Shindo Monbrison !
 

Hi guys,
Just a few words about a nice Monbrison that I just got. This is the old version, without the window in the front plate.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c767586f3.jpg
In my living room system I wanted to downgrade and sold a few months ago my CJ Premier 17LS, to use my dac as a preamp. ( The AMR DP777 has an inboard preamp for digital sources and 2 analog inputs ).
I knew that I would have to give up some musicality. The beginning was tough. I really missed the 17. The sound was too thin, without the texture and rich tonality of the 17. But I finally got used to it.
Until I found this Monbrison on the used market.
I could not resist the temptation.

The Monbrison drives a Nagra MSA power amp. To the Rega RS10 speakers.
Here is a pic of the room before getting the Monbrison :
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...191867ad6a.jpg

I am extremely happy with the sound. This preamp is more extraverted than the mighty Giscours in my main system. But keeps an incredible insight into the music.
Only Shindo owners can understand what we mean when we say that nothing can replace a Shindo preamplifier. With the right power amp, they make decent systems sounding like million dollars ones.
The only problem is the gain. Really high. Much more than my Giscours. I did not expect that. Although I set the MSA at the 2V sensitivity, I really do not have a wide run of the Monbrison volume control. I could live with that anyway.
A power amp with a real adjustable gain is way better for some Shindo preamps.

Jérôme,
Congratulations, and thanks for the insights about the Shindo preamps. Man, what a beautiful listening space. Enjoy in good health!

Mazal Tov!

Congratulations Jerome on the new Shindo!!!

You have an absolutely beautiful home!!!

Thank you guys !

Jérôme
Very nice room and set-up. I am glad you were able to find a unit that gets you back to the sound you are looking for. Enjoy!!

Thanks Jim !

I will echo the other comments .... fantastic living space. Congrats on another Shindo!!!

Jerome.......I like the Monbrison without the window. Glad you were able to recover the lost musicality in the living room system.

Congratulations Jérôme, beautiful preamp in an equally beautiful room. The Regas are very nice as well.

Thanks Doc !

Thank you Dan !

Thank you !

If this little thread does not wake up the delicious Alberto who brought me into the Shindo world, then our dear friend really changed !
[emoji12]

Can't see any delicious pictures. Is it me?

Beautiful room!

Félicitations Jérôme!
And I know it is a wonderful room... :yes:

Why cannot I see any pictures when others can. Can somebody tell me?

Thank you guys !
David : what about this :
Attachment 49903
Attachment 49904

Or this :

Attachment 49905

Tonal beauty is a very simple yet completely accurate when it comes to Shindo preamps.
Obviously these preamps are not "neutral" in the hifi sense of the word. They do something very difficult to express.
Like a full deep massage to the signal. You remove it from the system and all the beauty of the music just vanishes.
They magnify anything you throw at them. While not sounding boring by coloring always the sound with the same shade.
I have been extremely impressed by my Giscours. And after all these years, I am still very impressed by the Monbrison.

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...5&d=1491030708

Thank you.

Yeah this is true! Even with my integrated Apetite I run my source -9dB and have the volume control only at about 8 o' clock. Part of that is the 97-103 dB Altecs and the living space of course, but yes lots of gain. :yes:

Felicitations Jerome! Tres joli systeme

Merci Georges !

Jerome, what a fantastic looking room... oh and the monbrison looks great too! Enjoy the music!

Mitch

Jerome, lovely home :thumbsup:

Absolutely love the Shindo. The MSA is completely symmetrical from input to output. Would a balanced output preamp (i.e. Shindo Vosne Romanee and above) potentially bring out the true potential of the MSA?

Thank you Mitch !

Thanks a lot !
Yes, I am quite sure of that.
But that is my secondary system. Not the main.
I could try the Giscours there and the Monbrison in the main though because the CCQs in the main system are not balanced.

Definitely keep the Giscours with CCQ, it's a different league from Monbrinson. But would be interesting to find out how the MSA perform with the Giscours although unable to tell how much the difference against Monbrinson is attributed to the balanced output.

I used the MSA often with the Giscours in the main system and it was great. No problem of too much gain there.
I actually tried the Monbrison on my main system yesterday but did not have much time to listen.
I will report in a few days.

Please do. Monbrinson is probably the best vfm for many Shindo fans so will be interesting to know how it compares to Giscours.
On the side note, I saw Netherlands based Highend Broker has a pair of mouthwatering CCQ.

Monbrison in the main system.
With CCQs.
Shindo IC's and speaker cables to home made Altec speakers inspired by the Petite Latour.
807 compression driver with W32 horn. And 414A 16 ohms replaced by the more efficient 414Z, still 16 ohms but going from 95/96 dB to 100 dB.
No use with the CCQs but I also use some days in that system 300B SET monoblocks and a MC225.


https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...5&d=1491461724


The Monbrison performs extremely well with the CCQs. The Giscours will not be "needed" in most set ups.
As Art Dudley and Jonathan Halpern say, there is no real hierarchy in the preamplifiers line. More lateral change.
In absolute terms the Giscours is better. But for musical emotions, you could prefer the Monbrison with the CCQs in my room.
The Monbrison is really a blessing compared to its price tag, especially on the used market. But also if you have to buy it new.
I have been a long time McIntosh fan.
But the best McIntosh preamp of all times ( C1000 but I did not hear the new C1100 ) cannot reach half of what a Monbrison does.
No remote. No balance adjustment. No HT pass through. Not balanced. But SO MUCH MORE MUSIC AND EMOTIONS.
A really different world compared to the classical even high end industrial products.

There are probably not many preamplifiers on the market able to compete with a Shindo preamplifier. Or spending fortunes on a Kondo maybe....
The only thing close to it is not in audio : a traditional Thai massage made by a Master ! Lol !

I will describe more the differences between the Giscours and the Monbrison in a few days.





Attachment 49945

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...6&d=1491462380






Attachment 49946

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Attachment 49947

The CCQs are stunning.
But they may be too powerful with very high efficiency speakers. For low volume listening even with such speakers, they are very hard to beat though.

Jerome, thanks for sharing the lovely rack of Shindos on PABs :thumbsup:
Have not seen the smaller PAB SE AVP on the secondary market. Would love to have a couple of them.
Do you think the CCQ is suitable for speakers below 90db? 70W of Class A can drive pretty much anything, including the power hungry Magico...I suspect.
I've had a good couple of hours listening to the Giscours but have not heard of the Monbrinson. Look forward to hearing your thought on comparing the two.
I have a Nagra MSA and really want to get a balanced output preamp to match it, I'm waiting for the right Shindo to appear.

Hello,

First, about the PAB platforms, I doubt that you may find them on the used market. They are really impressive. When you get one, you do keep it. You should contact Vladek at PAB with your needs. For multiple units you can get really nice discounts.
About the CCQs with speakers below 90 dB : clearly " yes BUT". Yes they are very powerful. BUT they are designed to work on minimum 8 ohm speakers, 16 being being better.
They were fabulous on my Harbeth 40.1, which are only 83 dB, but actually they were too good in the bass. The bass driver of the 40.1 is a 16 ohm driver. And goes very very low. And the CCQs were just too powerful there, and maybe too soft in the mids and treble so at high volume I was getting too much bass but at low volume the combo was excellent. The CCQs are really impressive for bass. I know someone who used an active Goldmund system with the top of the line speakers and he replaced the huge Telos monoblocks used for the bass by....Shindo CCQs.
You are making a bet if you buy a pair to be used with speakers like Magico. They could be fabulous or they could sound unbalanced.
They were by far the best amps I used on my Wilson WP8's but they are 93dB.

With the MSA you will really benefit from
Balanced outputs from a Shindo preamp. You should look for a VR or a Giscours. I have the Giscours now with the MSA on the RS10 and the partnering is stunning.

More to come on the differences between Monbrison and Giscours.

Jerome, thanks for the insight. As awesome as the CCQ is, I guess it wouldn't suit my speaker. Will stick with Nagra but would certainly want a Shindo in the system.
A friend has a Giscours partnering the Goldmund Telos 2500+ to drive Wilson Maxx 3, sounded superb, sublime, I loveee it but so far out of my budget. Amazing partnership they are.

Hello,
I am new to the forum. I just recently picked up a Monbrison with the window and rocker type power switch. My guess is it is from the early 2000's? It is mint with no signs of servicing. I was picking up a bit of static so i cleaned the pins, but forgot to mark the position of the tubes. It has pair of 12au7 and 12at7 per side. All rubes are JAN Phillips.The left channel is in the front of chasis close to the volume and right is more back. Can anyone verify the tube position?
Thanks,
Marc