area in their room + used the lobby outside to their advantage in showcasing as much gear of their vast portfolio of brands as possible. Here it was Pioneer that got the entire lobby space dedicated to the reference CD player, couple of streamers post which it was their AVRS all the way. The star of the display albeit single & static facing the elevators was the Fyne Audio F1-10, which was kept as bait to attract visitors to their room. We hope to hear the same in the coming months as has been promised to us by KEI’s bossman.
Inside the room, NAD, ELAC, PSB, Fyne Audio products were on display along with an entire Bluesound wall showcasing the entire bluesound range of products. Star of the room and rightly so was the JVC DLA-NX9, the world’s first 8k E-Shift Projector that was on demo on an ALR Screen with Totem’s Tribe III On Wall speakers on each side with their Storm Subwoofers under each of them. A Pioneer UDP-LX500 Bluray Player & NAD M32 Integrated Amp were placed under the screen.
Overall, we can say KEI utilised their allotted space very wisely and to their advantage the most.
STATEROOM – 4
AUDIO EXCELLENCE + LAKOZY IMPEX & SERVICES +
SOUND & VISION
BRANDS SHOWCASED –
LEGACY AUDIO
PARASOUND
STORM AUDIO
SUPRA CABLES
SIM2
SCREEN RESEARCH
The coming together of 3 distributors to showcase their brands in a super hi end home theatre costing 1.5 Crores was going to be something special and thankfully we were not disappointed. After going through the static displays, we needed entertainment and entertainment is what we got! The bossman of Sound & Vision was in command of providing the demos of the set up and mercifully he knew how to go about the same, with each scene highlighting the capabilities of the sound & vision (Pun heavily intended!) Needless to say, this room was awarded our “Star of the Show – Home Theatre” (Cost No Bar)
Kudos to the trio for pulling off an amazing installation albeit with all the compromises a hotel venue can throw at you. We hoped that this was going to be the way the rest of the rooms will follow, sadly not!
GRAND CRU SALON
MCINTOSH GROUP
BRANDS SHOWCASED –
MCINTOSH
SONUS FABER
Having re-launched themselves very recently in the Indian market, McIntosh Group had to showcase themselves well and also use this show as a spring board for not only launching themselves officially as their direct presence in the Indian market, but to also scout for prospective distributors & dealers, to cover their portfolio of brands and products pan India, that include Audio Research & Sumiko. Time will tell, what will be the outcome and how will they proceed and be successful so let’s hope for the best and wait and watch. Besides a yet again static display of some of the McIntosh Amps, Powered Speaker, they also showcased Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers with Mcintosh MA8900 Integrated Amplifer playing music via USB from a laptop. Alongside this setup was a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica II speakers on static display.
To be honest the demo set up sounded below average and we were quite disappointed to say the very least.
ALHAMBRA
PREETI TRADING CORPORATION
BRANDS SHOWCASED –
ATI
ASCENDO
ACCUPHASE
DENON
DYNAUDIO
MONITOR AUDIO
ROKSAN AUDIO
This was a massive room and yet again, used to fill up to the maximum with various static and demo products strewn or sprinkled intermittently all over the place. In one word – CHAOS!
To say that we could not hear anything to even remotely enjoy would be a gross understatement, what with demos going on simultaneously, be it stereo or home theatre, hence we shall refrain to comment on the same.