New SongTower speakers

[Kitsum]

I' m close to ordering the SEAS Thor (Zeus) speakers from Zalytron, for about the same price. These are also TL, but with the Excel magnesium 6.5" drivers, and OWII tweeters. Of course better drivers doesn't always mean better sound. Are the Songtowers a better deal? The Thors are a dated but classic design.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Pretty sure they are generally made from metal .

Oh, the irony. (Pun intended.)

 

[Swerd]

I' m close to ordering the SEAS Thor (Zeus) speakers from Zalytron, for about the same price. These are also TL, but with the Excel magnesium 6.5" drivers, and OWII tweeters. Of course better drivers doesn't always mean better sound. Are the Songtowers a better deal? The Thors are a dated but classic design.

That would be a very interesting comparison. I couldn't say which might be a better deal. If you have a preference for metal coned woofers over coated paper, you might prefer the Thor, but that is only a guess.

The Thor kit does not use the OWII tweeters, it uses the Seas Millenium T25CF002 tweeters, which are not too shabby. Also, it is a kit, you would probably have to assemble and solder the crossover, and wire and install the drivers. I don't know whether the cabinets from Madisound will be similar in finish to those from Salk. The price is certainly similar.

I haven't heard the Thors, but with those Seas components, a properly designed TL cabinet (it claims -3 dB response at 45 Hz and useable bass below 30 Hz), and the design work of Joseph D'Appolito, it should be excellent.

 

[satish536]

Good thread

These are the only speakers ive heard with ribbon tweeters.

http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=254

Though i think the tweeter was slight improvement over my infinities silk dome ,these speakers dint please me overall !

i think im so used to colored inexpensive speakers that when i listen to expensive considered to be neutral speakers i find them dull.

 

[Kitsum]

If you live with a good neutral speaker for a few weeks, you can't go back. It happened to me, now i find most commercial speakers bright and boomy.

 

[Swerd]

Kitsum

I just reread your post about the Zeus kit. I confused it with the Seas Thor kit. I read about the Thor kit at Madisound, I should have gone to Zalytron's site - my mistake. What is Zalytron's price for the Zeus parts and cabinets? Or are you going to build your own cabinets?

Both kits are MTMs in a TL cabinet that use the same Seas W18 midwoofer. The Zeus uses the Hiquphon ¾" tweeter, and the Thor uses the Seas T25 1" dome tweeter. Just as a guess, I think the smaller dome tweeter might have better dispersion. I've only heard the T25 tweeter once for only a short time, but I am very familiar with the Hiquphon tweeters' sound, and I like it a lot.

Which is a better deal? It depends on price and cabinet quality. I think Salk's cabinets are among the best available, but the SongTowers will have simpler cabinets than other Salk models, and at $1500, they will not have all the finish choices that Salk is so well known for. As a kit, the Zeus offers some savings over the SongTower.

Another thing to consider is cabinet size and footprint. The SongTowers have a rather small footprint, 8" × 11.5", and are about 45" tall. What are the dimensions for the Zeus? It might be larger.

 

[Swerd]

New SongTower pics!

My new SongTowers now have been made. Jim Salk sent me these photos today. He said the camera flash made the color of the unstained cherry veneer look somewhat lighter than it really appears. They may be ready to ship as soon as Thursday!

 

[3db]

Totem forest is TM line speaker

The only other TL speaker I've heard was a Meadlowlark Kestrel a number of years ago. Just like you, I wasn't at all impressed. It lacked bass, and it cost about $2500 if I remember correctly.

That may be why I was so impressed with the Songtowers. I also have a pair of bookshelf 2-way speakers made with the same two drivers. It is in a small vented cabinet. (It's a DIY design, made by Dennis Murphy, see CAOW1 below in my signature line.) They produce bass down to about 50 Hz, and then rapidly drop below that. When I first heard ths Songtowers, Dennis used an electronic tone generator to show that they could rattle windows and doors in his house at 38 Hz.

Here is the frequency response curve from 200 to 20,000 Hz.

Its as flat as I've ever seen. The crossover frequency is about 2600 Hz.

Jim Salk is located just oustide of Detroit, in Oakland, Michigan. That's not too far away for you.

and has gotten rave reviews in Home Theater Magazine. Same kind of response from them, can't believe so much bass is possible from one driver so small. I must audition a pair just to see what its all about. I hope I won't get hooked into upgrading!!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Sweet!!!!!

My new SongTowers now have been made. Jim Salk sent me these photos today. He said the camera flash made the color of the unstained cherry veneer look somewhat lighter than it really appears. They may be ready to ship as soon as Thursday!

 

[3db]

Congrats . They look really nice!!! (NT)

My new SongTowers now have been made. Jim Salk sent me these photos today. He said the camera flash made the color of the unstained cherry veneer look somewhat lighter than it really appears. They may be ready to ship as soon as Thursday!

have fun!!!

 

[Tomorrow]

Report Swerd. Report!

If you don't like 'em...I have an offer I'll make ya....

 

[Swerd]

Report Swerd. Report!

I'd love to oblige, but they are now being shipped to me. The tracking numbers for the boxes don't yet come up on the DHL tracking site. I guess its too early... I've only looked, oh about a half a dozen times this afternoon .

 

[Swerd]

DHL now says delivery will be Friday, that's tomorrow! I think I have to rehearse my "Hey boss, I'm feeling sick this morning" phonecall .

For all those who are curious about how these speakers sound, I may be offline for a while, starting tomorrow...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Go back and read my thread in general AV discussion called "when will Friday come?". Tomorrow is going to be the longest day of your life and the one second you can no longer stand it and have to go to the restroom, is when UPS will be at your house.

 

[3db]

don't rehearse. chug!! chug!! chug!!!

DHL now says delivery will be Friday, that's tomorrow! I think I have to rehearse my "Hey boss, I'm feeling sick this morning" phonecall .

For all those who are curious about how these speakers sound, I may be offline for a while, starting tomorrow...

and tell him your sick as a dog

 

[Swerd]

Go back and read my thread in general AV discussion called "when will Friday come?". Tomorrow is going to be the longest day of your life and the one second you can no longer stand it and have to go to the restroom, is when UPS will be at your house.

 

[oldgoalie33]

I'm lucky since I didn't have to wait for delivery...I was able to audition them at Jim's and take them home with me! The SongTowers are (to my ears) just what I wanted in a speaker. They present a wide and deep soundstage and fill the room with sound. Imaging is very good. I've owned some monitors with perhaps a bit more detail and maybe better imaging, but their overall performance is simply outstanding. Bass response is very impressive, and the treble is airy and transparent. Midrange is expressive and clear. All I can say is that I look forward every day to come home from work just to be able to listen to music: they really give me the connection with music that I've been looking for...that's how good they are for me. Overall, probably the best speaker I can recollect owning in almost 40 years of involvement in this audio 'hobby'. BTW..the build quality is AWESOME too!

 

[Swerd]

Thanks for the comments, and I'm glad to hear how much you enjoy your speakers. By any chance, did you also post under the moniker jd3 on the Salk Audio Circles forum? He bought a pair of STs, with the Honey Locust finish, that Jim had built but never delivered, after listening to them in Jim's shop. He compared STs to some Bud Fried designed speakers that he owned years ago.

Dennis Murphy had earlier commented how he had worked with transmission line designs in the past, including Bud Fried's 2-ways. He said they were disappointing to him because they suffered from midrange colorations due to back waves from the woofer that were insufficiently damped by that TL design.

Dennis says that mathmatical model devolped by Martin King was key to developing a TL design speaker. It allowed him to "achieve the bass benefits of TL loading while eliminating its negative effects in the midrange."

I'm still waiting this morning for word from the delivery guys.

 

[oldgoalie33]

Swerd,

Yep, that was me. It's been a long time, but one thing about the Fried's that I remember was how they gave that 'live' feeling in their presentation. If I remember, the cabinets weren't all that great, and they did have some deficiencies, but I'll never forget that sense of presence they offered...the ST's have that same quality.

John

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Ok Swerd...it is Friday and I am certain you have already looked outside your door 20 times because you thought you heard the UPS truck. It will be a long day but hang in there as your house will be the last stop the truck makes late tonight...