thanks fernmeister.
the forrester has a 2 liter petrol here. it was reviewed by the indian auto mags too. it is also the only SUV that will fit in my parking space. The Ford Endeavour and Honda CRV are too big - Mumbai is cramped.
In the apt complex where my mom lives i have already witnessed fist fights between 2 members (of the housing society) one who had a Hyundai Sonata and the other who got a Honda CRV and had neighbouring garages. This escalated to a police case and had each member sending the other legal notices.
Previous to this 2 other members had actually banged each others car (one has a Mercedes Benz E320 and the other has a Toyota Camry) out of anger. Eventually this also escallated to a legal issue and only after each member had spent about Rs. 20,000 in car repairs and, I assume, a similar ammount on legal dues did they learn to compromise.
The odd thing is that these guys are all supposed to be repectable members of society and 3 of the 4 have post graduate degrees from colleges like LSE, Harvard, and Cornell. 3 out of 4 are self made (the other inherted his wealth). Each apt in this society costs Rs. 22 million today. If is this what educated people do how do you expect the less educated to behave any better (have you heard of the train anger in Mumbai)?
the forrester has a 2 liter petrol here. it was reviewed by the indian auto mags too. it is also the only SUV that will fit in my parking space. The Ford Endeavour and Honda CRV are too big - Mumbai is cramped.
In the apt complex where my mom lives i have already witnessed fist fights between 2 members (of the housing society) one who had a Hyundai Sonata and the other who got a Honda CRV and had neighbouring garages. This escalated to a police case and had each member sending the other legal notices.
Previous to this 2 other members had actually banged each others car (one has a Mercedes Benz E320 and the other has a Toyota Camry) out of anger. Eventually this also escallated to a legal issue and only after each member had spent about Rs. 20,000 in car repairs and, I assume, a similar ammount on legal dues did they learn to compromise.
The odd thing is that these guys are all supposed to be repectable members of society and 3 of the 4 have post graduate degrees from colleges like LSE, Harvard, and Cornell. 3 out of 4 are self made (the other inherted his wealth). Each apt in this society costs Rs. 22 million today. If is this what educated people do how do you expect the less educated to behave any better (have you heard of the train anger in Mumbai)?
binil,
R&S (pulz), Norge (Eastern Electronics) etc.. make some amps but i find them wanting. maybe MP (Palesha) can help. he has some nice subs that i are worth considering too.
try palesha@vsnl.com
R&S (pulz), Norge (Eastern Electronics) etc.. make some amps but i find them wanting. maybe MP (Palesha) can help. he has some nice subs that i are worth considering too.
try palesha@vsnl.com
Hi Navin
There are some new cars supposed to be launched this year, might make sense to see what's coming..I too checked the Octavia, a few months ago rear seat just doesn't stand comparison to my Astra, so I gave it a pass. Ditto Baleno. Personally I think Korean cars are value for money, and the Optra may be a good choice. The doors clunk shut with an expensive sound! I have a Santro which is still with me after nearly 4 year and running well.
Also, with two Opels(I also have a Corsa), I think GM offers well engineered cars and have a rep to maintain-they just cant afford to screw up with all the competition around. In any case, nowadays no one thinks of buying cars for the long term-unlike, say, in the 60's where we bought a Fiat 1100 for 16K and sold it after 25 years for 25K!
Turning to audio I got my tube preamp up and running yesterday and it really sounds great..Coupled with the tube power amp, the sound is quite different from the ss pre-power amp combo that I have in another room. The design is quite simple, but the result is something special! I listened to some James Taylor, Diana Krall, Bela Fleck, Ladysmith and some other stuff, bass and sound stage were really good, and so was channel separation. I turned off the sub for some time and enjoyed listening to the sats..
George
There are some new cars supposed to be launched this year, might make sense to see what's coming..I too checked the Octavia, a few months ago rear seat just doesn't stand comparison to my Astra, so I gave it a pass. Ditto Baleno. Personally I think Korean cars are value for money, and the Optra may be a good choice. The doors clunk shut with an expensive sound! I have a Santro which is still with me after nearly 4 year and running well.
Also, with two Opels(I also have a Corsa), I think GM offers well engineered cars and have a rep to maintain-they just cant afford to screw up with all the competition around. In any case, nowadays no one thinks of buying cars for the long term-unlike, say, in the 60's where we bought a Fiat 1100 for 16K and sold it after 25 years for 25K!
Turning to audio I got my tube preamp up and running yesterday and it really sounds great..Coupled with the tube power amp, the sound is quite different from the ss pre-power amp combo that I have in another room. The design is quite simple, but the result is something special! I listened to some James Taylor, Diana Krall, Bela Fleck, Ladysmith and some other stuff, bass and sound stage were really good, and so was channel separation. I turned off the sub for some time and enjoyed listening to the sats..
George
I guess you can also try http://www.dnmpace.com/home.html as another example of local audio systems. Angshu says that Woodstock is another brand who have been building systems for at least twenty years; they work out of Delhi.navin said:
gjo said:
I looked at the Optra. Turns out it also has better leg room than the Corolla, Octavia or Forester. With my budget I could look at the OPTRA LT AT (11.3 on road mumbai after discounts). My wife wants a DVD player and TVs in the rear of the front head rests with play station etc... so maybe with the change we can implement this. Another choice is the Hyundai Elantra. it is due out soon. I feel Hyundai might raise the bar. In the end my choice will depend on rear leg room and ride quality.
My wife drives a Sail as she prefers a small car to park. I use an Astra. Both are great cars. The Sail 1.6 is a bit under powered but with 14" Mag-Alloy tubeless etc... it has great ride quality; better than the Palio 1.6 GTX S10. Also the S10 only comes in yellow!
What tube pre r u using.
I have 2 systems that I am looking at building (after I get my present system working to satisfaction).
No particular order:
Re-build my SS 8546-9900 MTM into a push push MT. The sub design has me stumped here (how do I use 2 x DV12 per channel in a small 3 cu. ft. push push box that will double as a stand for the sat). I can use my present sat power amp for the subs and trash my ss pre then build a new tube pre amp and power amp (4 ohms load). however i'd need about 100W rms. that too has me stumped. 100W tube amps are not cheap or easy to build.
Build a new HT-AV system that is very discrete (hidden). speakers would have to look like the B&W VM1/FPS, KEF KHT9000 etc
Now what has me stumped if I am to build any DIY electronics is the decoding (dolby, matrix, etc...). Also making even a simple EL84 PP amp hidden would require some doing. Fortunately I can wait. I am collecting information and refining the design.
I got my kit preamp (the Grounded Grid) from Transcendent Sound(www.transcsendentsound.com) for about $500-add about $300 for the assembled one. Unlike a lot of the US mfrs, Bruce Rozenblit offers 110-120/220-240 voltage gear as standard supply. I found that most others charge a premium for 220V compatible stuff-$30-50.
I find the a tube pre powering a tube power amp sounding quite different from the ss/tube combo that I listened to for the last 3 years. The sound is different-better bass for one thing and better-voices are sharper and clarity is better. Last night I listened to Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon) and it was like relistening to it. I want to listen to some more music during the next couple of weeks and enjoy the sound.
The preamp uses Yugo 12AU7 valves and is a simple design-I'm paying for the design knowhow rather than the components! Yes, high power tube amps are not inexpensive. You may want to look at the Velleman K4040, which does 95 wpc RMS-it's a Belgian kit available in the US for under $1k. I decided to go the lower power route with more sensitive speakers, and have a ss sub amp to kick butt! My sub amps are 175-250 watts RMS..
On the car front, I agree the Corsa's ride is outstanding-I have a 1.4 GL which has clocked about 36K so far and my wife uses it, she loves it. You may want to also look at the Accord-the older model was recently phased out as you know, and it was being heavily discounted-I believe price at around 11-12 at the fag end. Should have great ride/build quality and rear seat comfort.
George
I find the a tube pre powering a tube power amp sounding quite different from the ss/tube combo that I listened to for the last 3 years. The sound is different-better bass for one thing and better-voices are sharper and clarity is better. Last night I listened to Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon) and it was like relistening to it. I want to listen to some more music during the next couple of weeks and enjoy the sound.
The preamp uses Yugo 12AU7 valves and is a simple design-I'm paying for the design knowhow rather than the components! Yes, high power tube amps are not inexpensive. You may want to look at the Velleman K4040, which does 95 wpc RMS-it's a Belgian kit available in the US for under $1k. I decided to go the lower power route with more sensitive speakers, and have a ss sub amp to kick butt! My sub amps are 175-250 watts RMS..
On the car front, I agree the Corsa's ride is outstanding-I have a 1.4 GL which has clocked about 36K so far and my wife uses it, she loves it. You may want to also look at the Accord-the older model was recently phased out as you know, and it was being heavily discounted-I believe price at around 11-12 at the fag end. Should have great ride/build quality and rear seat comfort.
George
gjo said:
$500 seems fair. Add $1000 for the power amp and this is gonna cost me $1500 (rs 75k). ok let me see if there are alternates.
BTW my wife does not have the Corsa sedan she has the Sail hatch. The Sdean has even better ride than the Sail but she wanted a small car otherwise the New Honda City would have been my choice for her.
The Accord is a great car. Both my brothers have one. I would use it if I stayed in South Bombay. But in Santa Cruz parking is a premium so I need something smaller. Under 4.5m long and 1.8m wide. My Astra is big enough as it is (4.2m x 1.7m). If it is not parked just right it blocks traffic in the bldg.
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