This is an update of my old system really - I upgraded to a pair of Shahinian Obelisks from the ARC's and had sold my Kenwood minidisc recorder and Nakamichi tape deck as I rarely used them.
I thought it best to keep the audio and video parts of my system separate so they are on completely separate racks and power distribution blocks.
Theres definately a meaty, tactile quality to the sound with a delicate top end thanks to the supertweeters of the Obelisks. These speakers really need a powerful, capable amp to control and get the best out of the Obelisks and I'm glad to have the Nu-Vista to hand which more than fits the bill - its an amazing amp. The sound is 'of a whole'. I've always been after replicating the feeling of being in a small venue, listening to a performance.
The front end is a Sony CDP 3000x CD player used as a transport, its rigid top loading metal construction makes for an excellent transport. This is connected to a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 DAC input via cool cables pure silver cable.
The other cables are Monster Z series for the speakers and QED silver Spirals connecting the DAC to the Amp.
Both the Musical Fidelity items (NU-Vista M3 and Tri-Vista 21) were Stereophile Class A components and the Shahinian Obelisks were in the top 100 all time components.
For future upgrades, I'd look at speakers with greater power handling than the Obelisks and a CD player once I hear something capable of outperforming the Tri-Vista without having to sell a kidney to be able to afford it.
It's an all rounder that I'm after and I think I've pretty much nailed it, playing rock, blues, world, rap whatever etc. to an very high audiophile standard rather than an polite chamber muzak you always hear at shows and at demos - you know what I mean!
Sony CD player, only sold in Japan as far as I know and part of their ES flagship range during the time of their sale. I use it as a transport-the heavy metal, rigid sliding top door lends itself really well for this purpose.
Thanks for your comments - I'd say the Obelisks has a more solid soundstage and placement of the performers, instrumets etc. are that much more solid than the Arcs - see my review over at www.audioreview.com for more info.
However, I would say the Arcs are easier to live and get a beter result with if you have a small room and have a greater power handling capability than the Obelisks (200watts for Obelisk and 250 for the Arcs) which may also be a consideration if you have a powerful amp. I dont think you'd need an additional subwoofer as both the Obelisk and Arc go pretty low.
In answer to your question: The Shahinian speakers are unusal as the soundstage is placed higher than the speakers and in front - so if you look at the picture of the system, when playing a song the singer appears to be a little higher than the top of the TV and slightly to the right and in forward of the where the speakers are. The rest of the soundstage the speakers throw is at the same height and in the correct corresponding scale.
I think its because like almost all Shahinians, the Obelisks are omnidirectional and dont just fire their sound forward at the listener but in every direction. This makes them easier to place in a room and its something professional hifi reviewers have commented about. I noticed a similar thing when I had the model below the Obelisks, the Arc.
When/if I move apartment, the system will live in the main living room and I may upgrade the speakers to something more conventional and with a higher power handling capability to make full use of the Nu-Vista amps power, especially as I play a lot of rock!
