Lovely set up Peter. I have a soft spot for Canterbury speakers, just not the room for them! That Garrard looks particularly nice. Great choice of arm/cart to go with it. I'll bet the Tannoys sound great with that EAR driving them?
It is a Japanese preamp, the Aurieges L from Shindo Laboratories. Apparently, Ken Shindo is a wine enthusiast, and names all his amps after fine French wines. Although it is his lowest model, to my ears it is, by far, the star of the show in my system. I am totally in love with it, and can only imagine how good the four 'better' models in the Shindo preamp line-up must sound. Shindo is rare in Europe as there are no dealers here, but is popular in USA. I was lucky and got this one privately from an enthusiast in Israel.
Last edited by petrat; 01-05-2013 at 17:07.
Hi Paul!
I first fell in love with Tannoys when my Dad took me to the Harrogate show in the seventies, and, to be honest, at every show since I always seem to end up staying in the Tannoy room more than most. So, when I got the chance to buy a new pair at trade price, it took me about no time to talk myself into the purchase. Wonderfully, my wife encouraged me too!
What the photos don't show is that the Canterburys are actually in a modest sized room at the moment ... a converted garage ... they were plonked down there temporarily when I got them in order to run them in for a few weeks. Then the plan was to move them into the main living which is 40x15 feet, but more than a year later I haven't got round to it yet, partly because the living room shares a wall with the neighbours, whereas the garage room is isolated and means I can rock-out late at night. But mainly because they sound really good in the garage room ... probably because it is a well damped, irregular shaped, concrete floored space. I used to see photos of Japanese and Hong Kong systems with Canterburys in tiny rooms, listening near-field, and think that it couldn't possibly work ... but it really does! What I need to make, though, are some plinths /risers to get the tweeters up to ear level. Mind you, they are already a bit visually overpowering, so not sure raising them another 18 inches wouldn't make them loom over the listening chair a bit too much.
The EAR534 replaced a pair of the 509 mono blocks, which I owned for years, using them to drive a pair of longtime-cherished NEAT MFS standmounters. I have used quite a bit of EAR kit over the years and really rate their power amps. For some reason, the 509s were not such a great match with the Canterburys, but the 534 works nicely. Mind you, the 509s were about 30 years old, so maybe not at their best.
Last edited by petrat; 01-05-2013 at 17:16.
Thanks Peter. You have got a gem in your hand indeed. You should bring it to the AOS show if possible and it would be a treat for all of us!
Like most Japanese amps, they are hard to find in Europe mainly because of import taxes making them unattractive. It is a shame really as they bring a different proposition to the world of audiophile.
The only time I've heard a Shindo was in Hong Kong.
A few changes since last year. The previous turntables have gone and been consolidated into (what I think is) a good upgrade ... a Platine Verdier.
The tonearm situation has also changed, with both an Audio Note Arm 3 and a SME M2-12R in residence. The former is fitted with an Io1, and the SME is either a SPU Spirit or my Koetsu Black Goldline. The SUT is currently an Audio-Note AN-S2L.
The other major change was getting my hands on a Shindo Monbrison, which has replaced the Shindo Aurieges line preamp and the Leben RS-30EQ phonostage.
Last edited by petrat; 22-06-2014 at 20:38.
Location: Devon
Posts: 1,903
I'm stu.
very very nice peter.
301/Puresound 2A3/quite large Grf cab horny ones.Eminence/Coral/Le cleach
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
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Aye.. bloody luvlie! - You have taste my friend!
Ultrafide U500DC power amplifier - Croft Vitale )highly modified) - TRIO L-07D Turntable - Denon DL103C1 - Funk Firm Houdini - Lentek MC head amp - 15" Tannoy Monitor Gold Loudspeakers in Lockwood Major cabinets (From Trident Studios) - Tannoyista SPEC 3 Custom Crossovers - VanDamme Black Speaker Cable
Tannoyista.com - Audio Equipment Reviews
Just love that SME M2-12R arm.
Barry