Welcome to the seventh installment of our Meet the Audiophile Style Community series. All previous installments can be found here, in the series index.
Please send me a message or email if you'd like to participate. The response so far has been wonderful. It ranges from hardcore audiophiles to those who are more interested in numbers and graphs, and as you see today, this is a global community (50% of Audiophile Style site traffic is from within the US and 50% is from other great parts of this world). This series is all about getting to know everyone and sharing a bit about yourself that others will find interesting.
Thanks for participating. I look forward to publishing more of these in the coming weeks.
Thanks to Audiophile Style community member @Nikhil for participating in volume seven of this series. I love reading this stuff even more than publishing it. As I say to myself after reading each one of these, you guys are so much more interesting than me :~)
1. General area of the world in which you live?
I am from Hyderabad, India, a 400 year old city that was fabled for its diamonds in the ancient world. Today we are a city of about 11.5 million people with a presence in Information Technology and Pharmaceuticals among other things. The city has a rich cultural heritage in the arts and music. I would like to invite Audiophile Style members to look up info on Hyderabad when they have the time.
2. General description of what you do or did for a living?
Engineer by profession working in the Machine Tool Industry. My company is the distributor for mostly German and American companies in India. The majority of my work is in the Automobile and Aerospace industries but we also spend a fair amount of time in the Defense, Medical, Energy and Heavy Engineering Industries.
3. What are your hobbies?
My interests include Music and Audio where I am also a moderator on an Indian audio forum called HiFiVision. I invite AS members to drop by to get a feel for the budding audio interest in India. I am a regular golfer playing to a 12 handicap at the moment. I read mostly non-fiction with a current interest in Greco Roman philosophy. My wife and I share an interest in food and travel. We also like to take in the occasional music performance whenever possible.
4. When did you start this wonderful journey into music listening?
My parents had a strong interest in music so in a sense I have been into music all my life. Apart from Indian classical and Bollywood we always had a collection of music from around the world which has given me a very broad taste in music. My personal journey started when I was about 12 years old with my first Sony Walkman and I had a chance to build a personal collection of music of my own.
5. What was your first “album?”
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” – must have played that cassette for about a year nonstop.
6. What does your music collection look like, number of physical records, CDs, etc... and number of “favorited” albums streamed?
My music collection is varied with a large amount of jazz music mostly from the 60s and 70s. As Chris discovered recently, I am into Japanese Jazz and also European jazz thanks largely to the wonderful Piano Trio thread on AS curated by Musicophile. I have an avid interest in Latino music and am building a small collection of music that suits my ear from that genre. My music library has a quite a few pop and rock albums including recent music thanks to TIDAL. I tend to favor singer songwriters. Mark Knopfler and Elton John are my all time favorites.
I moved to a completely digital audio setup in 2013 as in no more CDs or vinyl. I used to have about 400 CDs and about 60 vinyl records (mostly my father’s collection), all of which is now in storage. I use JRiver to manage all my music and I have about 1,000 albums consisting of about 12,500 files on HDD storage. I use TIDAL for streaming and my library consists of about 35 favorite albums and 10 playlists which are in a constant state of flux.
7. What was your first audio component / stereo?
My first personal audio component was a Sony Walkman. My first stereo system was an Onkyo Integrated which I had paired with Polk Audio floorstanders back in college. Fun days.
8. Is there one component that you no longer have that you wish you wouldn’t have sold or that you wish you still had?
None.
9. Is there one current component that you wish you had in your system?
Almost too many to mention but at the top of the list would be the Gryphon Diablo 300.
10. How much time do you spend listening to music each week and on which systems does this listening take place (main system, car system, mobile system, office system, etc...)?
My listening time is after dinner when I spend time reading or browsing. I listen to music for about 3-4 hours which translates to about 15-20 hours per week. My primary listening is on my main system at home. My second most listened to setup is my mobile phone + headphones which I use when I travel.
11. What’s the first concert you ever attended, best concert you’ve ever attended, most interesting concert venue you’ve ever attended?
My first concert was of the (now defunct) pioneer Indian rock band Rock Machine. The best concert I’ve attended was the Mark Knopfler Concert at the Bangalore Palace Grounds which was part of his 2005 Shangri-La Tour. I don’t really care for large concert venues and prefer small intimate spaces where we are up close with the musicians. BLUE CHICAGO on N Clarke St. in Downtown Chicago is one my favorite venues. Outstanding music, great vibe and up close with the band. $5 cover fee.
12. What components are in your current audio systems and can you provide a photo?
- Windows 10 based Server with Fidelizer + Process Lasso
- JRiver Media Center for Media Management and Playback + HQPlayer
- Lampizator Amber DAC
- Job INT Integrated Amplifier
- Acoustic Portrait Thiyaga Pre + CPA3 Stereo Amplifier
- Green Mountain Audio Eos HX stand mount speakers
- Belden 8402 + Custom Tinned Copper based Interconnects and USB cable
- Belden 8411 Speaker Cable / Western Electric 12 GA
- Teakwood DIY Rack
13. Anything else you’d like to say?
I would like to thank Audiophile Style for this outreach to its members. The AS forum has been a great addition to my audio journey especially when I set out to move to computer based audio several years ago. The information gathered on the forum has been extremely useful in gathering insights into what can be a very difficult area to navigate.
The information shared by members has been cutting edge at times and at the forefront of what is available out there. There has been a fair amount of tumult in the past few months over which direction the forum has taken in terms of membership behavior and participation. I would like to stand with Chris on the general principle of being cordial and respectful to fellow members.
During these surreal times I am very grateful for the AS community and I am very happy to be a part of it. I would like to wish everyone the very best in dealing with the challenges that we are going to face. Stay home and stay safe!
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