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Shahinian Obelisk 2s with 252/SC/300

Bartman

Bartman

pfm Member
I have a great sounding system - LP12SE + Khan and sKale with DV XV1S through a Whest ps30 rdt se into a 6 month old 252/SC/300 driving some old (20 years perhaps) Shahinian Arcs. The speakers were an unplanned addition, bought for £800 from a local Fisherman to replace my PMCs, and they sound really great. I like being able to move them out into the room for listening sessions (and SWMBO orders me to park them back against the wall afterwards!) but how big would the jump be to new Arcs or Obelisk 2s? I don't want to go down the DV amp route (are they even available nowadays?), as far as I'm concerned all is fine with the TT and electronics neither of which I intend to upgrade, but I just have this little niggle on the speaker front......
 
Obelisk 2's are terrific speakers and a big upgrade from your old Arcs IMO. I own 2's and previously owned similar vintage Arcs to your pair so feel qualified in my judgement. I believe the Obelisk 2's are the sweet spot in the Shahinian range so I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed with them. Your Naim amps will drive them fine. The mk 2's are significantly better than mk 1's so my advise is hold out for the newer spec.
 
Rob400 said:
Obelisk 2's are terrific speakers and a big upgrade from your old Arcs IMO. I own 2's and previously owned similar vintage Arcs to your pair so feel qualified in my judgement. I believe the Obelisk 2's are the sweet spot in the Shahinian range so I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed with them. Your Naim amps will drive them fine. The mk 2's are significantly better than mk 1's so my advise is hold out for the newer spec.
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Just to nuance this a little. I would agree that the Obelisk 2's are better than the 1's, however more importantly in the case of the OP's situation, they seem a little less demanding in terms of amplification. The Ob 1's seem to be particularly needy and will therefore be seem to a lot less satisfactory with anything that doesn't have a great deal of clout.
 
Concurring with both the above, even though I've never owned Obs; I've had 1996 vintage Arcs and 2003 Arcs and the later ones were significantly better than the older pair. Go for it!
 
I made the move from Arcs to Obelisk 2s, I thought it was a vast improvement.

Your 300 should drive them fine, though you'll probably hear differently from others on here.
 
d m butcher said:
Just to nuance this a little. I would agree that the Obelisk 2's are better than the 1's, however more importantly in the case of the OP's situation, they seem a little less demanding in terms of amplification. The Ob 1's seem to be particularly needy and will therefore be seem to a lot less satisfactory with anything that doesn't have a great deal of clout.
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I also believe that his 300 will drive mk 1's just fine . The caveat is that the 1's are more room sensitive in the bass region. The 2's less so with better bass definition and lose that boxy midrange, have a sweeter top end and are more dynamic.
 
I drove Ob1s with NAP135s without any obvious problems, so I expect a NAP300 will have plenty of headroom. The problem area for driving the speakers is actually the higher frequencies due to a low impedance (4 tweeters to drive) and so it's not really a question of running out of power, but more dealing with current delivery requirements.

I would really like to hear some Ob2s at some point, as there is an obvious boxy thing going on with my speakers, and I believe the crossover point from the bass driver moved lower with the 2s which will also change the character. Saying that, i'm totally sold on the idea, and any limitations or drawbacks are totally swamped by the positives. I've also got some PMCs in the second system, so I can get a fix of more conventional speakers when needed ;-)
 
You won't believe me, but I would highly recommend a £700 punt on a Canadian JVC + a transformer.

Or an NCC200 amp, or even a Bedini 25/25. These speakers need current (not Watts).

The best I have heard with Obs was a Mundorf capped Krell KSA50, you could put it between your speakers and use it to keep you warm too :)
 
I have exactly the same system as you being naim 300/252/sc dr and recently swapped my my obs mk1 for 2's. I think the more you become aquanted with the 2's the more you'll appreciate the improvements they bring. Every so often they catch me with a note it sound that leaves me speechless.

Only variable I'd say is that I've just completed a demo with a vitus ri100 and that took hold of my obs unlike anything I've heard before, whilst still offering lots if the naim boogie & prat. Tough decision coming up I think, but the obs 2's are keepers no matter what. Enjoy them
 
Fab speakers, enjoy.

Like knipester I also have mine toed in slightly though it's definitely not critical with these.

Cheers

Chris
 
I’m now a proud owner of the obelisk 2s and my HX 1.2 mk 2 is such a fine amp that it works effortlessly and in total synergy with them I’m amazed at how sublime they sound.

I have a Samsung TV and Chord TT and WT simplex 2 and Dynavector Karat DV the TT wins hands down yet I listen to loads of you tube videos and it’s lush
 
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