Shindo Montille -> Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage: Sushi and Fettuccine

[Alberto]

I don't know about Japanese-Italian fusion food - it's probably a VERY bad idea. But my Japanese Shindo Montille and Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage are making beautiful music together.

Driving my 86db Guarneri Homage with 15+15W of tube power would, on the surface, be akin to putting a Fiat 500 engine in a Ferrari. But that's why I like to dig well below the surface.

Simply put, as long as I keep the listening volume reasonable (<90db) the Guarneri sound better than they ever have. The bass is not as tight and precise as it was with the 501s, but it's more than adequate, and the mids and highs are so enchanting that it becomes a minor sin of omission.

I can't believe my good luck that I accidentally found this Shindo on Audiogon (10 miles from my house and posted the morning of my long wait for FedEx.)

Once it warms up - which takes a good 20-30 minutes - the sound from this little emerald green jewel grabs you by the ears and, with the right music, reaches deep into your chest and tugs at your heart strings like nothing I've previously experienced in my listening room.

The soundstage is a good couple of feet higher than with the 501s (I am not sure how or why this happens, but it's undeniable - same exact speakers position, listening position and material. The stage is also a bit wider than with the 501s. But it's not the height or width of the soundstage it's the depth and "air" in it.

The Shindo with the Guarneri conjures up a spectacular three-dimensional soundstage. It's not just that different sounds/instruments are placed at different depths in the stage. They OCCUPY and OWN that space. This is hard to explain - especially since I haven't experienced it before to this degree - but I will try. The sound of the instrument does not just originate from a particular depth (say, 22" behind the speakers) on many recordings, you can hear the instrument occupy the space between, say, 22" and 28". I don't know if this makes any sense, but there is a difference between an abstract point source playing from a particular position in the soundstage and the illusion of a concrete instrument or voice occupying that space.

A good analogy might be to old-fashion 3D movies vs. Avatar's 3D.

In addition this fuller 3-dimensionality, there next most pronounced quality is the smoothness of the midrange. The 501s are the smoothest sounding solid -state amps I've ever owned. I thought you could not do better than that. But apparently you can. The best adjectives I can conjure up to describe the difference in smoothness are "continuous", "liquid", "frictionless" and ... ahem .. "oily" (!?). Imagine running your hands on a smooth surface, say a perfectly polished piece of marble. There are no imperfections, there is no grit, you can't say that it's not smooth. But now add a thin layer of "oil" to the same surface and your hand will glide even more smoothly. Please keep your dirty minds under control if you can - I am trying to be serious here. Good analogies are hard to come up with!

Finally, there is a "shimmer" to the sound that I like A LOT. It's a form of additional "air" around some instruments like cymbals.

Allright, I've been talking a lot about the amplifier so why have I put this review on the Sonus Faber forum? Because my Guarneris have never sounded better. It sounds like a different speaker. It sounded great before, now it sounds fantastic - one full rung higher on the delicious scale.

If I had the Shindo before I had ordered the Tannoys I might have decided to keep the Guarneris (and I still might.)

Deliciously yours,

Alberto

P.S. Relevant associated gear: MDA1000, C34V. The tone controls on the C34V, work great at addressing the somewhat weaker bass. The resulting bass is not as tight as with the MC501s, but it has a smoothness that actually works well with the mid and upper octaves.

[Still-One]

Alberto
I do know that "Fusion" as you describe can be very delicious. At RMAF '10 one very interesting room combined Audio Note Ongaku with Martin Coltrane and a EMM Labs front end.

Jim

[TommyC]

Sounds like a wonderful combo. Love to see some pics from your Leica camera.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by TommyC

Sounds like a wonderful combo. Love to see some pics from your Leica camera.

Pictures coming soon, I am reconfiguring the rack and listening space...

Alberto

[Tonepub]

Just curious, if you have the Luxman, why are you using the Shindo too? Aren't they both integrated amps?

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by tonepub

Just curious, if you have the Luxman, why are you using the Shindo too? Aren't they both integrated amps?

The Luxman is not here yet. When the Shindo showed up on Audiogon 10 miles from my house I could not resist.

Irrational? Impulsive? Crazy? Yes! Yes! Yes!

But I was so fed up waiting for Fed Ex that when I had a chance to buy the Shindo I went for it.

I know I could resell it at cost (or a little loss) if I didn't like it.

I was not prepared to like it sooooooo much. I also did not expect it to make my Guarneris sound as good as they do. This turn of events is turning my plans around quite a bit.

To make matters more complicated the Tannoys have just arrived!

I feel like a guy with a wife and three girlfriends trying to juggle the Shindo, the Luxman, the Guarneris and - now - the Tannoys. But it's fun.

Alberto

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by Alberto

I feel like a guy with a wife and three girlfriends trying to juggle the Shindo, the Luxman, the Guarneris and - now - the Tannoys.

Alberto...I can think of worse problems to have

[two dot]

Jeff,

The Shindo Amp that Alberto bought of Agon is the Montille. An EL-84 based power amp with gain controls... NOT the integrated Appetite.


Alberto,

Glad that you are loving the little green magic from Japan. Ken Shindo is a master like not many others.

You now possess a very limited, very special little amplifier.

Congrats.

[PHC1]

Shindo names his gear after fine wines.