Any Shindo 604 AlNiCo owners here?

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kev313 said:
What's your point, Uwe? You feel the price is high. Do you believe Shindo should charge less?

I should add that I agree with many of the things posted here. I find the price to be extraordinarily high for the "product" received. I've had these very same discussions in my head about the purchase! That said, at the end of the day, I can't build it myself. If I did, I'd probably lose $65,000 of my time. I also get the benefits of getting my speaker from a brand that's been tuning their approach for decades (using my same electronics) as opposed to a fly by night operation.

Also, and a point missing from your discussion, I could not reproduce the sound as Shindo intended. I put a purchase premium on that. Right or wrong doesn't apply to that value analysis. That's just my opinion. You might attribute such sentiments to marketing or false guru-ism. That's ok, and I can honestly appreciate the critique. I simply find the sound to be an enjoyable modern version of historical techniques.
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Well put - that's the heart of it for me too kev313. I'm in the same place, which I expressed in an earlier post.

I considered building high efficiency speakers. But after months of learning about drivers, crossovers, cabinet construction and tuning, and the hit-or-miss process involved in creating a good sounding speaker, especially as a novice, I reached the same conclusion as kev313: that I'd rather not.

Also no argument from me that, on their own, the Shindo speaker value / price ratio seems lowish. It's certainly lower than the amps, which appear to involve the greatest level of innovation and engineering.

However, the speakers and amps are designed to sound best when used as a complete system. If that proposition is true, then perhaps its value / price ratio would seem more acceptable to many - me included.

Boy, I never thought I'd spend so much time on this thread discussing the rationale / validity of my purchase! I don't mind. It's a good conversation among civil gents.
 
kev313 said:
To the last point, it's actually a lot closer to those clients who get billed at my hourly rate for travel. They pay the same for a drive to a far flung court as if I was sitting at my desk writing a brief or working on something else. Why? Because I otherwise would have been sitting at my desk writing a brief or working on something else.

Again, though, I'll admit that I'm speculating as to the basis for the price. I got a bill for my speakers, not an itemized bill.


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I get this point. Plain normal.

The difference being that Shindo makes much more money versus time needed when building a speaker than building an electronic gear !
Unless the wood of the cabinets come from their personal trees in the garden and songs by a cantor are needed in the morning and in the evening to make them grow ! ;)

But as I said, when you are satisfied with a purchase, and of course this is very subjective, you forget the price paid which is a good thing. You then did not pay "too much".

As to my personal views, there are as I said a few people in France able to build speakers according to your needs ( although not many are able to build field coils). If one day I decide to go with the High Eff route using Altec, LM, or GPA drivers, my choice will be to have them built for me.
But that will be rather unlikely. I never heard a high eff speaker that gave me enough density and weight at low volume.
Some high eff owners listened to my system and they agreed that at low volume, my speakers sound much more involving and full that their monsters.
High Eff speakers come to life at "real" levels. At domestic ones, they often sound thin and boring to my ears.
Still I an very curious to hear a Shindo speaker one day.
 
NeilNZ said:
Nope not US$100k or near that... What's the point in asking?
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You are right. There is no point for a potential customer to ask the price of a product.
Alrhough I will probably never buy them, there is still a possibility for me to fall in love with them and I have the means to afford them.
What kind of "dealer" are you exactly to be ashamed of a price and to hold customers in contempt ?
 
Jerome W said:
Kev,
Do you know the new price of the FC Latour ?
Must be close to 100k US no ?
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I do not know. My interest in hearing the Shindo version of the Altec 604 was longstanding as I first corresponded with Jonathan in 2005! A lifetime ago. As a longtime Altec user (I actually came into HiFi with Klipsch Heresies and Cornwalls so I have always leaned toward the high efficiency crowd) was never interested in the Latour, though I have heard it and it is wonderful.


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You are such a strange contentious individual.

This is how we are "not friendly". Speak to the point made, do not criticize the poster personally.
 
Jerome W said:
You are right. There is no point for a potential customer to ask the price of a product.
Alrhough I will probably never buy them, there is still a possibility for me to fall in love with them and I have the means to afford them.
What kind of "dealer" are you exactly to be ashamed of a price and to hold customers in contempt ?
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Hi Jerome. :)

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Smile said:
You are such a strange contentious individual.

This is how we are "not friendly". Speak to the point made, do not criticize the poster personally.
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Right, so it's ok for me to be criticised, with the statement below, but not ok for me to point out a truism?

Jerome W said:
What kind of "dealer" are you exactly to be ashamed of a price and to hold customers in contempt ?
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I have again proven to myself why forums are fraught with peril.
Over and out.
 
kev313 said:
I do not know. My interest in hearing the Shindo version of the Altec 604 was longstanding as I first corresponded with Jonathan in 2005! A lifetime ago. As a longtime Altec user (I actually came into HiFi with Klipsch Heresies and Cornwalls so I have always leaned toward the high efficiency crowd) was never interested in the Latour, though I have heard it and it is wonderful.
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Interesting. When I heard Steven's Petite Latours in Santa Fe, I was surprised to hear aspects of their sonic signature shared to some degree with my now dead Altec 14's. The PL's were orders of magnitude more refined and dynamic but something about the sound stage and a certain forward presentation of aspects of the midrange were familiar - and not in a bad way. I've yet to hear the full size Latours - did you hear bits of the "heritage" of Altecs from your past?

BTW - feel free to keep it to yourself. I simply want to talk about the sound, not open that other can of worms about Shindo/Altec/cost/value.
 
Neil,
You are "criticized" because of your attitude.
What is the problem in asking the MSRP of a product ?
I asked because I was surprised at the 30k that was charged to Kev for the FC upgrade.
For any other brand than Shindo, this simple question gets clear answers. I know the MSRP of any McIntosh, ARC, Wilson, CJ, Dartzeel, Nagra....product. Shindo ?
The Big Secret !
For Shindo, you get this answer from a dealer : "what's the point of asking?"
Do you realize how weird you may appear with such attitude ?
If you do not want to give an information, then why not remain silent ??
 
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]<the top-of-the-line field-coil version but Latours are available in other iterations starting at $29,500/pr.> So there are options with this speakers and its FC uprades.[/FONT]
 
Schmitt said:
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]<the top-of-the-line field-coil version but Latours are available in other iterations starting at $29,500/pr.> So there are options with this speakers and its FC uprades.[/FONT]
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That looks like a possible price for the petite alnico latour. I believe petite with FC were in the ballpark of 604 FC. Can't really recall.


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Schmitt said:
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]<the top-of-the-line field-coil version but Latours are available in other iterations starting at $29,500/pr.> So there are options with this speakers and its FC uprades.[/FONT]
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Thanks.
And the Latour FC is at 60k ?
 
Jerome W said:
Thanks.
And the Latour FC is at 60k ?
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I do not think that is accurate. I believe the Full FC Latour requires greater modification to the drivers and, hence, the price exceeds that of the FC 604.


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