[naveenroy]

Nice thread.

I was an avid "AVMax" magazine reader in my school and college days. I heard of Norge and Sonodyne through that mag.

I still have an email conversation I had with Mr. Bajaj about one of the Norge amps - this was way back in 2011. Sadly, I ended up buying a used amp on another audio forum.

Hehe, Ahuja - every Indian must know this brand!

[TejasKinger]

boAt is a new Indian startup in the audio equipment space, though mostly at very consumer-level selling earphones, headphones, and Bluetooth audio. They sell white-labeled Chinese products though if I'm not wrong, they are exploring manufacturing in India. They win on price and despite the rave reviews, my experience with them has been a mixed bag.

Here's a story on how they are winning in the market.

[greenhorn]

Old ones Navin hasn't added
Woodstock
Enbee
Cosmic
Arphi
Illusion Audio (though some will insist that it was a US company)

Current folks active in the DIY or Niche Scene
Eight Audio
Allo
Kaldas Research
First Note/SoundFoundations (Magma, who is on Team bhp)
Then some companies like Zypher labs which are more into the Pro sound area like Ahuja.

Among the above, Allo is the only one which has some amount of brand recognition in the global stage, as they design and build some pretty good Digital stuff which is in demand globally.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by navin

Later came brands like Peerless, Pandam, Telome, Skyking, and Pulz (R&S electronics). These found various niches.

To my very amateur ears, my brother's Pandam system sounded pretty darn good back in the 90s . The owner was quite a salesman too. The system served him flawlessly for the 10 years or so that he had it, before moving to a new house.

[navin]

Originally Posted by GTO

The owner was quite a salesman too. The system served him flawlessly for the 10 years or so that he had it, before moving to a new house.

Prashant Damle! He used to operated out of Hammersmith Industrial Estate (in Mahim) right opposite Norge.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Old ones Navin hasn't added
Woodstock
Enbee
Cosmic
Arphi
Illusion Audio (though some will insist that it was a US company)

Current folks active in the DIY or Niche Scene
Eight Audio
Allo
Kaldas Research
First Note/SoundFoundations (Magma, who is on Team bhp)
Then some companies like Zypher labs which are more into the Pro sound area like Ahuja.

Among the above, Allo is the only one which has some amount of brand recognition in the global stage, as they design and build some pretty good Digital stuff which is in demand globally.

I did mention Cosmic and Arphi. Enbee I forgot. Their amps were the first that I saw that used sliders for pots.

Illusion Audio! They made their stuff with Damodar (Peerless) in SEEPZ.

I did not know Allo is manufactured in India. I thought it was made in the far east (Malaysia or someplace).

[Roy.S]

Sometime in the late 80s Sonodyne released the (slightly unfortunately named) Uranus and Uranus II systems. There were full page ads in magazines and I drooled over them.
I never got to actually listen to one. I remember seeing a demo unit at an audio store in Calcutta but didn't have the nerve to ask them to switch it on.

[devarshi84]

It has always pained me how China has intruded our daily life completely while we have struggled to provide one name that sells globally. The same is the case in the Audiophile industry. Customers prefer to buy a Chinese i-ball, boat or Intex compared to a local brand that makes a good quality product.

We once had an old pyramid tv which was manufactured by The Lalbhai group that lasted for more than two decades. Videocon, Onida, Salora etc have all died while Samsung and LG slowly took over.

Names that I have heard include Torvin, Sanen, Sonodyne, Norge, Pulz, Lyrita, Cadence, Audire, Lithos Acoustics, Rethm, Peerless and Corrson.

Sonodyne once had a full blown company showroom in Ahmedabad until a couple of years ago. They were never able to have the presence like JBL or Bose which is a pity. Two major factors are responsible for this.

1. We Indians look down on Made in India products even if it is better than a Chinese rebranded product. Shutting down of so many brands is proof.

2. Zero people outside of the audiophile industry would know any name mentioned on this thread other than maybe Sonodyne. They marketed at the wrong places (AV mags are not read in every household) or maybe never marketed at all.

An interesting article to read.
https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/1...oove-back.html

[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Old ones Navin hasn't added
Woodstock

I was waiting to see this name!
I still have an amp and 2 floor standing speakers that work pretty well. The sound isn’t great, but they’re good. It has a speaker A & B output option, but the amp itself is built for 8 ohms speakers, so it isn’t easy to find a pair of compatible speakers.

As mentioned on the thread, I too have a (possibly) made in India Philips turntable.

[reignofchaos]

Rethm is still alive and doing well. Granted it is in the super high end space and is an extremely niche market.

[greenhorn]

for folks in trivandrum - there is a local brand that's been up and at it for a while - Sharleo. They make custom stuff for most commercial locations (hotels etc) so the name has some brand recall

[bigron]

Aah the good old Woodstock.
I had their stereo analog amplifier and it blew the socks off my JBL vintage 2 way speakers that my old school 40 pound Denon receiver could not.

In my foolishness I just gave it away for pennies because the sound knob developed a snag and introduced static while being used.. All it needed was some electronic spray cleaner. How I miss the Woodstock.

Norge and Sonodyne are still operation. So are Acoustic Portrait and Lyrita Audio. They make some great tube pre amps.

[car love]

Any idea what happened to Cadence. Long ago i happened to read in some foreign magazine that one of their systems came 2nd or so best system in the world, (I dont remember the exact details). Pity we could never generate a high end brand in India..

[RaviK]

In NCR region, Ahuja & Santosh were quite prevalent till a decade back or so (for the low end, price sensitive consumer).

Also, another category that needs its place here is the bus/truck audio systems . This being the bottom end of price band, used to be ruled totally by local brands (tonytone, speedking are few names that spring to mind).

[keroo1099]

Starc Audio, Bangalore is another that made really nice valve based amps, but I don't see the website anymore. I still have a EL34 based integrated with me.

[sandeepmohan]

BPL. Known more for their excellent home appliances from back in the day, primarily due to the tie up with Sanyo, which resulted in just badge swaps in front of the appliance.

Back to audio equipment, BPL was one that stood out as they did most of the manufacturing themselves. Their stereos were generally average in quality. What they did do well was speakers and speaker drivers. They were also the first to offer a India design and built Dolby Pro Logic processor DSP-2000 and what followed was a full blown home theater system that used the Sanyo Teioo TV's as a display. Later on, there was some Sanyo influence to their stereo as the flagship D-1000. An all digital mini component unit paired with BPL manufactured speakers. They over took even Philips with this one.

Here is a link to a BPL brochure collection I have;

https://goo.gl/photos/Bu4dx1kzfq8GknKM6

Videocon. They made a couple of stereos which in my view, was the worst ever. One had a turn table too.

Optonica. Sold a couple of rack stereo which were superb. At a starting price of Rs. 15,000, in 1995, was a bit much.

Onida. They had a tie up with JVC such as the MX-S4 but they did try their hands with their own stereo too and they were good.

I have owned a Pulz stand mount speaker with a stereo integrated and it was superb.