Shindo Masseto

[Alberto]

Belated congratulations Serge!

As always your write up is great and I think I know exactly what you mean. I can almost hear the Masseto through your words .

Alberto

[adhesiv]

I'm not sure the price difference between Monbrison and Masseto but percentage-wise is it possible to say how much of the Masseto the Monbrison delivers? oh and yeah, totally envious ...

Not that a Preamp upgrade is on my radar anytime soon, my next journey is SET land (and complementary speakers), but you never know...

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Cucumber_Jones

Well then the best solution to that problem is that he gets one!!

I am very interested to hear the results of a Shindo Pre with a MC275. I hope that someone puts that combo together sometime. It may have to be me!

I used to own an MC275 along with the MC501s and I swapped them weekly to get a different flavor and a perspective going.

I would imagine a Shindo preamp with the 275 would be a great combo but I can tell you this, the one Shindo amp I have owned so far is not just in a different league, it is on another planet all together compared to the MC275. The MC275 sounds more vintage, veiled and overly romantic by comparison. They are in different price leagues and very different topology as well. The 275 is a very enjoyable amp but not the kind of sound I personally would be looking for after investing in the rest of the system like I have so far. Of course the 275 does have much more power for various speakers. I don't need more than 10w with my current speakers though.

[piolaxo]

Serge, many congratulations and beautiful preamp. Also I have to say that your post is, to me, one of the best of the year. The way you're describing what you're hearing made me believe and almost hear as if I was there -- brilliant narrative.

I wanted to ask, these Shindo preamps seem to be very tightly targeted to Shindo amps. Do you think that you'd lose too much by going to SS amps. Would that be sacrilege?

Sal

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Thank you! Yes, Matt is great with a camera.

Thanks Serge -

Enjoy!


-M

[sibelius]

Originally Posted by piolaxo

Serge, many congratulations and beautiful preamp. Also I have to say that your post is, to me, one of the best of the year. The way you're describing what you're hearing made me believe and almost hear as if I was there -- brilliant narrative.

I wanted to ask, these Shindo preamps seem to be very tightly targeted to Shindo amps. Do you think that you'd lose too much by going to SS amps. Would that be sacrilege?

Sal

I've found that Shindo preamps work very well on their own but be careful with mating with SS amps. I have used my VR with a bunch of tube amps (primarily SET and OTL) to great success. Tried it with an ICE SS amp and all the "magic" completely left the room. There may be better high end SS amps that work well with the Shindo preamps but I would not risk it without listening to the combo before purchase. Of course, pairing with a Shindo Amp would ensure synergy so that would ultimately be the safest way to go.

[Cellindo]

I've enjoyed in the past 3 years great results pairing a Monbrison preamp with either an Air Tight ATM1 EL34 push-pull or the highly transparent Cello E150 monoblocks. Ideally you want a high input impedance for your solid state amp.

I'm now considering a PASS or an AYRE amp. Btw, an Auriege phono + Pass X250.5 was a great combination that I auditioned recently.

[lowens]

All this endless talk about matting Shindo preamps with non Shindo amps. Yes in some cases it will work just fine and can be used as a stop gap towards a shindo amp/pre combination. The real magic occurs when the two are mated together. Just bite the bullet, I did with the purchase of a Masseto & Haut Brion a few years ago and have never looked back.

I am now awaiting the arrival of a pair of Devore O/96's purchased from Matt. That addition in some ways will end the journey for me. I will likely never leave the Shindo brand, but only move up the brand.

[PHC1]

Shindo Masseto in action.

Of course there is no way to share the actual quality of sound, certainly not through the iPhone to youtube recordings. Perhaps someone will find this interesting none the less.

[ame=http://youtu.be/B9QUfRnb56U]Shindo Masseto - YouTube[/ame]

[1KW]

Congrats again Serge

You are on a different planet for sure from your Wilson/Lamm and SF/Mcintosh days
I have to say it amazes me that you are so happy with only 10 watts of power . I am happy for you that you are enjoying your new 2 channel system.