[Woodsman]

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and Salk speakers. I just placed an order for a pair of Silk AT monitors. Like many of you, I have been in the audio addiction for a long time, trying numerous brands of equipment and searching for a live sound. My question to you is about placement. I spent some time looking through the Salk speakers in members homes. Some great pictures of awesome rooms by the way. I see where many are using a family room or living room. Some are able to place speakers ideally, well off the back wall and side walls. I am sure that is ideal for performance. But from the pics, it's seems like the majority are using family room settings and speakers are placed very close to the back walls and side walls. I get it, we have to adapt to what we have to work with. Also what the wife will let us get away with. Yes, finally to my question. How do your speakers sound and perform with less than ideal placement? 

[desertrider]

Alot of it is going to depend whether your speakers are front or rear ported. Rear ported *generally* need some room between it and the wall to limit "boominess". Front ported generally can be placed fairly close to the wall.

[Ictwoody]

Alot of it is going to depend whether your speakers are front or rear ported. Rear ported *generally* need some room between it and the wall to limit "boominess". Front ported generally can be placed fairly close to the wall.

This is generally true. But with Salk Songtowers, even the rear ported ones can be placed very closely to the walls. Per Salk, the rear ported ones can be within a foot of the rear wall. I would assume if you needed them closer to the wall than that you could order the front ported versions.

When I had my Songtowers I had them about 15" off the wall and about 9' apart, 18" from the side walls. Toed in until they pointed right at me. The imaged like crazy and did the disappearing act very well. Loved them.

- Woody

[Paul K.]

The ML-TL-type speakers Salk sells are my designs and essentially the same as what I design and build for personal use, most of which have rear-mounted ports.  I'm limited in how I can place my speakers; my cabinets' backs are located only 5-8 inches from the wall (depending on cabinet depth), and none of them are "bothered" by that.  YMMV, of course.
Paul

This is generally true. But with Salk Songtowers, even the rear ported ones can be placed very closely to the walls. Per Salk, the rear ported ones can be within a foot of the rear wall. I would assume if you needed them closer to the wall than that you could order the front ported versions.

When I had my Songtowers I had them about 15" off the wall and about 9' apart, 18" from the side walls. Toed in until they pointed right at me. The imaged like crazy and did the disappearing act very well. Loved them.

- Woody

[Woodsman]

Thanks for the reply's so far. I would really like a pair of Veracity HT3's and can not bring them all that far off the back wall. Ideally I could place them 18 inches and am not sure that is going to be far enough. I was just noticing that there were a few pics of HT3's that were very close to the back wall and did not see any port up front.
One of the most difficult parts of this hobby is to find the correct speaker for the room. Always a compromise.

[Big Red Machine]

Well for any Salk, I never angle them drastically toward the listening position as they image so well you want to take advantage of that. Every pair of the 7 I have owned have never ben towed in more than 5 degrees. This keep the soundstage wide.

You have AT's coming but jumped to HT3's. You can put either close to the back wall and side walls but they are different animals and the HT3's will bass load your corners right away. So plan to treat the corners heavily with 6 inches of OC703 to smooth it out some.

I have always found 8 to 9 feet between speakers and 9 feet to my ears the best when available in standard rooms.

[Woodsman]

I have several systems in the house. I am getting the Silk AT's for a smaller dedicated listening room. We have a rec room area with a pool table and some exercise equipment which is a rather large area. I have some speakers there now but have tired of them. I would like to replace those with the HT3's. The speakers would be near the pool table, that is why I cannot bring them too far off the wall. Corners are very far away, so maybe the bass would not overload in this application.

[Saturn94]

Well for any Salk, I never angle them drastically toward the listening position as they image so well you want to take advantage of that. Every pair of the 7 I have owned have never ben towed in more than 5 degrees. This keep the soundstage wide.

You have AT's coming but jumped to HT3's. You can put either close to the back wall and side walls but they are different animals and the HT3's will bass load your corners right away. So plan to treat the corners heavily with 6 inches of OC703 to smooth it out some.

I have always found 8 to 9 feet between speakers and 9 feet to my ears the best when available in standard rooms.

I suspect toe in preference is room dependent (with a dose of personal preference thrown in).  In my room the HT2-TLs performed best when toed in almost directly at the prime LP.

Do I remember correctly that the HT3 isn't a ML-TL design?  I think I remember it being said that ML-TL designs are more tolerant of being place closer to the wall.

[Big Red Machine]

I have several systems in the house. I am getting the Silk AT's for a smaller dedicated listening room. We have a rec room area with a pool table and some exercise equipment which is a rather large area. I have some speakers there now but have tired of them. I would like to replace those with the HT3's. The speakers would be near the pool table, that is why I cannot bring them too far off the wall. Corners are very far away, so maybe the bass would not overload in this application.

They are power hogs if you did not know that. Plan on having hundreds of watts. Why not SS8's instead? Tighter bass and less power.

[Big Red Machine]

I suspect toe in preference is room defendant (with a dose of personal preference thrown in).  In my room the HT2-TLs performed best when toed in almost directly at the prime LP.

I would lose my mind if the speakers were pointed directly at me. Too much in my face!

[Woodsman]

They are power hogs if you did not know that. Plan on having hundreds of watts. Why not SS8's instead? Tighter bass and less power.

I am seriously considering the SS8's too. HT3's are in my comfort zone for the budget. The SS8's are reaching my outer limits.
As far as amp's, I have a W4S STI-500, and a STI-1000 in the house. The STI+1000 is playing in that rec room system right now.
I purchased the Silk AT's due to the fact that I can utilize them in pretty much any of the systems and they would preform well.

[Ictwoody]

I would lose my mind if the speakers were pointed directly at me. Too much in my face!

Not a problem with the silk dome tweeter. With ribbons, like my current Philharmonic 3's, I like off-axis. My Phils aren't toed in at all. Same room. They replaced the Songtowers.

I like Dennis Murphy's designs.

- Woody

[ernest787]

I have HT3s and a pair of Song Towers.  The HT3s are approximately 18" off the rear wall in my home and have a slight toe in.  They sound fantastic.

The Song Towers are a wonderful speaker and at the price are hard to beat, but the HT3s are a different animal.  They are a bit of a power hog, but they sound fantastic.

I have not heard the SS8s but would love to check them out.  At the time of purchasing the HT3s they were a little out of the budget.  That said, I've never regretted the purchase of the HT3s. 

[Saturn94]

I would lose my mind if the speakers were pointed directly at me. Too much in my face!

It would be interesting to see if you heard my setup if you would think its too in your face.

[smk]

I've found that with speakers close to rear wall a little placement experimentation is necessary to for final "dial-in" than with speakers placed well out in room. You might also try near-field geometry but it sounds like you want more than a single sweet-spot.

[Woodsman]

Thanks for all the input, especially on the HT3's. It sounds very promising that it may work well where I would like to utilize a pair. I would also love to go the SS8 route. There is a big factor that I have to take into consideration - weight. I had a back surgery a few years ago and am supposed to be on a 75 lb limit. I am fine pushing it to the HT3 weight of 86 lbs. The SS8's are 130, and that scares me, way over my limit. I know myself all to well, I would hurt myself searching for that ideal placement.

[smk]

suggest you consider Herbie's Audio Labs Giant Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider or Threaded Stud Glider to alleviate some strain on back (http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm#giantgl).

[audioguy213]

suggest you consider Herbie's Audio Labs Giant Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider or Threaded Stud Glider to alleviate some strain on back (http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm#giantgl).

+1

[Woodsman]

suggest you consider Herbie's Audio Labs Giant Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider or Threaded Stud Glider to alleviate some strain on back (http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm#giantgl).

WOW, THANK YOU, you are a life saver, well at least a back saver.