Shindo gets no reviews because mr halpern won't let anyone but art Dudley review them in the US. He's selling every box he can import and is happy with the current situation.

Next time I have a stack of 20's that I don't need I'll just buy one...

Then well see what's really going on.

I even offered to buy one at standard audio industry $$ and they wouldn't even sell me one. That sounds mighty fishy....

Interesting Jeff !
But what would be their interest in acting like this ?

Mr halpern is a very nice guy, I spent time talking to him at the Montreal show...

But if you've got a good thing, you certainly want an unknown coming in and potentially damaging your distribution model. While I understand this, I think it is very shortsighted long term.

Seriously, I'll get my hands on one this year and see if it passes muster or not...

I am also curious about the Corton-Charlemagne EL34 amps, and have been unsuccessfully trying to find any reviews or owner experiences, in particular to determine whether it or the Cortese would be most suited to an Altec 604 based setup (or if I should stick with my Montille EL84).

Due to my location it's also very hard to demo or hear either amp in my system, so I share you frustrations Jerome.

Omodo,

Welcome to the forum.

I own a Montille and a Cortese. Here's a link to my initial review of the latter.

The Montille is a great amp - I am not selling mine. But the Cortese is the amp I've been waiting for all my audiophile life. It's voiced just right for my tastes. I am going to make a leap and guess that it would sound amazing with your Altecs. If I had the room for them, I would love a pair of Altecs.

There is something VERY special about the sound of SET - I can't get enough of it. It's addictive to the point that my wife is starting to complain about me spending too much time listening to music :D. Never fatiguing and it makes even poorly recorded music sound good.

With previous setups, about 30% of my record collection did not sound good without some tone controls (harsh highs or thin bass) - I thought I'd never be able to live without a preamp with tone controls. The Cortese changed all that.

A few days ago - just for kicks - I put the Montille back in the system. It sounded great, but after a few tracks I was longing for the delicious midrange, smoother highs and incredible bass of the Cortese.

If you have the speakers for it (i.e. high efficiency) I can't recommend the Cortese highly enough.

I hope this helps and, again, welcome to this amazing forum!

Alberto

Welcome to AA omodo :wave:

The plot thickens...

Now, I've received word from Mr. Halpern that I am to "follow their wishes" and not review an amplifier or preamplifier at all. They say that it has to be used in a "Full System" or it can't be evaluated properly. Really.

Don't like that either.
Thanks for the info Jeff.

It's really too bad actually. Whenever I've heard Shindo at shows, it's always been pleasant, and I tend to like things a bit on the warm and romantic side, though perhaps not quite as "delicious" as our pal Alberto.

So, Shindo will remain the great mystery....

That is surely their will.
Rare reviews create probably more desire than many reviews.
Hidden beauties are the most wanted ones...