Why is Shahinian not more popular

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.

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...

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
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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.

I have a pair of ARC's, having previously had Tannoy and B&W speakers. I think it's a combination of things:

1. Relative scarcity of reviews, press and zero advertising / PR and the website could be better : http://www.shahinianacoustics.com/ if you already did'nt know.

2. Looks / the 'ooh' factor - people are more used to seeing 'a box with a speaker driver stuck in it' as Richard Shahinian likes to say, than the squat pryamid-y look of the Shahinian speaker family.

3. Hard for people to get demo's as readily as mainstream makes - I live in the middle of London - one of the worlds biggest cities for godsakes - and still its difficult! Most potential buyers won't do that much legwork.

This ties into the comments made by others about the dealer network or lack thereof and the fact for some reason they simply aren't presented in stores like other speakers are.

I don't think being ' hard to drive' and room placement are issues, when you consider that ALL speakers have various niggles and preferences and Shahinian's are no worse than other makes.

In fact it's that kind of rumour perpetuation that can further harm Shahinian's profile, encouraging prejudice. Professional reviewers have gone so far as to say room placements actually LESS of an issue than conventional speakers, see the reprinted reviews from respected independent hi-end audio magazines on the Shahinian's website for confirmation of my own personal experiences regarding placement etc.

http://shahinianacoustics.com/Reviews.htm

I would really urge any prospective buyer to disregard any 'nay' sayers and think why this brand has survived for so long, with so many devoted fans & simply listen to the Shahinian range.

When compared to the competition, Shahinian's performance & value come out really strong across all their models.

Give 'em a try & then make the call, having decided for yourself.