My first Shindo experience...

[gortnipper]

Originally Posted by AudioKiwi

Not Jonathan BTW.

Oops, my bad - I missed this. I thought from Neil's comment you were Jon. My apologies if you do happen to drive a Peugeot! Or, my condolences...

[NeilNZ]

No he's not Jonathan, but Jonathan does read this!

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by NeilNZ

No he's not Jonathan, but Jonathan does read this!

Which Jonathan ?

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by NeilNZ

Low mass, excellent strain relief, easily soldered, robust, low cost, good connection, they even look good.

Give me Switchcraft RCAs over WBT bling any day. But if you're happy with other things, thats cool too.

I've been terminating my own and clients cables with them as a matter of course for years, nice to know Mr Shindo thinks they are good too.

Agree on everything you said. They are 'studio grade' - field serviceable and robust in normal use.

-M

[gortnipper]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Which Jonathan ?

A mate of ours here in Auckland.

[AudioKiwi]

Originally Posted by chessman

AudioKiwi, you have an excellent turn of phrase. Please post more often.

Why thank you Sir!

[AudioKiwi]

Originally Posted by gortnipper

Oops, my bad - I missed this. I thought from Neil's comment you were Jon. My apologies if you do happen to drive a Peugeot! Or, my condolences...

No offence taken - however 'my feet are my only carriage' - especially with Shindo to save for.

[AudioKiwi]

Originally Posted by pitchperfect

Agree on everything you said. They are 'studio grade' - field serviceable and robust in normal use.

-M

If normal use includes plugging them in and never changing anything then, yes, no problem. However I like to change amps depending on mood and music and I find the plugs get a bit loose with repeated use. I note Jeff Day recently posted on his blog he was having problems with switchcraft plugs too; so I don't feel completely unvindicated, however I am quite obviously in the minority.

[Freestone]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

Thanks Stephen. Nice write up !
I would have loved to see a pic of the whole system.
I am not sure if I agree with the lack of extreme bass and light inability to deliver very heavy dynamics of SET amps. I have heard 5W SET amps which were sounding incredible on the adequate speakers ( Audio Note and Verdier 300B ).
Shindo's more powerful PP amps allow pairing with much more speakers of various impedances / sensitivity but of course choice is more limited than with big tube or SS amps. And yes, they sound magic too.
The connection with the music with Shindo gear is unique.
It would be very interesting to try this Monbrison in your home and see what it does compared to your CJ preamp.
My belief : conventional companies cannot spend the time and efforts Shindo did while selecting components by ear. Most of the time, the big companies select products based on tech spec and reliability. Not sound.
So the difference in sound that you get between Shindo and most brands is not small. It is huge.
Shindo does not sound like anything else and yet, it is not "warm" or colored in any way.
Wether you like it or not is an other story.
But my guess was that you would feel this "magic".

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

I think a wine analogy is appropriate. I love the texture and "earthiness" I get from tubes and horns - in the same way I prefer red wines to white. It just involves and relaxes me.

[HNY]

Originally Posted by Freestone

I think a wine analogy is appropriate. I love the texture and "earthiness" I get from tubes and horns - in the same way I prefer red wines to white. It just involves and relaxes me.

Well, certainly a nice glass of red Burgundy is one of the simple pleasures of life, but don't count out the Montrachets & Co. for "texture and earthiness"!

Interesting thread--I remember seeing those items up on Audiogon; happy to see they went as a unit to a good home! I'm curious if Wino or his friend Puma might provide us with an update on how the system is sounding now that he has, no doubt, been able to make all sorts of tweaks and adjustments.