Salk Sound Veracity HT2-TL Review

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
With the SongTowers, Salk Sound redefined the under $2k price point and now it looks like they are trying to do the same with the under $4k. The performance of the Veracity's is in a completely different league from other speakers I've heard in this, and higher price categories. With commanding bass, ruler flat response, and what is possibly the finest veneer I've ever seen on a speaker, it's hard to find something about the Veracity HT2-TLs to not like. You owe it to yourself to hear the Veracity HT2-TLs.


Discuss "Salk Sound Veracity HT2-TL Review" here. Read the article.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
What an impressive review! For a Salk speaker fan, that review was pure pleasure. Tom got it right with these speakers. I've heard them often enough to know that, even though I've loved my SongTowers for over two years, I am jealous of the HT2-TLs.

Tom's speaker "foot fetish" as always, is entertaining :D.

Well, I might quibble with Tom's guess about the reason for the height of the cabinet on the first page of the review. As far as I understand, the cabinet height was determined by the designer Paul Kittenger, who also designed the SongTower cabinet. He optimized the bass tuning using Martin King's design software by varying the length of of the column of air inside the cabinet - the cabinet height. The best bass tuning for the HT2-TL turned out be similar to the height of the SongTower. As far as I know that similarity was not intentional, it was a coincidence.
 
krzywica

krzywica

Audioholic Samurai
I would love to hear some of these. Never heard anything from Salk but I have heard nothing but good stuff about them.

It would be nice to save up and get some really really good towers that will last me 20 years.
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
It would be nice to save up and get some really really good towers that will last me 20 years.
... or in Swerd's case, two years. :D

I gotta caution you about running out and listening to stuff you can't afford. ;)
Going home is really a let down. :(
 
N

Nuance AH

Audioholic General
Nice review, Tom. Thanks for taking the time to do what you do, and this goes for everything, not just Salk reviews. You guys don't get enough credit for your hard work.

Kudos to Tom and the rest of the Audioholics team.

P.S. I love my SongTower's, but I wouldn't complain if I had HT2-TL's. :)
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Nice review and an enjoyable read (as always), Tom!

After I read your comment:

"Imaging was also very good. As you'd expect with a ribbon tweeter, three-dimensionality was increased. Out of all the speakers I've ever heard in this room, the Salk Veracity HT2-TLs probably imaged the best"

I was a bit surprised these speakers rated a "4" for imaging. Was this a typo or correct? Any comments on this are welcome.

PS: FYI, the link for the photo of the drivers loose from the cabinet didn't work. I don't mean to be critical - the complexity of getting all of the details right the first time is obvious!

Cheers,
Kurt (who misspelled the word "is" in the abstract for his masters thesis:()
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
... or in Swerd's case, two years. :D

I gotta caution you about running out and listening to stuff you can't afford. ;)
Going home is really a let down. :(
It's like checking out other women even though you've been married for 31 years. My wife (who is well aware of this) says "It's alright if you read the menu, just as long as you come home for dinner."

I may dream of HT2-TLs, but I'll go home to my SongTowers - and be happy with them ;).
 
krzywica

krzywica

Audioholic Samurai
It's like checking out other women even though you've been married for 31 years. My wife (who is well aware of this) says "It's alright if you read the menu, just as long as you come home for dinner."
Yeah I need to put a football helmet on and then tell my girlfriend that.
 
Warpdrv

Warpdrv

Audioholic Ninja
For sure the HT2-TL's are super nice speakers...

For me after hearing them, It really came down to those and the Sig S8's.
I loved the HT2-TL's when I heard them at Terry's house, and he stopped by my house and thought the Sigs are just as nice...
 
oldgoalie33

oldgoalie33

Junior Audioholic
Very good review. Like Swerd and Nuance, I too have SongTowers and love them, though if I had the money I’d probably ‘move up’ in the Salk lineup. I’ve yet to hear the HT1-TL’s or the HT2-TL’s, and I hope to hear both at AKFEST, but I have listened to the HT-4’s at Jim’s, so I’m probably spoiled for anything less! Fortunately for me my wife loves our ST's too, so 'moving up' won't be a big problem with her.
 
S

scott911

Full Audioholic
Would it be an overstatement, to make the assumption that these speAkers, or ribbon tweaters in general, should be avoided if I need a wide sound stage due to spread out seating positioning in a living roon type setting?
 
D

Dennis Murphy

Audioholic General
Thanks very much for the careful (and positive) review Tom. The one issue that jumps out is your observation about the possibly restricted width of the soundstage on both the HT2 TL and the Song Tower. The only explanation I can think of would be the MTM configuration they share. If you had only noticed a narrower soundstage on the the HT2, I would have concluded that it was related to the LCY ribbon, which has a wider element than some other ribbons, and therefore might have more restricted horizontal dispersion (but superior vertical dispersion due to his shorter height). But the little 0W2 some tweeter used in the ST has about the best dispersion out there, so it can't be a question of tweeter dispersion. It also can't be the crossover slopes, because the 4th order Linkwitz Riley acoustic slopes I chose are widely used by other manufacturers. That leaves the MTM design, which was originally developed to optimize vertical lobing, and not for any particular performance in the horizontal domain. But the soundstaging characteristics of MTM's aren't all that well understood, and the driver placement may in fact affect soundstage width. There seems to be a compensating advantage in imaging, so I guess this is just another one of those trade-offs so prevalent in audio.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Yeah I need to put a football helmet on and then tell my girlfriend that.
Give her a Nerf bat. It hurts a lot less than a real one. OTOH, if she soaks it in water and freezes it,......
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Would it be an overstatement, to make the assumption that these speAkers, or ribbon tweaters in general, should be avoided if I need a wide sound stage due to spread out seating positioning in a living roon type setting?
Yes, I agree it would be an overstatement. There are some generalizations about ribbon tweeters that don't appear to be true for all makes and models of ribbon tweeters.

A speaker's ability to disperse sound widely is one of the important features that contribute to the impression of wide sound stage when listening in stereo. Physics tells us that tweeters (or any driver) produce broadly dispersed sound when the wavelength is larger than the diameter or width of the driver. When a dome tweeter's diameter is about the same size as the wavelength, it begins to beam the sound in a narrower pattern, much like a flashlight does compared to a bare lightbulb. So for a 1" dome, beaming would begin at about 13.5 kHz, and for a ¾" dome about 18 kHz.

Vertical dispersion is also an issue, but not as important as horizontal dispersion if listeners remain seated. Dome tweeters are round, so their vertical dispersion is similar to their horizontal. But ribbon tweeters, especially if they are taller than they are wide, have noticeably less vertical dispersion than their horizontal dispersion. It is worth pointing out that the LCY ribbon tweeters in the Salk HT2-TL (and also other Salk models) are about the same height as they are wide, and don't suffer from this problem as much as other ribbon tweeters.
 
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Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
… As far as I understand, the cabinet height was determined by the designer Paul Kittenger, who also designed the SongTower cabinet. He optimized the bass tuning using Martin King's design software by varying the length of of the column of air inside the cabinet - the cabinet height. The best bass tuning for the HT2-TL turned out be similar to the height of the SongTower. As far as I know that similarity was not intentional, it was a coincidence.
I spelled Paul's last name incorrectly, it should be Kittinger. Paul, sorry for that.
 
F

FirstReflection

AV Rant Co-Host
Scott 911,

If you are very concerned about having extremely wide dispersion, I would offer my suggestion that you consider Paradigm's newest Signature Series speakers with their Beryllium tweeters and ribbed-surround drivers.

I can't comment directly on the HT2-TL speakers as I have not heard them for myself. But at this sort of price range, I simply assume that you would want to at least audition and consider several candidates. I do not make my suggestion as any sort of knock against the Salks or any other speaker. I only suggest the Paradigm Signatures because I have heard those and I know for a fact that their dispersion is extremely wide. The width of their soundstage really stood out to me in my listening. So if that is a particular characteristic for which you are looking, the Paradigm Signatures jump to mind is all :)
 
Warpdrv

Warpdrv

Audioholic Ninja
As stated earlier - I own the Paradigm Sigs with the Be Tweets and they are fantastic like FirstReflection suggested.... but the HT2-TL's are an incredible sounding speaker, their presentation is nothing to shake a stick at. The Ribbon tweet was of the best I have ever heard... and I can't say that their room dispersion was lacking.

Every room is different - and each scenario is different...

If you have the room for move these speakers around - from back and side walls the HT2-TL's can be some of the best sounding speakers you could want to own...
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
Yes, I agree it would be an overstatement. There are some generalizations about ribbon tweeters that don't appear to be true for all makes and models of ribbon tweeters.

A speaker's ability to disperse sound widely is one of the important features that contribute to the impression of wide sound stage when listening in stereo. Physics tells us that tweeters (or any driver) produce broadly dispersed sound when the wavelength is larger than the diameter or width of the driver. When a dome tweeter's diameter is about the same size as the wavelength, it begins to beam the sound in a narrower pattern, much like a flashlight does compared to a bare lightbulb. So for a 1" dome, beaming would begin at about 13.5 kHz, and for a ¾" dome about 18 kHz.
Actually, a 3/4" tweeter usually starts to have dispersion problems by 8-9kHz. One can use a specific waveguide design to increase dispersion, but most wave guides are used to do the opposite. On Jerry Love's speaker system, I used a ribbon with a very narrow horizontal area and a reasonably shallow front magnet structure(which can effect dispersion by means of physical blockage of path on some ribbons), to effect near identical response even at +/- 75 degrees, at 15kHz.

-Chris
 
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sholling

sholling

Audioholic Ninja
I'm just curious how you think Song Towers with the ribbon tweeter option would compare to the HT2-TL? Some place in the middle or not in the same league?
 

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