Jhardy, sorry for the delayed response; I don't have PC access on the weekends. It's a difficult question to answer as we were listening to cuts from different LPs that were often times, my first exposure to the music. And when speakers, turntables and preamps were swapped in, we did not revisit earlier cuts. To be sure, I would be sorely tempted to give up a non-critical body part for either the VR or the Giscours.
I suppose that's why, in my present system, I've hung on to various Audio Research preamps instead of selling and moving up the ARC line so as to be able to do A/B comparisons over extended periods of time.
What I did come away with on both Shindo preamps and the various amps and speakers they were paired with was the great musicality and synergy of these systems. Matt's system configurations that he had set up over the two Greenhaus evenings, allowed me to sit back in my chair and just enjoy the music. What I felt less of was the compulsion to break down the system and determine the influences and contributions of its individual components.
Perhaps my best analogy would be that when you're enjoying a great bottle of wine (what rings my bell is a well-aged red or white Burgundy from one of their premier or grand cru vineyards), your first thought isn't to break down and analyse its color, bouquet, structure, or taste, but to let the wine slowly reveal itself whilst enjoying and reveling in the emotions that the wine provokes in you.
