Shinjitsu Audio

I just found out about these today by chance. I’m excited to try them. I have Heresy IVs as my first foray into horns.

expectations are high.

Ray, thank you for your comments and the picture of the Little Hiro. I ordered a pair and I will be getting mine in the next 2 weeks or so. 
Marcelo

I thought I would pop in with an update.  I’ve had the Little Hiro’s since Nov. 22.

I have at least 300 hrs on these.  They have found a home in my secondary system.  They are being driven by a First Watt F5, an Aric Audio Unlimited pre,a Wyred4sound dac1, Blusound Node 2, and an old Onkyo c7030 CD player.  My wife goes to bed relatively early,so I do a lot of listening downstairs,where I can be a little more liberal with the volume.  
     I have settled on the one ohm resistors for the horns. These work best for my listening space.  I have a pair of old HSU stf 1’s. They aren’t the best,but they work pretty well. The crossovers are set at 70hz. I’ve been tinkering for a few months,and again, this works best in my listening space.  
       These,being my first horn tweeter speakers,have truly impressed me. Great detail,and very quick,lively, but not over done.  The soundstage is wide and deep. Which I really love. I’ve thought about upgrading the compression tweeter, a recommendation from Morris,the manufacturer. At this point,I can’t find anything that is urging me to upgrade.  That’s all I have right now,thanks for reading.

   Ray 

Hello Ray,

Thank you for the astute observations of our Little Hiros. The larger speakers present a larger soundstage with a more refined upper midrange and lower treble due to the more advanced compression drivers and larger horns. The bass extends deeper as well due to the backloaded horn design of the full-size Hiros and the much larger Mark Audio main driver on the Hiro 6.5. We have a new Hiro 8 in the works that are a 3-way design: Compression/horn combo from 2K up plus a 4-inch Mark Audio main driver bolstered by an 8-inch powered subwoofer in a stackable cabinet design. It will be similar to our discontinued model BosuHiro but more refined.

Some quick notes on the Little Hiro.  I love to experience different flavors in audio. These are wonderfully different from what I have in the rotation.  They are fast, really dynamic,and throw a huge soundstage.  Like I said in an earlier post, I feel like I’ve moved up closer to the band.  The music is detailed,but not clinical.  If this is their entry level,there is no way I wouldn’t love any of Shinjitsu’s upstream models.  
  Ray 

Welcome to the compression driver/horn combo. It got me hooked almost 15 years ago, and while I still like other types of speakers, the dynamics, speed and immediacy are hard to beat. Those look really interesting. Enjoy.

The Little Hiro’s have been moved into my main listening room. I’ve since switched the resisters to .75ohm. These are very different than anything I’ve owned in the past. These are dynamic,detailed and fun! Not that my other speakers aren’t fun. (I don’t want the other speakers to get jealous) With the Little Hiro, it feels like I’ve moved a couple rows closer to the band. Imaging and soundstage are absolutely wonderful. Of course, you need decent recordings to start with. This is my first real exposure to compression driver horn speakers. I didn’t really know what to expect, however,I am definitely pleasantly surprised. I’m know very curious as to the sound of the larger models containing the folded horn cabinets. For an entry level speaker system, color me impressed.

My Little Hiro’s have been delivered, and are currently set up in my secondary system.  After a quick demo, I have settled on the 1ohm resisters. I have about an hour on them. So far I’m very encouraged.

Hi Morris,

    Thank you very much for the pointers.  I am really looking forward to hearing these.  I’m sure I will reaching out for more guidance in the future. 
        
             Ray 

I think it will be enjoyable. Please make sure the top resistors are in place or the horns will not play. The resistors can be changed to a lower value for decreased horn volume or a higher value for increased horn volume. They function as the ground leg of an L pad with the series resistor fixed inside the cabinet. Our larger speakers have the L pad series resistor on the rear panel so you can alter both values and get many changes in volume and crossover frequencies.

Your speakers have a transferrable warranty as well and you can upgrade within one year for a full credit towards a larger pair.

It looks like I will have the Little Hiro tomorrow.  I was originally going to have them today, however, I bumped delivery a day as my wife and I were out of town. I’m really looking forward to getting ears on these. 

Its a great speaker and the one I listen to most often. I use tube amplifiers at 30 watts and its increased sensitivity allows me to have more headroom. I find the larger horn provides a very large soundstage yet does not create a narrow sweet spot. Tonally its a bit warmer in the upper bass than our smaller speakers. The larger woofer presents the midrange in great detail and does not suffer from beaming. We were lucky to locate a supplier for the 10 inch wide black limba front panel as 8 inches is the size most suppliers carry. The CHR 120 Mark Audio main driver is unique as it does not need baffle step compensation due to a 3 dB rise below 100 Hz.

From Mark Audio: Latest-model Aerospace-grade magnesium-alloy Wide dispersion multiform cone concept Optimized for use in larger enclosures Product details Markaudio CHR-120 6.5" Gold Full Range Magnesium Woofer The CHR-120 is a brand-new 6.5-inch high fidelity multi-purpose high-volume driver design from Markaudio. This new driver has been purpose developed to provide significant bass extension beyond what many similar-sized midbass units can deliver, combined with full-range frequency output.

OK.  The speaker I’ve been reading about on your website is the Hiro 6.5.  It really looks interesting.

Hello garyalex,

As we are a small company sending the speakers to a large event is not in our budget yet. The 20Hz spec is a measured response documented via REW software in our website and also in our audiogon ad for the Hiro 6.5. The Mark Audio CHR120 documentation for the design of our size speaker cabinet which is a vented design is: Fb@34Hz. The measured in room response in our listening room is flat to 30Hz and with room gain is measurable to 21Hz. Response in your room may differ. 

As larryi mentioned it would be great to be able to hear these speakers at a show like CAF 2022, especially since I'll be attending and am interested in the speakers.  I do understand that there's time and expense involved in exhibiting at these shows.

The website contains this: "Shinjitsu Audio developed this new speaker to address an unmet need: an affordable high efficiency speaker that has authority, soundstage, and dynamics in a moderate sized cabinet of under 2 cubic feet".  Yes - someone finally gets it.  But I do have to wonder if that 20Hz spec is really true. 

Thank you so much Morris.  My reasoning behind choosing the Little Hiro is the size of my main listening room. It’s only 9x13x8.   I had the opportunity to pick up a pair of Hon Hiros,but ultimately I think the smaller speakers are a better fit. Time will tell if I was correct. 
    Ray 

Thank you for the clarity. Please let me know if you have any questions. The top resistors behind the horns can be adjusted to tune the horn output and crossover to your desired sound profile.

Enjoy!

Morris

@shinjitsuaudio, thank you so much for your feedback.  I think maybe the term comparison is a bit misleading in my situation.  This will not be a winner take all event. I am hoping that I fall for the Little Hiro’s.  I run three,now four different speaker systems thru two listening rooms. Currently I have,Graham Chartwell LS 3/5(not A), Nola Boxer 2,and Hornshoppe Great Horned Heils.  I truly enjoy them all,however they are all distinctly different.   The one attribute they all share is huge soundstage.  These are driven by a First Watt J2, F5, and a pair of Monarchy SM70mkII. All on the lower power side of things. Like I have said previously, the design of these speakers is intriguing.  I am very much looking forward to getting the Little Hiro into the rotation.

   Ray 

FYI the Little Hiros are not back loaded horn speakers. They are a ported design with a compression driver. Also the Horn Shoppe Great Horned Heils are far larger.

A better comparison would be the the Hiros or Super Hiros as they are back loaded horns. I can arrange a dealer discount for you if desired.

Happy Holidays!

Morris

 

These speakers have piqued my curiosity for a while. I just worked out a deal for a pair of Little Hiro. I really enjoy trying things off of the beaten path. It will be interesting to hear how these perform in comparison to my Hornshoppe Great Horned Heils.  I’m hoping to have them by the end of the week. I'll report back once I get some saddle time with them. 

Thank you for your detailed response.  I do recognize that it is hard to market speakers these days while keeping costs low enough that you can offer what appears to be extremely low prices given what goes into the construction of your speakers.  I am impressed with the way you implemented the quarter wave back-loaded horn.  It would be nice if, at least once, you showed up at one of the larger regional shows, such as Capital Audiofest in the Washington DC area (I just happen to live in that area, this is not me promoting my self interest, okay, I admit, I want quite badly to hear your speaker).  I am not in the market for your speakers, so I would not be ordering one for home trial, but, I am very much interested in them.

Thank you for the well thought out reply. We chose the dual horn combination as it actually has been done in the past with front loaded horns. Due to the smaller cabinet size we need to employ a backloaded (quarter wave) design.

Audio shows require a significant cash outlay. From our experience at local audio shows we get a lot of tire kickers but little purchases. We are a small company and not geared towards 5 figure outlays.

Youtube auditions...now that’s a crazy subject that we avoided for several years due to the inherent limitations as mentioned above. After being asked multiple times to "Post a video... that’s how I buy my components" we started to make videos with the best recording equipment we could afford. Yes, it’s a flawed concept, yes it’s all we can do to provide a comparison between our models. It is not designed for critical evaluation although there is a website that reviews mics that way, as does a major audio retailer selling speakers.

Internet influencers can be bought at fiverr.com for under $100 a pop to review any product with a custom designed glowing review. Totally invalid way to get an objective assessment of a product.

Our affiliate program is only designed to get the products in local homes or shops so you may hear them.

Our business model includes reviews from actual buyers.

Our marketing model employs word of mouth and organic referrals for Google placement. Research has shown that word of mouth is 65% more effective than advertising regarding sales: from semrush.com -

General Word-of-Mouth Statistics

1. 23% of people talk about their favorite products with friends and family every day.
2. Furthermore, 78% of people rave about their favorite recent experiences to people they know at least once per week.
3. 90% of people are much more likely to trust a recommended brand (even from strangers).
4. 88% of people had the highest level of trust in a brand when a friend or family member recommended it.
5. Out of the top five popular ways to recommend a business, word-of-mouth comes first, followed by Facebook, Google, and Twitter.
6. 26% of people will completely avoid a brand if their friend or family tells a negative story about their experience.
7. 21% of people will lose trust in a brand, whether they’ve been a customer or not, because of bad word-of-mouth.

 

I have heard a number of quarter wave back loaded horn systems.  When properly implemented, these systems have shockingly good bass--not deep, but, clean, tuneful and coherent.  I am also a fan of some horn/compression drivers, so I am intrigued by the matchup here.  These are not a me-too kinds of systems, so I do hope to hear one some day.  It would be nice if they would show up at the various audio shows around the country.  That appears to be the only way to hear a lot of gear these days.  

I am not a fan of relying on internet buzz and reviews, nor for that matter the reviews of major publications.  Good sound is a personal evaluation, so the gear must be heard in person.  The craziest things are youtube auditions; where nothing at all about sound quality can be ascertained (unique rooms, cheap microphones, variable quality of playback equipment at both ends, a speaker playing back a speaker (so what qualities can be attributed to the speaker under review)).  I also think their affiliate program is a bit problematic.  If someone is earning a commission for a referral, how "objective" will reviews and even interest posting be? 

@shinjitsuaudio 

It'd be good to get the current models reviewed by a couple of publications or reputable bloggers. I was really intrigued by these last year but ended up going a different direction because they are essentially ghosts online...there was this thread, that old article on the previous iteration, and your website.

They look phenomenal and the design principle seems sound, it would just put people's minds at ease if there were third party experiences to lean on before purchasing.

Setting the record straight on Shinjitsu Audio Speakers:

The name SHINJITSU:

Derived from the Japanese word for “truth”. The design is based on a Japanese designed back loaded horn that we transformed from a flat panel cabinet into our own proprietary laminated design. The prototype sounded great, so we moved forward into production.

Why we changed the tweeters:

Original design called for ESS Heil tweeters. We could no longer reliably source them as needed from ESS. For a while there (months) they were completely unavailable. Orders were coming in and we needed an alternative tweeter. Tested were Raven tweeters, “folded diaphragm” tweeters (Heil imitations), planars and lastly compression horns. Compression horns won out. Why horns? They provided good directivity especially in smaller rooms, great dynamics, and an extended frequency response down to below 800 Hz. This allowed us to crossover first order around 2K. Horns are used on 5 figure speakers systems to great effect. They are not cheap nor inferior. Avanteguarde speakers use a compression driver for a tweeter:

From Criterion Audio website: https://criterionaudio.com/product/avantgarde-acoustic-duo-xd/

34,000 Euros

TWEETER HORN DRIVER - Membrane diameter – 25 mm – Membrane material – Mylar – Magnet material Ferrite

A single 4-inch driver cannot produce bass:

In the back loaded horn cabinet a 4-inch driver delivers a 6-decibel low frequency boost due to the back loaded horn effect. It is measured down to < 40 Hz. Why a 4-inch driver and not (2) 8-inch drivers? In a two-way system an 8-inch driver beams like crazy at the crossover frequency of 2K. It is too heavy of a cone to accurately reproduce critical midrange and lower treble dynamics. We chose a smaller driver and sacrificed low bass to ensure great midrange performance. As to sound out the rear of the horn mouth “smearing the sound, that’s simply not how the back loaded horn cabinet operates. The rear wave is captured by the horn, acoustically amplified, routed to the mouth at the rear and exits in phase with the front wave. The horn compression chamber acts as a low pass filter and cuts off the midrange and highs at 200Hz. If you desire room shaking bass and are willing to sacrifice midrange detail, go with giant woofers…or get a sub.

Useless test programs:

We do initially test with REW. It’s used to align the crossover. We do listen and record the differing crossover and horn configurations to decide how to voice the speakers. You will find audio 24/96 files on our website of the final choices. I invite you to listen to them.

Manufacturing:

CNC and woodwork done at Heather and Fred Studios, Tempe Arizona USA.

Final assembly and testing at our listening lab in Mesa Arizona USA

Crossover components and drivers: USA Speakers, Mark Audio, Madisound, Parts Express

Miscellaneous parts including binding posts, cast acrylic, brackets, fasteners from various places based in the USA

China? not ordered from directly - all USA based parts companies. Why not China? reliability, quality control, and parts on time issues. No Ali-Express.

Interesting is an "UNDERSTATMENT"  ! The Little Hiro puts out more Dynamic renge than ANYTHING in it's Class ,Size, and Price range PERIOD ! I auditioned them 2 months ago, and was Blown Away How tight and Ariy and uncolored they sounded using my McIntosh MA 6300 to power them ! They are a Bargin and blow away Anything in there class ! Remember, You Have to Hear Them to Judge Them ! Well worth every penny at ANY Price ! The SHINJITSU AUDIO SPEAKER IS NOT MAIN STREAM AS OF YET ! BUT THEY WILL BE !

The speaker that was reviewed by Terry looks very similar to Ed Schillings Great Horned Heil.  The newer models now use a horn,and the heil is gone.  I do find the Shinjitsu speakers very intriguing.  

I considered that the only person who came forward saying they bought them and giving a glowing assessment has only posted twice on Audiogon. Those two posts.

@tooblue  Those speakers would never pass the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).

@aewarren , OK I'll bite. inquisitive minds want to know. 

Wow, that's it? I was expecting to see much more interest in these. The review made me think that the strange design was their strongest point since it lacked much of the expected excitement that I feel for my DIY speakers.

I noticed the tweeters have been changed on newer models and I can't say if it was based on price or a continued evolution in overall sound. Either way going from a 1st class driver like a real Heil then going to a long horn compression driver (of which I would never think is better no matter who makes it) seems to me to be based on cost and availability. I was just looking on AliBaBa site for Heil transformers and the good ones start at around $700 each! So chances are slim that these are going to use the best available and for some reason (just my gut) I can't help but think there may have been something that happened legally by using that brand name as the description of the actual driver and quite possibly just the design should have been referenced and the actual makers name if it was never disclosed.

Now I could very well be wrong but why would you do such a drastic change to the best part of that speaker. Secondly  it doesn't appear that there were any other changes made but from what I've read he spent 2 years designing this model as his flagship. I can relate to that after my similar experience making my speakers but I went with electrostatic panels and crossed mine at 600Hz - 800Hz overlap with an active crossover and 2 big amps.

I haven't read up on the back horn bass system yet but I'm skeptical that a single 4" is up to the task of matching the Heil? From my own tests I concluded that I would be using nothing less than 2x 8" drivers but they would likely be of a high quality heavy duty design with a cost close to $200 each. The other option for 8" drivers was to run 4 lesser quality drivers per side in a isobaric configuration or a bipolar with 3 in front and 1 in back. So I'm with him on the need to reinforce the rear output with the Heil but not with the horn tweeter. So this is where I'm confused  they took 2 years to get this design perfected, then ditched it instantly and made no changes to the design and doesn't mention that the rear output needs 3 feet off the back wall to work properly. If you have been involved with speaker design trends and read why people come up with so many contrasting thoughts on this hobby, you'll notice everyone thinks that the sound out the back will smear the overall sound (yes I know it's complete BS and can only be known when certain useless tests are used (as a way to get you to spend more money for no reason)) unless you are incoroerating a tweeter like the Heil or an open back electrostat.

Even with the complimenting design you'll hear some say that rear waves are just killing the sound, so why would a new company use that idea when right now the talk is to avoid it at all costs? I'm not agreeing with this I'm just bringing up this point to try and figure out how he transitioned to a front only radiating horn with a 60 degree dispersion but kept the rear radiation bass output that's running all the way up to 2kHz! I could see if it was crossed at 200Hz how this would not impose much of a problem, but once you pass 1kHz you need to have the tweeters rear output to fill in for a smooth transition.

If the idea is to keep the cabinet size down and still get low bass (I don't consider 42Hz as low) I can name several drivers that can outperform that design with the same dimensions in a sealed cabinet and I also know that there is a need for a bipolar bass output if you run the Heil and cross it up high. He also concluded he needed sound damping material behind the tweeter on the top of the cabinet to stop reflections but he's using the back wall to reflect the bass and tweeter anyway!

I have found 2 quality 8s one forward and one aimed backward has a much smoother output as plotted hundreds of times by myself. I also added a front firing 12" (sealed) to the mix and realized 24Hz flat up to and beyond my crossover point with overlap. The overlap is the key to perfect transition no matter what size drivers you use. Sweeps look great if the larger woofer is up higher and close to the panels.

I have not completed my cabinets yet since I'm still looking for my final woofers. I have decided to run an array of panels (14 per side) but I haven't tested if I should run them along 1 side or both sides of the woofers. I'll leave them room to move horizontally for wider dispersion with each facing a few degrees alternating for testing  it might not matter but there's nothing posted officially showing anything like what I'm doing. I know for sure mine will put this to shame at any volume and will go far beyond what would ever be needed to play back realistic volumes. I can place my speakers anywhere in my room and get near perfect response. One last point, I have done some testing with 10" monitor audio drivers and made a few different designs, one used a front and rear ported cabinet that I could plug the holes and test 3 ways, front port, rear port and sealed. Even with the rear radiating panels I found little difference in overall sound and tests confirm there's little change in RTA plots. I also made one with a 113" long port that's 2.06" x 9.75" with a 1 cubic foot volume for the driver mounting area with both the driver and the port facing forward with the opening as close to the driver as possible. I had smoother results in the typically hard to calm areas around 200Hz and a slight gain at 24Hz. It wasn't enough to justify the extra work and size. I am not using those speakers now and found sealed cabinets for 12s and bipolar mounted 8s to be far superior in overall sound.

My own conclusion from my last 2 years has been very different than what he's saying but I'm also never going to have any speakers that stop at 42Hz now that I'm used to hearing easily down to 20Hz with a -6db from 24Hz running at reference.

No special treatings, no BS bass coupling double talk, no difficult placement, and for those that think the spread of the woofers makes a huge problem with transition haven't spent time testing this rumor themselves, just because someone came up with this based on 50 year old speaker design and sharp crossover slopes doesn't mean it is true when using modern woofers with overlapping crossover points. Testing, testing and more if your own testing will show how wrong most ideas can be, the rumors of such awful ideas and new terms is simply a way to get you to get the upgrade itch. Without it how could they get your cashm 

Useless test programs that do nothing but destroy the sound are all the rage, you'll spend plenty before you realize that after it's done and you run a different testing program  it'll tell you a completely different result, which is right! Probably neither, once you remove that DSP you'll find huge improvements instantly. Tests are good for finding approximate limits to individual drivers and for finding crossover points then finding obvious peaks but you need to run several different tests with several different mics to confirm each result, you'll find none will match exactly but you can see where a big problem might exist.

 This is all my own feelings and nothing I have said here is to be taken as proving or disproving the quality of these speakers, I agree on some ideas but am suspicious of some things that have changed. I don't know the man but do live in a near by location, so meeting him might not be out of the question.

I'm not selling my speakers and I don't claim to hold any acoustic sound degrees nor use any design programs to reach my conclusions. I believe that physical testing is the only way to know for sure what the results will be. If you only make 1 cabinet design as your program tells you, how do you know for sure that it's the best or even if there's any huge difference between designs that make it worth bothering with? From my tests I found using a quality driver is the key to building any speakers, better drivers are usually more forgiving and will have less swings in resistance less limitations due to resonance, volume size tends to be less important and have better cooling (less coil issues) other benefits are off acus response but for lower tones this is not a huge problem. You can spend thousands on raw drivers and get no better sound than you can from finding used stuff that have blown tweeters or bad cabinets for pennies but this only applies to quality drivers that have tried and true real life proven to be good results. Older woofers need not be included in this formula!

Yes got them. They are mighty fine speakers. Pictures don't do them justice. 

 

It takes two weeks for local carpenter to build the enclosure. And about 20 hours of labor to build rest including tuning and measurements. Customer service has also been great. These speakers have great dynamics. Very accurate and satisfying bass.  High frequency are not bright but sound airy and detailed. 

These are definitely beautiful and extremely well made speakers with near perfect sound especially music such as jazz blues classical. I can recommend them highly. 

 

@masterfuu Has it been built and delivered?

Any update? 

I know this is older convo but I just placed order on one of their speakers in the midrange line.  With holiday discount and matching stand it came shy under $1600. 

These are local guys from my state of Arizona so I'll be picking them up from the speaker builder house. Hope to have a chat and get to understand his speaker and audio philosophy more.  

By the way I'm not affiliated with them just a guy who is looking for something new and unique like some of us who are tired of mass produced made in China speakers with $8 crossovers. 

Ill post pics and first impression in 1.5 month once the unit is build. 

On paper everything looks great. Quality dense cabinet , 4 inch mid bass driver and midrange horn, quality crossover and visually pleasing.  I'll chat with you all soon.  -val. 

I had a pair of ESS Monitor speakers in the 70s. I really loved the sound of the Heil mid/tweeter. I was curious if the newer iteration sounded as good as the original.

no experience with how they sound but they look neat. 

しんじつ. (. shinjitsu. ) 【 信実 】. 信実 Kanji Details. ( adj-na, n) sincerity; honesty; truth; faithfulness.

The founder/owner and his wife presented the speakers to our group,
Arizona Audio/Video Club in early December. 

Interesting story but they were not for me. 

I have no experience with them but i do have ess amt 1a speakers with the large heil tweeter in them and i can say that you have to spend a hell of a lot more to get even close to the sound of the true heil tweeter.

There are a few 11 month old "build" videos on youtube for the curious and brave.

Apparently the designer of that speaker is not married.

I hate to say I agree with kenjit.

There has been at least one professional review.  If I remember correctly it was very positive.

Shinjitsu....

name sounded too corny to be authentic Japanese. After checking them out-typical American move. Reminds me of a bad infomercial product sold for $19.99, but if you act NOW get 2 with just a small shipping charge!

Even it the product is good, awful name.

If it isn't way overpriced how could it possibly be good?

I have not heard this speaker (until now, I had not even heard of it), but it is interesting.  I generally like AMT tweeter/midrange drivers and the idea of coupling it to a small, backloaded woofer is an interesting idea.  That would mean bass that is "fast" enough to blend well with the AMT driver.  I've heard several backloaded horn systems and they can deliver reasonably good bass.  

There isn't a speaker that you wouldn't keep away from kenjit.

http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/shinjitsu-audio-carbon-daisho-loudspeaker-by-terry-london/

Looks like a DIY garage job. I would keep away.

I'm curious too. They look interesting and well built andthe prices are reasonable.