Saregama Carvaan Gold is a cup of nostalgia topped with a lot of good vibes

For the dual purpose of a jukebox and a Bluetooth speaker that it solves, the Carvaan Gold is a cup of nostalgia with good vibes

The signature tech of Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon has done some serious fine-tuning of the tremendously popular Saregama Carvaan. The speakers are not just loud, but even at maximum volume, the sound is crisp, the vocals are clear and the distortion subdued. It plays the same old songs, of course, just a whole lot better. And if you think the old folks won’t care so much for the sound quality as for the collection of songs, have them compare it with the Carvaan Premium. You’ll be happy to loosen the purse strings.

At Rs 14,999, the new Carvaan Gold costs twice as much as its Premium cousin (Rs 7,276). But more than just listening to iconic songs in the best possible quality, it makes financial sense to invest in the improved device. First, the same design in Champagne Gold catches your attention from a distance. It’s the elegance that the Carvaan Premium in Cherrywood Red, Electric Blue, Oak Wood Brown or even Porcelain White just doesn’t have. Secondly, the Carvaan Gold is just a jukebox only good for Ameen Sayani’s Geetmala and the 5,000 songs it can play from half-a-decade of Bollywood (1950-2000), it’s also a very capable wireless speaker. And that makes all the difference. The sound quality is comparable to most and is better than many sub-10k Bluetooth speakers in the market today.

For those few who know little about the Saregama Carvaan — even after the company has sold over a million units — the collection of songs has playlists categorised in moods like “romance”; specials like duets; and a range of artistes. It also plays FM/AM, connects with phones via Bluetooth or aux cable and can read audio files from a USB drive. You can also connect the device to its Android/iOS app to play specific songs from the library or make playlists.

For the dual purpose of a jukebox and a Bluetooth speaker that it solves, the Carvaan Gold is a cup of nostalgia topped with a lot of good vibes.