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Shubhra Gupta

The latest on offer in the shopping arena for those who want to make a `sound' buy...

Two compelling reasons for me to return to the world of sound: the first, a recently launched digital radio service, Worldspace, which is reviving radio in India; and, the altogether fortuitous discovery of Cadence, a high-precision sound system which has been quietly making waves amongst aficionados the world over.

A few months ago, friend and neighbour Dr Ashok Deshpande called excitedly to show off his latest gift. It was a sleek Panasonic receiver, complete with its little satellite dish, with 24 channels which offered a huge variety of music, news and current affairs: the sound, which came from the speakers attached to the receiver was digitally clear, no crackle, no hiss.

Worldspace, the first service of its kind, uses powerful satellites to reach out to millions of listeners around the globe: terrestrial providers are confined, by definition, to the area their signals can reach; Worldspace has huge footprints which cover massive tracts in Asia, Africa and South America. A third satellite, to be launched soon, will add more space to their spread.

The idea behind the innovative use of satellite to resuscitate, and exploit the use of radio comes from Noah Samara, an Ethiopian-born resident of the US. Samara, who returned to his native land, after years of working in cutting-edge satellite technology in the US, was struck by the lack of `information affluence', according to a Worldspace India spokesperson. Samara thought of providing the `right communication tools' to his people, through the use of a cost-effective technology radio signals to be received on digital receivers from a band of established broadcasters.

Currently, this is what you would get on your Worldspace receiver: several Indian channels which give you Indi pop, Malyalam and Kannada and Tamil music, old Hindi music (they call it, fashionably, retro), and from other parts of the world, there is modern rock, contemporary pop hits, rhythm and blues, country, jazz, classical, reggae. A clutch of reputed broadcasters such as the BBC, CNN and others provide the news and current affairs.

Because it wants to keep the accent on being a first-rate service provider, Worldspace has steered clear of `retail and manufacturing chaos'. Its partnership with communication giants such as Sanyo, Panasonic, Hitachi, JVC has resulted in branded receivers, which address different segments of the audience in terms of price differentials: the most expensive receiver, and the best looking, which you can buy off the shelves in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and southern metros, is the Panasonic at Rs 11,990. The Sanyo is next, at Rs 9,900; the Hitachi is priced at Rs 7,000. And its chief distribution and marketing partner in India, BPL, has come out with its value-for-money receiver at Rs 5,000, which combines a cassette player and local radio stations, with Worldspace.

What the company envisages very soon: an additional 13 channels, and a multi-media option (a cable connection which can hook up to your computer for straight output). In the slightly longer run, says the spokesperson, they are looking at a situation where a consumer will automatically get Worldspace with any music system she buys. What that means: whether you buy a Nakamichi system, or a BPL radio, Worldspace will come bundled with it.

Now to Cadence. When I was researching new products from Bose, Sony, Phillips, for my last column, my music-mad friend told me that the `best' speakers in the world are made `right here', in a Pune-based concern. My friend, who is extremely knowledgeable about these things, is not given to hyperbole, but I needed to listen for myself.

The experience, I can say without hesitation, is transporting. I heard a jazz track, a Sting song, and a Jasjit Singh `ghazal', on the recommendation of the two Cadence people in Delhi, to give me a taste of how their speakers deal with different kinds of sound. The clarity, and for want of a better word, the sweetness, was outstanding. Each instrument, and its unique quality, which comes at you in a mushed up medley from lesser speakers, was audible; the ballads, both by Sting and Jasjit Singh, though they inhabit such radically different musical universes, flooded the large basement.

Why is Cadence so special? If you go by tech-specs, and the rave reviews bestowed upon the company by some of the best audio critics, you glean that Cadence has managed to create a `hybrid' speaker which marries the principles of electrostatic and electromagnetic principles in a sophisticated engineering feat, which allows sound to be reproduced with a minimum of distortion. In other words, the ingenious integration of the electrostatic panel with the conventional cone woofer, ensures that the high notes and the low notes (treble and bass), is reproduced in one seamless flow. Says Shivraj Singh, Cadence man in Delhi, their speakers fulfil the rule that all the best loudspeakers follow: no component should have a distinct `sonic signature', it should be all of piece. That is what Cadence does, without loss of sound fidelity.

The Cadence story is legion, among fans. It was a coming together in 1990, of three passionate music lovers in Pune — Ajay Shirke, of the Shirke construction group, Mahendra Dave, owner of the largest music store in town, and Walter Hermann, an electronics engineer from Austria, who had come to Pune in search of the self. Shanti (the engineer's Osho name), Dave, also an Oshoite, and Shirke, all fanatical about quality of sound, came up with first few speakers for their friends and family, and then, seeing the potential of the speakers, which have beautiful Sanskrit names (Arca, the shining one, Amaya, the boundless one, Anina, the small one, and the Diva, light that shows the way), turned them into the market.

But their concept of marketing is not the same, as, say, Sony or Phillips or Bose: word-of-mouth acclaim has made sure that those who know sound know about Cadence. But all that is about to change shortly. The speakers, the valve amplifier, which is at the core of their highly specialised loudspeaker system, and the CD player, which they import from UK, as a core component, will be available more freely, through a distribution network soon. The prices: the `entry-level', dynamic speakers, the Arita and the Diva cost, per pair, Rs 29,000, and Rs 40,000; the two high-end hybrid electrostatic speakers, which have hard-nosed music critics genuflecting, are priced per pair, at Rs 83,000, and Rs 1,15,000. The hybrid-valve amplifliers range between Rs 1,10,000 and Rs 5,25,000 per pair. These are ex-work prices, with an additional 15.3 per cent tax.

The author can be reached at Shubhrag@vsnl.com

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