Hifiman Shangri-La Jr.
"The excellent HIFIMAN SHANGRI LA JR really lives up to its great name and produces exemplary neutral and coloration-free music against a pitch-black background.
Lightning-fast transients and a perfect impulse response also result in an amazingly realistic reproduction, especially of voices and instruments. Moreover, the attention to detail and resolution are reference-worthy."
- Fidelio, Musicalhead.de
- ✓ Authorized Dealer · Original Warranty
- ✓ 30-Day Returns · Free Shipping
- ✓ Installment Payment Available
Secure Payment
VISA
MC
PayPal
GPay
HIFIMAN Shangri-La Jr
Electrostatic headphone system with tube energizer
Some high-end headphone makers allow themselves the luxury of designing a complete system—where the headphone is created without regard for budget, but with one goal: to showcase the very best the manufacturer can come up with.
Then an amplifier turns that concept into a coherent whole, reinforcing and complementing the intended character—and delivering exactly the right power at exactly the right moment, so the headphone can perform at its peak.
And when the insights from that flagship project are used to build a slightly more attainable system that still plays in the upper class—this is what you call Shangri-La Jr.
Still very much a premium pairing of headphone and amplifier, but perfectly matched for real-world value—down to details like the amplifier’s industrial design, the dust protection, and thicknesses measured in nanometers, including the diaphragm itself.
Add hand-matched tubes that take a touch of sterility out of the electrostatic nature and introduce an effortless, natural musicality—and it becomes hard not to be impressed.
Reviews tend to agree
Not only is the SHANGRI-LA jr perfectly designed, but the build quality is also astonishing. It delivers the typical electrostat signature with a high level of technicalities—effortlessly. The 6SN7 tubes add just enough smoothness and warmth to make the whole experience musical and engaging. It’s the first time Headfonia is giving an electrostat system a Recommended Buy award, and here it’s fully deserved. It’s also featured on their Best Headphone list.
With the right setup, the Shangri-La Jr can deliver outstanding electrostatic audio quality—articulate, clear, yet smooth. Pair it with more powerful desktop tube energizers and natural-sounding DACs, especially R2R DACs, to inject a more life-like texture. In that context, the Shangri-La truly excels.
Dr. Fang Bian didn’t promise too much: the SHANGRI LA JR performs impressively neutral and uncolored against a pitch-black background. Lightning-fast transients and an excellent impulse response lead to a strikingly realistic reproduction—especially of voices and instruments. Detail and resolving power are highly reference-worthy.
Technical Specifications
Headphone
| Frequency response | 7 Hz – 120 kHz |
| Bias voltage | 550 V – 650 V |
| Weight | 374 g |
Amplifier (Energizer)
| Weight | 11 kg |
| Dimensions | 40 × 26.5 × 10.8 cm |
Measurements
What does this mean?
The black line is what you could call an “ideal” curve for how a headphone should sound. The Harman Research Group published a range of scientific studies around audio and human perception—one of them asked: How should a headphone sound to be preferred by a majority of people, regardless of age or demographic variables? The result is commonly referred to as the Harman target.
From left to right you see sub-bass, bass, mids—and then the curve tilts upward where treble begins. This part of the spectrum is naturally amplified by the shape of the human ear.
As you can see, this headphone closely follows that curve, with a slight tendency toward brightness in the upper range, resulting in more detail and presence. There’s also a very slight dip in sub-bass, which is surprising for an open-back design—overall it reads as balanced, powerful, and highly detailed.
Harman Research:
The Perception and Measurement of Headphone Sound Quality – What Do Listeners Prefer?
