Too often the ambience of a popular drinking establishment will be marred by the deafening din of conversations shouted over an endless digital stream of music. Not so at Bar Shiru, a new craft cocktail bar in Oakland, California, where you can enjoy Japanese whisky highballs while a wide-ranging selection of jazz records plays on an impeccably assembled stereo system.
Located smack in the heart of Oakland’s thriving Uptown district, Bar Shiru is the Bay Area’s first hi-fi record listening bar. It is one of a few similar Tokyo-inspired audiophile sanctuaries that have popped up recently in Los Angeles, New York, and London, among other places. Owners Shirin Raza and Daniel Gahr had long dreamed of launching a creative business endeavor that celebrated their love of music.
“Music is such an important piece of who we are and how we exist in the world.” says Gahr, a DJ and former creative director at Pandora Radio. “It’s a major passion point for both of us.”
It was during a vacation in Tokyo in 2015 that the husband-and-wife team had their epiphany moment. Raza, then a media attorney, had been craving a career switch. “We came across Bar Martha and a few other amazing record bars where they really prioritize music, but where you can still socialize at the same time,” says Raza. The couple wondered why there was nothing else comparable in the Bay Area.
Tokyo’s record bar scene traces its roots back to the 1950s, when people would gather at jazz cafes to hear imported American records on sound systems they couldn’t afford for themselves. That tradition lives on today in dozens of tiny hidden spots equipped with exquisite-sounding stereos and tastefully curated vinyl collections, where the music is taken so seriously customers are often discouraged from talking. After a few memorable nights in Tokyo’s unique sonic oases, Gahr and Raza made a pact to leave the nine-to-five behind and create something equally special back home.
Fast-forward four years, and Gahr is now at the controls in the DJ booth of his dream bar most days of the week. The musical menu ranges from the hard-bop classics to current recordings from rising London jazz stars such as Nubya Garcia and Shabaka Hutchings. Customers are equally likely to hear Digable Planets, Sharon Jones, or A Tribe Called Quest. Guest selectors—usually local musicians and DJs—are invited regularly to the bar to spin a set of their own choosing. Jazz is a connective thread, rather than a rigid theme. The only rule is to play albums in full.
The concept was to recreate the “slow listening” environment of a classic Tokyo jazz cafe. Limited seating at Bar Shiru keeps the crowds contained in order to maintain the integrity of the experience. This is not a place to dance and party; it’s a place to kick back and appreciate albums in their entirety.
“We embrace the silences between sides and between records,” Gahr says. “It makes people notice the music.” And music is very much the focal point in a visual sense, too, as evidenced by the 15-foot-high record wall, brimming with the bar’s growing vinyl collection.
Though there are similarities, Bar Shiru wasn’t meant to be a faithful replication of Tokyo’s hi-fi hideaways. For one thing, at roughly 1500 square feet, it is neither small nor secretive. “I just think the exclusive, speakeasy vibe wouldn’t fit within the Oakland community,” says Raza. She and Gahr wanted to ensure everyone felt welcome, which is why they don’t impose a strict no-talking policy. Instead, customers are subtly encouraged by the cozy surroundings to behave and converse in a relaxed manner, to better enjoy the music.
But the size and construction of the space they chose presented some challenges, and creating the optimum sonic environment here involved lots of work and a few key accomplices. To help build a beautiful and reliable analog sound system, Gahr and Raza turned to Adam Wexler, owner of Resolution Audio Video based in New York and an old college friend of Gahr’s. Jonathan Halpern, owner of Tone Imports in southern California, advised on the bar’s main amplification and speaker systems. Together they assembled an impressive chain of stereo components, but the speakers are the real stars of the show.
“As soon as Dan and Shirin shared with us the visuals of what all the various speakers looked like, we knew these had to feature prominently in the space,” says Keith Morris of Studio KDA, the Berkeley architecture firm that helped realize Gahr and Raza’s vision of a multi-room configuration, with multiple speakers in each zone for a seamless sonic experience.
In the main listening area, the two showstoppers sit at the base of the record shelves: Line Magnetic’s LM-812 Iconic two-way loudspeakers. “These speakers are so refreshing, they go right to the heart of the music,” says Halpern.
The LM-812 was the obvious choice, he explains, because of its vintage aesthetics, efficient horn system, and its ability to fill a large commercial space with high-quality sound. The LM-812 is an homage to the original Lansing Iconic theater speaker. The key difference is in its 18-inch woofer, which makes it better for musical environments. According to Halpern, Bar Shiru is the first commercial space to have the LM-812.
Bookending the bar is a pair of stunning DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 speakers, custom-ported in the front so they can sit flush against the wall on the liquor shelves, keeping them in customers’ lines of sight. Adjacent to the main room is a cozier lounge area with a lower ceiling, where two small but powerful Dynaudio X18 bookshelf speakers hang on the wall like works of art. Even the three restrooms are outfitted with Bowers & Wilkins in-ceiling speakers so you can still listen in the loo, underscoring Bar Shiru’s musical continuity.
There was lots of deliberation over what kinds of amplifiers should power all these speakers. Gahr and Raza have a hi-fi tube-driven stereo they enjoy at home, but would tube amps withstand the rigors of long-term use at a bar?
“We did the math on how many hours tubes would get in an average week and it added up quickly,” Wexler says. “My big concern is that a tube would fail during the bar’s operating hours.”
Ultimately, they all decided it would be worth the risk for the unique look and flavor they bring to the listening experience. “To my ears, I love the roundness and warmth,” said Gahr. “I love the harmonic distortion and coloration that they provide.”
They landed on two integrated tube amps from Line Magnetic to pair with the high-efficiency speakers in the main room and at the bar: an LM-805iA SET amp for the LM-812s, and the LM-34IA for the O/93 speakers. The background systems rely on less showy Parasound solid-state amplifiers, and two Line Magnetic LP-33 phonostages feed into them all. If tragedy strikes, they have a backup Parasound Halo A23+ at the ready.
And of course, the turntables had to sound great and make a visual statement, too. To keep things within budget, Wexler sourced two pre-owned but well-maintained audiophile tables: an SME Model 20/2 with the Series IV.Vi tonearm, and the VPI Super Scoutmaster, outfitted with the JMW-9 ’arm and driven by the HR-X dual-motor flywheel. Isonoe’s sturdy-looking ISO420 rotary mixer, chosen for its build-quality and low noise, was customized for the bar with four line outputs, to allow distribution to the four amps from one source signal.
No matter how superlative the stereo, the bar’s sonic ambience would be compromised if acoustics were not taken into consideration. Covering the inherited concrete floors and ceiling with sound-absorptive materials was a necessity to alleviate reverberation. Glass and metal surfaces were deliberately avoided in the furniture. Maple screens sectioning off the lounge not only provide intimacy but also serve to absorb and diffract sound waves. Even the archival photos of jazz legends hanging on the walls are printed on sound paneling. And overhanging the DJ booth are even more sound panels, cleverly patterned after Freddie Hubbard’s famous Hub-Tones album designed by Reid Miles.
All of these measures, which help to keep the sound energy from bouncing uncontrollably within the bar’s confines, also contribute to a warm, communal living room environment where the music always stays in the foreground. And customers have really taken a shine to the concept. Since its opening in February, Bar Shiru has gotten so popular it now takes reservations for large groups.
There appears to be a growing movement now towards prioritizing sonics in bars and restaurants. Los Angeles has two well-known hi-fi listening bars of its own: Gold Line Bar and In Sheep’s Clothing. In New York City, there is Tokyo Record Bar and Public Records. London has Spiritland, among a few others. It’s hard to say how far and wide hi-fi listening bars will spread beyond these major cities. Slowly but surely though, these unique venues could help change the listening habits of the modern music fan and create a new generation of audiophiles.
“A space like Bar Shiru shows just how cool a great high-end audio system can be,” says Halpern, “It’s not necessary to lock yourself in a bunker with your head firmly in the ‘sweet spot’ to hear the soundstage. Listening to great music along with friends, with unbelievably great sonics and aesthetics, is so enjoyable.”
And for Gahr and Raza, building community and maximizing the connective power of music is what Bar Shiru is really about, after all.
“We’re not trying to create the most pristine listening environment around,” says Gahr. “We’re just trying to create a system that sounds and feels really good and contributes to the intimacy and feeling of this space.”
