My Shindo system

[Pronan]

Originally Posted by karsajid

I am surprised your CC 80 works with the Guarneri. I thought Shindo amps are made to work with high efficiency, high impedance speakers..

Will you pls give your impressions on the sound as I would really like to get a Shindo amp with my 4 ohm speakers..

I have 6 ohm horns 92db with the cc80 and I can easily lift the roof off. I realise 4 ohm is a diff load but just giving my 2 cents

[karsajid]

Originally Posted by Pronan

I have 6 ohm horns 92db with the cc80 and I can easily lift the roof off. I realise 4 ohm is a diff load but just giving my 2 cents

Pronan, thanks for your input. Can you describe the sound of the CC80. I have experience with the Shindo preamps (Giscours and Monbrison) but not the amps which I believe sound different to each other.

I've owned Audio Research Ref 210 (KT120) and the Ayon Triton (KT88) and MC275. So any comparisons will be useful to mainstream gear.

I am moving towards a full Shindo system: Vosne Romanee and maybe the Montrachet, CC80 or the CCQ EL34. Speakers will probably be Nola or Proac or Sonus Faber. Maybe the Wilson Sophia. These are all easy for me to audition and buy.

Thanks,

Sajid

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by karsajid

Pronan, thanks for your input. Can you describe the sound of the CC80. I have experience with the Shindo preamps (Giscours and Monbrison) but not the amps which I believe sound different to each other.

I've owned Audio Research Ref 210 (KT120) and the Ayon Triton (KT88) and MC275. So any comparisons will be useful to mainstream gear.

I am moving towards a full Shindo system: Vosne Romanee and maybe the Montrachet, CC80 or the CCQ EL34. Speakers will probably be Nola or Proac or Sonus Faber. Maybe the Wilson Sophia. These are all easy for me to audition and buy.

Thanks,

Sajid

CCQ and Sophia should be wonderful !

[karsajid]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

CCQ and Sophia should be wonderful !

The Sophia is 87db and dips to little below 4 ohms! I listen at about 85-95 db in a room that is 23 ft long x 14 ft wide x 10 ft high. I sit 12 ft away from the speakers.

Are you sure the CCQ or the CC80 is capable of driving 4 ohm speakers?

[Jerome W]

I thought they were 90.

The first one was a bit more sensitive.
Could be a bit difficult for the CCQ but they really drive my WP8's impressively, with dips in impedance below 2 ohm. Still they are 93 dB so this may help a lot. Why don't you look for used pair of WP8's ?

[karsajid]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

I thought they were 90.

The first one was a bit more sensitive.
Could be a bit difficult for the CCQ but they really drive my WP8's impressively, with dips in impedance below 2 ohm. Still they are 93 dB so this may help a lot. Why don't you look for used pair of WP8's ?

Jerome,

How would you describe the sound of your CCQ?

We recently tried a Giscours vs the Audio Research REF 2 Phono and REF 5 SE into a Gryphon Mephisto power amp. No contest!! The Shindo blew away the ARC making real music. The Giscours was almost magical. The ARC sounded almost like a radio in comparison.

We were so impressed that now thinking of a full Shindo system but have no opportunity to audition it's power amps.

[Pronan]

Originally Posted by karsajid

Pronan, thanks for your input. Can you describe the sound of the CC80. I have experience with the Shindo preamps (Giscours and Monbrison) but not the amps which I believe sound different to each other.

I've owned Audio Research Ref 210 (KT120) and the Ayon Triton (KT88) and MC275. So any comparisons will be useful to mainstream gear.

I am moving towards a full Shindo system: Vosne Romanee and maybe the Montrachet, CC80 or the CCQ EL34. Speakers will probably be Nola or Proac or Sonus Faber. Maybe the Wilson Sophia. These are all easy for me to audition and buy.

Thanks,

Sajid

Hi Sajid,
I trialled the CC80 against the EL34 and found the CC80 to be a stronger sound, slightly more dynamic and bolder (if that makes sense) but there was not really much in it. They turned up with gold lion KT88's and I have not tried any other tubes. They throw a good wide sound stage with lots of detail.

I think the CC80 would drive certain music really well on an 87db speaker but I would be concerned with too much of a dip on the ohms, and you run the risk of not really voicing complex music completely , I would not take the risk and many Shindo suppliers voiced caution on the topic (including shindo's son on email).

Some people seem to let the speakers pick the amplification, whilst others do the reverse, im kinda in the middle, I love the Shindo sound so I went slightly stronger on the power amp to give me speaker flexibility. I doubt I will ever change the CC80 and the giscours but I will change the speakers for certain.

My current speakers are 11k new (zingali middle of the range) but my amplification is 48k brand new (I paid 32k) so for me the speaker investment is a mismatch. I love the sound but I think I can get so much more out of system.

Lastly our friend Jerome has probably tried the most speakers I know of on his three Shindo set ups! And like him I might go for something at least 90db.

Hope this helps and if you are anywhere near geneva feel free to come and listen,
Paul

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by karsajid

Jerome,

How would you describe the sound of your CCQ?

We recently tried a Giscours vs the Audio Research REF 2 Phono and REF 5 SE into a Gryphon Mephisto power amp. No contest!! The Shindo blew away the ARC making real music. The Giscours was almost magical. The ARC sounded almost like a radio in comparison.

We were so impressed that now thinking of a full Shindo system but have no opportunity to audition it's power amps.

Your experience mirrors mine.
The Giscours blew away my C1000P and the Ref Phono 2.
The combo Giscours / CCQ exploded the C1000P / MC2301's.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by karsajid

Jerome,

How would you describe the sound of your CCQ?

We recently tried a Giscours vs the Audio Research REF 2 Phono and REF 5 SE into a Gryphon Mephisto power amp. No contest!! The Shindo blew away the ARC making real music. The Giscours was almost magical. The ARC sounded almost like a radio in comparison.

We were so impressed that now thinking of a full Shindo system but have no opportunity to audition it's power amps.

It is very difficult indeed to describe the sound of Shindo because basically, Shindo has "no sound".
I can tell you that they are the most musical and refined and dynamic and involving amps of all the amps I ever had but still, qualifying their sound per se is very tough.
Shindo makes music more alive than all the other products I had / have in my home and they made me listen to the inner part of the music. Shindo gear draws my attention to the performance. It is difficult when music is played through Shindo to focus on something else than the music. It is probably what I would call the Shindo "magic" in my words.
It both excites and smoothes me. It fills my soul with pure joy, emotions, and my eyes are often filled with tears.
Moreover, they are extremely neutral. They do not add or remove anything to the music; They just let you penetrate its Essence.
They are by far the best thing I met since I'm passionate for audio, and I owe this to AA.

I hope this answers your question.

[TommyC]

This is how I chose to go with the CC80.

Both my speakers (Sonus Faber) and source (Marantz) have a wonderful mid range. This is what they are famous for. EL34 is also famous for its warm and delicious mid range. If I put all 3 together, there may be too much of a good thing. So, I chose KT88, which has more extended highs and lows to balance with the rest of my gear. The more pronounced bottom end of the KT88 will also help my stand mount speakers.

In other systems, like Jerome's, the EL34 will fit better.

Btw, Jerome, you should definitely get the Shindo IC and speaker cables. They are amazing