Perlisten S7t Tower Speaker Review

[TLS Guy]

Well, you're right about one thing. We don't agree. And I suspect we don't listen to the same kinds of music, and certainly not at the same volume. IMHO, It's far more important that speakers don't have any frequency response aberrations that will be particularly annoying on climaxes. I know certain people (like Amir over at ASR) claim they can hear .5% THD, but I simply don't believe it absent a controlled blinded test. I've had my speakers set up in a cavernous hotel conference room with thick carpeting, curtains, and acoustical ceiling tile, and no one complained about compression or any other kind of distortion--not even John Atkinson. I'm sure more headroom is a good thing at some point, but it usually requires sacrifices in other performance attributes or considerably increased cost, and there's a legitimate question as to whether it's worth those compromises for most people.

I have to agree yours is the sane point of view, but some of us are happily mad!

 

[shadyJ]

Well, you're right about one thing. We don't agree. And I suspect we don't listen to the same kinds of music, and certainly not at the same volume. IMHO, It's far more important that speakers don't have any frequency response aberrations that will be particularly annoying on climaxes. I know certain people (like Amir over at ASR) claim they can hear .5% THD, but I simply don't believe it absent a controlled blinded test. I've had my speakers set up in a cavernous hotel conference room with thick carpeting, curtains, and acoustical ceiling tile, and no one complained about compression or any other kind of distortion--not even John Atkinson. I'm sure more headroom is a good thing at some point, but it usually requires sacrifices in other performance attributes or considerably increased cost, and there's a legitimate question as to whether it's worth those compromises for most people.

It seems to me that there are two camps here: people who want real-life level SPLs and dynamics and people who are OK without it. I count myself in the latter camp. Matthew really does regularly listen to stuff at THX Reference levels. He is a crazy person. But I think most listeners don't need that kind of insane output. They would rarely listen to those kinds of loudness levels. And so the sacrifices needed to get there are seldom needed in any given sound system. The speakers and amplifiers needed for that kind of setup has to be huge and/or expensive. To be sure, it can be fun to have, and if you can afford that kind of system and can accommodate it, why not have it. But I have to agree with Dennis that having a good frequency response comes first.

The S7ts gives the user everything, but at a very significant cost for most people. One of the cool things about it is that the huge dynamics that crazy people like Matthew crave really scale with room size and acoustic conditions, but the S7ts can also scale with room size in a sense since they can be listened at a close distance without losing anything, so they can work in a smaller room. And if you do put them in a smaller room, you won't need as much amplification to achieve those wide dynamics as you would a large room.

 

[shadyJ]

Who would ever believe the over $10k speaker market would get crowded... but wait this is actually a $17k speaker? for those who could afford such lofty heights more power to you but for the rest of us peons we will suffer from the likes of Paradigm etc... which I hope you guys will review the new Founder series as a serious contender for entry-level high end... Cheers!

There are speakers a hell of a lot more expensive than $17k/pair. At least with $17k speakers, they are accessible to middle-class buyers, if those buyers are determined to own a state-of-the-art sound system. The six-figure systems are those that are almost totally out of reach for middle-class buyers.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Well, you're right about one thing. We don't agree. And I suspect we don't listen to the same kinds of music, and certainly not at the same volume. IMHO, It's far more important that speakers don't have any frequency response aberrations that will be particularly annoying on climaxes. I know certain people (like Amir over at ASR) claim they can hear .5% THD, but I simply don't believe it absent a controlled blinded test. I've had my speakers set up in a cavernous hotel conference room with thick carpeting, curtains, and acoustical ceiling tile, and no one complained about compression or any other kind of distortion--not even John Atkinson. I'm sure more headroom is a good thing at some point, but it usually requires sacrifices in other performance attributes or considerably increased cost, and there's a legitimate question as to whether it's worth those compromises for most people.

For music I'm in your camp, Dennis. There are cases I've experienced where huge headroom is required. For example, a recording of my wife rambunctiously playing her largest drum kit in her 3800 cubic foot studio. Rim shots or an aggressive kick on her 22" bass drum, not to mention hits on various large cymbals, produce sound levels well in excess of 100db. The few times I've tried to reproduce recordings of that kit made in that room on my music system, I don't think the Salon2s with about 450w/ch really did it with complete fidelity. On the other hand, I don't really want to listen to a big drum kit in a residential room. In her live performances I tend not to be present if the average sound level is going to exceed about 85db, and often it does. It hurts. Listening to fusion jazz in my large (8000 cubic feet +) listening room I may occasionally see peaks in the 92-94db range at my listening seat. That's about it for me. Loud, to me, is 80db on average and maybe 88-90db on peaks for any acoustic music.

But the S7ts, I assume due to their THX rating, are aimed at home theater systems, and I know some people who want startling special effects. In demos some have done for me I've measured peaks of 104db, and had comments that they turned down the volume for my delicate ears. IMO, there are a lot of well-heeled HT nuts out there, and these speakers just might be what they're looking for. Nonetheless, the measurements James did are truly impressive, and if the S7ts sounded better than my 11 year-old Salon2s, I'd seriously consider a pair, and retire the Salon2s to our HT system. They do look like a relative bargain for the performance and build quality. I just wouldn't be stressing them much.

 

[Jerkface]

One of the cool things about it is that the huge dynamics

I checked the specs on these - 25dB between 1w and max SPL. Not that much more than my Belles (22dB).

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by huge dynamics.

 

[D Murphy]

They do look like a relative bargain for the performance and build quality. I just wouldn't be stressing them much.

Kind of Sort of reminds me of the time i tried to talk my Father into getting the 283 small block V8 for our '57 Chevy instead of the Blue Flame six. I had some great arguments. I wonder whether that V8 burned as much oil as our Blue Flame.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Kind of Sort of reminds me of the time i tried to talk my Father into getting the 283 small block V8 for our '57 Chevy instead of the Blue Flame six. I had some great arguments. I wonder whether that V8 burned as much oil as our Blue Flame.

My father had a black ‘57 with a Blue Flame six. I was too young to really remember it, but later in photos I could see how ugly it truly was. Good thing in this decision process, should it come up, I’m not like you in the V8 decision process, I’m the decision-maker, so I’m more like your father. Who knows? Maybe the Perlistens could do a convincing reproduction of the drum kit.

 

[Jerkface]

Kind of Sort of reminds me of the time i tried to talk my Father into getting the 283 small block V8 for our '57 Chevy instead of the Blue Flame six. I had some great arguments. I wonder whether that V8 burned as much oil as our Blue Flame.

Those 283's, with their super-thick cylinder walls, were practically indestructible. Toughest engine Chevy ever made, IMO.

 

[TLS Guy]

Kind of Sort of reminds me of the time i tried to talk my Father into getting the 283 small block V8 for our '57 Chevy instead of the Blue Flame six. I had some great arguments. I wonder whether that V8 burned as much oil as our Blue Flame.

That six cylinder Chevy engine was a really great engine. It powered a really fast hydroplane driven by Toby Sutton back in the fifties. This boat was a huge crowd pleaser at the speedboat racing on Oulton Broad Suffolk. This engine had the Wayne head and the carbs were three UK SUs so a carb for every two cylinders. This boat was big noisy and fast and held the Oulton Broad speed record for many years. It was clocked at 88 MPH on a regular basis.

It was one of the first US Ventnor designed three pointer hulls.

Talking of speedboats. My brother Paul is just finishing the restoration of a 1963 Oulton Board racer, powered by a Jaguar E-type V8

I was recently sent a Video of my nephew Chris doing the first engine start after a total rebuild.

https://photos.google.com/direct/AF1QipPIDiXSCIDDtLcWo8vXSUd1bP8HI53CbKChhaMvZ1oB8LBg8jeliw_dJT9cuFnNfQ/photo/AF1QipPQ3XRHykJgBOLVVsGhjhGIJtLqL1rYBmDu6XXA

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I checked the specs on these - 25dB between 1w and max SPL. Not that much more than my Belles (22dB).

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by huge dynamics.

Are you referring to Klipsch? Those have huge dynamics too. They just make a lot of other compromises to achieve that. The point James is making is that the Perlisten is one of the few speakers capable of huge dynamics and very little other compromises.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Well, you're right about one thing. We don't agree. And I suspect we don't listen to the same kinds of music, and certainly not at the same volume. IMHO, It's far more important that speakers don't have any frequency response aberrations that will be particularly annoying on climaxes. I know certain people (like Amir over at ASR) claim they can hear .5% THD, but I simply don't believe it absent a controlled blinded test. I've had my speakers set up in a cavernous hotel conference room with thick carpeting, curtains, and acoustical ceiling tile, and no one complained about compression or any other kind of distortion--not even John Atkinson. I'm sure more headroom is a good thing at some point, but it usually requires sacrifices in other performance attributes or considerably increased cost, and there's a legitimate question as to whether it's worth those compromises for most people.

mad James said, I do listen loud. But I don’t think it’s that unusual and I am certainly not a unicorn in the audiophile world. Gene is no different. Dan designed these with that intent. He has the same feeling.

I think music lovers pay attention to different throngs and those things are what standout as important. You say that spectral balance and amplitude response errors are your biggest concern. Well I certainly care about those too. My favorite dynamic speakers have no response problems of any great significance. Certainly these do not.

but the thing that stand out in my memory when I have heard live music is often the dynamics. It’s those dynamics and how an artist plays with them that often causes the hair to stand up on my arms. But I’ve never heard a stereo system accurately reproduce these dynamics in a home system or demo at a show. Not even close. It’s always constrained.

imaging is another one. The Soundfield you hear in a real environment has never been accurately reproduced in a home system to a convincing degree. They are all an extreme compromise. With studio recordings there is no way to know what it should sound like. But with plenty of live acosutix music, there is a real reference.

speakers are a key piece of both puzzles and many are compromised To one degree or another. It doesn’t mean they can’t be great speakers or very enjoyable.

 

[D Murphy]

mad James said, I do listen loud. But I don’t think it’s that unusual and I am certainly not a unicorn in the audiophile world. Gene is no different. Dan designed these with that intent. He has the same feeling.

I think music lovers pay attention to different throngs and those things are what standout as important. You say that spectral balance and amplitude response errors are your biggest concern. Well I certainly care about those too. My favorite dynamic speakers have no response problems of any great significance. Certainly these do not.

but the thing that stand out in my memory when I have heard live music is often the dynamics. It’s those dynamics and how an artist plays with them that often causes the hair to stand up on my arms. But I’ve never heard a stereo system accurately reproduce these dynamics in a home system or demo at a show. Not even close. It’s always constrained.

imaging is another one. The Soundfield you hear in a real environment has never been accurately reproduced in a home system to a convincing degree. They are all an extreme compromise. With studio recordings there is no way to know what it should sound like. But with plenty of live acosutix music, there is a real reference.

speakers are a key piece of both puzzles and many are compromised To one degree or another. It doesn’t mean they can’t be great speakers or very enjoyable.

What? Are you trying to get this discussion back on track after I successfully diverted it to 1950's Detroit Iron?
But if you insist, I'm sure there are benefits to massive headroom. I just don't think it's particularly necessary for most people listening to most music in most rooms, and that's why I don't target my speakers that way. I also like to maintain my image as an aging contrarian in an environment where certain "truths" are held to be self-evident. But I better not get started on that.....

 

[Irvrobinson]

but the thing that stand out in my memory when I have heard live music is often the dynamics. It’s those dynamics and how an artist plays with them that often causes the hair to stand up on my arms. But I’ve never heard a stereo system accurately reproduce these dynamics in a home system or demo at a show. Not even close. It’s always constrained.

You're making blanket statements about live music that don't often match my experience. I hear live music a lot, in several venues, and I have recorded live instruments for the purpose of assessing my system, and sometimes the dynamics are greater because the music is louder, but often not. Often symphony performances do not get very loud, especially if you're sitting about midway back in a decently sized auditorium. The loudest I measured at our seats for a orchestra playing Beethoven's 9th symphony a couple of years back was only about 93db on a crescendo. Averages are more in the 70-80db range. Live acoustic jazz in a restaurant that seats a hundred people is not going to be all that loud either. I've never measured a performance approaching 95db. Chamber music in a ballroom venue... maybe you get peaks of 90db, seldom more, unless you're very close to musicians.

All bets are off with amplified music. My wife played in an amplified rock covers band some years ago where I measuring about 100db average at 20 feet. That's not a typo. Her drums were the only unamplified instrument. I stopping going to the gigs and made her wear earplugs. Electric guitars, keyboards, basses, and horns with a mike in the bell can be arbitrarily loud, but this stuff isn't reality. You're listening to an electronic, contrived performance; it can be anything the musicians want it to be.

She also plays in a local big band that performs in public venues. They can get quite loud because the venues are usually too small for such a large group or inappropriate, like having a lot of glass. No one would want a recording of those performances, even though IMO the musicians are quite good. Could a descent system reproduce that? I doubt it; the venue defines the sound, but not in a good way.

Instruments are louder in small rooms, like 99% of residential venues. Multiple people have been surprised by how loud her 4.3 octave marimba can be in her studio. I've already mentioned her biggest drum kit. But in commercial venues unamplified instruments aren't typically approaching 100db. A marimba is suddenly not all that impressive. Perhaps a saxophone or a show-off drum kit gets really loud, but even our upright Steinway in her studio is realistically reproducible. A violin in a small room (e.g. 3000 cubic feet) can be loud, but how many recordings are made this way? Woodwinds... easily reproducible. My step daughter is flautist, she has a BA degree in music from a top university, and I once had her play along with a studio recording of herself for a university audition while standing between my old Legacy Focus speakers, and the realism of the effect was mesmerizing, but not magic.

I read about the unapproachability of live dynamics in Stereophile and other audiophile sites and publications, and have for years, but this doesn't align with most of my experiences except in rare situations. Like a live jazz band with multiple horns in a small to medium size venue playing very loudly. I wear earplugs for those events. Live music can be very engaging and better than you can hear in a residential room, but it isn't the voice of God either.

All of that said, music sounds different if it isn't reproduced at the same volume it was recorded. I think a lot of systems have more distortion reproducing 92db at a listening seat than most people want to admit. I suspect distortion is the reason most people can't listen to their audio systems for as long without fatigue as they can listen to live music at similar volumes.

One other comment. I think there are two kinds of audio enthusiasts around. I'll call them "sounds good" and "sounds accurate". Almost every enthusiast I've ever met is in the "sounds good" camp, and I was until about 2003, and then I started hearing more live music, and recording instruments to assess my system. What a mistake! Caring about accuracy is the worst thing that ever happened to me, audio system-wise. It was easier to enjoy my systems when all I cared about was if they sounded good. IMO, you can always tell a "sounds good" person just by their subs - they're always run too hot. They have favorite music that shows off their systems. They watch action movies they know are dumb just to hear their equipment. Unfortunately, I can't go back. My brain is ruined forever.

 

[Trebdp83]

I read all seven paragraphs and can't go back, either. Wouldn't say it ruined my brain forever as that damage has already been done. The Perlistens are quite a pair of speakers. I can hear Ferris now, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." I'd say, if you want to go on about yourself, start your own f#$kin' thread.

 

[Jerkface]

Are you referring to Klipsch? Those have huge dynamics too. They just make a lot of other compromises to achieve that. The point James is making is that the Perlisten is one of the few speakers capable of huge dynamics and very little other compromises.

Okay, thanks for clarifying. I didn't realize that there are so few speakers out there that can push 20dB over their 1W SPL rating. Seems odd, since 20dB gain from 1w requires 100w, a rating which 99% of the speakers out there are advertised as being able to handle.

 

[Jerkface]

They watch action movies they know are dumb just to hear their equipment.

Okay, this made me laugh. Not wrong, but funny for sure.

 

[chris6878]

View attachment 47746​

Perlisten Audio is a new high-end loudspeaker manufacturer that has already created a buzz with their THX-certified Dominus speakers. They are currently the only loudspeaker manufacturer to hold this rarified level of certification, but there is a heck of a lot more going on with these speakers than a THX logo. Perlisten Audio was established by a group of industry veterans who decided to make the best speakers that they knew how to make instead of designing products to fit some market segment. They set out to make a loudspeaker that they would want to own above all; a loudspeaker designer's loudspeaker. What they came up with aren't the least expensive speakers on the market, but, on paper at least, they seem to have come up with some very serious high-fidelity speakers that push the envelope of loudspeaker design in a number of ways. In for review today is the pinnacle of their efforts, the S7t tower speakers which are their flagship loudspeaker. Read our full review to find out what these experienced engineers have cooked up when they are freed from the constraints of serving specific market product needs and instead design the coolest loudspeakers that they can conceive.

READ: Perlisten S7t Tower Speaker Review

Hopefully they come with a cheaper one with out the subwoofers for home theater use

 

[TLS Guy]

Hopefully they come with a cheaper one with out the subwoofers for home theater use

What sub woofers? It has woofers but no subs. There is no connection for the LFE.

 

[TLS Guy]

I read all seven paragraphs and can't go back, either. Wouldn't say it ruined my brain forever as that damage has already been done. The Perlistens are quite a pair of speakers. I can hear Ferris now, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." I'd say, if you want to go on about yourself, start your own f#$kin' thread.

That was an uncalled for rood post!

 

[Trebdp83]

Really? I thought it was rude.