MartinLogan ESL vs. Salk Song Tower or Ascend Seirra Tower

[jazzzman]

Kruz, what did you end up doing?

 

[Kruz]

I was surprised to see this thread pop back up.

I completed discounted the ESL's after doing some research and finding out they need a lot of space from the rear walls (something I don't have at all). I listened to a pair of the Ascend towers and loved the sound of the ribbon tweeters and just liked the rest of the sound. After reading a ton of reviews and seeing the amazing wood work of Salk I have decided to go for a pair of song towers and a song center all with the ribbon tweeter. Jim has been very patient with all of my questions and a pleasure to deal with. Especially after getting a severely bad taste in my mouth after dealing with in town hi-fi audio shops here! I've picked the silver gray finish over curly maple and plan to put in my order officially next month.

For the rears I'm 99% sure I will go with a pair of Ascend HTM's. In terms of the project as a whole I just got my last quote for the in wall wiring and need to finalize floating shelf placement. I've ordered 250 ft of 12 AWG in wall wiring from a Canadian distributor of monoprice stuff (123inkcartridges.ca - highly recommended for any Canadians by the way. Great customer service! Awful site name ).

I plan to start a build thread once the wiring starts so I can take pictures along the way.

 

[Swerd]

… After reading a ton of reviews and seeing the amazing wood work of Salk I have decided to go for a pair of song towers and a song center all with the ribbon tweeter. Jim has been very patient with all of my questions and a pleasure to deal with.

I've picked the silver gray finish over curly maple and plan to put in my order officially next month.

I had initially followed this thread, but had decided against saying anything. I forget why .

Congratulations on your choice! I've been listening to my STs for over 6 years, and still love them. Of the three different speakers you were considering, Salks probably have the best finish quality, and believe it or not, over the years, that feature becomes more important. My STs are the nicest looking piece of furniture I own. And my wife agrees.

Your impressions of being a customer of Jim Salk is the same as everybody's. He's really that good.

We all look forward to your photos.

 

[Kruz]

Thanks Swerd. I look forward to taking them as all of the planning becomes reality!

 

[Alex2507]

Cool! I've got SongTowers with ribbons as well ... and I use to live in Calgary.

 

[ImcLoud]

Congrats on nailing it down, the song towers are a good choice..

 

[Kruz]

Thanks guys!

 

[TheHills44060]

Just listened to the ESL's yesterday. Typical ML sound which I love but they were a bit too small. I've owned the Aerius i's and Prodigy's so I like something a bit more expansive but still a great speaker. I've never heard a Salk speaker but they are just so damn aesthetically ugly i'd never buy one. I like B&W's but the CM series is not my cup of tea. I despise the silver woofer trim rings and they are too lively for me. I don't have an opinion about Ascend.


EDIT: Just saw you got the Salks. Congrats. Hope you specified veneer matched bases and front baffle otherwise they look like garbage but your eyes are the only ones that matter.

 

[crossedover]

Just listened to the ESL's yesterday. Typical ML sound which I love but they were a bit too small. I've owned the Aerius i's and Prodigy's so I like something a bit more expansive but still a great speaker. I've never heard a Salk speaker but they are just so damn aesthetically ugly i'd never buy one. I like B&W's but the CM series is not my cup of tea. I despise the silver woofer trim rings and they are too lively for me. I don't have an opinion about Ascend.


EDIT: Just saw you got the Salks. Congrats. Hope you specified veneer matched bases and front baffle otherwise they look like garbage but your eyes are the only ones that matter.

So Salks are ugly passive aggressive much?

 

[JonnyFive23517]

Hope you specified veneer matched bases and front baffle otherwise they look like garbage but your eyes are the only ones that matter.

You've said this more than one time. I and many other Salk owners are perfectly happy with our black bases. Personally, I think it would look strange to have my base match the rest of the speaker. Do your shoes match your pants? Ugh, and my grills are black too...I guess I should have had them done in wood veneer color too because now it looks like garbage. Woe is me!!!

 

[Kruz]

This is all pretty subjective. I too think it would be weird to have the stands match the rest of the speaker. In terms of the front I am going with the hard wood trim option so I can have the veneer cover the whole front with no issues on the corner. The Salk's have a classic look to them that I like. I like big tower speakers. The wood work (esp. the guitar type finishes) make these gorgeous in my opinion.

Just listened to the ESL's yesterday. Typical ML sound which I love but they were a bit too small. I've owned the Aerius i's and Prodigy's so I like something a bit more expansive but still a great speaker. I've never heard a Salk speaker but they are just so damn aesthetically ugly i'd never buy one. I like B&W's but the CM series is not my cup of tea. I despise the silver woofer trim rings and they are too lively for me. I don't have an opinion about Ascend.


EDIT: Just saw you got the Salks. Congrats. Hope you specified veneer matched bases and front baffle otherwise they look like garbage but your eyes are the only ones that matter.

 

[Alex2507]

I don't have an opinion about Ascend.

What a pity. I was so looking forward to more of your opinions.

 

[JonnyFive23517]

This is all pretty subjective. I too think it would be weird to have the stands match the rest of the speaker. In terms of the front I am going with the hard wood trim option so I can have the veneer cover the whole front with no issues on the corner.

The quality of the woodworking is top notch. There would never be any issues on the corners, whichever trim you picked.

 

[copmagnet82]

I recently listened to the MartinLogan ESL's and was really blow away. I loved how clear they sounded with a ton of detail. I have also listened to the B&W CM9s and didn't like how the highs felt too high (is this called being too bright?).

you though that CM9's were brighter then ESL's ???

 

[Alex2507]

This is all pretty subjective. I too think it would be weird to have the stands match the rest of the speaker.

Here's a pic of similar looking STs but one without a plinth. I prefer the contrasting look of 'with a plinth' than the monotone look of 'without a plinth'. In all honesty I recall first seeing that plinth and thinking how I wanted to make something like that. Sometimes Salk owners call each other in the middle of the night to talk about their fabulous plinths.

 

[Kruz]

Oh I didn't mean it like that. Jim told me that if I didn't go with a black baffle around the drivers I had two options because of the veneer finish on mdf: Have the corners black, something he called the burst effect or do a hardwood trim option.

After seeing tons of pictures I don't have any concerns about the finish on Salk products.

The quality of the woodworking is top notch. There would never be any issues on the corners, whichever trim you picked.

 

[Swerd]

Sometimes Salk owners call each other in the middle of the night to talk about their fabulous plinths.

Hey, it's been a while. How's your plinth been hanging?

 

[TheHills44060]

What a pity. I was so looking forward to more of your opinions.

The Ascends certainly seem to have a following but I haven't had any experience with them before. I don't know anyone who owns a pair I could check out.

Oh I didn't mean it like that. Jim told me that if I didn't go with a black baffle around the drivers I had two options because of the veneer finish on mdf: Have the corners black, something he called the burst effect or do a hardwood trim option.

Oh that's cool you at least have a couple options other than the black baffle. Pretty accommodating. I don't like the edge burst but the hardwood option sounds interesting.