Audiophilepure

Grandinote Shinai Class-A integrated amplifier

Even though the Shinai offers a nice dose of bloom and gentle warmth, importantly, there’s absolutely no excess of warmth and also no “saddle” effect, in which the midrange is structurally dialed back compared to the bass and treble. Principally, the amp just sounds linear, and it adapts to the music. When playing Toni Braxton or Anita Baker, the Shinai delivers the music with what seems like a subtle golden glow but as soon as you play something spicy like Robert Palmer’s You Are In My System, or basically, anything produced by Michael Frank, the amp immediately flexes its muscles, throws out any idea of sugar-coating and slaps me right in the face with its immediate dynamics! It may sound as if I am being overly dramatic, but really, I am not exaggerating. Whenever I play something spicy, it comes out as such, totally unrestrained.

It’s the seemingly impossible: a very neutral and linear amplifier that is fast, expressive, and dynamic but equally lush, liquid, and seductive, but this is exactly what the Shinai + Combo Stand achieves.

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