Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnThomas
Hi Alberto,
I've been following all of your threads on your Shindo adventure like a TV series completely involved with all of your finding. A couple of years ago when I was looking for a USB Dac I was at Don Better's in Ohio and he had Shindo mono amps with Shindo preamp ( I'm not sure what model as my concern was with a Dac). He first played a cd thru ARC-CD8 (Gene Harris) for fun since I always wanted to here the CD8. I was completely amazed at how warm and lushest it sounded at first I thought it was the cd player but no matter what Dac he hooked up it was the same beautiful sound.
I've always been in the camp of the same company for preamp and amp. So I started day dreaming of what a Shindo preamp would sound like with a Burmester amp. Since I like to listen to a wide range of music at all different levels(depending on the mood). I was thinking wow I can try the entry level premamp Aurieges since it so inexpensive then I could have two preamps ready to go depending on the mood. Then I remember that the Burmesters input impedance is very low around 5000 ohms I think. So the Aurieges would not work under 10X rule of thumb. It seems I would have to go up to the Masseto which has an output of 600 ohms I think. Now we triple in price. Then I woke up from my dream.
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John,
You have an amazing system. From everything I read, Burmester is a world-class delicious brand - and I would not mess with it by mix-and-matching.
Aside from impedance issues, there are other factors that make pre/amp mix and match a bit of a gamble. Besides, at least in my case, it's the Cortese amp that is mostly responsible (I'd guess 70%+) for the amazingly delicious sound - moving up from the Auriges to the Monbrison added refinement and detail but it was a much more subtle difference than the difference between the Montille and the Cortese amp.
As many have said before me, the best and most reliable way to experience the Shindo sound is with a Shindo pre and power amp (and ideally a Shindo interconnect). Deviate and your mileage may vary
.
Based on what I've heard in person, the baseline Shindo system for me would be the Auriges + the Cortese. If you plan to listen to a lot of vinyl then the Monbrison makes a lot of sense because you get an amazing MC/MM phono stage. But I can't imagine anyone having this as their 'B system' :-).
One of these days I will have to go and have a listen to a full Burmester system - so I can empathize even better with your crying for joy
.
Alberto