Moving up the Shindo line of products
 

I currently own mid level shindo amp, preamp, auditorium speaker cables, shindo interconnect along with the new Devore O96's.(than:scratch2:ks Matt)
I often wonder just how far up the shindo line of products I wish to go. At what point do you say this is enough? My current system is very, very nice and I really enjoy listening to it but I often wonder what the incremental benefit of owning say a VR preamp would do to my system and further enhance my enjoyment. Is it really worth the extra $10k differential or would the funds be better spend elsewhere? Should I just try to maximize what I currently have by improving the room acoustics, tuning the system, etc? Any thoughts?

It is funny when a $23k combination of preamp/amp is considered midrange ;)

Knowing the combination you are running I would consider my system as done, it's that nice.

I don't have any clue beyond the fact that everything I read says on the pre-amp side it just gets better and better. On the amp side I think they have slightly different sound signatures.

BTW - I live in North Van and would love to meet with you some time so I can hear your shindo/devore. I currently have Modwright/MC275 with Usher BE718's (see my thread). I am seriously considering switching the Modwright for Shindo and the Ushers for Devore's.

I would make sure to switch the MC275 as well.

Perhaps at some point. I really like the MC275 though.

Sorry for the hyjack.

My personal opinion is that the preamps improve noticeably as you go from the Monbrisson up through the VR. As I've said a few times in other forums, If my place was burning down and I could only save one piece of audio equipment it would be the VR. While I love Shindo amps I think the preamps are even more magical.

I may not be typical but I have a hard time using one amp for all types of music. I routinely change out amps based on the musical genre I'm listening to. So when it was time to maximize my Shindo $ I decided that upgrading the preamp would be the best bang for my buck. I moved from the Masseto to the VR about 10 months ago and I have absolutely no regrets. The VR is the mainstay of my system and expect it to be so for a long, long, time.

Yes "mid level shindo" at $23k is expensive, considering you could purchase a mid sized Japanese car for about the same price. Hi-end audio is a bit over the top at times, cant really equate it to anything else, however on a shear enjoyment level it is way up there in my experience. What other products give you this level of satisfaction, pride, build quality and attain this level of customer loyalty?

Lowens -if you don't have a lot of hours (<200-300) on your Orangutans, I wouldn't do a thing until you do -they improve dramatically over time. I haven't heard the Haut Brion with them, but I imagine it's a match made in heaven -especially for indie & rock. What types of music do you listen to?

Although the 275 is a fine amp, I agree with Restock. We have quite a few of them in our local audio group so I've listened to it extensively and I find the bottom end to be a bit woolly. Of the Mac amps I like the 225s the best, even though it has less power it has better control over the bass and is less veiled sounding IMO. However, moving to a Shindo amp, even the entry level Montille produces more texture and accurate tonality than the 225s even. This is just my 2 cents, YMMV and sorry for hijacking your hijack. :D

Moving up the shindo line of products
 

I likely have about 200 hours on the O96's. I listen to a variety of music, but mainly pop, jazz, classical, acoustic, with a bit of classic rock music. Not planning on trading the O96's anytime soon as they have been outstanding on all the music I listen to. I the next few years the only area I would consider changing out would be the shindo pre to a VR, but that is likely a dream not a reality, unless I could find a trade-in or dealer demo at a reduced differential. Will likely leave my system as is for the next few years and buy the odd thing such as a Mr T or new cartriage. I think my system is very well balanced as is, with like quality all around.