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Seeking your advice on Shindo preamps

Dear audiophiles,

I have been in this hobby for 10 years now and have owned many nice amps, preamps, speakers but have never heard of Shindo

Here are my current systems:

System1
Cary SPL05
Cary 805 AE
Cary 306 SACD
Audio Research PH7
VPI HRX, with DRT XV1 cartridge
Speakers: Usher Be20
Cables: Acoustic Zen absolute

System2
CJ CT5
CJ LP70s and premier 350
CJ UDP deluxe
Speakers: gershman black swans
Cables: Acoustic Zen Absolute

I recently got in touch with a friend who i sold a pair of EW andras to about 6 months ago (Ommega is his users name). He really peaked my interest in the Shindo products. I have been searching for an audio perfection path for quite a while now and can use your help. I am ready for a new change and appreciated your comments/suggestons if you own this product (amp and/or preamp). I would like to start with a preamp and build a new system around it. A thread like this can lead into something very large and complex with many different opnions so i only want to focus on the Shindo and nothing else. If possible, please do not ask me why or what is wrong with my existing systems. In fact there is nothing wrong with them, i am just ready for a new sound. I listen to country, classical, jazz, and rock. Thanks in advance for your help...

I was considering buying a pair of Audio space Reference 2 preamp and amp for my next system but i am going to wait until i hear your feedbacks before flying out to SF for an audition.
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subseatree
3 posts
 
I have also been looking at the green amps for some time as their sound, as described by he reviews, really appeals to me.

However I have three issues: a) a long interconnect length from pre to pwr amp of 5m, b) a sensitive pair of SET monoblocs needing only 0.7V for max output, and c) a pair of very efficient lowther based speakers.

All SHindo pre amps are high gain, high o/p impedance devices which may not function well in my set up. See also asylum thread here http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=amp&m=120802

I would appreciate any feedback or comment, especially from users that have been faced with a similar set of issues and managed to get round them. Unfortunately I'm not able to listen to Shindo before buying.
vinyljh
46 posts
 
Hello,

The Shindo preamps are actually not all high output impedance. Everything from the Masseto and above is an extremely low 600ohms. The Monbrison and Aurieges are 5K. 5 meter IC's of the proper design can be used on the Masseto and above. This is not ideal with any preamp but can be used if necessary. 3.5 meter on the Monbrison and Aurieges is the maximum.
Gain is 16db in the line sections- normal. The taper is quick however and one can get into trouble with any system that utilizes very high sensitivity speakers or high sensitivity amplifiers without level controls on the amplifier.

Contact me offline for more info.

Regards,
Jonathan
subseatree
3 posts
 
Thanks for your response Jonathan. I've been meaning to call you for a while but never gotten round to it!

Just to completely finish the thread for future reference, could you confirm that by the quick taper you mean the volume control characteristic is steep, that is, you wont have much of a volume control range to play with if the amps and speakers are sensitive?

It is always possible to make the power amps less sensitive by soldering in a couple of resistor at the input. I've talked to the designer who says the amps are immune to any overload regardless of input, the only problem I might have is a twitchy volume control.

I've been using a TVC passive up to now, but in a shorter IC setup. Just last week I bought an old (but good!) ARC SP-11 which I'll play around with for a while. While I'm sure it wont be quite as transcendental as a Shindo, it will at least allow me to see what the effect of having a high gain preamp in the system does for me. And its hardly slumming it ... the 11 is one I've wanted for 20 odd years and need to get it out of my bones!
vinyljh
46 posts
 
"Just to completely finish the thread for future reference, could you confirm that by the quick taper you mean the volume control characteristic is steep, that is, you wont have much of a volume control range to play with if the amps and speakers are sensitive?"

It depends on many factors such as source voltage, room acoustics, room size etc. We've only had issues a couple of times with clients that had highly sensitive amps, small lively rooms and high senstivity speakers.

Best,
Jonathan
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