All mahogany: 10/10
All burl: 10/10
Two-tone like that: no way in hell. My opinion of of course. It's what the buyer wanted, right? Eye of the beholder and all that...
I thought the same. The owner had something to say about that. He wants to use the cloth grills on the speakers. These large grills (not shown in Jim Salk's photos) will cover all 3 drivers and nearly all the mahogany front. So he will see the elm burl veneer on the sides and top, the grill cloth, and the mahogany edges of the front. This way, the speakers don't appear to be two toned. That makes more sense.
See the post from DFpritchard in this thread
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=159354.0#msg1701816
"My objective in picking the combination of veneers was to do something interesting. I think burl woods are fascinating and wanted to work with these. I had originally picked cherry to go with the Carpathian burl wood but Jim suggested that the wood tones and grain in mahogany would be a better choice. Once the cabinets were veneered and a couple of the finish coats done, Jim asked about the final top coat and adding a bit of dye to bring out some of the colors in the undyed burl wood. I do like the overall effect, in part because the finish on the mahogany really sets off the Carpathian burl wood sides. What does not show in Jim's photos is the speaker tops, which are also finished in Carpathian elm burl. I think the burl tops tie the sides together nicely. I listen with the speaker grills in place, so the mahogany does not show. Jim's guidance on veneers, dye and finishes resulted in what, to my eye and taste, is a lovely pair of speakers. Being able to participate in the creation of the speakers (if only passively through the selection of veneer lots) is one of the reasons I chose Salk.
By the way, the Song3s sound awfully good, too. That's the other reason I went with Salk."
The carpathian elm burl veneer must be expensive. Using mahogany on the front saves money.
