My review of Salk Sound Veracity HT-1 Speakers

I wanted to post my impressions of Salk Sounds Veracity HT-1 speakers.
After having lived with them in my home theater for almost a year now,
I feel my comments may be helpful to anyone considering these excellent
speakers.

First, a bit of history. I have been a music and movie buff for more
than 40 years. I own well over 1000 CD's, 400 DVD's, and more albums
than I care to count. I became interested in "good" sound when I was in
college and my first stereo system was a Dynakit amp, AR turntable,
and AR speakers. Over the years, I have owned various brands of
speakers, amps, preamps, and receivers. Commercial speakers that I have owned
include AR, KLH, Boston Accoustic, Martin Logan, and Snell. More
recent additions have been Triad, Energy Ascend, and RBH Status.

I became interested in the custom and DIY speaker builders when I read
a post by Jim Salk on the AVS forum about the percentage of cost of the
drivers and parts to retail price in a typical commercial speaker. I was
intrigued by the very high quality drivers and parts used in a typical
custom-built speaker.

After studying the backgrounds of some of the individuals in the custom
speaker building field, I decided to contract Jim Salk to build me a
pair of Veracity HT-1's. Once the decision was made, Jim kept me
apprised of the progress weekly, and consulted me whenever any decisions were
needed.

When I took delivery of the speakers (shipped and boxed very
carefully), I couldn't believe the quality of the woodworking and attention to
detail. Awesome!

My current set-up is in a dedicated home theater which I also use for
music (50/50 split). My preamp is a Sherwood Newcastle P-965 (that
replaced a B & K 31), B & K 7270 amp, Denon 2200 DVD payer, dual turntable,
DVDO HD video processor, and a NEC 10 PG projector. The room was built
with soundboard and has other accoustic treatments (bass traps, etc.)
I have two subs (HSU and SVS) and use Triad Silver in wall surrounds
for the rear and side speakers.

How do the Veracity's sound? They are the best speakers I have ever
owned. They are extremely smooth and detailed. Clairity in the midrange
and highs is remarkable. I attribute this to the very expensive
drivers used in these speakers. Since they are a two way, they will not
plumb the deepest bass. They do not lack bass, however, and the bass is
very tight - no boominess in these speakers. They have the most dynamic
range of any speakers I have owned.

I would characterize these speakers as neutral. I would not recommend
these speakers to someone who wants a warm or more laid back sound.
They are not forgiving speakers. A poorly recorded CD will sound poorly
recorded. However, play a CD like "Riding With the King", by Eric
Clapton and BB King, and you will swear they are in the room.

I will end by using the phrase everyone sees in all the magazines -
highly recommended.

Randy Bessinger