Salk SongTower RT (ribbon tweeter) Review - 4 parts

[macddmac]

I have six sets of speakers and not one tower among them..you've got me thinking about a re-org
Baseboards look great btw- what's with the trim boards in front of the built in?
Love that paint man!
Cheers, Mac

 

[KEW]

... Salk and Philharmonic owners are eager to be "ambassadors" for their speakers. I'm glad you saw it that way instead of thinking we are like unwanted Jehovah's Witness missionaries knocking on your door . I think, you now understand our zeal, everyone should have speakers like these...

There is no question but that Dennis Murphy has a "gift" - the right skill sets and desire to design great speakers/crossovers. He is a tremendous asset to the audio community, and you are lucky to have him close by!

For me the "fan-boyism" gets out of control when people act as if there's is the only solution

However, I must say that I owned the Salk SongTower RT's and my Focal Solo6Be's for 2 years and had them in the same room to A/B and it is my truth that the Focals are better speakers.

When I originally stated my honest experiences with these two speakers, I met a lot of resistance and my rep points got hammered by Salk fan-boys. This is where the ambassadors become detractors.

I was glad that Dennis was open and enthusiastic to evaluating the Focals. He is truly about sharing the joy of audio.

To be clear, the Salk STRT's are great speakers, I would not have sold them to Alex if they were not. However, the Salks were the ones I sold. If you have these speakers, you should appreciate that you have a very good speaker. Just don't fool yourself to think that it is the only option.

 

[Alex2507]

Man, I really like how that room turned out. Good job!

I see you have the Song series going on too. Being a part of this little club is turning out to be a great deal of fun. I watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower last night. It had a lot of music it that constantly reminded me how much I enjoy having these.

Think about becoming the southeast New England Salk ambassador and let others hear these wonderful speakers. Individual styles of hospitality of course vary, so in your case, maybe you should stock up on duct tape, chloroform, and Mazola oil .

LMAO ... Mazola oil ... LOL.

Demo-ing speakers with old neighbors just isn't where it's at. I wouldn't feel right having somebody come out here for a reigned in demo ... unless they understood that it would be such. Consider that my upstairs neighbor complained to me about the noise my bathroom exhaust fan made. I believe I'm on my third one in the course of 6 years. It seems that after a few years of use it takes on a pitch that is somehow amplified in his space.

My downstairs neighbor complained to my girl about me playing loud music right after I brought the DIY subs home. I pled nolo contendere.
She changed her tune after I fixed a door for her that the fire dept. had kicked in. She had fallen and couldn't get up.

Both these neighbors are elderly and I'm scared sh!t that when they meet their maker they will tell him that they are sorry to have known me.

btw- what's with the trim boards in front of the built in?

I'm trying to figure out if I want to use Mahogany or Cherry to trim out the shelf for the center channel. It was pretty early when I took that pic and I was too lazy to break out the tripod. However this morning although it's just as early I'm not quite so dragged out and I figured that in the interest of full disclosure I'd get a little more in focus. These first two pic's include the SongTowers. The varying lighting conditions show what's going on with the grain. Also you can see that I need to cut in the caulk line and putty up the nail holes.

The next two pic's are what's called a 'derailment'. The light thing is tricky and I'm not really that good with a camera but I try. All those little sticks were something else and are mostly different from each other. There's plastic laminate in there too. I milled all of it and stained the pieces that are Poplar trying to match the Mahogany ... anyway this shows some more of the detail in the woodwork.

my rep points got hammered by Salk fan-boys.

Rep points I can fix but I can't imagine anybody of any worth handing out red rep first of all to you and second of all for that.

To be clear, the Salk STRT's are great speakers, I would not have sold them to Alex if they were not. However, the Salks were the ones I sold.

Well ... how much for the Focals? Now that you have the Phil3s there really isn't any point of keeping those little bookshelves. Let's face it, if a speaker doesn't take up as much space as a VW Beatle ... it's gotta go. They would be great for me to use in a bedroom system with them not needing amplification ... but I could probably still use another amp.

No speaker is the end of the line and the enjoyment of music playback will always have more to do with the music than the speaker so at best any speaker takes a back seat to a good song ... unless it's a country song. Then it's your cousin that's taking the back seat.

 

[KEW]

What is the vase thing next to the left ST? Ceramic? Wood?

Rep points I can fix but I can't imagine anybody of any worth handing out red rep first of all to you and second of all for that.

My philosophy about that is I had to deal with them once, but they are stuck with themselves for life (unless they get better).
OH! It needs to be said that I do not, by any means, believe Swerd was responsible for that. (He is a man of honor - but don't tell him I said that - it might go to his head).

Well ... how much for the Focals? Now that you have the Phil3s there really isn't any point of keeping those little bookshelves. Let's face it, if a speaker doesn't take up as much space as a VW Beatle ... it's gotta go. They would be great for me to use in a bedroom system with them not needing amplification ... but I could probably still use another amp.

You can buy a pair for $2700 including amplification; I have plans for my Focals. Things have been moving slow, but I am about to get them setup (with a pair of small subs) to A/B against my Phil3's I don't expect the Focals to take on the Phils, but I am interested to see what differences manifest. Murphy's only negative comment on the Focals was that there might be a little bit of beaming at the upper frequencies of the woofer. I believe this is pretty common when you cross a 6.5" woofer to a tweeter. I am interested in seeing if I can pick this out.
But ultimately, the Focals will end up in my bedroom or living room. As you allude with your VW comment, the one complaint about the Phil3's is the size. Visually, they dominate (maybe, overwhelm) any normal sized room. I set them up in my full basement (1500 sq ft with only one framed wall - no sheet rock) and am amazed with the sound I get out of this concrete cavern (carpet and treatments are not yet in place)!

 

[Nuance AH]

If you have these speakers, you should appreciate that you have a very good speaker. Just don't fool yourself to think that it is the only option.

Exactly. The Focal's are great speakers too, and your personal happiness is all that matters.

 

[Swerd]

OH! It needs to be said that I do not, by any means, believe Swerd was responsible for that. (He is a man of honor - but don't tell him I said that - it might go to his head).

Too late! Almost as soon as I read that, my head swelled up several sizes . It's a good thing I just went to the bathroom before logging on this morning (I'm "working at home" this snowy morning), because now my head is too big to get through the doorway. Maybe by the time those 3 cups of coffee filter through me, my head will shrink enough to get through the doorway again. Otherwise, I'll have to use the trashcan next to the desk .

You can buy a pair for $2700 including amplification; I have plans for my Focals. Things have been moving slow, but I am about to get them setup (with a pair of small subs) to A/B against my Phil3's I don't expect the Focals to take on the Phils, but I am interested to see what differences manifest. Murphy's only negative comment on the Focals was that there might be a little bit of beaming at the upper frequencies of the woofer. I believe this is pretty common when you cross a 6.5" woofer to a tweeter. I am interested in seeing if I can pick this out.

I remember several things about those Focals. First was how good the woofer sounded, on both ends of the spectrum. Deep and potent bass, nicely tuned in those small cabinets without exaggeration, combined with detailed and textured mid range. That was enough to make them sound first rate. I listened to the upper ranges but found the tweeter did nothing objectionable. At first, I thought the overall balance was just a bit bright or crisp, but after I moved away from that large glass window, found they sounded much better balanced. I had heard plenty of talk about beryllium dome tweeters, and wondered how much of that was uninformed hype, but those Focals you have are really very nice.

I would need to listen to a variety of music over a long time before I could say anything about a beaming woofer or whether there was any noticeable disparity in dispersion between the upper range of the woofer and the lower range of the tweeter. On the other hand, Dennis could tell something like that in under a minute.

But ultimately, the Focals will end up in my bedroom or living room. As you allude with your VW comment, the one complaint about the Phil3's is the size. Visually, they dominate (maybe, overwhelm) any normal sized room. I set them up in my full basement (1500 sq ft with only one framed wall - no sheet rock) and am amazed with the sound I get out of this concrete cavern (carpet and treatments are not yet in place)!

As Dan likes to say about his large ugly but wonderful sounding Vandersteens, "Who cares if you can't afford the speakers! When you die you can be buried in them!"

 

[Rickster71]

OH! It needs to be said that I do not, by any means, believe Swerd was responsible for that. (He is a man of honor - but don't tell him I said that - it might go to his head).

You until the point he started hanging around with Alex.

 

[Alex2507]

I watched a movie called Late Quartet. Good movie to begin with but what the quartet does sounded wonderful. Then when the quartet wasn't doing anything they used classical music as a backdrop. Mind you the subs didn't see a lot of action but I got a bit of an education on first and second violin. After the mini education they perform something and you get to hear what they were trying to explain. For me it was an eye opener. With a full orchestra it's difficult for me to tell who's doing what but when it's only two violins I could easily see who was playing what and could appreciate that this one piece of music took two people playing different parts that not only work together but need each other as the parts are so much less than the whole.

This is still new to me and it's odd that when I got my last speaker upgrade it was all about them being more capable on the bottom end. This upgrade has me appreciating the mids in the form of speech and violin music. So far everything I have listened to has been a delight. AH may need to bring back the Couch Potato rank.

What is the vase thing next to the left ST? Ceramic? Wood?

It's ceramic.

... until the point he started hanging around with Alex.

Never let your morals get in the way of doing what's right.