Hi, I wanted to update my thoughts on the Shangrila Sr. system after using it for 9 months. I realize it’s a pretty small universe of people who are considering this, but hopefully it’s interesting nonetheless.
1- No problems thus far. Nothing has broken, cracked or given a problem. Extremely comfortable.
2- Do yourself a favor and buy a official Stax extension cable (the licorice kind) and use that as the main connector into the amp. I found no degradation in sound quality from doing this and it gives you a lot of flexibility. It also allows you to relax because you’re no longer worried about tripping up the cord and ruining your headphones (granted, the base length of the headphones is a generous 6 feet but still).
3- These are my end game headphones. I’m looking at my collection right now: the CRBN, VOCE, Utopia, Stellia, Susvara, Ananda BT, Sundara, as well as numerous cables, amps, etc. I picked up on the way as I was trying to chase that ultimate sound. Not to mention stuff I tried but didn’t like so much like the Abyss. But I listen to none of my other headphones now, even though to be honest they are all quite good in their own way. The Shangrila just beats them in every respect. For walking around or airplanes I just use an Airpods Max because of the convenience, transparency mode and noise cancellation.
4- If you’re thinking about these, you’re also thinking about the Sennsheiser HE-1s. I haven’t heard those in a long time so I can’t say too about the sound. But the Shangrila system is modular, you can switch out DACs, cables, etc. If you’re on this forum my guess is you’re someone who likes to swap components in the audio chain and fine-tune things in the quest for sonic perfection. You can do this with the Shangrila, you can’t with the Sennheisers.
5- The amp is fantastic, even though it’s super expensive. One of the criticisms of electrostatics is that they can sound technically amazing but come across as cold, even lifeless (I want to note, though, that the VOCE goes against the grain here – it sounds quite warm for an electrostat- and the CRBN to some extent). It’s no accident that most electrostatic amps use tubes to add warmth.
The Shangrila amp has four 300B tubes which are among the most musical tubes around. The stock tubes (custom Fullmusic tubes) are great, but you can enhance the sound with even higher end ones. Right now I am using 4 WE 300Bs (the new production) but have also the Takatsuki 300Bs, and they are both amazing. The amp convinced me to invest in an Airtight 300B amp for my loudspeakers, and there’s no going back for me. Additionally, you can adjust the bias in the Shangrila amp if you are a bit daring, and this, too, changes the sound. (You have to do this if you swap tubes).
6- 300b tubes do run warm, however, so the amp produces a good amount of heat. Something to keep in mind if you are listening in a small room without air conditioning. This is where an extension cable can be really helpful, as you can have the amp far away from where you listen if it bothers you.
7- Audiophiles are funny beasts. I don’t know why the online discussions get so heated, but I think it comes down to people accusing others of not really hearing what they claim to be hearing. For sure there’s a lot of junk out there, and I’ve tried quite a few things which I thought made a difference but, after a period of time, I had to admit that they do not. At the same time, it’s also tough because you can really only know how good an audio system sounds after repeated sessions over weeks. There are just too many variables at play to judge on just a few sessions (mood, how much sleep you got last night, environmental noise, blood sugar levels, even the song you heard just before the one you are listening to now, etc.). Transparency sounds great in theory but sound can be too transparent, just like a video that has its sharpness set to max can look unnatural. Distortion sounds bad but actually almost all of the noise you naturally hear has some distortion. Some systems can actually add harmonics, etc. that make a recording sound better than what it’d be like if you were in the recording room. Is that “unnaturalness” something to avoid, or something that is as much a part of the art of music listening as the music itself?
I don't know if I can say it's a perfect system, but I can say that, more than any other system I've had: (1) my listening sessions with it go long past my original plans even after months, (2) it can get me out of any bad mood I'm in and (3) my friends seem to be stopping by more and more just to listen to it.
