Which Shindo ? I'm considering the Kansui with my Giscours, but .23 is exactly on the edge. I haven't heard it yet, but soon will with the TW 10.5 arm. Do you use the after-pre-amp step-up device ? |
Dr_john, I have the Monbrison. I am running an A23 Denon 103 SUT, and a Choir Audio Hashimoto H7, which offers lo/hi impedance settings. Gain has never been an issue for me w/ Shindo preamps. I have heard two Dynavectors, an Ortofon Royal N, EMT, and Koetsu. I have either owned or heard all of those carts w/ Shindo preamps. I most always use, and prefer,
an SUT. Good luck with the Kansui,I would love to hear any follow ups of your findings. |
Fjn04, my experiences with the Shindo VR and Petrvs preamplifiers were the same as your experiences. In my experience, I have also found that the Shindo preamplifiers do integrate better with an external SUT over the internal Shindo selected SUT.
I was perplexed why this event was additionally in the forefront when utilizing the Shindo designed SPU with the Shindo selected internal SUT. I would have thought that they would have been optimized to work better together than a third-party SUT...any thoughts? |
Thanks for getting back - the other two cartridges on my short list are both Dynavectors - the 1-S and the 1-T, the latter at almost twice the price of the former. Are we talking diminishing returns at this point ? Do you know them ?My current cartridge, in a TriPlanar, is the Lyra Titan, which I find too 'hot'. I'm a freak for analog cellos, violins, sopranos and mezzos. And I do reserve solo keyboard for the digital realm. To my ears, no one has engineered a grand piano sound like ECM. |
Perhaps I should wait for your tonearm thread but I'll interject here. I just bought a Kansui. I haven't mounted it yet but probably will this week. I'll try it first in my Clearaudio Universal and eventually in my other arms, including an SME M2-12R. I'm a big fan of the SME, although I've only used it for SPUs so far. If you buy one, consider picking up an aftermarket headshell or two because the stock SME isn't slotted, which makes cartridge alignment a little trickier if you use an arc protractor like a MintLP. FWIW, I considered the Ortofon but it has an odd geometry and the Schick but it doesn't allow bias adjustment. Some don't care about bias but I do. And the thumbwheel VTA adjuster on the SME is very useful. It's a very good-sounding arm and easy to use. |
I'm a freak for analog cellos, violins, sopranos and mezzos. Best cello I heard from any cartridge is using an Allaerts cartridge. The MC1B already has an amazing presence, richness, and scale when playing cello. I run mine with the A23 step-up into a Shindo Monbrison. As for the Shilabe, I would consider a Schroeder as well, even it takes some finetuning skills. |
Thanks for all your opinions so far. I really do have to try the Shilabe on the Vector 3, although I have no reason to think the combo will have good synergy. The SME M2 12-R or the Schick would both seem like great choices to maximize the potential of the Shilabe. The only TT I have thought about so far is a Girard 301/401. Are there any opinions on which TT may be best w/ either of these 12" arms. So much for keeping the cart ahead of the horse. |
My M2-12R is on a Nantais Reference Lenco. It plays well with idlers. |
Restock - I appreciate the suggestion on the Schroeder. I have heard it takes very good setup skills, in that it's not a set it and forget it arm. I did get most of the way through mounting the Shilabe on the Vector last night, but then I got a bit lazy, and listened to my other TT....
I just have to play with VTA and overhang/alignment a little more. I will set the VTF between 2.5-3.2, which is the recommended tracking weight. Wrm57- definitely good advice on the removable headshell. It was no fun mounting it on the vector, with the screw running from bottom to top, and then affixing the nut on top. I suppose it would have been even worse if the nut actually affixed to the bottom. Well, all set there except for the overhand adjustment. |
Second to last word is a typo, meant to say overhang ! |
Restock = Thanks for your experience of the cello sound. Do you recall the recording ? |
Thanks for your seasoned experience, Fjn04. Since a low-output cartridge (.23) presents little challenge for Shindo's gain - how has an external SUT improved what you hear ? I'm skeptical because it's another link in the chain, another piece of connectivity, one-step removed from the source signal.
thanks,
-john |
The cello recording was Starker playing the Bach Sonatas (the Mercury living presence reissue). |
Dr John- To my ears, dynamic's are slightly better w/ the SUT. I may be losing a bit of air/detail on top w/ the SUT, but nothing that I have missed. Perhaps just a trade off, that for me, suits the type of music I listen to. That said, you are listening to a Giscours, which I am sure has a wonderful phono stage. If I was listening to the Giscours, I may in fact prefer it without. Fortunately, getting to try an SUT in your system should be easy enough. I bet it's seriously good as is though. |
I second Restock regarding the Allaerts playing cello. I heard it mounted on a Triplanar/Oracle TT/ Pass XONO combo powered by CJ amps running to Wilson Grand Slamms. The decay of the cello was unbelievable, it felt like it was 2 seconds long. And the depth of the low frequencies was truly astounding. Mind you this was in a system and room that had been carefully tweaked for 3 years by a master audiophile, but it showed me the potential of this cartridge. |
The Giscours is my current drug of choice. |
Initial impressions are pretty positive. It sounds best going through the hi impedance setting on my Choir Audio H-7 SUT.
It doesn't sound as if it's digging up everything in the grooves on the Vector arm. I really had no reason to think
this would be a good match, as it is not a recommended arm....
I am tracking in the 2.7-2.8 range. Stereophile mentioned 2.5-3.2 VTF range is best. I may try it a little heavier next time. In general, it sounds good enough to go forward with. At one point, a high mass tonearm could be the answer here. |
