I adore my Shahinian loudspeakers


Myself and several other Audiogoners with Shahinian loudspeakers repeatedly bemoan the fact that so few people know how good these speakers are. Richard Shahinian has formerly and accurately been described as a poor promoter of his products. Other than a website, I am not aware of any advertising by his company. It bothers me that Richard and Vasken Shahinian are not more famous than they currently are. And no I am not financially tied to these guys but I do talk to them enough to consider them as friends.
Why do Richards speakers sound so good? I think it's primarily do to his love of live classical music performances. At the workshop, the focus is making the speakers sound like the performance the night before. I can't think of a better way to design a speaker. Isn't the goal of hi-fi to reproduce the actual event in our home? And oh golly g molly the Shahinians do this like no other I have heard or owned. I have compared the Shahinians with many, many loudspeakers. Some of these speakers cost 10 times as much and couldn't touch the Shahinians ability.
What told me these speakers are worth mighty praise? My family loves them. My wife and kids play them when I'm gone. My friends bring there cd's over so they can hear them on my system. People congregate in the listening room when they are playing. Last X-mas we had 20 or so family members over. Before the night was over, they were all in the listening room. Several went out to their cars to bring in favorite cd's. I was in heaven. Finally I could share my love of hi-fi. The X-mas before I had a $11,000 pair of electrostats and nobody even gave them a nod.
What do they sound like? Easy answer-- Live Music!
Do yourself a big favor. If you're in the market for a pair of speakers then give these a listen. You'll probably have to fly to Richards shop in New York if you want to hear a pair. I think he has maybe four dealers in the US.
holzhauer
I think you've answered your own question. Not many people are willing to "fly to Richard's shop in New York" to hear a pair of speakers. Also, how long has the company been in business and what are the chances it will still be in business in five or 10 years? Just stuff to think about. -- Ron
Ron - Shaninian speakers have been around since the late 70's as I recall. They have always had a low key approach to promotion. I heard them at CES in the late 80's, in conjunction with Bedini, I think. They are well worth the effort to audition if you're into music more than audiophilia.
I've never heard any of RS's speakers, but some of the acoustic goals I think he has from reading about his work - if not always the exact design principles for getting at them - seem reminiscent to me of Roy Allison's 70's efforts, with which I'm familiar. Does anyone know if I am wrong in assuming this similarity of overarching philosophy, and if not, are the results at all in the same (albeit updated) type of ballpark, sound-wise?
OK. Now I remember. And a pair was reviewed by TAS a few years ago. There are so many speakers out there with so many claims it's sometimes difficult to keep them all straight. Still, it's not too practical for most of us to take off and fly to New York in search of the perfect pair of speakers. We hear the same claims about Talon, Wilson, Kharma, Avalon, etc. After a while, it's just more of the same.