Shindo Monbrison + Cortese — A Rhapsody In Green

[Alberto]

The Shindo Monbrison:



The Shindo Cortese:

System Description

Digital Sources: McIntosh MDA1000 (with McIntosh MCD201 as CD transport + Sonos and Wadia i170 as additional digital inputs)
Analog Source: Thorens TD125ii with SME 3009ii tonearm and Clearaudio Maestro cartridge
Preamplifier: Shindo Monbrison
Amplifier: Shindo Cortese
Speakers: Tannoy Sandringhams
Cables: Shindo, Cardas, Shunyata
Other: Room size: 11’ x 14’ x 9’ – various room treatments for absorption. Dedicated AC line Richard Gray Power Conditioner

This is not a review, it’s a experiential report - and a subjective one at that. The Shindo setup is great for making you forget all those audioHIFIle mumbo-jumbo terms that require you to dissect the wholesomeness and deliciousness of the sound. I won’t do that here, it would be like dissecting your beloved household pet to see what makes it tick. Use Google to search for other professional and traditional reviews of the Monbrison and Cortese and you’ll find several that do a fantastic job. I’ve read them before buying these two pieces, re-read them afterwards, and they nail it. Believe what you read and if it sounds like the Shindo sound is a sound you’d like, then go for it … you won’t be disappointed. Because I am in 100% agreement with what these other reviews say, so I won’t bother to repeat it here. Instead, I’ll give you a more subjective and sensory review to complement them. I hope you enjoy it.

The Shower Scene

Do you know that feeling when you are taking a hot shower and the water temperature is just right and you are all soapy and relaxed and the last thing you want to do is turn the water off?

Good.

Now, imagine that while you are taking this wonderfully relaxing and satisfying shower, you feel someone massaging your shoulders. You turn around and it’s your favorite fantasy woman (or whatever gender flips your bits) smiling at you. “Relax and enjoy,” she says. You turn back to enjoy the massage - and an occasional nibble on your earlobes.

OK, now close your eyes and imagine that shower + massage + earlobe nibbling. But please keep it PG, or PG-13 -- this is an audio article, not “Letters to Penthouse.”

Did you do it? Did you close your eyes for a while and imagined yourself in that shower scene? C’mon, you won’t be getting the best out of this review if you don’t. Nobody’s looking. Go for it.

All right. Hopefully, you’ve done as I’ve asked. If not, your loss –- you party-pooper!

This may go down as the worst analogy ever used in an audio review, but here it comes anyway: If you know the great hot shower feeling, you can *begin* to comprehend how I feel about the combination of the Shindo Monbrison preamp + Cortese power amp. And if you’ve ever experienced (or even imagined) a shoulder massage (with occasional earlobe nibbles) together with that shower, then you can *almost* fully comprehend what this bottle-green pre + amp combination does to me: Every time I turn it on, it turns me on. It seduces me. It plays with me. It excites me and, at the same time, it relaxes me. It makes me beg “don’t stop,” but when it does have to stop you feel not only clean, but rejuvenated.

Instead of warm soothing water and lathery soap, these two little tubed gems from Japan bathe my ears in a warm and delicious shower of sound - and make stepping out of that shower into the cold and strident world is hard as hell.

Suprises

What about that earlobe nibbling? Ah, yes. That’s the best part - the sonic surprises. I already mentioned that dissecting the sound of this setup is a bit like dissecting your household pet –*I don’t really feel like doing it. The sound comes to you as a delicious whole. Yes, there is a smooth, potent and tuneful bass - the hot water. The magic midrange - the soapy lather. The sweet and never harsh highs - the water droplets dancing on your skin. But they come at you together as a whole. Like an exquisitely prepared dish at at 3 star restaurant, each morsel contains a symphony of flavors that blend and explode in your palate in harmony - as a whole. But as with a great dish, there are some unexpected and delicious subtle surprises that are delivered on top of fundamental flavors. Many reviews say things “I hear details that I had never heard before,” I am not sure this is the case here, it would be more accurate to say “I hear details like I’ve never heard them before.”

This is impossible to explain in words, but I’ll try with just one example.

I’ve been playing guitar for many years. Joe Pass is one of my heroes and his “Virtuoso” - the first one - is one of my favorite recordings. I’ve seen Joe live in a small club, and I’ve listened to Virtuoso hundreds of time on dozens of systems. But listening to the vinyl version on the Shindo was like listening to it for the first time - I know, an audio review cliche’ - but bear with me. I heard the same details I had always heard, but this time the details were so real and integrated as a whole that they transcended the basic information in the record and communicated at an even higher level. I could visualize the fingers moving on the fretboard and - much to my amazement - I could see (with my “mind’s eye”) and *feel* with my - ahem - “mind’s fingers” whether he was striking the strings with an up or down movement of the guitar pick. I am fully prepared to believe that this was just an illusion - my brain filling in the blanks - but I had never experienced it this clearly until now.

Many equipment reviews say, the artist was in the room with me. In this particular case, I was *in* the artist - feeling his movements. Freaky - but fun and totally involving. I enjoyed Virtuoso so much that one day I played both sides of the record two times in a row.

This is just one example of what I mean by surprises - unexpected, delicious, ear-lobe-nibbling-like pleasurable musical events that go well beyond more detail.

Spacing Out

Details and surprises are little/short sonic “things” or events(in terms of musical time and space) - and the Shindo combo does them amazingly well. But what about the big/long sonic “things” - the ones that carry throughout a record? A proper review would use terms like huge soundstage and imaging, I prefer to think of it as spacing out - getting past physical space and transporting somewhere else altogether.

Combined with the concentric speakers in the Tannoy Sandringhams, the Shindo transcends the physical limitations of my room.

On Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” the walls disappeared, along with the ceiling. The soundstage on some of the songs is extends well above 10 feet in the air. Some sounds (e.g., the radar-like beep on “Hey You”) come from 20 feet up - almost right above my head and way past the physical limitation of the ceiling.

On more intimate recordings (e.g., Joe Pass’ virtuoso) the focus shifts to the stage and all you hear and “see” is the artist and his guitar.

On large Symphonic recordings (e.g., Mahler’s 9th) the combo puts you in the middle of the symphony hall with a very nice and wide “semicircular” soundstage that - once again - transcends the room. But, unlike artificially mixed recordings like “The Wall” the height of the soundstage is much more realistic - all players are on the same plane vertically.

From the moment you cue up your LP (or CD) to the moment it ends, the sound from this system grabs you by the hand, takes you out of the room, and helps you get totally immersed and lost in the performance. The better the performance, the greater the illusion and the “out of body” experience. After a hard day at work, a couple of hours with my system are like a delicious mini vacation.

One note: The Cortese bass is so good that I had to move my speakers forward and extra 10-12” from the wall to balance it. This was a first for me. I like a deep and tuneful bass and I always thought I could have used a little more but I could not move the speakers closer to the wall without messing up the soundstage. With the Cortese I have enough that I can tune it just right. Think tubes can’t do bass justice? Listen to the Cortese and think again.

Bring Me Your Poor(ly mastered recording) and Cheaper Components

One of the challenges with many audiophile systems is that the better they get in terms of detail, speed, resolution, etc., the harder it is for them to deal with music that is poorly recorded. This has been my major problems with many systems. I want to listen to my poorly mastered and never reissued CDs from 1983.

This Shindo combo solved this problem for me - 99% of the time. The combo is not forgiving. Forgiveness implies acceptance of faults; I prefer the term improving.

Here’s my variation on the famous sonnet by Emma Lazarus inscribed in the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired LPs, your poorly equalized CDs,

Your bungled, compressed, masters yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your ProTools excesses.

Send these, these harsh and thin recordings to me,

I’ll light my glowing tubes and turn my the golden knob
And bring their music back to life.

This wonder combo makes great recordings sound amazing, good recordings sound great, and poor recordings sound musical and enjoyable. Given that I have quite a few of the latter, this is a huge advantage for me.

The improvement extends to source components. One of the best and most endearing attributes of this combo is that it’s very friendly not only to recordings but to sources. Case in point. My main phono cartridge is a $1000 Clearaudio Maestro. I prefer MMs to MCs and this is the best MM in the world, IMO. But I have a lot of, let’s say, less-than-pristine LPs that I’ve acquired over the years and I don’t want to drag a $1000 stylus over them, so I use a $150 AudioTechnica AT440Mla on those recordings. I was surprised at how great these cartridge sounds through the Shindo Monbrison phono stage. Holy-cow. More often than not I don’t bother to switch it out.

Like the Statue of Liberty, this Shindo combo welcomes all and gives them all the help they need to shine.

The Downside

There is a downside to all this deliciousness. A system like this is addictive - VERY addictive. You might think I am exaggerating but I am not. Other people have reported similar effects. I always enjoyed spending time with music, but my listening sessions are starting to stretch beyond what’s arguably healthy. One rainy Saturday, I spent over 8 hours - listening to record after record. I go to bed later and some mornings I sneak in a listening session when I should be out jogging or hiking or doing something healthier. I’ve never been a TV couch potato, but I am at risk of becoming an audio couch potato.

Conclusion?

Enough writing - at least for now. This is already twice as long as I wanted it to be. I’ve done my “duty” as an amateur audio reviewer and now I want to go back to listening. This was a highly subjective, sensory, incomplete and “impressionistic” review-like piece of writing. It was based on over 2 months of daily listening - sometimes excessive listening - and note taking. Hopefully, combined with other - more professional, more thorough and more traditional - reviews, it will help you gain a better understanding of what you are in for with a Shindo Monbrison + Cortese.


Thank you for reading.

Deliciously yours,

Alberto

[US Blues]

Thank you Alberto, your writing about audio is it's own kind of music.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by US Blues

Thank you Alberto, your writing about audio is it's own kind of music.

Well said !

[Jerome W]

The only shortcoming I can see in this wonderful set- up is the short nights.
Sleeping is a must for good health.
Take care Alberto !

['cisco]

WOW......That's gotta to be your BEST review to date......

Domo Arigato

[jdandy]

Alberto.......A most interesting love letter.

[chessman]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Alberto.......A most interesting love letter.

I will see your Alberto and raise you Dan. Seriously, as a guy who makes his living with words, you two are each gifted writers. I thoroughly enjoy the reviews from each of you.

[jdandy]

Randy.......Very kind of you to say. I, too, enjoy Alberto's well written dissertations.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by chessman

I will see your Alberto and raise you Dan. Seriously, as a guy who makes his living with words, you two are each gifted writers. I thoroughly enjoy the reviews from each of you.

Thank you Randy, I appreciate being in such good company as Dan .

Alberto

[jdandy]

Randy.......