Salk SongTower QWT Floorstanding Speaker Review

[admin]

You may not have heard of Salk Sound, but if you have, you were probably intrigued. Their speakers just look so darn good. But looks aren't everything - what really matters is how they sound. Utilizing a MTM (mid-tweeter-mid) configuration and a Quarter Wavelength Transmission Line design geared toward optimizing bass, the SongTowers sound great on paper. The question is how will they sound in your room?
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/floorstanding/salk-songtower-qwt/image_thumb

Discuss "Salk SongTower QWT Floorstanding Speaker Review" here. Read the article (http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/floorstanding/salk-songtower-qwt).

[jamie2112]

Thanks for the review Tom. Thats funny you used a Rusted Root disc...I mixed Rusted Root live for about a year. They are hard on Any speaker.....:eek:

[Swerd]

It was a nice surprise to see this review. I'm glad to see your positive comments about it's detailed sound and it's bass. The SongTower is an exceptional speaker.

Too bad you didn't like the spikes. I have had no trouble with mine in the year I've had them.

I also compared the bass on the RBHs to the Salks and found that I honestly thought they sounded remarkably similar. The RBHs seemed a little boomy at times but the Salks seemed a little weak at others. I kept scratching out my notes and adding new ones just to change my mind the next moment. I did think that the linearity of the Salks was better and their bass detail was better at lower volumes...

The SongTowers did well with this material presenting a good amount of bass extension while keeping a richness to the sound that was quite evident. At first I thought the RBH's beat out of the Salk speakers in extension but decided that I was hearing more boom and not lower notes. The Salk speakers seemed more natural in their bass notes than did the RBH TKs.It seems like the STs may have been the first properly designed transmission line speaker that you've heard. Your words reminded me of my own experience as I first listened to mine. The bass sounds different from any sealed or reflex design I had heard before, and defied my own expectations as to how reproduced bass sounds. I struggled to describe it in words.

By the way, the SongTowers are a mass-loaded quarter-wave transmission line design, as defined by Martin King. In this case, mass-loaded means that the cabinet opening is somewhat smaller in area than the cross sectional area of the whole line. The port that you see on the rear of the cabinet is also much shallower in depth than a typical reflex. Finally, there is no requirement that a transmission line have a folded labrynth inside the cabinet as long as the length of the line is ¼ the length of the tuning wavelength.

[MJK]

This is the second time today I have provided more info on the ML TL style of design. I guess things come in streaks. Below is a slightly better description from the Lowther ML TL page on my site.

I have been asked many times about the difference between a ML TL design and a simple bass reflex enclosure. From the outside the two look very similar and performance wise there is not a large difference. I think that the principle difference is the way the air volume in the cabinet is used to provide the spring that interacts with the mass of air in the port to form a resonant system.

In a bass reflex cabinet, the air in the box is compressed to a uniform pressure to form an air spring. Typically no damping material is added to the inside of the box so that the Q of the box remains high and the effective volume of air is predictable from the internal dimensions of the box. The shape of the bass reflex box is not that critical, only the internal volume matters. A bass reflex enclosure can be represented as a lumped mass hanging on a spring. If you displace the mass the entire spring stretches. When you let go, the mass oscillates at a predictable frequency that is a function of the springrate and the mass of air in the port. The key point is that the entire spring stretches linearly. This is a simple one degree of freedom mechanical system.

In my opinion, one of the negative attributes of a bass reflex enclosure is that any strong standing wave resonances in the enclosure will not be sufficiently damped. The lack of fiber in the center of the air volume allows energy from the back of the driver to potentially excite resonances and produce unwanted acoustic output that escapes through the port opening. Some people try and mitigate this problem by placing the port on the back of the enclosure. Placing the port on the back of the bass reflex enclosure may require more standoff from the rear wall and lead to room placement problems. The ML TL enclosure design requires stuffing in the internal volume of the enclosure. The presence of this stuffing is part of the design cycle and the amount and location is accounted for in the design process.

The ML TL enclosure can be thought of as a form of transmission line where quarter wavelength standing waves are used to provide the spring for the mass of air in the port. To physically model a straight uniform TL, clamp a yardstick to the edge of a counter or desk and pluck the free end so that it starts to vibrate. The vibration pattern is analogous to the air velocity in a TL. The TL's air velocity is zero at the closed end as is the yardstick's motion at the clamped end. The TL's air velocity is a maximum at the open end as is the yardstick's velocity at the free end.

There are two ways of changing the frequency of vibration for the yardstick. If you shorten the length cantilevered off the counter, the frequency of vibration will increase. Make the length longer and the frequency decreases. This is how straight TL's have traditionally been tuned by adjusting the length. The second way of tuning the frequency of the yardstick is to add a lump of mass to the free end. Put a piece of modeling clay on the free end and watch the frequency decrease. What I have done to the classic TL is put a lump of mass at the terminus end using a restrictive port. For a given frequency, I can shorten the TL (make it stiffer) increasing the tuning frequency and then add mass (air in a port) to pull the frequency back down and get a similar tuned result. One other benefit of having a lump of mass at the terminus is a rolled off port output above the first quarter wavelength resonance. This result is similar to a bass reflex port's response. I did this first with the ML TQWT and then with a straight TL. If you try the yardstick analogy, I think by changing the length and adding mass to the end you can demonstrate to yourself exactly what I am doing in my MathCad computer models.

If you plot the pressure and volume velocity profile inside the enclosure, you will see the transmission line standing wave behavior. The air in the enclosure behaves differently from the air in a classic bass reflex design. The elongated height of some floor standing speakers allow this to occur, some people/designers get the benefit of this action without even realizing it is happening. There is not sharp line between bass reflex and ML TL, it is a gradual transition.

Hope that helps,

Martin

[Nuance AH]

Tom -

Fantastic review man! I thoroughly enjoyed it, plus you made me laugh out loud a few times attracting the attention of the people around me (they looked at me like "what's he laughing about"). :)

Thanks for taking the time to do this write-up.

[gene]

By the way, the SongTowers are a mass-loaded quarter-wave transmission line design, as defined by Martin King. In this case, mass-loaded means that the cabinet opening is somewhat smaller in area than the cross sectional area of the whole line. The port that you see on the rear of the cabinet is also much shallower in depth than a typical reflex. Finally, there is no requirement that a transmission line have a folded labrynth inside the cabinet as long as the length of the line is ¼ the length of the tuning wavelength

Sorry but I am not buying it. Since this design employs dual woofers, they either need dual lines or have a single entry point with an exit equidistant from the "woofers". This is not apparent in this design and the claims that their design can extend bass below what a ported design can do are dubious at best. In order to reach down in the 40Hz range, the path length would have to be 7 feet long!

Also looking over the impedance plot, you can see a saddle point right at the tuning frequency. I would expect a flatter impedance curve for a true TL design. At the very best it is appears to be an under stuffed TL design or a hybrid/quasi TL design that also incorporates a tuned vent :confused:

Regardless, what I gather from Tom is that they are great sounding speakers that look as good as they sound. Hats off to the design team at Salk for making a product Tom didn't trash :)

[Swerd]

Sorry but I am not buying it. Since this design employs dual woofers, they either need dual lines or have a single entry point with an exit equidistant from the "woofers". This is not apparent in this design and the claims that their design can extend bass below what a ported design can do are dubious at best. In order to reach down in the 40Hz range, the path length would have to be 7 feet long!

Also looking over the impedance plot, you can see a saddle point right at the tuning frequency. I would expect a flatter impedance curve for a true TL design. At the very best it is appears to be an under stuffed TL design or a hybrid/quasi TL design that also incorporates a tuned vent :confused:I am much less qualified to discuss this than Martin King himself, who just posted above as MJK. I suggest spending some time browsing and reading at his web site (http://www.quarter-wave.com/). He has articles that specifically deal with mass loading and with dual woofers as in a MTM design.

Regardless, what I gather from Tom is that they are great sounding speakers that look as good as they sound. Hats off to the design team at Salk for making a product Tom didn't trash :)Agreed :D.

Hat's off to Jim Salk (owner & chief sawdust maker of Salk Sound), Dennis Murphy (crossover designer), Paul Kittenger (who designed the cabinet using Martin King's math models), and Martin J. King (who developed the ability to precisely model TL designs by computer). They all had roles in the design and development of these speakers.

[Nuance AH]

Hats off to the design team at Salk for making a product Tom didn't trash :)

LOL - too funny. :D

[Tom Andry]

Hats off to the design team at Salk for making a product Tom didn't trash :)

Geesh, you're going to give me a rep as a tough reviewer. Then people will only want to send me their best stuff... wait, that's not such a bad thing.

Thanks to all. Martin, I agonized over the TL/non-TL thing. Like I said in the review, call it a cheese sandwich design. I don't care 'cause it sounds good to me! :D

[bigspur1984]

It was a nice surprise to see this review. I'm glad to see your positive comments about it's detailed sound and it's bass. The SongTower is an exceptional speaker.

Too bad you didn't like the spikes. I have had no trouble with mine in the year I've had them.


I am about to put my deposit down on a pair of SoundTowers, after reading this review I was wondering if I needed to order the sharp spikes instead of the standard. You say that you have had no trouble with yours, are they on carpet? Mine will be but I do not have very thick carpet.

[gene]

I am much less qualified to discuss this than Martin King himself, who just posted above as MJK. I suggest spending some time browsing and reading at his web site. He has articles that specifically deal with mass loading and with dual woofers as in a MTM design.

I looked over his site and couldn't find a specific article that dealt with multi woofers in this type of enclosure. Please provide a link. Inquiring minds want to know :)

[Swerd]

I am about to put my deposit down on a pair of SoundTowers, after reading this review I was wondering if I needed to order the sharp spikes instead of the standard. You say that you have had no trouble with yours, are they on carpet? Mine will be but I do not have very thick carpet.Yes mine are on a berber carpet that is not very thick. I don't think you should worry at all about the spikes.

I do think you will love those speakers :D! What finish are you thinking of?

[Swerd]

I looked over his site and couldn't find a specific article that dealt with multi woofers in this type of enclosure. Please provide a link. Inquiring minds want to know :)After a quick search, I believe this is it (http://www.quarter-wave.com/General/Two_Drivers.pdf). MJK please correct me if I am wrong.

[Nuance AH]

I am about to put my deposit down on a pair of SoundTowers, after reading this review I was wondering if I needed to order the sharp spikes instead of the standard. You say that you have had no trouble with yours, are they on carpet? Mine will be but I do not have very thick carpet.
My carpet is about 1/4-1/2" thick with a spill pad/cushion pad underneath that is about the same thickness. My SongTower spikes have no issues keeping the ST's solid and wobble-free.

I too thought the spikes would be worthless because they weren't sharp at the end, but after performing a "wobble test" using no spikes vs. spikes, spikes won. The speakers wobbled more without the spikes, surprisingly.

However, go with your gut.

[gene]

After a quick search, I believe this is it. MJK please correct me if I am wrong.

Thats a modeling analysis for 2 driver systems in ported box whether wired in parallel or series from what I see. It doesnt say anything about TL design???


In order to really understand what is going on, I need to see a pic of the enclosure of this speaker. Can anyone provide that? thanks.

[jliedeka]

Thanks for the review, Tom. I'd heard of these speakers and was glad to be able to learn more about them.

Jim

[MJK]

Thats a modeling analysis for 2 driver systems in ported box whether wired in parallel or series from what I see. It doesnt say anything about TL design???

The analysis presented is for a bass reflex enclosure. But basically it shows the reader how to set up a single equivalent driver which in turn allows them to run my MathCad worksheets for MTM designs in TL's. In the case of the SongTowers, Paul Kittenger used this technique to model an equivalent driver at the tweeter location and then design the ML TL enclosure. Many people have done this and it works very well.

[MJK]

Sorry but I am not buying it. Since this design employs dual woofers, they either need dual lines or have a single entry point with an exit equidistant from the "woofers". This is not apparent in this design and the claims that their design can extend bass below what a ported design can do are dubious at best. In order to reach down in the 40Hz range, the path length would have to be 7 feet long!

There is no formal hard definition of what is a TL and what is not. If you ask a half dozen TL designers for a definition you will probably get half a dozen slightly different answers. There is a large gray area between what is sometimes referred to as a classic TL, which you seem to be describing, and some of the hybrid TLs like what I call a ML TL. When I look at a design I try and see/calculate what the air is doing in the box, if it is forming a quarter wave length standing wave at the tuning frequency I consider it a form of TL, people have started to call them quarter wave resonators which is probably a more accurate description.

But in the end how it sounds is all that is importent. The only people who really needs to know exactly how it works is the designer and manufacturer so that it comes out right for every happy customer.

[bigspur1984]

Yes mine are on a berber carpet that is not very thick. I don't think you should worry at all about the spikes.

I do think you will love those speakers :D! What finish are you thinking of?


Thanks I will stick with the standard spikes.

I am getting the same finish as the SongTower RT that are for sale right now, the medium to dark curly cherry. I will be sending in my deposit tonight. I am getting the center channel also.

You and Nusance are one of the big reasons I am buying these after reading your reviews. Of course I have never read anything bad about them helps also. :):):)

[Nuance AH]

Thanks I will stick with the standard spikes.

I am getting the same finish as the SongTower RT that are for sale right now, the medium to dark curly cherry. I will be sending in my deposit tonight. I am getting the center channel also.

You and Nusance are one of the big reasons I am buying these after reading your reviews. Of course I have never read anything bad about them helps also. :):):)
Nusance? I hope I'm not... :(

[bigspur1984]

Nusance? I hope I'm not... :(

Sorry, misspelled. :D:D

[Swerd]

Thanks I will stick with the standard spikes.

I am getting the same finish as the SongTower RT that are for sale right now, the medium to dark curly cherry. I will be sending in my deposit tonight. I am getting the center channel also.Mine are cherry too. They were clearcoated without any stain and have darkened somewhat as cherry does on its own. The curly cherry veneer Jim Salk uses is better than any I've seen. I still stare at them often :D.

You and Nusance are one of the big reasons I am buying these after reading your reviews.Thank you for your kind words. Hearing that makes my day. If I can speak for that Nusance guy (;)), he would probably say the same thing.

[surveyor]

Tom, I saw the speakers birth certificate. Did you and your wife adopt, or are you taking some type of esoteric fertility drugs?:D

[Nuance AH]

Sorry, misspelled. :D:D

:D:p It's all good.

Thanks for the kind words, by the way. If I can help just one person it totally makes this all worth it.

[Nuance AH]

Oh, and if MJK says the SongTower is a version of a TL design, that's all I need to hear. After all, he's the designer of this particular version. ;)

[ned]

Finally a speaker that beats my 1266se at price/performance. I knew this day would come. :D

[MJK]

Oh, and if MJK says the SongTower is a version of a TL design, that's all I need to hear. After all, he's the designer of this particular version. ;)

I cannot claim to be the designer of the SongTower. I wrote the software used to do the calculations and I answered a few questions about applying the software. Paul, Dennis, and Jim did all of the work and deserve all the credit for the design. The first time I saw or knew anything about the SongTower was when pictures and discussion appeared on Jim's forum at AudioCircle.

[Nuance AH]

I cannot claim to be the designer of the SongTower. I wrote the software used to do the calculations and I answered a few questions about applying the software. Paul, Dennis, and Jim did all of the work and deserve all the credit for the design. The first time I saw or knew anything about the SongTower was when pictures and discussion appeared on Jim's forum at AudioCircle.

Oops - sorry for the confusion. I just meant their design is based on your mass-loaded quarter-wave transmission line design.

[Davemcc]

I'm glad to see this review too. I have to admit to having a fascination with Salk before ever having heard the speakers. The reviews seem to be universally favorable, the finishes oustanding and the customer service above and beyond. I'm glad to see a trusted reviewer like Tom likes them as well.

[jsalk]

First of all, I would like to thank Gene for making this review possible and Tom for a thorough, well thought out and well written review.

I would also like to publicly thank Dennis Murphy for another spectacular crossover design and Paul Kittinger for his great work on the cabinet design. And, of course, thanks to Martin King for developing the software that made the cabinet design possible. Without the efforts of these individuals, the SongTowers would not exist.

While I could certainly quibble about this point or that, I only have one comment I'd like to share on the review and subsequent discussion. I am somewhat amused by the discussion of TL or not TL. I have had this discussion with a couple of speaker designers in the past and it is purely a matter of semantics.

If you adopt a very tight definition of what constitutes a TL cabinet, the SongTower cabinet may not qualify. But to say that it is simply a standard bass reflex cabinet is certainly not an accurate statement either. If you compare the bass quality and extension of the CA15 in a properly designed bass reflex cabinet with the same driver in the SongTower cabinet, it is quite obvious that there is something very special taking place with the ST cabinet.

Technically, the ST cabinet is a "mass-loaded quarter wave tube." Just as with a more traditional TL cabinet, this design takes advantage of quarter wavelength resonance.

As Gene accurately stated, a classic TL design would require a line length of roughly 7 feet to achieve a tuning of 40 Hz. But as Martin so eloquently pointed out, you can achieve the exact same tuning by using a shorter line length coupled with a mass loading port.

In this case, the line length is tuned to a quarter wavelength resonance of just under 80Hz. The mass loading port then lowers the system tuning to 40Hz.

If you simply change the dimensions of the cabinet by making it shorter and deeper for example, while maintaining the current internal volume, you could certainly end up with a classic bass reflex cabinet.

In this case, the cabinet's physical appearance does closely resemble a standard bass reflex cabinet. But from a performance perspective, it more closely resembles a classic TL cabinet.

For me, there is a simple question that resolves the issue. Is the performance based on helmholtz resonance (bass reflex) or quarter-wavelength resonance (TL)?

Since this design takes advantage of quarter-wavelength resonance just as the most tightly-defined TL design, but accomplishes it in a different manner, I (and many others) feel it is more accurate to define it as a TL variant. But if it makes you happy, simply call it a pseudo bass reflex cabinet on steroids. No matter what you call it, I think we can all agree on one thing - it works.

Thanks again to audioholics for making this discussion possible.

- Jim

[Matt34]

Ok, I'll ask...what the heck does "mass loading port" mean?:o

If I had the money, the Salk HT3 would be on my to buy list.

[Dan]

Perhaps the best thread here I've seen. When else has the designer as well as the physicist behind the theory participated in a thread, especially a review about a great speaker. I've heard em. If this is your price point, look no further.

[MJK]

Ok, I'll ask...what the heck does "mass loading port" mean?:o

In both a bass reflex cabinet and a mass loaded TL, the volume of air in the port acts as a lump of mass. The air in the cabinet acts as the spring, but it is a different spring action in the two types of cabinets. The combination of the cabinet's spring and the mass of air in the port determines the tuning frequency of the cabinet.

If you go back to the yardstick and lump of modeling clay analogy in my earlier post, the air inside the cabinet acts like the yardstick and the port acts like the lump of modeling clay. The air in the port moves in and out, like the modeling clay moving up and down at the end of the yardstick, effectively lowering the tuning frequency of the enclosure.

[Swerd]

Ok, I'll ask...what the heck does "mass loading port" mean?:oJim Salk and Martin King did answer this, but I'll try as well.

A classic transmission line is a straight tube with a woofer mounted on one end and the other end open. The opening is the same diameter as the tube. The tuning frequency determines the length of the tube. This can get quite long, sometimes forcing the tube to follow a folded path inside the cabinet.

A mass loaded port on a TL cabinet uses an opening smaller than the diameter of the tube. In the case of the SongTower, the opening is a 4" diameter flared port (http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/floorstanding/salk-songtower-qwt/Salk_Back.JPG/image_view_fullscreen). From the outside, it looks the same as a bass reflex design, but inside, that port is a lot shorter than in a standard bass reflex cabinet. This allows the cabinet to be shorter (46" for the SongTower) than with a classic TL opening.

[Nuance AH]

Martin and Jim - that was very well explained. Thank you. I even learned something. :D

[Tom Andry]

I am about to put my deposit down on a pair of SoundTowers, after reading this review I was wondering if I needed to order the sharp spikes instead of the standard. You say that you have had no trouble with yours, are they on carpet? Mine will be but I do not have very thick carpet.

They are steady because of the weight of the cabinet and the size of the base. The "problem" is that the "spikes" don't pierce the carpet. If you are looking to make a solid connection with NO wobble (which can affect sound), you'll want the sharper spikes.

Tom, I saw the speakers birth certificate. Did you and your wife adopt, or are you taking some type of esoteric fertility drugs?:D

If she is, I'm going to have to have a serious talk with her. Last thing I need is her yelling at me from the other room that she can hear the difference with the new speaker cables. :D

[Funkmonkey]

Great thread, nice information on TL / not-TL. Thanks guys.

My experience with TL designs, limited though it may be and extremely untechnical, is that these speakers impart a "feel" to the bass that is more like the sound that you get from musical instruments (like wooden hollow bodied acoustic bass & guitars). I have heard the SongTowers and they are excellent. If you consider price, they are a steal.
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers,
-Funk

[BoB/335]

I ran across this thread while looking for reviews on Song Towers as I am contemplating purchasing a pair.

Seems I read somewhwer that th hole resembling a port at the rear of a ST is a "vent" and not a port and can therefore be placed close to a wall at the rear. Is that true?

[Swerd]

I ran across this thread while looking for reviews on Song Towers as I am contemplating purchasing a pair.

Seems I read somewhwer that the hole resembling a port at the rear of a ST is a "vent" and not a port and can therefore be placed close to a wall at the rear. Is that true?

Yes, that's true. Someone asked that in the thread where I posted my ST listening impressions. Dennis Murphy answered (http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=322997&postcount=6).

Others (including myself) have also tried the same thing and heard similar results. This is the opposite of the usual conventional wisdom that has it that placing speakers closer to the wall behind them makes them sound boomy or muddy, and that moving them away from walls decreases the boom. Apparently this feature is also seen in other speakers with transmission line cabinets.

[lost33]

Hello,

I purchased a pair of SongTower QWT's with the dome tweeter sight unseen and unheard.

I have had them for 2 weeks now.

I have been amazed each and everytime I listen to them. They are the best speakers that I have heard in this price range. We did listen to most of the fine speakers in this price range, but due to Nuance search for his perfect speaker I was convinced this speaker, design etc was somthing special.

The entire experience from talking to many forum members and with Jim Salk himself was a really nice cordial one. Jim really likes to make his customers happy and has gone out of his way to answer everyone of my calls and emails..imagine sending an email to the owner of other high end speaker CEO's!! Matter of fact I just emailed Jim and in less than 10 minutes he emailed me back. What a real nice person!!
:)

That said I have modest electronics and a rather small listening room and have spent a day or so playing with toe-in and seperation distance. I also have a 58" plasma piece of glass in between them. I was worried about the soundstage and imaging etc...

Well I am very happy to say the overall experience with the SongTowers have been close to a 10 out of 10. By careful placement making sure the speaker fronts are well in front of the plasma HT screen the imaging has been fantastic...I have always walked away just amazed at what relatively small speakers lilke these can do with all sorts of material....classical, guitar, rock, etc...and vocals WOW do they do these well!!:)

The soundstage is absolutely amazing in my listening room and I was so worried that this room would not be a good one!!! Happy, happy!!

I have played many of the audiophile RAVE discs and demo discs that have some extremely great recordings and I just cant tell you how well these speakers reproduce this material. Garbage in is still garbage out...but with well recorded material is sent to these transducers, its magic.

The sound of instruments is very accurate, the drivers in this speaker have to really good to allow this to happen, the response is very quick, I guess those small 5" drivers can move very fast and the drum / percussion is really tight and wonderful. Heck even FM radio sounds better! Different but better.

The ONLY thing that these speakers can not really do well is reproduce those really low end 'rollers'.....those things that go really low, below 30HZ I would say, those low growling thhings like you hear in FLIM and the BBs material and the old Edgar Winters "Frankenstein" cut at the end where the synths go down to the bottom of what we can hear....

That said 95% (guess) that we (I) listen to the Songtowers produce muscial base that is wonderful....Duende and Diana Krall cuts have bass violin that is so dang accurate and tight it like they are right there in the room....its THAT GOOD.

If your on a budget, have a smaller room, and think you would never find a set of speakers that would be 'world class' in this size / price range....look no further!!

The SongTowers are what Jim descibed to me as the 'perfect storm' of a speaker, the sum of the parts is exceptional.

All the best
Alex

NOTE: I am not getting paid by Jim or anyone to say these things...:D
They are that good!!

[BoB/335]

I was just going to ask you how much you were getting paid for that. :)

[lost33]

Hey Bob!!!

haahaahahahahahahahaha!

Zip, zero, nadda....

and I just got done listening to the RAVE 2008 reference tracks disc and once again I had the 'ususal' ethereal experience with many of the tracks on this disc...

And for those that really like and search for really great recorded material to test you speakers:

1. Stravinsky Firebird Suite Eiji Oue Minnesota Orch...the SongTowers make listening to classical music a JOY. :)

2. Your Joy - Chrisette Michele --- WOW what an awesome recording of someone I have never heard of..the presentation is like she is there in the middle of the soundstage ..like the speakers are GONE....absolutely stunning!!

3. Mars - Dean Peter...what a wonderful surprise..so full on all kinds os esoteric sounds...from very low amplitude to WHAMO....this will make you smile for sure..

4. Surf's Up! Brian Wilson,,,Holy Crap This kind of simple music never sounded so great.....just another WOW...

5. Bizet - Carmon Fantasie Anne-Sophie-Mutter, Vienner Phil - James Levine
I never really liked classiscal music and now I have realized I have missed out on alot....and look forward to listening a lot more...oh did I also say its really sound great on the SongTowers! :D

6. La Grange....dang its GOOD..

Many thanks to lonewolf42 for oepening my eyes up to lots of new stuff!!

What a great combo....great material and great speakers and so little time!!

Hope some of you look into some of those cited tracks...and enjoy!!

All the best
Alex