Visit to Lyrita Audio and forum member Viren Bakshi

Hi Guys
Have just come back from Viren's home where I had the pleasure of auditioning his, qoute "labour of love" products. And truly they are.
Let me start by saying that Viren is very focussed. He is clear that he will not mass market. He can currently produce just 2 complete systems in a month. Which means 2 amps and 2 pairs of speakers. He is motivated to provide the best sound for the most reasonable price(and the prices are truly reasonable)to the Indian audiophile who likes to listen to the emotional content of music. He is passionate about music as his collection of some hundreds of CDs and a few thousand LPs testify.
I had the opportunity of listening to the foll systems as these were what he had left with him:
1)Integre valve integrated amplifier 30+30 WRMSwith Sequel Reference speakers 2-way, 2 x 6-1/2” bass/mid, 1” tweeter teak veneer cabinet, floor standing.
2)Mini valve integrated amplifier 10+10 WRMS with Minuet speakers 2-way, 5” bass/mid, 1” tweeter, bookshelf
3)Integre integrated amplifier 50+50 WRMS with Sequel Ref speakers(above)
4)Phono preamplifier, MM or MC with Integre valve 30+30 amp with Sequel Ref speakers.
His source equipment was a NAD CD player and hold your breath a Linn Sondek LP12 turntable which has been with him for 20 years.
Suffice it to say thet the music sounded extremely warm, beautiful with superb seperation, soundstage and dynamic range on each system I heard. Of course with the smaller speakers there was a smaller soundstage with less bass but it did not take away any of the emotion from the music. The mids had the same quality.Even the solid stage amp was lovely sounding though perhaps not as musical as the valve options. Still beautiful nevertheless. The solid state looked like a Lavardin! Of course when he connected the Linn to the system it sounded more transparent, more balanced, more enticing even though I have not done much auditioning of vinyl for over 25 years! For bass lovers dont be fooled by the power rating figs or solid state v/s valve arguments... the bass was sufficient and more even with the 10 WRMS valve amp. Yes the solid state had more 'controlled' bass but the valves somehow put a nice bloom to the sound.
Well the good news for Bangalore audiophiles is that Viren has sold 2 systems to some lucky guys in Bangalore and he is confident that he will be able to arrange auditions soon. Pl send him PMs for details. Pl also ask him for his price list and be pleasantly surprised!
Thanks
Jeevan

Finally I got to hear Arijeet’s system. It was pleasure spending the Sunday evening with Arijeet.I second Jeeve’s opinion. The sound is very warm and natural devoid of any harshness or sharpness normally associated with digital audio. It is one of the best “value for money” system I heard . The valve amp gives all the power you need for the high sensitivity speakers. The macro and micro details are just awesome. The speakers paint a clean soundstage with all the details in the recording. Then he played some music on his new project turntable and I was blown. He played dire straits “dire straits” and miles davis “kind of blue”. I am used to most of the music on these albums and the sound from the TT was a revelation. Suddenly there was nothing between you and the music. It was feeling of “being there” with the musician…….. Unless you are a bass-nut wanting to drive your system to insane levels with heavy metal/techno, you owe it to yourself to give Viren’s equipment a listen…… Great work Viren !