Vosne vs Giscours

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by TommyC

I would do the amp first. Your VS is already amazing. Get that Shindo amp and complete the combo. 1+1=3. Giscours can wait.

Agreed !

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[Plink]

J,

I would suggest finding your way to San Francisco, Cleveland, etc...and having a listen. Given the amount of money you might spend now and later, it's wise to do so. You can basically listen to your system at their place and you can try all the combinations. You will be able to determine the deltas between the amps, preamps, and the various combinations.

I know you specifically indicated that you want monoblocks. They are nice but I would not rule out the stereo amps. While it is nice to have good speaker cables, they are a trivial matter when compared to the electronics. I personally would never factor speaker cables into a decision on what I amp I should buy.

Additionally, upon buying a Corton-Charlemagne, Haut-Brion, Montrachet, Cortese, etc...you might see if you can work a penalty-free trade up to the GM70s within some specified time (echoing what Freestone just said). With a Shindo amp that costs less, perhaps you might even swing that preamp upgrade you are thinking about (win-win for you and your dealer). In other words, it might be worth trying the "lesser" amp...who knows, you might even find peace with it.

In the end, you won't make a poor choice here...rest easy on that.

P

[NeilNZ]

Very well said Plink. Remember too that the Shindo amps aren't necessarily better just because they are more expensive. Ken Shindo designs each product as his statement of what a particular tube type can do. So whilst a Lafon 300B may be more expensive (and of course desirable and fantastic!) maybe the baby Montille CV391 is just what the doctor ordered.
Who knows. But you owe it to yourself to at least try and get to PPA or Don's...

[FranklinLG]

Originally Posted by Freestone

It sounds like you just want to get something today...

LOL Free! No, I will not be doing anything today. Check back in late October. I may pull the trigger then, but right now I have some other things of importance for work. We'll see.

[FranklinLG]

Originally Posted by Freestone

Personally I might think of the cortese and then upgrade that to your gm70 if you want partial steps...

Yeah, the Cortese is sweet, but I don't see it as a significant upgrade over my Sophias. Yes, that's sacrilegious of me to say, but that's my 2 cents. I've heard the Cortese, and really like it. But I heard it with the Massetto, which I really like. My issue seems to be with the sweetness of the Massetto, which is less linear than the VR, or so I'm told. And then the Giscours is even more of the Massetto, or so I'm told!

[Freestone]

Originally Posted by FranklinLG

Yeah, the Cortese is sweet, but I don't see it as a significant upgrade over my Sophias. Yes, that's sacrilegious of me to say, but that's my 2 cents. I've heard the Cortese, and really like it. But I heard it with the Massetto, which I really like. My issue seems to be with the sweetness of the Massetto, which is less linear that the VR, or so I'm told. And then the Giscours is even more of the Massetto, or so I'm told!

A crazy thought: trade down from vr to masseto and go to the gm70. Later go up in pre amps.

[adhesiv]

Building off Freestone's comment, you could always go for the Massetto which you clearly have a liking for and trade up the VR towards the GM70's. I'm not sure if Matt allows tradeup value to cross functional pieces but I don't see why not.

Then as Plink says it's a Win-Win for all...you improve the overall balance of your system and out of pocket cost is significantly reduced compared to the Giscours/GM70 route.

NeilNZ hit it on the head, Shindo makes different flavors vs. the typical price exponential increase in performance of most manufacturers.

There is a Massetto for sale in the Marketplace...just saying

[FranklinLG]

You all are the best. We'll see what I do. My guess is that I'll do something...

[Jerome W]

Would it be correct to say that the Giscours is a "Super Masseto" while the VR is clearly darker than them and has a complete different tone ?

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Would it be correct to say that the Giscours is a "Super Masseto" while the VR is clearly darker than them and has a complete different tone ?

I wouldn't agree with that assessment, personally.
VR shares more commonalities with the Giscours, IMO, both of which have more scale and presence than the already superb Masseto.

VR has much more harmonic complexity and depth. Wouldn't call it darker, I would call it more natural presentation. As such, the Masseto seems a bit more 'sprightly' in comparison.

VR takes off from the Masseto's capabilities and accentuates them naturally. Giscours even more so.

-M