Yes, I owned a Shindo Aurieges for a little while. Vocals are superb but otherwise it was a bit too romantic for me, murky and veiled compared to a Lightspeed LDR, a TRL Dude, an Atma-sphere MP-3 and the CSL.
My I understanding is that the more expensive Shindo preamps are also more transparent.
By way of comparison to the CSL:
From my memory only, the Atma-sphere MP-3 has a bit more drive and bass impact and I recall is a bit more extended. But also the MP-3 has a higher noise floor, a bit of tube hiss and was (in my antiquated house) somewhat sensitive to dirty power and voltage sags.
TRL Dude is more romantic, a bit more tonally colorful (which I liked). But its size (truly gigantic) and proportions (the volume knob is bigger than the palm of my hand), its outrageous style (the word "Dude" is what, 4" tall?) make it inappropriate in a shared space. If I were to ever have a dedicated listening room, the TRL would go back on the short list.
The CSL is characteristically in between the TRL Dude and the MP-3. But neither in my opinion are as neutral and balanced in presentation as the CSL.
Build quality is first rate, switches feel robust and expensive. Quiet, noiseless, unfussy. I feel it will endure a lifetime of use, or at least 20 or 30 years without a thought.
My wife, who has better ears than me, says its her favorite preamp so far and thinks the system sounds wonderful. Either that or she's finally tired of me swapping out gear ...
