I am new member and look forward to soon be joining the Salk owner’s family. I have ordered 3 Supercharged Song Surrounds for a L/C/R setup that will hopefully be arriving in the not too distant future. I first wanted to say thank you to folks of this and other forums whose reviews and feedback help make buying “sight unseen / sound unheard” less nerve racking. I started updating my system last year and wow has the A/V landscape changed since purchasing my prior system in 2004. At that time there were multiple big-box stores along with several local independent shops to audition almost anything you wanted to buy. Fast-forward and there is now only 1 big-box store left and very few independent dealers, whose primary focus is now custom home theater installs, not component sales. So I figured if I have to buy without hearing it first I might as well go internet direct. Making a choice between internet direct offerings would be nearly impossible without the input from the good folks like you.
My system is in the family room and does double-duty as HT and music. It is probably used 75% for TV & movies and 25% music, but I am much more critical in music listening as compared to HT. My system update started last year when I was looking to replace my Denon 3803 receiver to finally get HDMI switching capability. Since I rarely update I wanted sonic improvements along with HDMI switching. I ended getting an Emotiva XMC-1 and XPA-5, both of which I am very happy with, though I feel the full-Dirac and a calibrated mic are necessary. Later in the year my Von Schweikert VRS/1 subwoofer died and has now been replace by PSA S1500i. The VRS/1 was extremely fast, but didn’t plumb the depths (as expected for 10” sub). I feel the PSA is equally as tight, but also goes significantly lower.
That brings me to the current part of the upgrade, the front sound stage. The Supercharged Surrounds will be replacing Von Schweikert VR-1 monitors and LCR-15 center. I have been extremely happy with the VR-1s, their sound stage and imaging is fantastic. I never feel like the sound is coming from a box nor do I need to have my head in a vice, however they are not the most detailed speaker. After spending some time reading many speaker reviews it became clear that I want my new speakers to have a RAAL tweeter. I have always preferred soft-dome tweeters over metal (the Focal beryllium being the possible exception). Based on the reviews of the RAAL I can expect the extension of metallic tweeter with none of the harshness that I find fatiguing. Since my system serves both HT and music needs and I have a musical sub I do not need my mains to go down to 30 hz since they will be crossed over to the sub at 60 hz anyway. That leads me to looking at monitors, which I also think are the better bang for the buck if going low is not a requirement. When I started looking last year there were limited options, and had nearly decided on Ascend Sierra 2s, which get nothing but great reviews. However, I kept having a nagging feeling that the small RAAL and 5-6” woofer requires pushing both the woofer and small RAAL to their extremes to meet in the middle. (I do understand that all speaker designs are a matter of compromise, but I just felt too hesitant on this one.) I am sure both the Sierra-2 and the new Philharmonitor sound excellent, but did not want to buy something that might leave me with lingering doubts. After talking with Dave at Ascend I had almost all, but decided on Sierra Towers with RAAL and Sierra-2 center (due to space restrictions), but at that price thought I should go back and look at the SongTower RT. So I go back to the Salk site and find not only an updated web page, but also exactly what I am looking for a small monitor with the 70x20 RAAL in my price range. It did not take me long too place the order for 3 of them (one rotated 90 deg for the center). After agonizing over a veneer and finish I am now agonizing over the anticipation of their delivery. Sorry for the long rambling post, but am happy to be joining you.
