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Seeking your advice on Shindo preamps

Dear audiophiles,

I have been in this hobby for 10 years now and have owned many nice amps, preamps, speakers but have never heard of Shindo

Here are my current systems:

System1
Cary SPL05
Cary 805 AE
Cary 306 SACD
Audio Research PH7
VPI HRX, with DRT XV1 cartridge
Speakers: Usher Be20
Cables: Acoustic Zen absolute

System2
CJ CT5
CJ LP70s and premier 350
CJ UDP deluxe
Speakers: gershman black swans
Cables: Acoustic Zen Absolute

I recently got in touch with a friend who i sold a pair of EW andras to about 6 months ago (Ommega is his users name). He really peaked my interest in the Shindo products. I have been searching for an audio perfection path for quite a while now and can use your help. I am ready for a new change and appreciated your comments/suggestons if you own this product (amp and/or preamp). I would like to start with a preamp and build a new system around it. A thread like this can lead into something very large and complex with many different opnions so i only want to focus on the Shindo and nothing else. If possible, please do not ask me why or what is wrong with my existing systems. In fact there is nothing wrong with them, i am just ready for a new sound. I listen to country, classical, jazz, and rock. Thanks in advance for your help...

I was considering buying a pair of Audio space Reference 2 preamp and amp for my next system but i am going to wait until i hear your feedbacks before flying out to SF for an audition.
Ag insider logo xs@2xginas
aball
2,018 posts
 
If you are closer to Cleveland OH, there is a Shindo dealer there called Don Better Audio. Last time I visited, Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports was there and he played a lot of music on an all Shindo system with PHY single driver speakers. It was very good and had surprising top end extension considering the system - so much so that the 50 year old LPs sounded quite scratchy. But the music managed to come through anyway and it was quite memorable. I left with the impression that the system was optimized for acoustic music rather than classical or rock...which might be bad in light of Shindo prices.... With low-powered amps, sound quality will largely depend on which speakers you choose.

Arthur
glide3
402 posts
 
I recently heard an all top line Shindo system (Latour field coils for speakers. Lafon 300b Mono's, top line shindo pre, Shindo Garrard 301) at pitchperfect audio in SF .... it was one of the most musically involving systems I have ever heard. I listened mostly to jazz and classical selections...all on Vinyl.
This is a comment on the entire Shindo system not the individual components out of that context as I have no experience with them in any other way.
dsremer
210 posts
 
not sure where you live but there is a demo next weekend of the Audiospace Ref 2 along with the new Usher Tiny Dancer speakers in Michigan, The location is close to metro airport.
jeffreybowman2k
216 posts
 

Shindo Labs Monbrisson preamp which I found to be quite ordinary in the context of my system

with respect, i could not disagree more with the suggestion that the Monbrisson is anything less than an extraordinary pre-amp. i suspect that the qualifer -- "in the context of my system" -- is the operative part of you statement, if the "system" you are referring to is the one that includes an exclusively digital front-end and a pair of powerful SS monblocks. all of which is very nice equipment, but not what i would think of as good match for Shindo.

Ginas, on the other hand, appears to own other equipment that would mate quite nicely with the Monbrisson.
bigamp
219 posts
 
I can't compare the brands you mentioned. But I'll add this 2 cents for what it's worth. People always mention the tonal accuracy of Shindo preamps. What suprised me about the Shindo Vosne-Romanee preamp that I demoed in my system was the amount of detail. It had more detail than my EmmLabs DCC2 preamp (I just played digital, EMM CDSD/DCC2 alone vs. EMM CDSD/DCC2 as a source feeding the Shindo preamp). I expected better tonal accuracy, which it had, but I didn't expect even more detail. The demo has eliminated for me the myth that you have to give up detail to get better musicality.
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