I have had the SA-1 as a guest in my home for a week now, and thought I would share my impression of its sound.
To give a little background, I contacted Rick last spring looking for a speaker to mate with a 45w tube amp. I was thinking of a 3-way with the Seas W22ex, Morel mid-dome and the Scan Speak 9500 tweet. Rick suggested the Fountek ribbon(also set me straight that a 1” dome tweet and 2” mid dome not best match) and that he just happen to be working on such a speaker. (Carnelian)
To be honest, I was a bit hesitant about going with one of his designs. Sure there are a few reviews out there, but not enough for me to feel 100% comfortable plunking down my hard earned money. So, I signed up for a demo of his SA-1 speaker to hear his work and get a feel for the Fountek ribbon.
System: I have a modest system of solid performing components that I have collected over the years.
1. Amp-45w diyhi Ella tube amp, Adcom 5500, Denon 4802
2. Pre-Adcom GFP 750, pre-outs of Denon
3. Cd/Sacd/Dvda Pioneer Elite player and Adcom GCD 750
4. Cables, Transparent speaker, Kimber & Transparent
interconnects
5. Other speakers, PSB Stratus Silvers, Snell Acoustics E/III
Setup: Speakers 6’ apart, 18” off back wall, facing straight into the room. 22” stands, rm 14x14x8. With speakers toed in sound is brighter.
Cabinet: The cabinet appears to be a red stained oak with black painted front and back. Fit and finish of the drivers and cabinet are very good. Most important in my case is that the cabinet passed the wife acceptance factor. We listened with the grills removed.
First impressions: This is a very, very good speaker. The Fountek ribbon is awesome in my opinion, especially when you consider the $$$. Don’t know if this is a Chinese clone of a proven design or what, but it delivers. My wife’s first comment was how clean & clear the treble is, “sounds like there is more air to the music.” The XT woofer is up to the task of hanging with the Fountek ribbon. Good midrange with vocals sounding very natural. When mated with the tube amp, it sounded as if Keb’Mo’, Tori Amos, Diana, Norah and the usual standards were performing in our living rm. You wanted to reach out and touchem. The speakers with solid state sounded as if you were in the middle row, with the tube amp you moved up a few rows.
Imaging & Sound staging is first rate. My father in-law thought for sure the center channel was on.(he even got up to check) No pops, that is the result of a skilled designer. Very good imaging with a big soundstage for a speaker this size. Music was presented in a three-dimensional space. Detail, Detail, Detail, I heard a few things that I had not previously heard on some of my music. I switched over to triode(20w) and the soundstage collapsed somewhat, not totally, a bit more power keeps the music dynamic.
Midrange: Instrument timbre was very good. Vocals were reproduced in a faithful way. No midrange grain to these guys. Smooth and full. The SA-1 is a good match for tubes.
Bass: Bass was surprisingly very responsive for the size of the speakers. Quality bass is reproduced, bass strings being plucked were snappy and fast on acoustic bass. One of my buddies even brought over his Tool cd, which has some fast double kick bass tracks. The SA-1 delivered them. He was a bit surprised, the speaker was just a tad corner loaded, so it helped with some of the quantity, but the quality was all there.
1. Keb’Mo’ track 1 Every Morning: I could hear his voice inflections as he moved about the mic. Helped that we had just caught a concert of his a few weeks ago. He was performing In our living rm for free tonight.
2. Tori Amos Little Earthquakes track 8 Leather: Heard a music count that I had not heard previously. This is a disc I listen to often for female vocals, old cd but sonics still hold up.
3. Gordon Lightfoot, Sundown. Old tune but he has a great voice and it is a classic.
4. Of course the newer sacd/dvda, no need to get into all, but I wanted to share a taste of some of the music.
The SA-1 easily out classed the PSB Silvers. The only thing the PSB’s did better was play lower in the bass regions. The Snell’s imaged decent, had good extension, and sounded fairly natural. The Snell’s still were outclassed as well.
The level of recordings is easily revealed. That has got to be a tough threshold for a designer to balance. Not too warm, but not brutally revealing. In my case I want to enjoy my older recordings, but also hear all the fidelity that can be squeezed out of the latest hi-rez recordings. This speaker strikes a nice balance to my ears.
In closing, Rick has designed a very good speaker. I do not know how he sells the kit for $450 or so. It will be interesting as the SA-1 makes the rounds how it compares to the already legendary Ellis audio 1801. I have ordered the 3 way Carnelian kit and look forward to putting it together in Sept.(again I don’t know how he is making any $$) If you have been on the fence wondering about Selah Audio, I hope this helps. Rick is a very talented designer. Thank you Rick for trusting me with a demo of your speakers.
Mark
