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The sound of music

Members of this community enjoy orchestral sound everyday — that too in the comfort of their home, writes ROHINI MOHAN

PHOTO: S. R. RAGHUNATHAN

EAR FOR PERFECTION: One of the high-end amplifiers at Audio People.

They live two lives. One person by day, another by night. To everyone else, they're simply mundane worker-ants, trading stocks and designing buildings. But every evening, they retreat into their private planet, where entry is restricted to the musically impaired.

They call themselves "audiophiles". They're neither a club, nor a meet-every-Sunday-to-gush community. They're a bunch of people possessed with the desire to create the perfect soundstage at home. To make George Benson, Freddie Mercury and Roger Waters play only to their ears, as a guitarist riffs from the dining table, and a flutist trills from the AC chute. Audiophiles are sound addicts who spend every spare minute browsing the Net, talking to experts, and writing out cheques — all to get a sound system that's a culmination of years of yearning.

Purists

A regular consumer might go for a one-brand package deal; but an audiophile would do extensive research on a particular pair of speakers for years, and 7 times out of 10, reject it. They're purists, these people. But if you were investing more than Rs. 10 lakhs on every component you bought, you too would run around the world a few times, and climb a few mountains to be absolutely sure of your choice.

"Audiophiles are obsessed more with the sound, than the content of music," says Shreekant Jha, an ex-rally racer and e-commodities trader. "Once the sound bug's bitten, it fuels the need to experiment with electronics, and now I can tell the superb from the mediocre." And what if he can't afford the "superb"? "It's frustrating, but what I fear more is making mistakes. Hearing low quality music is like... picking at a painful wound," he shudders.

High-end consumers

Nandakumar from Audio People, a store on G.N. Chetty Road, has met many such "high-end consumers". "They might seem like crazy big spenders, but they all have budgets. They don't make quick purchases," he says. "In fact, they do a lot of reading and looking around before they decide the component that'll marry perfectly with those they already own. After that, if a high price is the only way they can get great sound, they're ready to shell it out."

In India, retail dealers in high-end sound equipment are very few — one, because the market is terribly small, what with audiophiles being too tiny a group. Two, because the equipment designers only dish out limited numbers of the hi-fi pieces (like, 75 amplifiers for three years), and allow them to be sold only by dealers of highest repute. Therefore, most stores also have a consumer audio section that brings in the regular moolah from non-purists.

Most audiophiles deal directly with the equipment makers in the U.K. and the U.S. "The Internet has made it much easier to make purchases, trade ideas and impressions," says Deepan Guy, an interior designer. Homework assumes much importance, especially since they're building the system themselves.

PHOTO: S. R. RAGHUNATHAN

Shreekanth Jha surrounded by audio systems.

Audiophiles scoff at digital technology because it compresses the soundstage, but they admit that MP3s have made music more affordable and accessible. Deepan says even surround sound can never match the "quality, warmth, and feel of the sound analogue throws." This is because digital ignores slight variations in sound, while analogue devices retain/amplify them. "When music is converted into digital, even with seven speakers, the true sound is lost," says Nandakumar, "Even at the highest volume, the music should be clear as crystal, not deafening. This equipment isn't made for hard rock."

Like grammarians squabble over the placement of a comma, and car enthusiasts argue about the running period of their automobiles, audiophiles too have jargon-peppered spats about tube/valve technology vs. solid state technology. However, the former is in very low supply, and Shreekant believes that the best quality tubes are vintage, dating back to 1950-60, from Russia and Europe. "The vintage ones are terribly expensive," he says, "but they have detailing that new valves made in the U.S. and China now don't." On team-B, David Santhooan swears by solid-state technology. An audio equipment designer for almost 25 years, he could argue for hours about its definite supremacy. But he wouldn't.

The fact is that you'd never be able to get even two audiophiles in a room together; at least not to discuss audiophilia.

They're lone wolves who keep to themselves, absolutely content in sitting, eyes closed, in front of their priceless sound systems, willing the walls to fade, and the musicians to appear. For them, it's a live concert everyday.

Jargon relief

Tubes/valves: A device that controls the ?ow of electrons in a vacuum. Used as an ampli?er in high-end stereos.

Solid-state technology: An electronic component or circuit made of transistors, and chips. Unlike valves, nothing mechanical about this.

Soundstage: Used to describe the sense of spatial sound placement in recorded audio. For example, the listener knows where the instruments are placed when listening to an orchestral recording.

Sound brands

Regular consumer: Sony, Philips, Aiwa, Panasonic, LG

High-end: Acuphase, Zen (for amps), Jolida, California Audio Labs, Musical Fidelity, LAMM, Edge Electronics, Tenor

Best for tubes: Mullards, Telefunken, RCA, Sovtek, Siemens

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