My first Shindo experience...

[fjn04]

Plink- Thanks for that. I totally agree about being at the point where one can just sit back and enjoy the music. I had not reached that point previously, but it's nice to have arrived. I am so pleased with my Amadeus, that I have considered a Simplex for a second system. May I ask what cartridges you have enjoyed with your Amadeus. I quite happily use an EMT Tsd-15. I have the Choir Hashimoto H-7 SUT , along with an A23 (Denon 103) SUT. I assume the Denon 103 would NOT be a good match with the WT Amadeus or Simplex?

[gortnipper]

Originally Posted by AudioKiwi

I like things that cost a lot of money to be solidly contructed and give a peace of mind as to their longevity.

Is that why you drive a Peugeot?

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by gortnipper

Is that why you drive a Peugeot?

Good one !

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[Whart]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Good one !

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There's an old review in a British car mag of one of the early Lambos, I think the Miura, and the 'chase car' is a Peugot, carrying the photographer. They pull over on a country road to snap some pics (and think of how radical these early Lamborghinis looked in the late 60's). A farmer is nearby and walks up to them, asking in a heavy Welsh accent "Mind if I eyeball your Pug-wagon?"
Coulda cared less about the 'other' car.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by Whart

There's an old review in a British car mag of one of the early Lambos, I think the Miura, and the 'chase car' is a Peugot, carrying the photographer. They pull over on a country road to snap some pics (and think of how radical these early Lamborghinis looked in the late 60's). A farmer is nearby and walks up to them, asking in a heavy Welsh accent "Mind if I eyeball your Pug-wagon?"
Coulda cared less about the 'other' car.

Nice story ! Thanks.

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[chessman]

Originally Posted by speedofsound33-3

I suppose I should pipe in here on this thread, as I was the other person experiencing this system. I should warn you I'm more of a lurker than anything on this site. First of, David's room is not ideal at this time. It is my understanding that he recently moved into his house and has LOTS of extraneous stuff in the listening room that he is in the process of organizing. (David, if you need a decorator, I'm sure my friend Dyanna would love to help) David is well aware of this issue and is working on it. I would like to hear this system once the room is better organized for listening.

This was my first experience of a Shindo system. I have long been curious about 300B based amplifiers and I was happy to finally be able to hear a pair. My first impressions was that the system was VERY bass heavy. We played about with the speaker placement and found a better location which was a happy median between mid-range clarity and bass definition. When we first listened to the system, it sounded VERY dull, as if there was not much above 13Khz. This was solved by removing the Shindo transformer from between the CD player and the preamp. I have no idea what the purpose of the device is supposed to be, but it seams to kill the top end (Me no likey). Once the transformer was removed the system (and it is a system) sounded very nice. The midrange is wonderful and this system sings with female vocal and small ensemble classical. The biggest issue I think I have with it is that it doesn't image all that well. At no time could I close my eyes and point to where each musician is located. I don't think the built in step-up transformers in preamp are very good, and one has to wonder why they're included at all, although given the sound deadner transformer designed for use with a CD player, this is not surprising. I think this is why I preferred my EAR (mine has been modified by Scott Franklin of MFA) - I got the high end lacking in the Shindo. I think this has a lot to do with the built in step up transformers than anything else.

One thing I thought was curious is that when playing a CD the volume was set at about 7 o'clock, but with vinyl the volume was set at about 10 o'clock where potentiometer are typically more linear.

There was a comment on here that accused me of listening with a consumer device by using a spectrum analyzer. This is ABSOLUTELY not the case. After listening for over an hour I thought the top end was lacking and downloaded the app for my iPhone and found I was correct in my assessment.


My overall impression of the system is that it does some things very very well (Amazing dynamics and midrange), and other things not so well (imaging and a reduced top end). It is not a modern sound in any way whatsoever, but then it's not supposed to be (event the shade of green is taken DIRECTLY from Altec Amplifiers of the 1950's and 1960's) It does demonstrate that the technology of the 1940's and 1950's was very very good, and I wonder if a similar sound could be obtain if one picked the right vintage gear and updated the circuit boards and tweeking a set of vintage drivers. I have to say that I've never really understood the fascination that a lot of people have for vintage gear, especially Gerrard 301's and Thorens TD-124 idler wheel drive which by their very nature induce rumble directly into the platter. After listening to the Shindo system I now have a better understanding of the fascination and even a new found appreciation for it.

In case you're wondering my own system is a Michell Gyrodec w/ SME 309 and Koetsu Pro IV, afforementioned EAR phono, Air Tight ATC-3 Preamp, Cary SLA-70Sig amp, and Avalon Monitor Speakers with REL Storm III sub

Cheers,

Gregory

Gregory, welcome aboard!

[chessman]

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

[Jerome W]

Gregory : welcome !

The sound of Shindo is very difficult to describe. I have listened to Shindo with much more modern speakers than the Altec and I can assure you that the level of details, resolution and transparency is hard to believe and hence, extremely far from vintage gear.
I would say that Shindo gives the ideal "wedding" between the music protrayed by great vintage components, the ones like the Quads, the MC240 / original 275, the Marantz 8B and so on, were able to convey music that was appealing for the music itself and not its supreme "audiophile" quality. You know, the time where people used to listen more to music than to sounds. And Shindo adds to this ability of letting the music come before the sounds, the incredible dynamics and resolution, the incredible stereo imaging, huge in depth, width and height, and extremely precise at the same time, of the modern components.
I'm far from Alberto's or Matt's words to describe this magic sound. But I can tell you that, by VERY VERY FAR, it is the best sound to my ears.
You should visit Matt for a demo. He won't need more than 10 minutes to show you that Shindo does not sound like vintage sound.
It probably sounds vintage in David's room. But it is not intended to.

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[Alberto]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

I'm far from Alberto's or Matt's words to describe this magic sound. But I can tell you that, by VERY VERY FAR, it is the best sound to my ears.
You should visit Matt for a demo. He won't need more than 10 minutes to show you that Shindo does not sound like vintage sound.
It probably sounds vintage in David's room. But it is not intended to.

Nicely put Jerome.

I agree, I have plenty of real vintage equipment (e.g. Fisher 500 receiver with EL84 tubes) various McIntosh pres and amps. They sound charming, but they tend to be too "slow", too "mellow", ...

The nice attributes of the vintage sound come with some downsides. Shindo manages, I don't know how, to retain the positive attributes of vintage sound while adding the positive attributes of "modern" designs and components.

The result is, in a word, delicious.

But actions speak louder than words. Since finding Shindo, I've not only stepped off the audio gear treadmill, I can't even see myself stepping on the treadmill again.

Alberto

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by Alberto

Nicely put Jerome.

I agree, I have plenty of real vintage equipment (e.g. Fisher 500 receiver with EL84 tubes) various McIntosh pres and amps. They sound charming, but they tend to be too "slow", too "mellow", ...

The nice attributes of the vintage sound come with some downsides. Shindo manages, I don't know how, to retain the positive attributes of vintage sound while adding the positive attributes of "modern" designs and components.

The result is, in a word, delicious.

But actions speak louder than words. Since finding Shindo, I've not only stepped off the audio gear treadmill, I can't even see myself stepping on the treadmill again.

Alberto

...... .