I must respectfully disagree with Aronsss' statement above. Absent his saying otherwise, I assume he purchased his Monbrison through an authorized dealer. Thus I am not surprised that he had/has positive experiences dealing with the distributor (distributors/dealers who mistreat the buyers of their "luxury priced" goods do not ususally stay in business for long). I'm sure Mr. Halpern is a fine fellow, but unless Aronsss has direct knowledge of Mr. Halpern's attitiude regarding aftermarket servicing and support of products purchased on the secdondary market he has no standing to comment on whether Mr. Halpern is getting a "bad rap." If Aronsss has such direct knowledge he should post it rather than making general statements about how Mr. Halpern treated him as a "paying customer." Secondary owners of Shindo gear who have needed servicing of their equipment would be the most qualified to comment on this matter, and I for one would welcome their remarks. I do agree with the statement that purchasers of grey market gear should expect no support.
I also disagree with the assertion that question of aftermarket support or lack thereof (regardless of whether one is the original purchaser or not) is off-topic in this thead. For the vast majority of people who read this forum aftermarket support should be a key consideration in the decision making process of which gear to purchase. As an analogy, audio gear could be compared to car ownership. There are a lot of Toyota Camrys, Honda Accords, etc. out there (think mid and upper mid-fi gear) and there is abundant aftermarket support for them if they need repair. Then there are the exotics--the Ferrraris, Laborghinis and Lotuses (?spelling). Imports that are very expensive with very limited dealer networks but which offer a level of performance that aficionados feel justifies the price and frustrations of ownership. Now, would you buy one of these lovely beasties (regardless of thrill factor) if you knew that the importer would not grant you access to replacement parts unless you bought it from an authorized dealer or that you would have to ship the car out of the country to have it serviced? Caveat emptor unless you work for Goldmann Sachs or have a bottomless trust fund. If you think I exagerate just look in this Forum. One does not have to look far to find tales of woe from owners of "orphaned" gear which for lack of support have become very expensive paperweights.
Please do not think that I am specifidcally disparagaing Shindo and its distributor. I merely wish to point out that the question of aftermarket support for secondary owners of this marque has not been answered either way. I personally am fascinated by Shindo gear and would love to try some out. My research has indicated that a great deal of the Shindo sound is due to extremely meticulous componenet matching by Mr. Shindo. It would seem therefore that one could not repair the equipment by simply replacing a failed paart (resistor, capacitor, or what have you) with one of the same electronic value and have a product that sounded the same. The fact that at least some of the Shindo products use esoteric or very hard to find NOS tubes also makes manufacturer/importer support critical if you are planning to keep the gear for a long time and having it perform at the lame level. I would love it if someone (perhaps Mr. Halpern himself) would weigh in on this topic. One way or another it would be valuable to me in my personal decision as to whether or not to try Shindo gear.
Lots of words to waste after the OP just got through telling you that his thread isn't about the reputation of Shindo dealers. Next time read before your rant.