I would recommend the Spendor SP100, because it is efficient, and it has a pretty flat impedance curve that shouldn't give the low powered amp troubles. It sounds great, especially timbre-wise if that is important to you. They aren't the first choice if you are mostly A rock n' roller though. Another great choice, and a real bargain in the used market is Coincident. The Partial Eclipse and the Total Eclipse are really wonderful, dynamic speakers. |
Well, if you can stretch a bit (I know, everyone wants you to spend more right)..... I would check out Avantgarde horn speakers. I have had a pair of Duo's for a couple of years and really, really like them. THey can rock out when you need them to, but they also do very well on acoustic music, Jazz, and Classical..... They are extremely fast and dynamic. Tonally they are more forward than laid back, but I don't feel they are aggressive in any way. They do soundstage very well and are very extended.
They aren't easy to set up and I think most people who complain about bass integration do so for this reason. OTOH, when they are right they are seamless. I am using a 6 wpc Art Audio PX25 with mine and believe me they will play loud enough to damage your ears. I would think the Shindo would be a very good match.
Hope this helps,
Chris |
As I recall, Art Dudley pairs his Shindo electronics with Audio Note An/E speakers. I have always wondered what Shindo electronics would sound like with Zu speakers such as the Definition 2s that I currently own. |
Yes, AN are high on my list. I've also always been intrigued by the Avantgardes, but not only are they a stretch budget wise, they're also probably too large for my room. |
Hey,
Just for the heck of it you should try your new amp with your current speakers if you like them so much. 15 watts is more than you think, give it a try. You may be surprised. And if it doesn't work out then there are plenty of options as you can already see. Happy listening! |
http://www.kcscustomloudspeakers.com offers models in your price range we also custom build loudspeakers designs.And can use most any finish to help with WAF. We have a BLH 2 way 16ohm 98db 1 watt 40hz-40khz. We also have a design for SEAS fullrange and a few ribbon systems that can run off med-low power amps. All of our designs produce good bass. Some to 25hz. |
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Audio Note A/N E is a great match with any SET gear. Shindo is wonderful sounding equipment and the A N are high on my list. I have a pair and for the first time in a long while I am not searching for "something" else. I am driving them with an AN Oto as well as a Don Allen 300B with his matching preamp. I switch around a bit. |
A 15 watt tube amp is not going to work with the Gershmans. I've heard 30 and 40 watt tubes with the Gershman Avantgarde, and they don't work either. They can't control that "mass loaded" woofer with the ring on it.
At lower volumes, you're okay, but if the music has a lot of deep bass in it or if you have to play loud, that woofer flops around like crazy, exaggerating and muddying the bass. |
I own a pair of KCS Oris 150 horns, a seriously good producer of beautiful music for the discerning listener. |
Mickey, some more suggestions:
- Cain Abbys for single drivers (and you can listen to them at my place)
- Possibly the Cain&Cain WWW (designed by Gordon Rankin)
- Klipsch La Scala (Rick has a pair that you can listen to)
- Altecs
- Herron Audio used to make some nice speakers and these have nice bass
- Soliloquy
- Living Voice
Overall i think there will be some sacrifice in the bass when switching to low powered amps (except if you get a powered subwoofer). I would try to talk to the Shindo dealers as well. Don at Don better audio used to run Cain&Cain and would have some suggestions. And there is a Solovox of sale in Michigan that should be a good fit.
Rene |
I own the montille in a room very similiar in size to yours. Depending on the volumes you listen at, you may want to look into the devore line, either the super 8's or nines are in that price range. While not that effecient, they are an easy load and a great match with shindo.
My gibbon 8's are out being upgraded/repaired now, as my 19 month old used one of the drivers as a bongo. I am using an omega XRS in the interim. It's a great speaker for the money, but not up to the 3times more expensive devore. I haven't heard their top of the line speaker though (maxhemp).
Another interesting used option would be one of the phy based speakers on the market - musical offerings, tonian, ocellia
etc... |
Rene and Prfont, thanks for the suggestions. Rene I look forward to hearing your Cains one day soon.
Prfont some guy on another forum said the the Montille wasn't a "real Shindo" fighting words huh? I wonder what he meant? I actually haven't heard it but I was considering it simply because its their most affordable amp and I figured it would match with the Aurieges well. |
Hi Mikey, Check out the speakers at Sonist. I have the stand mount concerto2 that replaced a pair of Reference 3A MM De Capo's. They didn't blow away the MM's but were a mutch beter match for my 5watt SET's. The floor standing model goes lower and would probably work well in your size of room. I heard the floor standers at the CES show and they sounded great driven by De Havalind(spelling?) 845 SET amps. Cheers, Randy |
Shindo equipment and ZU Audio speakers are a natural match. Go for the Mark IVs with a Mini-Methond sub and you are well under your 5K price point or try to find a used set of the original Definitions. Good luck! |
So I got delivery of the Shindo Aurieges yesterday. Hooked it up to my Marantz 8, Cayin CD50T and Gershmans and it sounds quite good. Its a fine pre-amp, very detailed yet musical at the same time, that's a very difficult combination to have. It hits the muscial sweet spot, not too warm nor too analytical.
When I hooked it up to my TT (ProJect 9.1, Dyna 10x and Graham Slee Era Gold V) it was disappointing however, the music sounded "veiled" and lacked "immediacy". Since it sound fine with the CDP I suspect that there's a mismatch between the Shindo and the Slee or could it be the phono cables (Cardas Neutral Ref). The Shindo Pre doesn't have a phono stage. Any thoughts on what could be the problem? |
Mike,
It's too bad that the montille isn't a "real" shindo, guess i"ll have to suffer another few years with it until I can move up!:)
Unfortunately, the one I love is the cortese at a mere 10K!!
Ouch! |
Avantgarde, Tannoy, lowther..... May be this is not your cup of tea , you might want to try the new Quad 2805, they sounded beautiful with Quad classII monos, which is rated at 15w/ch. I always through ESL speakers (soundlab,martin logan) are very difficult to drive but surprisesly the new quad 2805s are very easy on the amp. |
Hi Mikeyc8,
I had the Gram Slee Era + Elevator EXP stepup. One thing that is absolutely critical is that GS components stay powered up 24/7. If not, it takes a good 24-72 hours for it to sound it's best. Gram Slee, himself, thinks 2 weeks.
Regardless, I noticed a distinct improvement after 24-48 hours of power.
How long had the Era been powered up before you gave the setup a listen? |
Dark: its been powered up for several months. I tried changing the cables running from the Slee - from DH Labs Revalation to Cardas Neutral Ref and it helped a bit, but its still not where it should be. Are you using the Elevator EXP because you have a low output MC cart? My Dyn 10x5 is a HO MC so I don't believe I need one, correct me if I'm wrong though. |
The 10x5 has 2.5mV output and the Era has +41.5dB gain resulting in 0.3V into the Shindo, which has +16dB gain sending ~1.89V to your Marantz amp. Should be good enough, although a little headroom would be optimal.
The question is what is your Marantz's input sensitivity? I'd assume somewhere in the 2V area. But, that's for full volume, so things should work well.
I just sold off my Era & EXP, but I used the pair with LO MC's. One thing I can say, the |
I am using an Aurieges/Montille and have had a Monbrison/Cortese in my system also. This pair was better but in the context of common sense I kept the Aurieges/Montille. There is no doubt that it is Shindo. The pair is true to the music and has great PRAT. The Montille also responds to tube rolling. Think Bugle Boy D getters etc.
This may sound like sacrilege but I have a pair of AR25 speakers coming from Tekton Designs. They are an updated clone of the Dynaco A25 and are 91.5 db. Do a search for Tekton Design. Eric is great to work with and he is putting a terminal cup on the rear of the speakers to allow easy access to the cap and resistor for the simple crossover. Tamo Cherry veneered with custom stands $1150 and there is a 30 day in home trial. *I* think they will be a great match with the Shindo in my 21 x 13 x 8 room and will be easy to place/set up. I am using PHY KM30SAG drives in an open baffle, very good sound, but they are too big for my room. I will post after they arrive and settle in. |
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