The following review is really a "what happened next" continuation of my review of the Tune Audio Prime speakers. A quick read of that may provide a bit of background to what follows. Tune Audio Prime speakers
When I bought the Primes from James (brumjam) it was really as a sort of experiment or curious whim. I wasn't really prepared for how much I would like them. Initially being driven by my Devialet 200 I was very impressed. However after a few weeks I really felt that there was potential in the Primes not being fully revealed by the Devialet. This is in no way a criticism of the Devialet, a superb device I feel, just an inkling that better matches could be found for the Primes.
So my never ending email thread with Jack at BD Audio had me picking his brain for possible matches that would show just how well the Primes might perform. As always, in my experience, Jack's response was patient and reasoned. One name that was mentioned more than once was Grandinote. Until that point the name Grandinote was not just slightly off my radar but totally outside of my knowledge !! Jack mentioned that the combination of Grandinote Shinai and Primes was sublime and that I might find it to my liking. He even offered to schlep the Grandinote from Malvern to Surrey for a home demo. How annoying it was to have to wait ten days while my house had all the windows and doors replaced !! Although in retrospect a demo with all the noise and dust would have been less than ideal.
Fast forward to a time post new windows. On a bright and sunny Tuesday morning the doorbell rang and the light in the hallway was blocked by a presence on the front doorstep …… it was Jack from BD Audio !! In the drive was a Volvo with tempting boxes inside. Pleasantries were exchanged and coffees consumed at which point Jack brought in the box labelled Grandinote and plugging in commenced. As I had been using my Devialet for DAC purposes Jack had also brought a couple of DACs to try and installed the Audiobyte Black Dragon for conversion duties. The rest of the system was my Bluesound Node and of course the Primes.
The Grandinote Shinai is Grandinote's "entry level" integrated amplifier and produces 37 watts per channel in Class A. The basic gist of the design is that it is a valve amplifier that doesn't use valves. The Grandinote website describes the design far more eloquently that I can but I think the basic premise is sound. It is not a small device and it is heavy too !! It is a purposeful looking device, beautiful in a utilitarian way but not with the sumptuous wood that quite often adorns Italian amplifiers. Personally I like the clean knob free fascia with the clear and defeatable red display. The Shinai also comes with a natty little remote control for adjustment of listening level.
The Shinai was installed and left to warm for about 20 minutes and then listening commenced.
Here I will cut to the chase and expand into more detail afterward. The Grandinote Shinai really showed what the Primes could do and was obviously something pretty special from the get go. I have always loved that SET valve sound but often wished there was an option with more power and less ongoing expense. In a lot of ways the Grandinote sounds like a very good SET amplifier. It has a liquid way of presenting music making it almost like a live event in the room. Recordings come to life in a way the Devialet struggles to achieve into the Primes.
One of my favourite bands are Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. For those unaware of them they are a group comprised of banjo, keyboards/harmonica, bass and drums. For anyone who thinks that banjo can only be used in a bluegrass or trad jazz setting the Flecktones will change that notion. A favourite album of mine is UFO TOFU and a track I know well is Magic Fingers. The track is a jazzy affair with each individual band member getting a chance to shine in solo spots.
Playing this track on the Grandinote was a wonderful experience. There is a lot going on in this track and the Shinai lets it all become clear but totally avoids any hyper realistic etching of the performance. Victor Wooten's fluid and spritely bass lines are portrayed with superb control and timbre. There are parts where the bass plays speedy unison lines with other instruments, the Grandinote doesn't allow this to become muddled. Drum sounds, in this case mainly synthetic drum samples, have impact and weight. The sound of the banjo's strings and the resonance of the head are beautifully natural with the Grandinote, sparkling but not sharp. One problem spot on this track can be the soaring harmonica solo, in particular one note that can sound piercing, the Shinai reproduces the pitch and power of that solo without any discomfort to the ear. Truly an experience that left me shaking my head in disbelief and that was just the first of many tracks played that day.
Jack retrieved from his collection a wonderful piece played by Gary Karr on double bass. It was a rendering of a Bach Toccata usually an organ piece in my experience. The sound of the bowed bass was room filling and resonant and the instrument had the correct scale and body to it. Too many times I have heard double bass sound somewhat shrunk and lacking in girth. Not with the Shinai/Prime combination. We spent a good three hours just playing track after track from the previously mentioned as well as Agnes Obel, Alain Caron, Louis Armstrong and Chopin and many others. Here I think is the key to the Grandinote, it just plays music and encourages very long and varied sessions. After many hours there is no listening fatigue.
To describe the Shinai in more general terms.
The bass end with the Grandinote is powerful and detailed but not overbearing. Note delineation is superb and the timbre is excellent. Instruments in the bass region are fleshed out and full sounding and have realistic impact. There is, for want of a better word texture to the low end.
The midrange is simply gorgeous, vocals both male and female are rendered realistically. There is a warmth to the midrange but not at the expense of detail, subtle breathing and vocal inflections are easily heard and sound very natural. Instruments in this range are also beautifully reproduced especially brass which has realistic sheen and force but never produces the shrill sound that other amplifiers can. This is sound that never goes through you or makes you jump for the volume control.
The Grandinote also made the slightly incisive treble quality mentioned earlier a thing of the past. Delightfully detailed and natural on the treble range but performing that clever trick of smoothness with no lack of detail or impact. Cymbals are reproduced with just the right amount of fizz when required and fully revealed decay.
The retrieval of recorded detail is exceptional but it isn't forced or false, the music simply unfolds into the room very naturally. Where the Devialet could sound a little brittle and almost forced the Grandinote is calm and assured. It was quite clear in all areas but particularly in the treble region that the Grandinote had the upper hand with the Primes. There is a realism to the Grandinote sound that just seems to make you relax into whatever you decide to play through it.
Lest you might think this glowing description only counts with the Tune Audio Primes, the last couple of weeks I wheeled out my Serblin Accordos. A more different speaker to the Primes would be hard to find. The Shinai, with its meagre 37 watts, drove the Accordos with ease and grace. Even more amazingly it outperformed the Devialet with these speakers and that without the advantage offered by Devialet's SAM speaker processing. I have no doubt that the Grandinote Shinai would weave it's magic on a good range of speakers. It is quite simply the best integrated amplifier I have heard in my house.
Suffice to say Jack left with his car 40kg lighter that evening and with my Devialet too. A decision I haven't regretted for a second since. I totally understand Jack's reticence in bigging up the Grandinote gear too highly it could all sound like marketing hyperbole. However once heard I think the equipment speaks for itself.
When I bought the Primes from James (brumjam) it was really as a sort of experiment or curious whim. I wasn't really prepared for how much I would like them. Initially being driven by my Devialet 200 I was very impressed. However after a few weeks I really felt that there was potential in the Primes not being fully revealed by the Devialet. This is in no way a criticism of the Devialet, a superb device I feel, just an inkling that better matches could be found for the Primes.
So my never ending email thread with Jack at BD Audio had me picking his brain for possible matches that would show just how well the Primes might perform. As always, in my experience, Jack's response was patient and reasoned. One name that was mentioned more than once was Grandinote. Until that point the name Grandinote was not just slightly off my radar but totally outside of my knowledge !! Jack mentioned that the combination of Grandinote Shinai and Primes was sublime and that I might find it to my liking. He even offered to schlep the Grandinote from Malvern to Surrey for a home demo. How annoying it was to have to wait ten days while my house had all the windows and doors replaced !! Although in retrospect a demo with all the noise and dust would have been less than ideal.
Fast forward to a time post new windows. On a bright and sunny Tuesday morning the doorbell rang and the light in the hallway was blocked by a presence on the front doorstep …… it was Jack from BD Audio !! In the drive was a Volvo with tempting boxes inside. Pleasantries were exchanged and coffees consumed at which point Jack brought in the box labelled Grandinote and plugging in commenced. As I had been using my Devialet for DAC purposes Jack had also brought a couple of DACs to try and installed the Audiobyte Black Dragon for conversion duties. The rest of the system was my Bluesound Node and of course the Primes.
The Grandinote Shinai is Grandinote's "entry level" integrated amplifier and produces 37 watts per channel in Class A. The basic gist of the design is that it is a valve amplifier that doesn't use valves. The Grandinote website describes the design far more eloquently that I can but I think the basic premise is sound. It is not a small device and it is heavy too !! It is a purposeful looking device, beautiful in a utilitarian way but not with the sumptuous wood that quite often adorns Italian amplifiers. Personally I like the clean knob free fascia with the clear and defeatable red display. The Shinai also comes with a natty little remote control for adjustment of listening level.
The Shinai was installed and left to warm for about 20 minutes and then listening commenced.
Here I will cut to the chase and expand into more detail afterward. The Grandinote Shinai really showed what the Primes could do and was obviously something pretty special from the get go. I have always loved that SET valve sound but often wished there was an option with more power and less ongoing expense. In a lot of ways the Grandinote sounds like a very good SET amplifier. It has a liquid way of presenting music making it almost like a live event in the room. Recordings come to life in a way the Devialet struggles to achieve into the Primes.
One of my favourite bands are Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. For those unaware of them they are a group comprised of banjo, keyboards/harmonica, bass and drums. For anyone who thinks that banjo can only be used in a bluegrass or trad jazz setting the Flecktones will change that notion. A favourite album of mine is UFO TOFU and a track I know well is Magic Fingers. The track is a jazzy affair with each individual band member getting a chance to shine in solo spots.
Playing this track on the Grandinote was a wonderful experience. There is a lot going on in this track and the Shinai lets it all become clear but totally avoids any hyper realistic etching of the performance. Victor Wooten's fluid and spritely bass lines are portrayed with superb control and timbre. There are parts where the bass plays speedy unison lines with other instruments, the Grandinote doesn't allow this to become muddled. Drum sounds, in this case mainly synthetic drum samples, have impact and weight. The sound of the banjo's strings and the resonance of the head are beautifully natural with the Grandinote, sparkling but not sharp. One problem spot on this track can be the soaring harmonica solo, in particular one note that can sound piercing, the Shinai reproduces the pitch and power of that solo without any discomfort to the ear. Truly an experience that left me shaking my head in disbelief and that was just the first of many tracks played that day.
Jack retrieved from his collection a wonderful piece played by Gary Karr on double bass. It was a rendering of a Bach Toccata usually an organ piece in my experience. The sound of the bowed bass was room filling and resonant and the instrument had the correct scale and body to it. Too many times I have heard double bass sound somewhat shrunk and lacking in girth. Not with the Shinai/Prime combination. We spent a good three hours just playing track after track from the previously mentioned as well as Agnes Obel, Alain Caron, Louis Armstrong and Chopin and many others. Here I think is the key to the Grandinote, it just plays music and encourages very long and varied sessions. After many hours there is no listening fatigue.
To describe the Shinai in more general terms.
The bass end with the Grandinote is powerful and detailed but not overbearing. Note delineation is superb and the timbre is excellent. Instruments in the bass region are fleshed out and full sounding and have realistic impact. There is, for want of a better word texture to the low end.
The midrange is simply gorgeous, vocals both male and female are rendered realistically. There is a warmth to the midrange but not at the expense of detail, subtle breathing and vocal inflections are easily heard and sound very natural. Instruments in this range are also beautifully reproduced especially brass which has realistic sheen and force but never produces the shrill sound that other amplifiers can. This is sound that never goes through you or makes you jump for the volume control.
The Grandinote also made the slightly incisive treble quality mentioned earlier a thing of the past. Delightfully detailed and natural on the treble range but performing that clever trick of smoothness with no lack of detail or impact. Cymbals are reproduced with just the right amount of fizz when required and fully revealed decay.
The retrieval of recorded detail is exceptional but it isn't forced or false, the music simply unfolds into the room very naturally. Where the Devialet could sound a little brittle and almost forced the Grandinote is calm and assured. It was quite clear in all areas but particularly in the treble region that the Grandinote had the upper hand with the Primes. There is a realism to the Grandinote sound that just seems to make you relax into whatever you decide to play through it.
Lest you might think this glowing description only counts with the Tune Audio Primes, the last couple of weeks I wheeled out my Serblin Accordos. A more different speaker to the Primes would be hard to find. The Shinai, with its meagre 37 watts, drove the Accordos with ease and grace. Even more amazingly it outperformed the Devialet with these speakers and that without the advantage offered by Devialet's SAM speaker processing. I have no doubt that the Grandinote Shinai would weave it's magic on a good range of speakers. It is quite simply the best integrated amplifier I have heard in my house.
Suffice to say Jack left with his car 40kg lighter that evening and with my Devialet too. A decision I haven't regretted for a second since. I totally understand Jack's reticence in bigging up the Grandinote gear too highly it could all sound like marketing hyperbole. However once heard I think the equipment speaks for itself.
