"But the very last room I visited at FSI, one of the small ones on the 12th floor belonging to Montreal dealer Coup de Foudre, delighted me. In some ways—particularly the overall balance and the sheer accessibility of the music—this was the best I heard at the Show despite the system's affordable price. ProAc's Response D Two stand-mounted speakers were driven by a Leben 28Wpc CS600 tubed integrated amplifier (not a brand I am familiar with), with the source either a Clearaudio turntable or a CD player whose name I can't decipher from my notepad's spider scratchings. Just as I was about to leave, John Marks walked in and played for me a CD-R of tenor Brian Cheney singing the aria "Che gelida manina," from Puccini's La Bohème. This had been recorded at the microphone comparison sessions that I had reported on a year or so ago. Despite the system's modest pretensions, I was transported back to New York's SearSound Studio in the best way. A delightful end to my visit to the Montreal Show and proof that you don't necessarily need to spend big bucks to get big sound."
John Atkinson

"At a price substantially lower than these stellar offerings—although not quite entry-level—was the room featuring ProAc D Two speakers driven by the Leben CS600 integrated amplifier. This just seemed to me like a well-balanced system in every way: sound quality, with equipment that's not over-the-top in price but offers solid value, and has an elegant appearance. I was quite taken with the retro look of the Leben CS600 ($5000, EL34 tube-based, hand-built in Japan, with point-to-point wiring) which just oozes quality in a way that recalls the classic Marantz components."
Robert Deutsch

2007 CES And T.H.E. Show

Stereophile

"What's that?" I was pointing to EMT's JPA-66 Varia-Curve Full Function Preamp (price TBD). I was hypnotized by its VU meters, but Tone's Jonathan Helpern had something cooler to show me.

"It takes four different phono inputs, different phono equalization curves, a scratch filter, and a subsonic filter. Are you guys ready for some mono?"

Seconds later, we were listening to a 78rpm 10" single of Frankie Lyman. It sounded great. "Yeah," Halperin said, "and this was a jukebox copy, so it got played to bits. That scratch filter really works!"
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson

2005 CES And T.H.E. Show

MSNBC

"Loudspeakers are usually the largest and the most visual items in a hi-fi system and there are plenty of new models displayed to catch everyone's attention. I was drawn to John DeVore's room to hear his new Gibbon Super 8s. I own, and adore the original Gibbon 8s but couldn't believe the sound coming from the same size enclosure. Using elements from his top-of-the-line Silverback speakers, John has created something very, very special. Paired with beautiful, handmade Shindo Laboratory tube electronics, the sounds coming from that room were the best Ive heard at the show. A pair of Super 8s will retail for $4,000-$5,000 depending on the finish."
Gary Krakow

Positive Feedback

"The DeVore Gibbon 8 speakers, coupled with Shindo amplification, provided excellent, very musical sound. The Gibbon 8s are two-ways that retail for around $3000. The Shindo amplifiers have also been identified by the 6moons.com gang as exceptional, and I think they are onto something. I heard excellent sound, with sweet detail, on Bizet's Carmen. I would be interested in hearing more from Shindo, my time and Shindo's interest permitting."
Larry Cox

Positive Feedback

"The diminutive DeVore Gibbon Super 8 fed with all Shindo electronics was one of the most palpable and engaging systems I heard this year.

I might have completely missed this remarkable system if not for the urging of longtime friend and Connecticut audio dealer Jonathon Goldman. For the first few minutes I sat in front of this engaging system from DeVore and Shindo, my jaw was on the floor.

Vinyl was demodulated by the $19,800 Shindo 301 player. A modified Garrard 301, improvements to sound staging, noise floor, low level detail and pitch stability were achieved by upgrading the platter, bearing, plinth, tone arm, cartridge and isolation feet. Next in the chain was the $7500 Shindo Monbrison Preamplifier, which uses 7 NOS tubes, amorphous core moving coil step up transformers, point to point wiring, and all vacuum tube rectified and regulated power. The $9500 Shindo Cortese f2a is a 10-watt stereo single ended amplifier that uses a Siemens F2A pentode output tube originally manufactured for Klangfilm professional studio and theater applications and is said to offer full output after 10,000 hours of continuous use. Finally, all this valve magic was released into the room through the exquisite voice of the DeVore gibbon Super 8.

Big, fast, detailed bass. Clear, clean, articulate treble. Palpable, believable, and in-the-room midrange voices. I spoke to both John DeVore and Jonathan Halpern about a closer look at this highly synergistic and superbly musical system. A complete system review is in the works."
Greg Weaver

Positive Feedback

The Best US Debut of Japanese Amplifiers was in the Devore Fidelity/Shindo Laboratory room. John Devore was showing his Gibbon Super 8 loudspeakers, a very nice sounding high-efficiency two-way design. They were being powered by the gorgeous Shindo Monbrison tubed preamplifier and the Shindo Cortese F2A 10 watt pentode SE amplifier, as explained by Jonathan Halpern, Shindo's North American distributor. We heard truly gorgeous sound from two companies whose products were new to my ears.
Dave Glackin