2. speakers
  3. 1027269490

Why is Shahinian not more popular

I am a German living in Moscow, and only recently got to know the speakers of Shahinian. I first received a pair of Obelisks in the summer of 2001, and liked their sound and presentation so much that I upgraded to the Diapason when Audiogon-member dogman7515 offered them for sale. I drive them with a MacIntosh MA6500, a German Audionet CD-transport and the Chord DAC64. Everybody who listens to these uncoventional, omnidirectional speakers is amazed, and I already have my best friend shopping for Obelisks as well. Having fallen in love with the Shahinian-speakers, I took a look around, but was astonished to see that there is almost no discussion of these speakers on Audiogon. Nor, it seems, are there dealers of Shahinian in the US. Why, dear Audiogons, are they not more popular with you? To those of you who own Shahinians: What is your experience as far as room acoustics are concerned? And what are your experiences with bi-amping and bi-wiring them? A review in the German journal Image Hifi stated you'd nee to dampen the wall behind Shahinian-speakers (Diapasonns, in that case)to get decent soundstaging. And finally, does anybody know what Shahinian is doing like? A German Hifi-dealer told me the rumor that Shahinian might be in trouble and bankrupt soon.
Thanks for your insight. Florian Hassel
hassel
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
No offense, but I never understood the fuss over Shahinian Obelisks.

A friend of mine in London sold his Apogee Stage speakers to buy a pair of them and I found them to be perfectly ordinary.

I would love to hear from others who have discovered magic in them -- maybe with certain associated components?? -- but I have always thought they were an overhyped cult speaker with middle of the road sound.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
I think they are very room sensitive. Every time I've heard them they sounded different, even with the same equipment. Often they sound stage was scattered, even Bose like. Sometimes it wasn't so diffused . Sometimes they exhibited a lumpy bass. Sometimes it was just a bit slow. Seemed risky to me.
audiokinesis
2,743 posts
 
Hassel, I have tried to become a Shahinian dealer, so far without success. Dick Shahinian has no US dealers, and doesn't really need any. He has a hard enough time keeping up with orders from Europe and Asia. I have been contacted by people who've told me that if I could get them a pair of Shahinians, they'd buy 'em in a heartbeat.

So please don't take the absence of US dealerships as a commentary on the sonics of the Shahinian line. What they do well, they do very well.

I still hope to convince Shahinian that they need at least one US dealer...
sean
6,231 posts
 
Duke, Shahinian may not WANT dealers for very specific reasons other than production volume. It is possible that the dealers he has dealt with in the past may not have been reliable and / or known how to really market / set up his products. As such, it would be better to have NO dealer than a dealer that will end up damaging your product reputation to do poor representation. Especially if you are already running at or very near production capacity.

Having said that, i don't think that he would run into that situation with you. I think that you cater to a more select market and do a better job of it. If most "dealers" had the love of music in their heart and customer service that you offer, we wouldn't see all of these negative posts about bad dealer experiences that we do. Hopefully, Richard will reconsider his stance and work with you. While i don't think that the Shahinian's would do direct competition with the Sound Labs, i do think that it would give you a smaller and slightly more conventional speaker to work with that had many of the "airy" qualities that "panel" type speaker lovers look for. Like most panels though, they do require quite a bit of TLC to get them to work right due to their radiation pattern and rear mounted bass driver. Sean
>
audiokinesis
2,743 posts
 
Sean -

Once again, thanks for your vote of confidence.

In a sense, the Shahinians have some common ground with the Sound Labs - both systems recreate a well-energized, diffuse reverberant field whose tonal balance is very similar to that of the direct sound. I think the Shahinians would fit well into my little line-up, if I can make it happen.
More to discover