I want to preface the following review by stating that I listened to many speakers before deciding to go with the Salks. Mostly in the sub $3000 range. If anyone is interested, I documented my search
here. I would heartily recommend the SongTower QWT (either with the dome or the ribbon tweeter) for those wanting to stay on a tighter budget.
My HT3s cost quite a bit more than I originally set out to spend, but I splurged a bit, and I am happy that my search ended with these beauties:
Now that I have had them for a few weeks and had a chance to listen to a wide variety of music and movies through the HT3s, and I felt it was time to do a little write-up. I have posted some random notes as I have experienced them here and in various other threads around the net but I will try and gather some of my thoughts as I write this.
First off, the HT3s are extremely revealing. Their sound changes as I switch my source; tubes; and from recording to recording. They also show an obvious difference between net radio streamed Mp3 files (a lot of my listening lately, while waiting for my computer to get fixed) and those that have been encoded in a lossless format (FLAC in my case). Last night was the first chance that I had to listen to everything in my disc-less 2 channel system. I set the MW Transporter to play random FLAC files and sat down for a listen. I was utterly
speechless. What was supposed to be a 5 minute check to make sure that everything was working again turned into a very fast hour of sitting there with a perm-a-grin stuck to my face.
Strangely enough I don't think that I had listened to any
Miles Davis on my HT3s before last night (I say strangely, because he is one of my favorite artists) but
Freddie Freeloader from the album
Kind of Blue came up and I was blown away by the subtleties of tone, and the clarity of the bass, drums, cymbals, sax (both Tenor and Alto), piano, and trumpet... Outstanding! Everything was so clear and natural sounding that it's no wonder that
Kind of Blue is the best selling Jazz album of all time.
There has been a lot of talk recently (including a dedicated thread on AudioCircle) about lousy recordings and not enjoying them anymore because your system makes them sound unbearable. I have been deliberately withholding my opinions from that thread because that is part of what I wanted to talk about here. Turns out that (once again) Nuance and I have similar views on the subject...
Now that I have the HT3s I have noticed a significant variety of recording qualities; from static filled 60's soul; to thin and under bass(ed) 80's rock; to over compressed 90's & 00's pop, rock and dance; to some sublimely recorded Jazz and electronic music; to some truly awful punk recordings (that sound like they were made from a single "condenser" mic built into a handheld cassette recorder that was designed to record dictations and lectures...) The variance is astounding, and I don't even own any "audiophile" recordings (yet), only redbook CDs. Each and every one of those recordings adds some character to the music, and none of it actually sounds any worse than it did before. What has happened is that the well recorded, and nicely mastered stuff sounds incredible! It is an absolute treat when listening to something that has has been recorded with care, and attention to detail. The stuff that is less than stellar is still enjoyable to me, though I do find myself taking note of the crappy recording quality, I try my best not to let that distract me from enjoying the music itself.
For movies/DVDs the HT3/HTC combo has been utterly fantastic. I am consistently surprised at how much information is pumped through the center channel, and the HTC handles it with grace and clarity. With no sub in my system I know that I am missing the deepest tones in the films, but the HT3s dig deep enough for me not to worry too much about it. Vocals and weird electronic sounds sound are reproduced flawlessly. The ribbon tweeters make breaking glass sounds very realistic indeed. I won't spend too much time here because my 5.1 system is only about half way there, but even in its present state the sound that I am experiencing with movies is excellent, to say the least.
I haven't gone through too much trouble with speaker placement and positioning. The HT3s currently reside flanking my TV stand and are on gliders so I slide them a little further apart and a little further from the front wall, with a bit of toe-in for more critical listening. From my minor experiments in this area imaging and soundstage seem to be the most affected, and bass response to a lesser degree because the side walls are somewhere around 6' from each speaker. When I am able to get into a more ideal room I will spend the time and effort required to optimize the placement, but for now I have no complaints.
When I first hooked up the HT3s it was with the single zip-cord that I had been using on my previous speakers, and have since switched to two pairs of Canare "star-quad" DIY cables with bare wire connections. While I can't say that I noticed a significant improvement I did notice some. More improvement when switching to a passive bi-amp configuration than when switching the wires themselves. I'm still undecided on the whole cable/IC/powercord debate but I do like the look and feel of the tailored wires. Much more familiarity with my set-up is required before I can have an honest opinion about the result of these (IMO) subtle changes. When I switched to a passive bi-amp set up the HT3s responded very well indeed. The bass became more solid and punchy with the dedicated wattage, most notable, perhaps, at lower volumes.
Speaking of lower volumes, the HT3s sound good when playing at background levels, but they
really shine when they are allowed to stretch out. Goosing the volume knob allows me to feel the bass drum kick in the gut, and the rump shakin' bass that I love so much. The highs gain a bit of sparkle and penetration at just over what I would consider "low level" listening. I'm not talking about anything that you can't have an easy conversation over or anything, just at the point where the music ceases to be background and becomes the focus of your attention. It's at this volume that the HT3s really become captivating. And on the rare occasion that I am able to crank them up and rock out they reward in spades.
Even with less than ideal placement the soundstage of the HT3s gets wide and deep, extending outside the speakers themselves, and well behind them making the front wall seem to "disappear." The foreground however is somewhat limited in my current listening position, due no doubt to the close proximity of the rear wall. I am anxious to move to a new place so I can set these babies up proper!
On several occasions I have put my ear close to each individual driver to hear what the tweeter, the midrange, and the woofer are contributing. When I have done this I can hear each of the parts doing their thing, but somehow none of them sound as good individually as they do when combined. The HT3 is clearly a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. This is a true testament to the quality of design, integration, and implementation by Jim and Dennis. All three drivers blend seamlessly and compliment each other making for one-hell-of-a-great loudspeaker!
Last, but by no means least, I want to comment on the appearance of my HT3s. I have the distinct pleasure of owning a truly one-of-a-kind pair of rectangular HT3s. Jim was gracious enough to consent to build these one-offs for me and I in turn scoured the internet to find a truly unique veneer to clad them in. The end result is nothing short of spectacular (in my opinion). It has become a cliche' with Salk speakers, but pictures really do not do them justice. The only thing that comes close to eclipsing their visual beauty is the way they sound. The HT3s sound as good as they look, if not even better, and they look awesome.
Thank you Jim, Dennis, and the whole crew at Salk Sound! You guys can add another happy customer to the ever growing list.
Cheers,
Funk
Associated gear:
iMac G5 (streaming FLAC files via ethernet connection)
Modwright Transporter
Modwright LS 36.5
Parasound Halo A51
Oppo 983 (DVD playback)