A Pitch Perfect Day in the City
 

So, last Saturday it was a beautiful winter day in the Bay area, blue skies and temperatures in the high 60's. What better way to spend the morning than a visit to my favorite neighborhood audio establishment. Matt was gracious enough to host me for three hours. The purpose of the visit was to listen to various Shindo equipment as I have caught the "upgrade" bug.

Now I should start by saying that I am especially fortunate in having a rather fine system at this point in time, which I put together with Matt's guidance last spring. That includes a Garrard 401 turntable with Lignolab plinth, EMT tone arm and cartridge(s), A23 SUT, Shindo Masseto, Shindo Cortese, and DeVore O/96's. And the system does sound quite spectacular at home. But you know how it goes, always wondering if it could be even better.

First a few disclaimers, everyone's room and listening tastes are different, everyone likes to hear different things when listening to music, everyone's taste in music is different, and ultimately it is a personal decision on how one chooses to upgrade their system.

Which of course is not to say that I do not respect and value other people's thoughts and perspectives. I bought the O/96s prior to having heard them based upon Matt's recommendation.

My initial thought was to upgrade the pre amplifier, but I also did want to hear how other amps would sound with the system I have today. Matt was kind enough to have a system setup identical to the one I own. The plan was to compare that with a swap in of a Vosne-Romanee, than to swap back in the Masseto and try the system with the Lafon GM 70 mono block amplifiers, then to try it with both the Vosne and the Lafon.

I brought along a mix of LPs and CDs that I was familiar with and the tune spinning began. For those curious the selection included the following LPs: Jeff Beck/Cause We've Ended as Lovers, Fleetwood Mac/45/The Chain, Joe Pass/Concierto, Louis Armstrong/45/St James Infirmary, The Smiths/Heaven Knows I am Miserable Now, Jethro Tull/Bouree & Too Old to Rock n Roll.

CDs included the new Jethro Tull remix/remaster of Aqualung with Mother Goose, Heart/Magic Man, and The Smiths/Heaven Knows I am Miserable.

These were chosen for familiarity, quality of recording, mix of instruments, et al. Never got to the Gang of Four that I brought along (sadly).

We spent about 3 hours going through different songs and equipment changes. Bless Matt for his patience (and strength) in lugging those GM 70 bad boys in and out of the system.

I should also point out that Matt's room is much larger than my own which is only 13' wide by 9.5' high by 23' long and has some open spaces to other rooms.

Long story short - and again please take it with a grain of salt - these are only my preferences. First when listening to my current setup it all sounded fabulous! "Even" in Matt's room the system was able to be loud, proud, clear and articulate, just spectacular. I mention "even" because anyone wondering how the Shindo Cortese paired with the DeVore O/96s would work in a larger space have nothing to fear, power and dynamics in spades.

To my ears, switching out the Shindo Cortese for the Shindo GM 70s was a much more pronounced change than swapping out the Masseto for the Vosne. As someone mentioned in one of the other threads here, the GM 70s really seem to put you on stage with the musicians. Vicerally they have an impact and presence that made switching to the Cortese make everything sound really "small", almost as if the entire sound stage had collapsed. Hard to explain the effect, because the Cortese setup sounded great, really great. But man, those GM 70s really do have a striking impact, things just seem wider and bigger with more propulsion. And this is not only at loud volume levels because I also lowered the volume to more conversational levels.

All in all it was a great day, I am grateful for the wonderful hospitality, and now I am trying to determine which path to follow. I do think if I had only been interested in the Vosne Romanee I would have a more in depth analysis of them versus the Masseto, as it was we had a lot of ground to cover that day. Stay tuned.

Barr

Sounds like you had a blast Barr! The 2x the power of the GM70 SET over the Cortese, even with speakers like the O/96 which are what, 96dB efficient and 10 ohm nominal, surely helps the presentation, soundstage and scale of sound. Matt's room is pretty large, isn't it? That may also explain why the 20w over 10w plays a pretty big role here. My room is 13x21x9 and with the Tannoy 96dB efficient Canterbury speakers the Cortese sounds effortless but I would imagine it would be a different story in a much bigger room. So when are you getting the GM70's? :D

Yes Matt's room is huge, I wish I had it for my listening room! And I would concur that the GM 70s may indeed have a more pronounced impact in a room of that size. That being said, the Cortese was able to play plenty loud in his room, certainly as loud as I would want it - and be quite happy - but probably as you noted - more effort required. I am listening at home now and the system sounds great - I just want it more great! The quest never ends.

You are correct too that the Cortese sounds effortless in my room...

Also I still have a bit of a hankering to hear the 300B mono blocks one more time...I guess there are worse decisions one has to make in life, eh?

Barr

p.s. I just saw your signature - that setup must sound killer!

Hey Barr,

It's Wilson, met you at the Greenhaus. Get that Gang of Four on the platter will ya? ;-)
Le me know when on a weekend you're planning to hit Mill Valley Music...
Meanwhile, I'm indeed wishing I was you!

Wilson

Hey Wilson!

Hope life is treating you well! You were kind enough to not comment on the Jim Hall disk which I know sends "shivers" (not the good kind) up and down your spine. Next time Gang of Four will definitely make an appearance...

As to Mill Valley Music - I will let you know my next scheduled appearance - it may be Presidents Day as that should be their next 30% off sale.

Hope life is treating you well, and yeah, I am the lucky one eh? No denying that...

Barr

Oh, that was not good of me to talk about Jim Hall that way. He played with Sonny Rollins after all, and I have a bunch of his other albums too. Maybe I should give that album another chance.
Really like the rest of your reference selections though. Was that your copy of Louis' St. James Infirmary that we heard that night? That was some serious sh*t, it turned the place out - we were transfixed. Can you tell me more about that performance and who played with him?
Your O/96s ain't too shabby either :thumbsup: I went to Greenhaus thinking the X's were what I was interested in, but I came away wondering how I could get my hands on those Orangutans. Eventually.
Definitely give me a holler when it's MVM time, always good to go to record stores with cool folks like yourself.
Wilson

I believe my copy of Louis Armstrong's St James Infirmary was the same we heard that night - Classic Records - 45 - Single. About $30. Well worth the investment in my humble opinion.

You can read up on the history of Louis and the various versions here:

The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong: 80 Years of St. James Infirmary


I went down to St. James Infirmary,
Saw my baby there,
Stretched out on a long white table,
So cold, so sweet, so fair.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her,
Wherever she may be,
She can look this wide world over,
But she'll never find a sweet man like me.

Hi Barr,

As you can see from my system below I have gone down the Shindo path with Matt. I upgraded to the 70's from the Cortese's--my room is 13x26 with 12' ceilings--and I had the same reaction to the difference between the two amps.

It sounds like you also listened to the Shindo 300B amps. Could you give your impression of the difference between those and the 70's? I've been wanting to get out to Matt's to hear myself but have not be able to schedule the time. It's the only amp that tempts me at this point...

Many thanks,
Steve

Hello Steve -

Mighty fine setup you have there! Based on what I have heard at Matt's nothing can touch the Lafon GM 70s so far. They are big,wide and more! I listened to the Lafon 300B LTD as opposed to the Shindo Western Electric 300B Single Ended LTD mono blocks which I believe are the ones you are inquiring about. I did not want to hear the WE 300B LTDs because they are out of my price point at the moment, and I did not want to be "depressed"....

Much as the bad boy Shindo Latours are something I can only aspire to owning, which I have heard and are beyond compare.

I am trying to setup more time with Matt to compare the Lafon 300Bs with the Lafon GM 70s so I can make a decision on whether to go for the Lafon GM70 amps or a combo of a Vosne pre amp paired with a Lafon 300B LTD.

There are worse problems in life, eh?

Barr

Thanks, Barr.

Yes, I was hoping for a comparison between the 70's and the 300B Ltd. Although it's hard to imagine more of anything when listening to the 70's.

BTW, when you audition the VR pre amp I urge you to also take a listen to the Giscours. I had the VR in my system and while it is certainly an upgrade from the Masetto, I think it is also a different sound. I know Art Dudley raves over it, but the Giscours, to my humble ears, sounds more like an upgraded Masetto and I prefer it. But, as you eloquently put in your post to start this thread, it is a matter of taste at this point: each is superb.

Yes, indeed, should we all have such problems deciding between the Masetto, Vosne Romanee or the Giscours!