My "last day" with the Montille - and keeping my options open
 

Today, I pick up my new Shindo Cortese from Pitch Perfect Audio in San Francisco.

Last night, I gave the Shindo Montille a good "last listen" before replacing it.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/...f4c9d68f_b.jpg

The Montille sounded so great - so perfect in so many ways - that I thought to myself "Why do I even want something else?"

The short answer is that I am a big fan of the SET sound and the opportunity to have a 10+10W set (as opposed to the single-digit SET watts I experienced in the past) was too good to pass up.

I expect that the Cortese will shine where most SETs shine, in that magic and liquid midrange. By all reports, the Cortese should also do great things to the bass. But I will be very surprised if it will match the Montille on some instruments like the piano. There are some things that push-pull amps do very well and piano is one of them IMO.

Fortunately, I decided not to trade in the Montille (hence the quotes around the "last day") - and I've set up my rack so that I can have both amps handy and can change from one to the other in less than a minute.

My expectation is that - after the initial honeymoon with the new Cortese - I will be selecting amps based on listening material for that session.

With my new set-up I now have 4 different possible configurations:

1. source -> Shindo Auriges -> Shindo Montille
2. source -> Shindo Auriges -> Shindo Cortese
3. source -> McIntosh C34V -> Shindo Auriges -> Shindo Montille
4. source -> McIntosh C34V -> Shindo Auriges -> Shindo Cortese

This gives me a lot of flexibility and opportunity to match the equipment to the recording (and my listening mood: soft, loud, smooth, dynamics, etc.)

At some point, I might add back a high-powered solid state amp for when I really need a lot of power and dynamics (e.g. Mahler)

I love having options!

I'll let you guys know how the Cortese sounds sometime tomorrow. I am super-excited - and glad that I can afford to not make an either/or decision between amps.

Alberto

Alberto,
When are you going to get a Vosne-Romanee?

;)

You've really touched on a very important aspect, you almost need a few different combinations to enjoy your music fully, especially the wider ranging your taste. Got a pair of SET monos here that will go in the system as soon as pics are shot. Should be fun.

Alberto...congrats on yet another delicious amp. Looking forward to your listening impressions and stellar review.

Dave

At this rate, a week from Tuesday :D.

Seriously now. If the Cortese sounds as good as I hope (and everybody tells me) think I am going to be set for another year with this system.

Alberto

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the comment. I am glad that someone with 100x the experience I have agrees with this conclusion. I tried, REALLY TRIED, to keep things simple, but I inevitably noticed changes in my listening patterns and selection. The more resolving the system, the more reluctant I was to bring out lower quality recordings.

The clincher was when I recently listened to vintage Billie Holiday on my 1960 Fisher receiver. It sounded A M A Z I N G: smooth, luscious - DELICIOUS. I played the very recording on the C220->MC501s and it sounded dry and fatiguing. The more resolving and faster system was just not right for the recording. The extended frequency range highlighted the highs which sounded harsh.

The reverse holds true. The Dark Side of the Moon sounded magnificent with the McIntosh gear and slow and dull on the old Fisher.

That day I realized that there is no one-size-fits-all-recordings system - at least for my ears.

I know a lot of people will disagress. I've hear many times "A great system sounds great with all recordings."

Thank you for not making me feel even more of an audiophile outcast than I am :D.

Alberto

This forum is really strange..... :scratch2:

I consider myself fortunate enough to have one of the best balanced tube amps in the world (ok, it's an hybrid design so pretty far from a SET amp....), and all this fuss around Shindo amps made me starving for listening and buying a Shindo combo !!!! and I won't because they are not RoHS compliant hence, forbidden in most european countries !
Stop it Alberto, we are just getting more and more nuts :D !

Jerome, mon ami, I've tried really hard to feel sorry for you. But every time a tear started to come to my eyes, I took at look at your system's list in your signature and the tear just evaporated :D.

Seriously now.

I will let you and the gang know how the Shindo Cortese sounds. My guess is that it will be quite polarizing and not to everyone's tastes. There are very few people I know of who have an SET-based amp as their main amp.

But if you really want to try a Shindo - even in Europe - you should keep your eyes open on Audiogon for European-voltage versions sold on the continent. This gear keeps its value so well that even if you don't like it you are unlikely to lose money if you resell it.

Alberto

Too bad I can't do this with women, unless I am Arnold.:D

http://media.schwarzenegger.ca/arnol...arzenegger.jpg

True Lies... :lmao: