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Shindo Monbrison balance issue?

hi

anyone experienced this with their Monbrison (or other Shindo preamps)?

When playing at low volume, the sound is biased towards one side but once the volume is turned up, the level seems to balance itself...... i discovered this when I was burning in my set at low volume and when vocals are played - the voice will "shift" from one side to center as the volume is increased!

I have swapped the interconnects (left -right) going into and then out of the Monbrison to check if source or power amp could be the problem but the results seem to confirm that it is the Monbrison.

Another issue that I encountered accidentally was when playing cd and switching the input selector to other inputs, I can hear the music albeit at very low levels throught the speakers!! is this normal?

aside from these two worrying discoveries, the Monbrison sounds great!

thanking you in advance for your feedback.

best regards
fudgeo
fudgeo OP
9 posts
 
Hi Lokie
I'm driving WLM La Scala floorstanders at the moment in a medium size room. sounds great even though still running the pre & amp :) i was also considering the Cortese but decided to go for a 300B amp as it gives me more opportunity to roll the tubes.....
lokie's avatar
lokie
528 posts
 
I've heard lots of good things about the Cortese, but I like the transformers and power supplies on the Air Tight amps.

Interesting speaker company- the cabinets on one of their models looks exactly like a pair of Living Voice I used to own and imagine they are of the same ilk.
dbjain
34 posts
 
Fudgeo,
I have a Monbrison with Corton Charlemagne 80's. I too notice the balance to one side at low levels that disappears when the volume is raised. The cross talk is also there. I make sure there is only one source playing at a time. Small price to pay for the sound.
dbjain
34 posts
 
Fudgeo,
I have a Monbrison with Corton Charlemagne 80's. I too notice the balance to one side at low levels that disappears when the volume is raised. The cross talk is also there. I make sure there is only one source playing at a time. Small price to pay for the sound.
fudgeo OP
9 posts
 
Hi Dbjain

yes, apparently this imbalance at low volume seems to be an inherent characteristic of Shindo preamps... i've learned to live with it. thankfully the problem disappears once you turn up the volume.... i was told that this is due to the type of vol pot that is used.....

With regards to the cross-talk, I've solved the problem by inserting shorting plugs into the unused rca sockets - i used Acoustic Revive's SIP 8F Short Plug and that eliminated the crosstalk completely - its now totally silent!
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