markwittholz Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 ---------------- On 4/20/2004 5:06:17 PM gullahisland wrote: http://shinallandcompany.com/ Check out this website. No information on the drivers used. Dimensions, frequency response, etc. are IDENTICAL. Anyone know anything about this? Is there a potential patent/copyright infringement? Advertised sale price for the K-horn copy is $3K on AudiogoN. ---------------- ************************************************************************* I am a very happy Shinall corner horn owner in Baltimore Maryland!!!!!!! His speakers are the real thing. I love the EV / University mid-driver with the EV-t35 tweeter. The 96 oz 15" Eminance woofer sound unbelievable too! He is a true professional and knows how to build speakers! I also have owned the La-Scala type speakers he builds too. (Two Pair) I drive my speakers with a Yamaha RX3200 pre-amp and Yamaha PC5002M power amp. I love it. Mark Wittholz 410-531-9336. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 avman, I would do it in a heartbeat. I haven't been passionate about my employment since I was in that business 15 years ago. It's something in my life that has been missing ever since - a profession I really enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoorah29 Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Let's not forget that Mr. Shinall also manufactures 3 other models besides the kks1. Not a bad idea for people w/o square rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwittholz Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I also own four Heresys and two Cornwalls. I would put my Gary Shinalls up against any Klipsch. Check out his web site. WWW.Shinallandcompany.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoorah29 Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 i hear that mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 "I also own four Heresys and two Cornwalls. I would put my Gary Shinalls up against any Klipsch. Check out his web site. WWW.Shinallandcompany.com" He he he he he........Sounds like a challenge for a soundoff!!! Can any of our fellow Klipschers local to our Shinall owner arrange an audition????? And that's not to be cocky - we really want to know what's up with these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleve Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 ---------------- On 4/27/2004 3:29:49 PM avman wrote: ---------------- On 4/27/2004 8:31:14 AM Audible Nectar wrote: One problem complicating the issue is the wait times for these. Who wants to wait 6 months or more for speakers??? >i have customers who wouldn't wait 6 months for ANYTHING!< I can understand the expense of stocking a network of dealers for Heritage, but if dealers could deliver speakers to customers in a week or two, this would be much better for dealer and customer. >the DEALER has to pay for the heritage product displayed,and they are relatively expensive speakers,and RARELY asked for.so the dealer winds up tying up HIS money in a product that has little demand and VERY SLOW return. a potential solution to this would be if Klipsch would give dealers e x t e n d e d terms for payment on Heritage display speakers. I still think Klipsch needs to build about 2 to 3 dozen stores in major markets, and show the world just how sound for the home is done. No holds barred - no limits. >hey-i'll send them my resume' if they do it and the $$ is right ---------------- avman. ---------------- A Klipsch Store! Imagine that! One could walk in and find every Klipsch product set up properly and ready for the auditioning. Besides, it would be a place for PROPER advice on Klipsch products, somewhere to order/pick up replacement parts, etc. It could be a hang out for people with no lives, like me! If Klipsch marketed like Bose, their business could grow enormously. If they wanted to get dirty, and sell their own equivalent of the 'Wave' radio, they could buy out Tivoli, or one of the other high-end radio makers, and sell it as Klipsch! It's just common sense that sales of the Heritage line would increase dramatically, if more people knew of them, and could hear them. How many people are going to shell out thousands on a set of speakers they can't even audition??! That's why I see Gary Shinall's operation as a good thing for Klipsch - it lets them know how intense the demand for this product could be... Maybe it will shake someone in Arkansas out of their corporate-induced complacency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Cleve: attached is a pic of the prototype klipsch wave radio.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Whoops, forgot the tuner and cd player.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan krajewski Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Cleve, I was in the market for CF4's about 3 years ago but could'nt find them. I gave up looking and bought a pair of KLF20's. They were a little too much of a "Rock and Roll" speaker to me so I sold them and bought Heresy IIs which I like much better and am very happy with. I'm still curious, however. How do the CF4's compare to other Klipsch speakers you have heard? What kind of signature sound do they have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 My brother (AudioDad on this forum) and I visited Gary Shinall on Saturday (5/29). My brother had been to see Gary earlier in the week, and when I arrived in town for the weekend, he called Gary and asked for another tour for my benefit. We had been listening to my brother's Klipschorns all morning before we went, so we were "calibrated" to the Klipschorn sound. When we arrived, Gary met us at the double-wide shop door and walked us through the shop back to the auditioning room. In the back corners was a pair of his KKS-1corner horns. He had a total of eight pairs of these corner horns in stock along with several pairs of his other speakers. Apparently, all of his completed speakers are stored in this climate-controlled room. He fired up his McIntosh SS set up (a C32 preamp and a pair of 2100 amps) and the sound filled the room much like what I would have expected from Klipschorns. He played a variety of music (CDs) and then he switched to his other speaker models for a demo. I was especially impressed with the XA-12 (the Heresy-like model). It has a larger mid horn than the Heresy and it has a big sound for a little speaker. The XT-200 was interesting, two 12" woofers in sealed compartments under a mid horn and tweeter section. I keep trying to compare mentally with my Cornwalls, and I think it would compare favorably in a side-by-side comparison, except perhaps in the lower frequencies (it seemed like the roll off is higher on the XT-200 than a Cornwall). Gary's shop is a one-man operation where Gary does everything. He said he has been in this building for over 20 years. The quality of his workmanship is exceptional. He has high quality woodworking equipment in this un-airconditioned shop (the heat and humidity must be horrible in July and August). BTW, the auditioning room is airconditioned and is very comfortable. He gave me a brochure that includes two speakers not appearing in his website: a Lascala-looking speaker and a Belle-looking speaker (it appears to be taller than a Belle). He will build these as a custom order, and he had several of the Lascala-type in work-in-process on his shop floor. The workmanship on these partially completed units was revealing and was very good. After about 45 minutes of listening, I asked him about the lack of a center channel speaker in his lineup, and specifically asked him if he had ever considered building something similar to an Academy. He seemed to have little interest in growing his line or his company (one employee - himself- and that's how he likes it). He said he is using a modification of the XT-200 for the center in his personal HT. Overall, the visit was very interesting and enjoyable. Even though I had never met, or talked to, or emailed Gary before, he opened his shop and answered all of my questions like a guy with a common interest in good audio and pride in his work. I do not want this post to sound as if it is an endorsement for Shinall and Company. But if there is still an authorized dealer in the state of Texas with Klipschorns available for auditioning, I'm unaware of this dealer. I know the dealers in Dallas and Ft. Worth dropped the Heritage line long ago. But down near Houston in Spring, Texas, there is a guy who can audition a nice sounding pair of corner horns, and you can take a pair home that day if you like. Gary is a heck of a nice guy and he really seems to enjoy making speakers, and he is very good at it. No, they are not Klipsch, but there are few options for auditioning and purchasing new Klipsch Heritage in this area of the country. Perhaps Gary has found a niche. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 The speakers sure look nice, and Spring is only about an hour away from where we are. I'm really tempted to arrange an audition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 ---------------- On 4/22/2004 10:02:40 AM TBrennan wrote: Well if Western Electric, GE, RCA and MGM aren't taking offense I don't see why anyone here should. Listen guys, we're talking 1930s and 40s technology here. No secrets, no Black Magic. In fact the CLOSER a modern speaker is to SOTA circa 1945 the better the speaker. ---------------- Best post ever this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 ---------------- On 4/22/2004 8:07:36 PM HDBRbuilder wrote: I talked to Mr. Shinall on the phone this afternoon. Here is the scoop from our short conversation. He sounds like a really nice guy. He is about 60 years old. He lost his long-time job to corporate pull-out to overseas not that long ago. Even when he was working, he built speakers as a sideline thing and has been doing it for over 30 years. In the 1960's he made a few trips to visit with PWK. He told PWK that he intended to build himself a pair of K-horn copies, because he couldn't afford to buy factory made ones and he thought they were the best speakers made. He bought the drivers and such from PWK for his original copies. Later on in the 1960's, he contacted PWK again and told him he wanted another set of drivers and horns, because he was gonna build a copy of the LaScala for a center channel between his home-built K-horns...BUT he was gonna change the design of the LaScala somewhat so that the cabinet matched up aesthetically with his K-horn copies. PWK sold him the drivers and asked him to send some pictures of what he built. He sent the pictures to PWK, and was very surprised to see the Belle Klipsch come out a year or so later looking very much like the center-channel speaker he had built. He told me that he took great pride in the fact that PWK might have used his re-work of the LaScala cabinet design to base the aesthetics of the Belle Klipsch speaker upon. He did NOT claim to have invented the Belle Klipsch speaker, he just stated that it looked very much like his LaScala re-work design, and he was proud that PWK liked its basic appearance so much that he "adopted" it for the Belle Klipsch. He has a 3000 square foot shop with a little showroom built into it. He just builds the speakers and puts them into the showroom so that people can listen to them, and if they want them, he will sell them. He said he has been doing this for many years as a sideline and hobby. Most of what he sold over the years was made for people who had heard his speakers and wanted a pair for themselves...basically a "word-of-mouth" advertising thing. I asked him if he intended to expand into a full-blown operation, he said no. He said that he is too old to do anything like that...and he intends to keep things as they are. His midrange horns are welded up out of sheet aluminum by himself, with welded-on brackets for the drivers to mount to. His XT200 model is built in the same basic aesthetics as the K-horn is (but is NOT triangular in its rear for corner use), with a top-housing containing the tweeter/s and midrange horn, and the lower portion of the cabinet is basically the equivalent of two stacked separate heresy-type sealed cabinets with one 12" short-throw woofer in each one...IOW a large cabinet, with a horizontal divider in it creating the equivalent of two Heresy cabinets in interior volume....sort of a super Heresy. He said the mid-horn is a 600Hz one for that speaker, whereas the midhorn for his K-horn copy is a 400Hz horn. He uses no MDF in his builds, only quality 3/4" plywood. For his smaller speaker, he builds them with butt joints out of a luan-veneered plywood, then veneers over the cabinet's plywood with paper-backed veneer, because it is easier for him than trying to get chip-free miter-cuts using the thin veneers found on TODAY's black walnut-veneered plywood. He prefers the Luan for a good substrate to apply that veneer to because it "grips" the adhesive so well. He told me that he recently put up a website because somebody had suggested he do so. His website got the attention of Audiogon folks, who in turn got its attention on this forum. He is aware of this thread, and has read it. He sounded hurt about it...and doesn't really understand why he is getting "bashed" so much on this forum. He feels that he is just trying to make a long-time hobby of his pay for itself and show a bit of profit...especially important now that his job left these shores. I asked him if he had any help or expected to need to hire anybody for his little business. He said that he didn't want to deal with employees and all that, and it would remain a one-man operation as a sideline. He lamented that on occasion he gets a handful of special-orders, but trying to get them out in the high quality build he is proud of causes him to stay up late at night in order to meet the delivery time he gives the customer. He keeps his operation's sales primarily within a small radius of the shop because he normally delivers them himself or the buyer comes to pick them up. I suggested that in his website he give full credit to PWK for his cornerhorn model design. I think he intends to do so. He said he has had lots of emails ever since this thread began and he can't get anything done AND properly answer all the emails he has at the same time, but he will do his best. He said he answered 25 emails last night alone! This is what went on in the conversation with him. I will NOT comment on any ethics involved or anything else. Everybody has their own set of ethics and everybody has their own sense of right or wrong. It is not up to me to make those parameters for anybody else. He has a great respect for PWK and his speaker designs...that much was obvious to me...and for ME, that is enough! Anybody else on this forum trying to turn a hobby into something that can support itself and maybe make a bit of profit on the side? Just a thought. ---------------- Hmmm. I gues I totally forgot about this post in the interim... makes one think. We are a rabidly loyal lot though, aren't we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 stan krajewski, I have a pair of CF-4 I'm listening to right now. They are really, really good speakers. The (large) horn handles all midrange and treble, so there's no discontinuity between the direct radiator bass drivers and horn in the region where the ear is most sensitive. They image very well, will take a sh*tload of power and play very loudly with a lot of dynamics, have a very uncolored midrange, are a bit lacking in the deepest bass (the really low organ fundamentals on the Saint-Seans Organ Symphony are missing action), well, overall, they're just really, really good speakers. I liked my La Scalas better. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan krajewski Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Ray Garrison, Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I have sent email to shinall speakers, called listed phone numbers, phones are out of order and no response on email. So I guess this company is no longer. Can anyone confirm his ? Thank You If I over looked this info, I apologize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I may have contact information that you don't have. Gary was very ill in October when I bought a pair of his corner horns--which are beautifully made. Send me a PM if you are still interested. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 sorry to hear of Gary's illness. say what you will about his debt to Klipsch, the man is a real craftsman from building his own cabs to fabricating his own horns. he seems to have a genuine appreciation for PWK. It would be most interesting to know what was Mr. Paul's opinion of Mr. Shinall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 I have learned that Mr. Shinall passed away on 16 July. Please keep his family in your thoughts. Chris A. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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