Shahinian Acoustics Obelisk Speakers

I recently purchased a pair of clean Mk I Obelisks from a seller and sent them to Shahinian for a complete rebuild. I received them a little over a month ago and the speakers look and sound great. I am offering these speakers for the cost of the rebuild only. Essentially you are getting the speakers for FREE. These are exactly as they arrived from Shahinian. They have approx. 150 hours of play and are just starting to break in. I have rated these as 8/10 because I am not the original owner but they are really a 9.

Shahinian Obelisks are the best speakers I have ever owned. Period. These are a unique combination of omnidirectional ("polyradial") mids and tweeters, front firing woofer and a rear firing passive woofer. I listed to a wide variety of music; I pretty much listen to everything but heavy metal and hip hop. These speakers sound remarkable with a wide variety of music. These are the best speakers I have ever heard for acoustic music.

So why am I selling them? Because I have come to enjoy the sound so much, I want more and am moving up the Shahinian line. These speakers are in like new condition and include the excellent, new double-walled packing boxes. I would prefer a local sale (SoCal) but will ship anywhere. The packing system is outstanding and I am confident that they will arrive at your destination 100% intact.

From a 2004 Stereophile review:

The Obelisk, which weighs 55 lbs and measures 29" by 13" by 15", looks like a squat wooden replica of the Washington Monument. Currently priced at $4000/pair, it is the least-expensive speaker that embodies Shahinian's ideals. These include use of proprietary loading for the woofer. The 8" woofer, on the front face of the lower portion of the Obelisk's cabinet, is backed by a folded transmission line, with a stuffing of sheep's wool and polyfill. However, unlike conventional transmission lines, which terminate in free air, Shahinian's T-lines are terminated by a weighted 10" passive radiator.

The good news is that, even with the Obelisk's comparatively moderate cabinet size, its bass extension and volume are remarkable. Shahinian's claimed -3dB point of 28Hz for the speaker seems very credible. The Obelisks, driven by the right amplifier, could do justice to the string basses and organ pedals of Robert Shaw's recording of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem (Telarc CD-80092). I felt them as well as heard them. An added benefit is that the quasi-aperiodic nature of Shahinian's woofer loading means that, unlike ported designs, which depend on cabinet-cavity resonances for bass extension, there was no sense of one-note bass.

Please contact me if you have any questions. Because I am selling these for the actual rebuild cost (no charge for the speakers) my price is firm.