The Official Salk Sound Owner's And Discussion Thread - Page 108

Nothing better then having more then you need and not using it, then want it and not have it... I think you know the thought process here....

Everyone, thanks for all the advice. Stoked to be moving away from the HT in the box that I have been living with for the last 5 years.

Nuance, been reading your posts, excellent stuff, learned alot from you.

How can you focus on his senseless drivel....?

I taught him everything he knows.... and that pretty much amounts to nothing, nada, zilch...

LOL also, maybe I can be your next pupil.

I've paired the Conquest with ST - fantastic combination. Effortless & natural sound on any material I've thrown at it.

I was on A-gon earlier today and saw a pair of Joseph Audio RM25xl speakers that look a lot like the STs. Has anyone heard these and how would they compare with the STs? I am just curious as the RM25xls are quite a bit more expensive than the STs (no surprise there).

Bill

The following is from the Audio Circle:


Well it certainly was a LONG day. Much longer than expected. (Who would have thought that anyone would want to entertain a stranger for that long)

It was a great day! Evan was a gracious host and unexpectedly his neighbor, Joe, was a great co-host. (Can you call it a neighbor when you can go couch to couch in 10 steps?)

Evan already gave the low down and pretty much the end result. I would like to back up a bit. There were 3 others besides myself so it may be inaccurate for me to pin any particular statements to any individual, so I'll generalize.

I think most were surprised by the M-80's. I heard comments like surprisingly good bottom, truly a full range speaker, and not nearly as bright as expected. I had already concluded the first two. However the M80's didn't sound quite as bright as in my room. I had been actually wondering yesterday if they were calming down a bit from when they first arrived at my house. Evan seems to have some good room treatments and made for a much better listening enviroment.

We later hooked up my Denon 2309. Unfortunately we didn't attempt any A/B'ing. I would like to put one thing to rest right here and now. The 2309 performed really well. I didn't notice any kind of drastic difference when using the 2309 with either speaker. I'm sure Evan's equipment is superior and without an A/B there is no way to make any further comments on comparisons. BUT The 2309 is rated for 8ohms. There has been many many comments in reference to Denon receivers handling 4ohm loads with no problems. Both the ST's and M80's are 4ohm rated. The 2309 was used for quite a few hours. At times I cranked it up to 0dB and I thought it sounded fine. I think the guys thought it performed well also. We were expecting that my brightness problem may have been the 2309. But I think we all agreed that the Denon did not possess any brightness issues.

Another thing is the difference in sensitivity rating with the M80 rated at 95dB in-room and the ST rated at 88dB. Now I'm not up on the specifics of these ratings and whether all things are equal but I will say that I expected the ST's to need more volume to keep up with the same loudness. We didn't measure my receiver settings with a meter. Maybe we should have. At one point earlier we used a meter to make sure we were listening at the same level but neglected to check if those levels were at the same point at the volume knob. (I believe this was when we were using Evan's amplification) I did NOT notice any great perceivable difference in these 2 speakers considering the difference in their ratings.

My speaker impressions: The M80's did not sound as bright as I thought they sounded in my room. The Sound Towers were clearly the winner in performance as well as looks. The M80's performed fairly well for their pricepoint, however, if you were to add in the extra cost for a real wood veneer finsh on the M80's (shown here in Cherry for $1790 with free shipping http://www.axiomaudio.com/customstud...prodCode=M80VS ) they are priced rather closely with the ST's and certainly NOT in the same league for the same price.

(Side-bar: I recently read in the Salk section of the AVS Forum where someone was complaining that the price increase on the ST's put them out of reach for him as well as being priced out of the competition. I'll just say NONSENSE!)

Oh yeah! My impressions: Even though the M80's were not as bright as in my room they were certainly much brighter than the ST's. And not sure if brighter is the right word. I hate to use the word "harsh" because I wouldn't say the M80 is harsh. But by comparison the ST's were way smoother all while revealing more detail and and airyness about the highs. It's seems an oxymoron to say the the ST's were crisper yet smoother. The word crisp would indicate to me bright BUT they were crisper and yet not nearly as bright sounding as the M80's.

Intial thoughts on the bottom end for the M80's wer surprising as stated. Yet as time went on and a sample of many random selections were used it became almost boomy compared to the tight, well defined bottom of the ST's. I'll agree that the M80's would probably do better as a HT speaker without a sub. It reached that low and punchy. Yet either speaker would do much better with a sub for HT use so the extra thump really it of no bonus. The ST just sounded better and tighter in the bottom.

The mids and probably where the ST's showed off. (Well I loved the smoothness of the highs so not sure I can say that) The vocals were much clearer and more pronounced. I'm a guitarist and lead electric guitar sounded more natural and less edgy.

I have a bad right ear from playing too loud in bands when I was a bit younger. My ear was just getting plain tired of listening to "most" selections on the M80's. The highs were getting to me a bit.

So overall the ST's are smoother in every area. I like the little extra bottom the M80's seem to have but the tightness of the bottom of the ST's made for a more pleasant experience.

If I ever make it back there I intend to have another shootout. You see, I brought a dozen bagels and when I got there Evan had also bought a dozen bagels and his were out on the table. I think Long Island bagels would beat out Staten Island bagels.

Maybe. At this point I would at least think that the Axioms will go back. I will probably spend a bit more time checking out some speakers.

New ST owner here, and while I love music, probably don't have as defined ear and access to audiophile vernacular that most of you have. So I'll leave my impression of my ST in terms of what it has made me do, and that is listen to types of music that I have not been inclined to play for years. Most notably, I find it so much more fun to listen to vocal rich songs and acoustic live performances. It also makes some stuff I used to listen to not sound as good, which is strange, and makes me wonder if I have everything set up correctly, but since some things sound good, it must be that the ST are just so revealing. I would like a bit more bass for some of the genres, but hopefully the sub will help that out. Still getting the system worked out, but I would like to try out different amplification sources and see the difference that it makes. Since I'm simply running it with an AVR as part of my HT, its probably not the cleanest power. Boy, this is fun.

New owner here, expecting delivery of my HT-2 in eucalyptus tomorrow, I bought the pair that was on audiociricle. Thanks to Nuance and his finding the perfect speaker thread for turning me on to Salksound. I am very excited about these speakers and Jim Salk is first rate.

Chris

Congrats Boomer! You definitely got a pair of incredibly beautiful speakers on the way! The photos of your speakers just blew me away. I am waiting on a pair of the Song Towers (ribbon tweeter) with the Guitar Burst finish... could be ready to ship this week! The wait has been tough the last couple of weeks. Jim wants to make sure the finish is up to his standards before he ships them out... you can't argue with that type of quality control! Once again, congrats on your excellent purchase.

Thanks Goodvibes. The guitarburst finish is awsome, i was going to get that as well until I saw those ht2s. I hope your's do ship this week and plz post some pics when you get them.

Cheers
Chris

Anyone have some high res pics of the stock black laquer finish on the ST's? I can't seem to find any close up pics on them anywhere, they do look good from from a distance. I'd just like to know how dull or shiny the finish really is, I know it's quality of course.

All I know is I want a set of these speakers, but having a hard time on deciding on the finish. Too many choices...

Mike

I am so over budget on this "project" that started with a new TV. Let me to a pair of ST with RT, a song center, and a JL Audio F113 sub. I need some surrounds to complete the picture (why not finish, I'm so in the hole already!). Since the 5.1 is going to be centered with some pretty good audio, do I need to spend more big$$$ on the backs? Would something small and un-obstrusive like the orbs work. The smaller footprint is actually fairly important for the surrounds, or else I have to rethink furniture etc, and get another pass from the wife for some more equipment. I think things like the B&W M1 or Orbs won't need a return trip to the permission well. I was also thinking about using a wireless hook-up for the backs (something powered by rocketfish), at least until I can get some cable pulled.

Mike

As far as I can tell, the black finish on the upper third of the front baffle of every standard SongTower with a dome tweeter is the same as the stock black lacquer finish. My STs are in cherry, and I would call their black portion "satin" as opposed to "high gloss".

This photo from Jim Salk shows three SongTowers in the standard black finish.

Thanks! They look really nice in that pic, but I still can't really "see" the finish. Is it shiny like piano gloss or more of a matte finish?

Have you seen closeups of the front baffles? There are plenty of those going around. Here is a link to my album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ironcross/SalkSpeakers#

If what Richard said is true above, then the baffle portion of any Song Series speaker will show you what the finish is like. It is a matte finish. Check my pictures for more detail

-Chad

It's more of a matte finish check this link for a decent picture, post 50. The matte on the ST looks really good, better than most speakers I have seen in matte black anyway.

Thanks guys! That's exactly what I was looking for.

Mike

I'd been planning on getting a pair of ST's along with an ST Center. I recently sold off my Aperion set up in preparation (633's for mains) and now using small Aperion bookshelves (422's) along with a HSU sub to get me by for a while. Using this set up, I'm actually pretty dang pleased with my music playback. I really thought I'd be in hell giving up my towers. The 422's were only $200/pr and only go down to 100hz.

All this leads to my question: Would I be happy with a pair of HT1 bookshelves over the ST towers? I know anything from Salk will be fine for home theater so I'm mostly concerned with getting the most out of my music playback from vinyl, CDs, and a media center.

I've always leaned toward towers so that I can go as full range as possible. I've been debating the HT1's because the small size would make them a versitle speaker long term as I could easily incorporate them into any room. I also consider that the parts in the HT1's theoretically should be better than the STs. Plus their is the wife approval factor. The HT1's and ST's, according to Salk's website, are fairly comparable in the lows department. I believe the STs claim 42hz and the HT1's claim 45hz.

One last thought, if I got the HT1's and ended up putting them in a larger room, would they be big enough to fill it adequately? I will be moving in the next 6 months and have no idea what kind of room they will be in.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts anyone has. Hopefully someone out there has heard both on similar set ups.

Thanks,
Mike

(Edit) Sorry, I see that these were linked to above...


Mike -


Here is a link to some pictures taken by a customer. He is a much better photographer than I am. They are about 2/3 of the way down the page.

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/i...topic=63522.40

- Jim

Mike

I own SongTowers and I've heard HT1s (for about 10-15 minutes several years ago). As you already recognize, both are very good speakers. Both can be finished any way that you and your wife wish.

Because you seem to prefer towers, I would pay attention to that. In my opinion the STs go lower than 42 Hz, perhaps as low as 38 Hz. They are also significantly more sensitive at 88 dB than the HT1 at 85 dB. They should be noticeably easier to drive.

STs seem to work well in a variety of room sizes and can be placed in a wide variety of locations within a room. In particular, the ST's bass does not suffer at all when they are placed close to walls. This apparently comes from the behavior of transmission line bass. I'm guessing that the bass response of the HT1, with its port reflex cabinet, might be more sensitive to room placement.

As far as the difference in drivers, you really should try to listen to some speakers with the Seas W18 magnesium woofer - preferably some Salks. To my ears, the W18 does sound different from the coated paper CA15 woofers in the ST. I can't say one is better than the other, only that they are somewhat different. You should listen and decide for yourself if their sound is for you.

You could ask at the Salk audiocircle forum if anyone near you has HT1s or STs you can listen to.

Hello Jim!

Thanks for link anyway. I was on the phone with you the other day when we got cut off. The internet is hit or miss over here in Baghdad, hopefully I can get with you some more at a later date. I'm still pondering the stock ST form over the RT version... I don't know which will be best for me since I don't know anything about tweeters. All I know is that I want the best possible!

Mike

Really depends on the mood. I listen to about anything but I know that doesnt help... The speakers will primary be used for HT, but when I want to listen to music I usually listen to it at a high level. I don't want any ear bleeding tweeter that make me want to wear ear plugs after a long session. I do listen loud, I'd say at average 90-100dbs...

Thanks,

Mike