I have recently replaced my aging Arcs (8 years old) with a set of 5AV speakers, which are not sonically as good, but they mate better to
my Reciever.

The Arcs are a beautiful speaker - very neutral, very little colouration.
My generation were notorious for being "hard" in the treble, and this was
somewhat true, although later models fixed this issue. They are tremendously
forgiving of romm layout and positioning (except hard against a wall). They
never had the sound stage that, for example, my Gale 401's had, but they were
very easy to live with. They did need quality driving, however.

A fine speaker, good for every type of music I threw at them, although I
listened to little classical. Capable of carrying tremendous emotion.

Veneering not up to upmarket English speaker standards i.e. KEF - first pair were returned due to bubbling veneer.

It all started when , after having my NAD pre/power combination for many years I decided to upgrade. I felt that the Mission 783s (nice speaker ) would be totally outclassed by my newly-arrived Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista M3 amplifier (awesome !)and there started the frenzied search for replacement speakers.

After a lot of research (audioreview,other net sites, my pile of hifi magazines), I came up with a shortlist -

B&W 803s - quite nice but a 4 times the price of the Mission 783s, not 4 times as good.
Final 0.4 electrostatic - elegant looks, good midrange, no bass. Also imparts draconian restrictions on the listening position.
KEF Reference 3.2 - beautifully finished, better than the 803s, but still a box speaker with it's attendant limitations. Would have been number 2 choice.

Getting nowhere, it was back to audioreview for research.
I read Viraj's review on the Nu-Vista M3 and was intrigued by the speaker he recommended. A brand I had never heard of.

Further net research, emails , listening tests etc. and.....I am now the newest member of Shahinain cult and a proud and awestruck owner of a pair of Shahinian Arcs......

My setup -

Musical Fidelity A3CD
Musical Fidelity A3 tuner
Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista M3 amplifier
Stax SRM-007T valve headphone amplifier and SR-404 'phones.

Thanks to Viraj Thebiris on his insightful reviews which led me to buy these speakers ( Shaninian NY, please send commission cheque )..

Special mention to Jonathon Davies of Dynavector Systems Sydney Australia Ph 9453 9992. Jonathon's passion and enthusiasm for the products he imports/sells is exemplary.

Now I'm thinking about a pair of Shahinian Obelisks.....

Similar Products Used:

Mission 783
Bose Accoustimass ( hangs his head in shame !)
Rogers Studio 1A

Scale,clarity,presence,massive omnidirectional 'sweet spot' huge powerhandling. A speaker for those who understand and know quailty for themselves rather than marketing hype.

Looks a matter of taste, can be hard for lesser amps to drive. Other than that absolutely nothing.

I'd had the high quality B&W CDM1se standmount speakers but having upgraded my amp I needed a speaker able to cope with its 250watt max ouput (the amp is a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista M3 integrated).

A lot of research (including audioreview) got my short list to down to B&W nautilus, Martin Logan electrostatics or the Shahinian Arcs - the martin Logans are great but VERY fussy in a real world situation the B&W's sounded dry and both were'nt as good as the Shahinians.

SCALE, SLAM allied to a delicate touch is how I'd describe these great speakers. THE SOUNDSTAGE THEY CREATE IS INCREDIBLE HOLOGRAPIC, YOU CAN EASILY HEAR THE BACKING SINGERS ARE ACTUALLY 3-4 FEET BEHIND & TO THE LEFT OF THE LEAD SINGER FOR EXAMPLE - YOU BEGIN TO STOP ANALYSING THE MUSIC IN THE TYPICAL AUDIOPHILE MANNER AND ACTUALLY GET INTO THE MUSIC, WHATEVER YOUR BAG MIGHT BE - THE PERFORMERS ARE IN THE ROOM WITH YOU VOICES & INSTUMENTS FLOATING EERIELY IN MID AIR, FAITHFULLY CREATED BY THE ARCS.

Do your research on them, find a dealer and get an audition and let your ears decide - if you have ever heard real musicians and music, whether classical, rock, blues jazz whatever - you'll be amazed when these speakers create that same soundstage in your living room REAL AND COHESIVE TAKING YOU INTO THE MOOD OF THE MUSIC -

THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE FOR ALL THE EXPENSIVE HARDWARE AND SLEEPLESS NIGHTS WE GO THRU & BUY - ITS TOO EASY TO FORGET THAT - THESE SPEAKERS WILL REMIND OF THAT

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy and B&W speakers

Articulate, informative, play music , foot tapping, get emotion accross

None if you just want to listen to music.

I struggled to get the best out of my NAIM system until I tried these speakers.I had listened to Linn, Rega, Naim against my KEF 103.4 and they all fell short on hifi qualities listed below but unfortunately lot of the time the KEF,s did not boogie as my system should.
The Shahinian Arc,s have a lot of the qualities I like about KEF speakers (articulate, dynamic tonally accurate, neutral, wide bandwidth, easy to listen to) but above all they PARTY whether its Enya, Ocean Colour Scene, or Beathoven the emotion just floods out and lights up the room (thanks Robbie).
Take these speakers home and try them they produce sound omnidirectionally so may be an aqquired taste for some but if your into music they may be your bag.

The Value is 4 stars in the UK as they cost £2000 here (about $3200 when I bought them) I managed to get an ex-dem pair at a very reasonable cost (thanks Robert)

PS I could get the KEF,s to work with a NAIM NAP 250 but not my 135,s

Similar Products Used:

Epos ES 14 Kef 103.4

Heart shaking bass, soundstage, EMOTION, omnidirectionality

Need stands or concrete blocks to get the best bass

I use a Meridian 508 linked with Kimber Select interconnects to a Dynavector HX 1.2 (190w x 2) using a Plinius Preamp and run Kimber 4TC Speaker Cables. After using the Energy 33's for a little over a year, I upgraded to the Arcs and suddenly discovered what Dick Shahinian has been raving for so long about. With these speakers you can sit down in front of them and enjoy them but you can also walk around the room and enjoy the music just as much. The sound carries so well and I have found myself enjoying music everywhere (other rooms, outside etc..), as opposed to having to sit down "in front of the system" to enjoy the music and this is impossible to go back from. Try them, you'll be amazed!
Sound quality is fantastic and the bass goes down to 28hz (that's claimed but you'll laugh at how much bass these babies have) and power handling is 300watts (you'll never blow them up!) but once I upgraded to the dynavector the sound improved drastically so a good powerful amp is essential to get the best out of these. I found the best bass response was gained using the optional stands (my brother owns Arcs now too and bought these stands) but I used 3" tall concrete blocks and got the same effect, tighter and cleaner bass. That's my only complaint, they need stands. Otherwise, buy them! I auditioned B&W 801's and various others from Thiel, Quad and Meridan also and for less than half the price the Arcs blew the competition out of the water. My budget was $6000 when I walked in to purchase speakers and I much preferred the Arcs to anything around the $6000 mark so audition them and you'll see what I'm talking about.
I'm serious about MUSIC, not just sound quality and the emotion will leave you tingling so hook them up with quality ancillaries and smile, you'll play all your old CD's again and again.

Similar Products Used:

Energy 33's (retail $2800), Wharfdales (retail $1900), Thiel (retail $3390)