Salk SongTower QWT Floorstanding Speaker Review

[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 ! 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. 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 ! 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...