Right. My first instinct was to call them Shinclones but that would make me a hypocrite. I like playing with Altec parts and doing that - and being way more influenced by Sound Practices than TAS - was what led me down my hifi road. It totally enriches my relationship with Shindo. Does that make sense? That probably makes no sense to guys who chase the latest Magico or ARC revisions, but anyone can *buy* gear. It goes back to a (very unpopular) theme that guides my hifi journey. You can pick your parts from the stereophile list and mash them up. Always substituting this newly raved about product for last years. OR you can find the sound you like, dig into the history and the nuts and bolts and reap the rewards.
My advice to Shindo guys - if you can't or don't want to swing the Shindo speakers (not directed to Jerome), definitely go the vintage altec route.
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I agree Kev.
A vintage unmodified pair of Vott, 19, 15, Valencias... is a more secure route for most people and will give excellent results.
The 19 is probably the best speaker when you have the room for it.
Even if you are gifted with your hands and know how to design a filter, making a great cabinet and designing a filter for a specific cabinet and drivers is extremely difficult.
I was very lucky to meet the guy who made mine. His name is Gilles.
He is a very talented pro carpenter, passionated in audio. He has multiple measuring devices and builds the filters and cut the port by ear + measures.
The guy is one of those persons that you meet once or twice in a life. He also hand builds planes in which he flies ( he's a pilot) and he sells them ! And a big fan of astronomy, former president of his town's astronomy associations, he built and polished his own mirrors !
Gilles reminds me of Peter Kesling. A genius in orthodontics who transformed the little company of his father into a huge international orthodontics manufactury. Mr. Kesling was also building planes on sundays !
The main difference being that Peter Kesling was born in a very wealthy and already successful family. While Gilles is a self made man who was born in a poor family. But they are made of the same texture. They truly believe that "impossible" is a word made for the simple minds and their ability for hard work is beyond imagination.
Clearly my speakers are NOT Shindo.
But my friend who listened to various Shindo speakers over the years told me that they sound truly wonderful and wants to order a pair. He told me that vey few people in the world can handmade a speaker that sounds like this one. Like Shindo, Gilles knows that each pair of vintage Altec drivers is unique and needs a custom made filter. ( My filter has a continuous adjustment of the compression driver from -6 to + 1 dB by the way ).
Moreover, even most talented pro carpenters do not know how to build cabinets of this quality. You can spot for example that no screws are apparent around the drivers on the face of the speaker. Just a little clue at how talented Gilles is. In France, Gilles is probably the only one able to make cabinets of this quality.
But Gilles is already working for me on a smaller floorstanding speaker for my living. With a 414 Altec or GPA, and we will use a TAD 2001 compression with horn which is less wide than the W32A and will make more discrete speakers in the living room.
While my PL inspired is 183 liters, the living speaker will be much smaller : 110 liters.
