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PHC1 08-22-2011 04:57 PM

Shindo Masseto
 
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The Masseto preamp has landed! :banana:

Unpacked the nice double box, unwrapped the Masseto (Matt packs them meticulously with clear wrap followed by bubble wrap and the gear sits in packing peanuts inside the box followed by outer box). :thumbsup:

This Masseto has been gently preowned and enjoyed with a date of birth of 12/28/2008 according to the enclosed paperwork. Looks absolutely new. As I pulled the Masseto out of the box, the first thing that struck me is the rather significant difference in weight between the Masseto and Monbrison. Since they are virtually identical otherwise, I assume the amorphous-core step up transformers acount for the difference in weight.



From Stereophile:
Masseto is a full-function preamplifier, with line and phono stages under one roof. The Masseto goes a step further, providing a switchable choice between moving-magnet and moving-coil phono inputs, the latter accomplished with an onboard pair of amorphous-core step-up transformers.

Actually, the Masseto goes more than one step further. It begins by coddling the input signal with a Tocos (aka Tokyo Cosmos) carbon-comp volume control, and ends by buffering the line-level signal with a pair of custom-wound output transformers. (The Masseto's output impedance is a low 600 ohms—which compares favorably with the 5k ohm output impedance of the Shindo Aurieges.) The Masseto's dual-mono power supply is based on a pair of Philips 6X4WA rectifier tubes, the phono stage uses one Philips 6189W and one Philips 12AT7 per channel, and its line stage uses a single LCP86 triode/pentode per channel. (The LCP86 is a rare, Telefunken-specific variant of the PCL86 dual tube used in the Aurieges.) The two Telefunken tubes are mounted, House of Usher style, behind a small window on the panel, and are illuminated by a pair of green LEDs: a welcome touch of whimsy in a hobby often drained of same.


I did notice the Telefunken LCP86 tubes were leaning ever so slightly, probably started to work themselves loose from traveling across the country.

I took off the front face plate, made sure the tubes were nice and straight and sitting firmly in their sockets.

Hooked up the Masseto that took place of the Monbrison and am now warming everything up. :thumbsup:

Stay tuned for imperssions. :music:

This is my preamp and the photo is courtesy of Matt Rotunda.

Volks 08-22-2011 05:01 PM

Beautiful clean looking preamp .

Masterlu 08-22-2011 05:01 PM

Pretty little guy, enjoy it Serge! :yes:

Jerome W 08-22-2011 05:15 PM

Congrats Serge !
it's beautiful :thumbsup: !

jdandy 08-22-2011 05:42 PM

Serge.......Looks very nice. Happy listening.


http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...-photo-17-.jpg

audiot servant 08-22-2011 05:57 PM

Such a seemingly harmless little green box... and yet indeed it has the power to snatch you out of reality perhaps even forever... as it is said in the East... gone, gone, gone goes the goer... congrats Serge :yes:

cheers
Graham

cmalak 08-22-2011 06:03 PM

Congrats Serge. Looking forward to your impressions :thumbsup:

jwhite613 08-22-2011 06:20 PM

Congratulations Serge!!! Enjoy the :music:.

sibelius 08-22-2011 07:08 PM

Congrats. Very nice preamp. I trust you will hear a noticeable difference (for the better) compared to the Monbrison. Don't worry about the Telefunken tube lean. I had the same issue when I received mine from Japan and remembering calling Matt. As long as the tubes light up and there is sound, then you have proper tube contact and everything is fine. If you are concerned with the appearance you can always open up the chassis and straighten them.

howiebrou 08-22-2011 07:21 PM

Very nice Serge!

Can't wait for your impressions!


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