Tubes Asylum: RE: Future of Shindo? by countingbackwards

I can't comment about what Ken Shindo might have said, since I never spoke to him - however, I have frequently seen the comment you mention applied to his amps (NOT preamps) - that it's not really a linear "lineup" where one amp is better than another based on price - he has multiple amps at similar price points based on different power tubes. With the amps, the priority is speaker matching.

I am hard-pressed to really comment on the differences between the amps given how few Shindo amps play right with my speakers, so I'll leave that to others for now.

As for the preamps though, it's a different story.

I have heard 3 different Shindo preamps in my system (Aurieges, Monbrison, Giscours), and there is a distinct and VERY clear improvement as you move up the line. It all gets better in even proportion though, so no single part of the sound sticks out at any point in the line. What I can say is that resolving ability of tonality is one thing that gets better as you move up, and another thing that gets consistently better as you move up the ladder is scale/dynamics.

These are not modest improvements…I can't imagine anybody not clearly hearing the improvement as you move up the line. They're dangerous to experience: when I heard a Monbrison, it made the Aurieges sound wrong…when I heard the Giscours, it made the Monbrison sound wrong. My advice: don't listen to a higher-line Shindo preamp in your system unless you're prepared to either get less enjoyment out of your existing pre, or are prepared to pay the bucks to keep the better pre in your system!