Perlisten S7t Tower Speaker Review

[shadyJ]

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

They are expanding the less expensive "R" series that have the same technology but not quite as premium parts with a monitor and maybe a bookshelf speaker. We may be doing a review of the R monitor as well. My guess is that the R Monitor will be priced around 4k - 4.5k/pair.

 

[Big-Q]

I enjoyed the review. I am undecided on the looks. Though I could afford these, for my listening room, I am thinking they are to large.

 

[Movie2099]

They are expanding the less expensive "R" series that have the same technology but not quite as premium parts with a monitor and maybe a bookshelf speaker. We may be doing a review of the R monitor as well. My guess is that the R Monitor will be priced around 4k - 4.5k/pair.

Do you know if they are making an In-Wall version of the S7T?

 

[shadyJ]

Do you know if they are making an In-Wall version of the S7T?

I know that they are looking at doing in-walls. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if we did see in-wall versions of the S7ts, but that is just a guess.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I know that they are looking at doing in-walls. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if we did see in-wall versions of the S7ts, but that is just a guess.

It is a fact mr. In walls are coming and they are serious.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

They are expanding the less expensive "R" series that have the same technology but not quite as premium parts with a monitor and maybe a bookshelf speaker. We may be doing a review of the R monitor as well. My guess is that the R Monitor will be priced around 4k - 4.5k/pair.

I have prices on all this but I am not allowed to share yet. Probably in part because the prices might have to change.

there Should be an R series of in walls, bookshelf, monitor, the tower,surrounds, and an entire line of subwoofers. But when this stuff comes out is up in the air. So I wouldn’t hold my breath.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

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.

That isn’t the point. Your forgetting most speakers are very inefficient. Few actually meet their advertised sensitivity rating. Many do but it’s very low. If a speaker is rated at 85dB, then sure it might do 105dB fine. But at 1 meter, that’s only 95dB at 3 meters. I know, some here think that’s plenty. They have to defend their decisions in life. If the goal is 105dB at your listening position as a peak, that’s much less common. That same speaker now needs 900 watts and obviously cannot do that. That is what is so uncommon. Hitting 90-95dB at the listening position is common.

you all can think I am crazy. As I said, I am not alone in this view. Folks like Anthony Grimani, Earl Geddes, Edgar Choueiri, and Dan Roemer all believe this is a critical attribute to realistic sound reproduction and one most speakers fail at.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

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.

While these can play louder than the Salon2 you have, your speakers are still capable of very high peak SPL. According to the documents I’ve seen on their maximum compression limited SPL, they are capable of something like 110+dB with less than 2% distortion and well under 3dB of compression. So I would say the Salon is capable of very loud and should reproduce most music fairly accurately in the dynamics department. If it wasn’t totally doing it accurately in your opinion, doesn’t that further reinforce the notion that more may be necessary to totally accurately reproduce the musical peaks?

I don’t think 117dB is absolutely necessary. But keep in mind that is at 1 meter. These are for big rooms. That’s only 106dB with a 450 watt amp in a large 6000 cubic foot room at a distance of4 meters. In such a room, being able to hit 105dB peak without compression seems like a desirable thing even at lower volumes. It means the speaker won’t be compressing at all. Compression is quite audible and I really think a bigger factor than most assume. It wasn’t a very big core of the Harman research. A number of researchers I know strongly believe that is wrong. I think the problem is really this. Speaker Compression is hard to fake and test. Amplitude irregularities are a low hanging fruit study. Easy to test well. So it isn’t that it doesn’t matter (plenty of MP3 studies show that dynamic compression is a peoblem), but rather we don’t have a good sense of just how much it matters and when. Earl and Edgar both feel it is probably the number 2 most important attribute of accurate sound reproduction.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

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

They are invisible.
If he wants I can sell him one with no subwoofers. It’s 10% cheaper.

 

[chris6878]

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

I meant woofers. Article said some of the price was cause of the woofers.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I meant woofers. Article said some of the price was cause of the woofers.

They make a monitor which is the exact same speaker but with 2 instead of 4 woofers. You lose some efficiency but it’s still an excellent speaker.

if you want the same concept and basic technology without the exotic materials in the cones and domes, that is what the R series is for. It has very good but more traditionally designed drivers. They make the R5T which is a dual woofer tower. The woofer cone material is a long fiber paper cone and the tweeter and midrange drivers are silk domes. The R series is a lot cheaper, about half the price.

 

[panteragstk]

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.

I feel attacked...

Every time I hear better, more accurate speakers than mine I go home and listen and am sad. Until sonic memory fades and I'm sort of happy again.

 

[ryanosaur]

I feel attacked...

Every time I hear better, more accurate speakers than mine I go home and listen and am sad. Until sonic memory fades and I'm sort of happy again.

Sounds good!

 

[Swerd]

Every time I hear better, more accurate speakers than mine I go home and listen and am sad. Until sonic memory fades and I'm sort of happy again.

Call Dr. Murphy or Dr. Salk. Take two of these and call again in the morning . Take your pick:
https://philharmonicaudio.com/images/BMR-Tower-1-cc2-smaller.jpg
https://philharmonicaudio.com/images/BMR-smaller.jpg

https://www.salksound.com/gallery/SongTower%20II/a.jpg

 

[TLS Guy]

I feel attacked...

Every time I hear better, more accurate speakers than mine I go home and listen and am sad. Until sonic memory fades and I'm sort of happy again.

I note you are committed to in walls. Those systems are really hard to pull off. I don't think those manufacturers of those units are known for cutting edge speaker design. I see you built your subs, so may be you could build some better in walls.

 

[Eppie]

I note you are committed to in walls. Those systems are really hard to pull off. I don't think those manufacturers of those units are known for cutting edge speaker design. I see you built your subs, so may be you could build some better in walls.

Well, at least he knows who to call if he needs a designer.

 

[panteragstk]

I note you are committed to in walls. Those systems are really hard to pull off. I don't think those manufacturers of those units are known for cutting edge speaker design. I see you built your subs, so may be you could build some better in walls.

True, I could go down this route. I need to build better subs for sure.

If I get the time, building my own would be very cool. I'd have to take a lot of consideration since I'm not sure how long I plan to stay in this house. I could always remove them of course.

I'm actually quite impressed with how my in-walls turned out. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but in my space there was little choice.

 

[Mikado463]

I enjoyed the review. I am undecided on the looks.

Ditto, as for the looks, butt ugly with the driver/grill covers on........

 

[Trebdp83]

I'm telling you, the WAF would be much improved if approached skillfully. "Hey babe, if I get you that Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite bag, would you mind if I got the matching speakers?" Hey, if you're gonna' spend that kind of money on the speakers, what's a bit more for the bag?

 

[bombadil]

hi mattew. I'm looking seriously at these speakers and would have two choices for amps. The setting is a bedroom, occasional listening at 90-95, distance 3 meters and often listening to classical music. I could use a pair of bridged AHB2 or a pair of March Audio P701 monoblocks. Both should have plenty of power but I know bridging comes with some consequences and I'd be biased toward the March. What do you think?