Sound, clean articulate, very transparent.

Remote control. It has one hich is a plus. But for a $2000+ unit, it is very cheap.

I hear and have read all the bad press here and other place but bought the SHA-Gold anyway. I liked the sound and did get a great price on the unit.

Melos went through a tough time, (Yes, I called the factory rep and talked to him some time, quite extensively)and they did provide fairly bad service, for a while. When they moved from NJ to Las Vegas they moving company took 3 times as long to move as they said, and broke a great deal of their /customers equipment in the process. They are still having trouble getting everything sorted but are working on it. The last piece of equipment that I know that has been sent back was returned in less then one week.

Based on the sound of this unit I would have to give it a 5. I know of nothing close that betters it. There are a few that might equal it, but not better. The sound is very clean and neitral. You hear into the inner depths of acoustic instruments and cymbals and other percussion instruments sound real. Female voices are great.

I understand that the upgrade will gice an even better soundstage and look forward to doing that as soon as I get a replacement to use while this one is gone. I also understand that with upgrades they are extending their warranty to 10 years. Not a bad investment.

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conrad johnson PV-12A

I have to agree what everybody said. Melos' people are hard to talk, and providing terrible service to their customers.
I used to send a check to them. They cashed this check but without keeping any record in their company. With numerous phone calls, they still insisted they never received this check. I have go to my bank to get a proof. All they want to do is to cash you check immediately. Do not send your check in advance. If you have Melos products, trade them in ASAP. If you are shopping stereo components, do not even think about Melos. I predict they will be out of business soon.

Incredible soundstage! both active and passive outputs.Fun rolling tubes

Like a vintage sportscar, when it's on its one of the best things going. But it has its quirks!

This is a SHA GOld that had the Reference update then later the Maestro update.
I love what this did for my system. It is rich and detailed all at the same time. The soundstage is astonishing! Like having a live performance in my living room every night. Being able to roll the tubes helped a LOT. So far really like the Mullard CV-2492 and CV-2493 tubes here. However, the Siemens E88CC or 7308 from the 60's is also great if you are after really punchy and tight bass. With the Mullard tubes and either a BMI Whale or BME Eel power cord the bass depth and inner detail of this unit is amazing. It does have it's days though but I have learned how to counter it's quirks. It is not as rock solid and trouble free as a Sonic Frontier unit, but it outplays it in every aspect. Sort of like having a vintage Ferrari around, you love this thing every time you put it through the paces yet you always wonder if it's going to need a little attention first.
Headphone amp is killer too!
I love having access to either active or passive modes as the feeling moves me. Passive is breathtaking in the vocals but lacks a little Umph in the bass. Still, when you want to hear Diana Krall or other vocals just pull and plug in a few seconds and ENJOY!
A steal at under $600 for this Maestro Model!

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Be cautious about Melos service. The sonic performance of SHA-Gold is excellent but Melos' service sucks.
In January, I bought a Melos SHA Gold preamp, and sent them to Melos for upgrade to SHA Gold Reference with a $300 check. For a couple of months, it has not yet been back to me so far. I have called them thousand times using the phone numbers shown on their home page. It is extremely hard to contact them. I am real disappointed about their service. They just want to receive money from me, but do nothing. If you want to buy something from Melos, you have better think about their service first. Four stars for sonic performance, zero star for their service.

WOW!! I thought my bad experience with Melos was an isolated incident. My former) dealer tried to convince me that the problems I was having with Melos's service were unique and that I just had to be more patient. Seems like they spend more time working on their website that they do satisfying customers. But, after a while, I started to feel that maybe my experience was just an isolated incident. But now that I have read the other reviews I find that my experience is just typical of the way they operate. Melos's service is absolutely, positively non-existant unless you consider double-talk a service. Melos just plain sucks! And so does any Melos dealer who shows more loyalty to a manufacturer that doesn't deliver reliability OR service than its customers. I wish there was a rating less than one star!

I have owned 2 Melos preamps over a 9 year period, including the SHA Gold, both manufactured when the company was based in New Jersey and called Melos Audio. My experience with Melos was similarly disappointing even then. Whoever owns Melos should retain designer Mark Porzilli and fire everyone else. Melos has changed its name and moved to Nevada but it sounds like they still havn't learned to put the customer first.

Their motto is "Melos Means Good Sound" . . . but it sure doesn't mean good service! I am a former Melos product owner. My amp developed problems 8 months into a 5 year warranty. After 9 weeks of incredible hassle I finally got my unit back. I sold it immediately because I had lost all faith in the company. I know how easy it is to fall in love with Melos' tube sound but it will be short lived. When (not if) you have to deal with Melos on a service problem you'll realize what a big mistake you made. They just couldn't care less about service after the sale. My advice is DON'T BUY MELOS PRODUCTS NEW OR USED!

I just upgraded my Melos SHA-1 to a SHA Gold Reference and it is EXCELLENT. At first I was wonbdering if all these bad reviews were just some non-Melos
dealer trying to disparage the reputation of a great product (I still wonder a bit since some of the IP addresses are fishy like the fact that a guy from
Minnesota and another from Chicago are each on the same IP subnet?) In any case,
I've never dealt with Melos at all so I can't make any claim on defense of their
service but I would suggest that anyone who buys audio equipment like I do...
that is, used... should DEFINATELY consider this one. Possibly because of
Melos' bad reputation for service, you can get excellent used deals on the SHA
Gold Reference... I did. For the price I paid it was BY FAR the best preamp
I have ever heard and it contains simply the best headphone amp I have
ever heard on top of that! It is SO transparent (particularly in passive mode... but then again, I guess it should be). I never new my CD Player (CAL Audio Icon MkII) could sound so good. So for me it was a no brainer... with both of the Melos products I've owned I never had any problem with reliability (and I see no one disputing that) so if you don't want to, you should never have to deal with Melos at all. Maybe we should make another section here for "Melos Corporation" so that the "Melos SHA Gold Reference" need not be on the "Wall of Shame"... after all, if you avoid the company, it is one of the best out there and a terrific bargain. Five stars all the way.

I have to agree with what most customers said: MELOS is a casino company.
I used to have a SHA Gold Reference. It was a nightmare for me to talk to MELOS people for dealing with the product problems. They provide the worst service in the world. Tom must never talk to MELOS before; otherwise he would change his statements.

My recommendations are:
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING MELOS PRODUCTS,
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING MELOS PRODUCTS, and
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING MELOS PRODUCTS.

I Just read Tom Grossi's review. I agree that this is a fine sounding pre-amp and even better headphone amp but I have to remind Tom that you can't separate the Company from the product. The credibility of one reflects on the other. In the case of Melos, the incredibly negative service reputation it has obviously earned ( just read most of the other reviews) totally overwhelms anything positive that can be said about the sonic attributes of their products.
To illustrate my point, there's a great restaurant in town that has a wonderful chef who creates dishes that are to die for . . . but the service is so bad that it ruins the meal! This restaurant deserves to get the highest possible rating for the gourmet quality of their food but, guess what . . . it isn't!

Melos has exactly the same problem. I don't know about anyone else but I will not support a Company that doesn't support it's customers. The hassle they put me through on an unquestionable warranty repair several years ago was the final straw for me. I'll never buy or recommend Melos again.