Final decision

[countingbackwards]

Originally Posted by NOLG4EVR

I see you are in Montreal. Do you have any experience with the Shindo dealer there, Coup de Foudre? Planning on visiting and stopping in to audition some shindo pieces.

I have quite a bit of experience with CDF, having bought my DAC, preamp and amp there over the last few years. They are great to deal with, offering what I consider to be excellent service. They are a bit "different" in that they view this stuff as art, treating their store more like an art gallery than an electronics store. This is in part due to the owners also running a studio on the side (that's loaded up with wonderful vintage recording gear). The result being, that it's a beautiful store to walk into, with a great mix of vintage and new gear, along with instruments that they use in the studio.

They are quite different from the Pitch Perfect model also - they carry other types of brands that cater to a wider audience than low-powered tube amps do. While they have the standard Tone Audio stuff and Devore speakers, they also deal in Wilson and Avalon speakers among others, and VTL and Spectral amps. Meaning, they're dealing with everything from flea-watt to mega-watt, so aren't espoused to theory as to what should sound best, but go by their ears. The result is that they tend to stock the push-pull Shindo's more than the SET's in order to match more of their speakers. They also frequently put Shindo pre's in front of VTL amps to handle more difficult loads - there are (relatively) lots of Aurieges and Monbrison's in front of MB125's and ST150's in Montreal homes!

[fjn04]

I have been to CDF several times, and ended up getting my Shindo feet wet there. They are truly a great bunch, and very passionate about audio. When it came time to do a Shindo amp, they did not have any to demo. So I ended up at another Shindo dealer who had what I wanted to hear. This was some time ago (over 3 years), and perhaps it's a little different now. Make no mistake though, these guys know their stuff. Cheers -Don

[Shindoadict]

Don,

different YES for the best and the Shindo guru is Danny GREAT guy

You know he have a pair of CC 80 for demo.

[fjn04]

Indeed- Danny is excellent. Off subject, but my favorite record store is in Montreal. Aux 33 tours over on Mont Royal. I can't even pronounce the name properly, but it is a great shop. I have been to several in NYC, and none of them were quite as good. Pretty cool area over there on St Denis/Mont Royal. Cheers -Don

[Shindoadict]

Indeed- Danny is excellent. Off subject, but my favorite record store is in Montreal. Aux 33 tours over on Mont Royal. I can't even pronounce the name properly, but it is a great shop. I have been to several in NYC, and none of them were quite as good. Pretty cool area over there on St Denis/Mont Royal. Cheers -Don

[NOLG4EVR]

Originally Posted by countingbackwards

I have quite a bit of experience with CDF, having bought my DAC, preamp and amp there over the last few years. They are great to deal with, offering what I consider to be excellent service. They are a bit "different" in that they view this stuff as art, treating their store more like an art gallery than an electronics store. This is in part due to the owners also running a studio on the side (that's loaded up with wonderful vintage recording gear). The result being, that it's a beautiful store to walk into, with a great mix of vintage and new gear, along with instruments that they use in the studio.

They are quite different from the Pitch Perfect model also - they carry other types of brands that cater to a wider audience than low-powered tube amps do. While they have the standard Tone Audio stuff and Devore speakers, they also deal in Wilson and Avalon speakers among others, and VTL and Spectral amps. Meaning, they're dealing with everything from flea-watt to mega-watt, so aren't espoused to theory as to what should sound best, but go by their ears. The result is that they tend to stock the push-pull Shindo's more than the SET's in order to match more of their speakers. They also frequently put Shindo pre's in front of VTL amps to handle more difficult loads - there are (relatively) lots of Aurieges and Monbrison's in front of MB125's and ST150's in Montreal homes!

Thank you very much for the feedback. I did speak to Graeme on the phone a few weeks ago and he did sound very knowledgable. I did get the feeling they were very much 'all about the music' in attitude. That's a good thing. Definitely looking forward to visiting them when in Montreal. Thanks again. J.J.

[Michael7]

Whats about the Altec Lansing Model 14. Could that be my "dream" speaker ?
There is an offer pretty near where i live.

[Michael7]

Or Altec Santiago ? Offer is near where i live too.

Can you give me any ideas which one is "better" or can I consider one of these to get sonical pleasure of that horns compared to my Genesis speaker qualities.

Hope you understand. English is not my first language :-)

[countingbackwards]

Originally Posted by fjn04

Indeed- Danny is excellent. Off subject, but my favorite record store is in Montreal. Aux 33 tours over on Mont Royal. I can't even pronounce the name properly, but it is a great shop. I have been to several in NYC, and none of them were quite as good. Pretty cool area over there on St Denis/Mont Royal. Cheers -Don

Agreed on all points here! In fact, for Canada Day I treated myself to a trip over to Aux 33 Tours, and as usual went over my expected budget. They have such a nice mix of dirt cheap used records, new releases both regular and audiophile, and interesting "high-end" used records such as those Japanese Beatles pressings that they always have (to go along with plenty other interesting Japanese pressings). I picked up a Japanese Sgt Pepper, MOV Alice in Chains record, the new Savages, among others.

Getting a bit off-topic here...but for a vinyl/tube guy, we're lucky in Montreal to have CDF (and Danny specifically, who I've been dealing with since his days over at Son Ideal) for gear - and Aux 33 Tours for vinyl!

[gortnipper]

a Santiago may be better than a Model 14 is better than though compared to a Model 19, it may be a bit bass light. A Valencia is also a great choice, though may be 16 ohm, so you need to watch that depending on your amp.