I've returned to dynamic speakers! Via another vintage British manufacturer of course... Tannoy. 10" Monitor Reds sitting in their original (unnamed) enclosures) and now driven by a Shindo Montille. While I miss the beauty and magical sheen of the Quads, I find myself being more drawn into the music now. They call this pace, articulation and dynamics among other things... I call it rediscovering my record collection. SUPER awesome.
LignoLab / A23 plinth with the EMT 997 banana tonearm takes the system to a new level... EMT custom stereo and mono carts now in system as well.
Shindon Monbrison replaces my linestage and phonostage, and I'm not looking back. More than anything else this single component transformer my entire system.
Now in the LignoLab / Auditorium 23 plinth, with the solid copper pivoted armboard.
EMT 997
The legendary banana arm, now being manufactured again by the original engineer with the original jig. Easily replaced a classic 9
Shindo Super SPU-A
I have now attained cartridge perfection.
Auditorium 23 step-up transformer for SPU
Perfectly matched for SPU cartridges
EMT OFD25i
Another "JH special", this one mono. Fat, honest, in your face mono sound. Fantastic on Blue Notes. Again massive and needs a massive arm to control it. 5g tracking force!
Sentec EQ10 mono phono preamp
Tubed mono phono preamp with dozens of selectable curves for 78s and early mono pre-RIAA records
Shindo Monbrison
Forget about it - this small box of vintage parts exquisitely tuned by hand replaced 3 huge hulking pieces of tube equipment and sounds more musical to boot!
Shindo Montille
Perfect little 15 watt EL-84 push-pull amp.
Shindo silver interconnects
Shindo's own silver interconnects with low-mass connectors.
Auditorium 23 speaker cable
I think this is only the cable they make... hand-assembled, thin conductors, cotton insulation with a homely look... but the sound is far from homely... these things just let the music FLOW through... 8 feet
Noblesse Guizu SRW-3A component rack
Fantastic 3-shelf rack from China made of solid walnut and built to resonate at 3 Hz. Still not well known in the US and only spottily imported - you can see pictures of their other stuff at guizu.com.cn.
Patrick, even if i know, that the DL103 vs. 103R question is old and often discussed, i would like to ask it you as a Shindo-fan, as somebody who discovered the magic of the whole A23/Shindo system and that of a Shindo SPU. What are for you the pro and cons of both 103? Any news in your wonderful system? Did you ever ty a A23 Hommage T1 SUT? I for my own have just a Shindo tonearm and SPU jet, but will go with a Hommage T1 SUT as the next step.
Hi Patrick, I just love your system and hope to be there one day. I currently have the Aurieges/Monbrison combo and eventually will move to a SPU on my front end. But in the meantime, the 103 will be a more affordable intermediate step. I notice you used to have the 103R (which is on its own is regarded to be superior to the 103), my question is - does the A23 SUT bring the 103 up to a level that exceeds the 103R? I know the 103 and A23 were made for each other, but wondering if the A23 can enable the humble 103 to punch above its weight?
System edited: plinko, if you haven't done it already, you absolutely must try the A23 step-up transformer for the Denon 103. (Not the 103R.) It was made to match that cartridge to Shindo preamps, and the combination is magical. System updated - I've moved to more Shindo, and gone back to dynamic speakers. See more in the system description.
Hi Patrick, I did! It's now in my home and broken in. It's very good but I'm thinking about the Monbrison.
I guess the Auditorium is a better match to the Denon 103 as opposed to the internal Shindo transformers. I have a 103R...I wonder if the 103R matches better with the transformers in the Monbrison. I think I remember being told the Monbrison loads at slightly over 100 ohms.
System edited: Added Shindo Super-SPU A. I'm using the Auditorium 23 step-up for SPU with it. Also added Sentec EQ10 tubed mono phono preamp, tons of selectable curves for 78s and early mono LPs.
Amazing system. Congrats. How does the Mission of Burma reissues sound on it?
I like the older power amps from the USA and UK and have a Scott LK-150 paired up with a modern linestate and a Klyne phono preamp. Would like to try a Shindo Aurieges with it, however.
Big fan of the Matador label. Been buying up the vinyl issues for years...even before I got back into vinyl a few years ago!
Loving the 997 with the ILZ. Completely natural. Also, once you move to EMT carts, all these other convenience features of the tonearm kick in... you can add and remove special weights to quickly switch between regular and 78 carts, for example.
How does the EMT 997 work with the EMT ILZ cartridge? Are you happy with that combination? I don't have a Shindo/Garrard, so am thinking this combination might work really well with Shindo electronics.
Hey nice..sorry I missed this all these years. What a great well thought out system. It must be a joy to listen to and Quad ESl's from Wayne..well..Its been siad that after Wayne gets done with a pair of 57's..its something very special!Im running my fully refurbe'd 63 USA's( by Kent Mccollum of Electrstatic Solutions ), very nicely with an 18W- 845 SET amp.. and although a bit tougher to drive than your 57's..my 63USA's do very well with that amp... .I have wondered what RM-10s or 9's, would sound like, since it seems to be the amps many Quad owners like,as well as the Leak.Great job!
System edited: Finally got my two one-of-a-kind EMT custom cartridges (JH specials). I'm also using my restored Leak now more than the RM-10 - with its 16-ohm tap it's drives the Quads even more equably.
System edited: Just got the Music Reference RM-10, a 15 watt per channel amp voiced around the Quads and made specifically to handle their highly reactive load. This amp blow away $10K amps in this application.
System edited: System edited: changed 103R to 103. Added A23 step-up transformer. Switched out AKSA amp for Leak Stereo 20 - an amp that handles the Quad ESLs with ease.
The Shindo Monbrsion looks beautiful, such a refined Deco appearance. Fantastic restoration on the Garrad, It is the same table we had at WBAI radio in NYC, very elegant and retro SOTA. The Plynth sets it off so well. You might work on a design with your carpenter to showcase your other components! You must enjoy the music to its fullest in your heart and soul to put so much work into the details. Bravo !
System edited: Shindo Monbrison... 3 huge tube boxes (linestage plus 2-box phonostage) replaced by a small, green, exquisitely built preamp that just issues irrepressible music... there's no other possible description.
