Shahinian

I believe that they are imported by Pear Audio. Let us know how you get on.

Pear Audio,
7 Prospect Place,
Alnmouth,
Northumberland
NE66-2RL
Tel. (44)(0)1665-830862
Fax. (44)(0)1665-830051

Thanks - will do

Fisby,
Those very helpful people at Shahinian can be mailed at shahinianacoustics@yahoo.com
Its not a big company so replys can take a little time but it will come.

Noel.

OK - I spoke to Pear audio (nice bloke) who suggested it was something more subtle than a mains problem, and may in fact be the room...
it was suggested to try the paving slabs and speaker positioning even trying them down the longer length of the room - mmm where have I read this before?! also to try the system in another room - upstairs bedroom is the only alternative.
So guess what I'm doing this weekend?

More to follow - thanks all.

Fisby,

You're clearly struggling with the Arcs. I check how far out from the walls mine actually are. I was surprised when I measured to find they're both 28" from the back wall. Thats the nearest corner of the speakers, remember mine are turned in at quite an angle and this takes the ABR further from any boundary. The left hand speaker is 30" from the side and the right hand speaker 44" from the side. I've placed them purely on the basis of sound and have tried lots of combinations of placement. I didn't realise I used them in such a 'free space' setting until I measured them.
The other key point is that the chairs are about 24" from the wall. Again I place them there by the sound and only actually measured the distance this weekend. This makes the distance between the speakers and myself quite close, but it works! I was explaining to a friend how they work and he couldn't believe how the sound changed as I moved the speakers back to the wall. I hope this is of some help.

Noel.

Thanks Noel - I 'played' around a little at the weekend, blimey my equipments been unplugged and plugged so many times recently its unbelievable, just to move the rack etc. Anyway I tried paving slabs under the speakers, made no appreciable difference at all. Then I moved the equipment rack off its little rug and levelled up all the spikes (nice holes in the floorboards!) - mmmm actually seemed a little better. Yesterday it all came aprt again as I set up my turntable wall shelf (took 3 hours...), and this meant moving the equipment rack out partially out of its alcove, then I took the spikes off the rack and fitted the (supplied) feet, plugged all the equipment back in again, went to rehearsals, came back and played a couple of LP's (Thorens 160 RB300 + Goldring cartridge crackle crackle), which didn't seem to have nearly as much bass overhang, so I tried a couple of CD's (Mary Black and Dylan) - the whole thing IS better, but this is only with the volume at between 8 and 9 O'clock above which the bass does take over a bit. I tried moving the speakers and they are now at about 20 inches from the rear wall and 10 inches from the side walls - I cannot move them in any further and I cannot (practically) have them on the 'long' wall.

So where does this leave me? - I think for now I'm going to leave the whole set up for a few days to let it 'bed in', due to all the afforementioned moves and see how it sounds then.
Funds allowing I need to get the CDI serviced (it's getting on a bit now) and see how that helps.
I know from listening to another system (thanks Raphael) that LP doesn't seem to suffer with bloated bass as much as CD - to my ears anyhow - so a serviced CDI may improve things....
Go to Infidelity for advice if I still can't turn the wick up....

Any other ideas?

PS What with moving equipment, turntable shelves and stubborn oil filters I now have a ricked neck!....

Fisbey,

This may be of interest to you, not sure whether the photo links are working but you might find the text enlightening anyway.

http://manaforum.atinfopop.com/4/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=462298155&f=272298155&m=4024009792

Steve

Has anyone tried the Voodoo Platform under a pair of Arc's ?
I'm sure tha Mana will have an effect however the idea of a 'wooden' plinth with oak feet might work sonically and aesthetically.

Mark

Hi Fisbey
First of all thanks for the wine - it was drunk at another listening session down Brighton way.
Anyway, I would urge you to now leave things alone and let the whole system settle down again. Additionally, it will also give you and your ears time to get used to the type of sound Shahinians and the rest of your excellent system produce.
I recently had another audiophile visitor who listened to my system and commented on the unusual musical presentations being afforded by the Arcs. Thinking back to when I first started getting involved with Shahinian products, I remember thinking about the difference in presentation then. However, I have, now, got really used to that style of presentation and love it. Many 'normal' speakers now seem to have something missing to me.
Also, if you are truly unhappy then do have a listen to Shahinian Super Elfs which keep some of the Shahinian values and presentation style but give a very different musical structure (at least to my ears). In coarser terms, they are lighter in the bass.
Relax, listen to some of eclectic music collection and leave things alone for a while.
Good luck in your quest.
Raphael

yes thanks all, I did speak to Infidelity who suggested most of my equipment could do with a service (being over 8 years old), so, being broke I'll have to save up ...

I also talked about alternative speakers, not that I could afford them right now, but nigh on 3K speakers where mentioned, Jeez, no way...

Anyway I'll do as Raphael suggests and let it bed down (relax me?!) and listen to some more music, mind you I put Faith no More on last night - no way....

I suppose I should try mana supports under the speakers at some point too....

Welshmark,

I don't know of anyone whose tried the Voodoo with Shahinian but I have seen a positive review of the platforms in HiFi+. I'm tempted to try them with my Arcs especially as they have a 14 day moneyback guarantee.

In the mean time I'm going to have a listen to some stand mount alternatives. I have MFS, Kef refs and Linn Akurate lined up for Friday morning. As I haven't properly listened to normal speakers for about 9 years it will be an interesting demo.

Brendan

Hi Fisbey
Following on from what Wooden Club has suggested regarding using a leaner speaker cable, I have, in my past, used Chord Company Odyssey 2 speaker cable. This cable worked well but was definitely leaner than NACA5. I was suprised how much difference it made to the sound. At the time I switched to Chord and lived with it happily for quite a while. Then I switched back to NACA5 and preferred it to Chord so I got rid of the Chord. However, it might be something that you could consider trying.
On another note, I have now traded down from my 135s to a recapped 160. Please feel free to re-visit if you want to hear this in action - you could also bring your 250 with you to try out if you want.
Best regards
Raphael

Raphael - Will definitely visit at some point - soon, and will bring the 250 and the CDI to try out - at least that way I can eliminate some of the suspects! I have got a bit behind on line learning, but definitely sometime soon - I still lean toward the problem being the room/speakers though....

Thanks again

Brendan

I read the same review of the Voodoo platforms
which made me hope they might turn my Arc's into an approximation of their bigger brother the Shahinian Obelisks !
I live in Bristol and I'm hoping that Voodoo might have a stall at the February show and they'll let me borrow a pair to audition for the weekend.
Good luck with yor standmount auditions but you
ought to include the Obelisks in your list as I'm sure your ears are attuned to the Shahinian sound after all these years.

Mark

In the last day or so I've made a few changes to my speaker Arc's position to give them the best chance of withstanding the challenge of the MFS. I've removed the one eyed monster from inbetween them as hopefully a projector will take its place anyway. I've pulled the Arc's much further into the room giving about 3 feet behind and over 2 feet from the sidewalls. In a room of 14.6 x 11.6 that is quite a lot. There is significant improvement in bass control as might be expected with a fantastic overall balance. One thing that I did also try was to have the Arcs hard up against a wall, I ran them like this for several years in a previous house with some sucess and whilst you do lose some aspects I would urge anyone who can't have them totally free standing to try it. For some reason I had good bass control with them hard against the wall.

As for the MFS (tested with all reference CDX2 then CDS3,XPS2,252,250) that is a great speaker with foot tap ability by the bucket load. There was excellent imagery although it took me a while to get used to having had ShArcs for so long. I'll try a pair at home for a direct comparison to the Arcs. Having returned home form listening to the MFS I can see why I love the Arcs so much but I'm pretty sure I would be able to live with the MFS.

I also listened to the Linn Akurate - a nice speaker but felt more of a an academic exercise in making music rather than music itself.

If I had to pick a star of the day it would be the CDS3, even cold it totally mullerd a CDX2.

Brendan CDS2,52,250 all olive

Did you try any other speakers in place of the Arcs? - B & W 805, other Neats? SBL's?

Hi Fisbey
I have tried some of these (kind of). I used to have a pair of B&W Nautilus 804 which were good for classical accuracy but less good for musicality, I prefer the Arcs. I have also tried Neat Petite III / Gravitas and they were actually really excellent for the money. However I would suggest that they will not cure the bass problems you seem to be describing.
Finally, the SBLs, I actually think that this might be a solution to your problem. I have not had them at my home but I do actually quite like them when I have heard them in other people's system. However, some believe that they are better for vinyl than CDs (vinyl is better than CD anyway!). From all that you have said, you should perhaps getting a pair of these and having a listen.
Good luck
Raphael

Hi Raphael - I think maybe a visit to Infidelity is in order, hopefully they might let me borrow some speakers, not sure they do Neat though - at least that way I'll get some sort of idea of what's going to work...

I may also contact Neat for some suggestions.

In the meantime I'm going to get a copy of Requiem at lunchtime, heard it again yesterday - it's a corking piece of music, not sure what the neighbours will make of the church organ parts though...

Hope all's well with you.