[Rocket]

Hi,

At some point I'd like to purchase a pair of ht3's but the power rating concerns me.  I use a Son of Ampzilla rated at 120 watts per channel.  The amps drive a pair of ht2's and they have plenty of power for the speakers.

Btw the ht2 is $400US cheaper than the tl version and you may want to consider this speakers as well.

Regards

Rod

[revrob]

All,

I got to spend some time with Luke and his HT3's. My son and I spent about 2 1/2 hours listening to all types of music. My previous speakers have been Legacy Classic which I loved and just recently sold, I had them for 13 years. First off, Luke is a great guy, truly an Officer and a Gentlemen. He has a great set up and we listen with various equipment.

First up was the Salk with the Pass Labs XA-30.5 amplifier with the  Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE preamp. Great combination. The source was a Modwright Transporter. Sound was absolutely incredible. The speakers disappeared and the artist was in the room.  First thing I notice with Salk was how tight and incredible the bass was. The Legacy's, IMHO, have a great mid-range and ribbon tweeter for the highs, but they could never keep up with Salk in overall performance, especially in the bass.

Both my son and I were impressed. We substituted the Modwright Transporter for my Cary 306/200 and IMO it did not loose much if anything as compared to the Modwright which I was happy about because it is staying in my system.

We then replaced the Pass with the Wyred 4 Sound ST-1000 amplifier. It was not in the same league as the Pass but surprisingly good. It has a more digital sound where as the Pass was more analogue and liquid. But the Wyred 4 Sound can just plain out rock. If you're not carefully you can do some serious hearing damage with that combination.

I walked away thoroughly impressed with the Salks. My wife was concerned that I might not find a speaker that I like as much as my Classics but I believe I have.

Oh yeah, I will be buying Luke's Salk and will be joining the family. I will be using a LSA Signature integrated amplifier to drive them and I should be all set with my set up for the next several years. So ends 1 year of redoing my audio system and now I am going to sit back and enjoy the music.

Peace,
Steve

[zybar]

Congrats on your purchase Steve.

The HT3's are great speakers and will serve you well.

Interesting that you liked the Pass XA30.5 and Wyred STP combo.  A friend of mine heard this pairing in the last week and thought it was excellent on his speakers (Martin Logan Summit X's).  Good to hear that the "little" Pass amp could handle the HT3's.

George

[TJC712]

Yes, Steve, ditto on the congrats. I'm a bit jealous. I spoke with Luke 2 weeks ago when I toyed with the idea of buying those. Seemed like a super deal as well as super guy to deal with. I've just been spending a lot of $$ lately and decided to not pull the trigger (kids' college tuitions, business slow, etc.). Ive been using the upgraded W4S ST1000 amp/ST SE Pre combo with my ST's and like them very much. Here's to many years of great listening for you and family.  Stay well!

[boatschool02]

All,

I had a great time sharing my system with Steve and his son.  Never pass up the opportunity for a local demo because you're likely to meet nice people and discover even more great music.

Yes, the Pass XA30.5 is impressive.  (Should be at twice the price of the Wyred.) When playing calm/vocal music at reasonable levels, the meter doesn't move much.  When playing louder or with deeper concussive bass, it will swing over to the 2-2:30 position.  I don't think we ever had it pegged at or past 3 o'clock.  When playing the DeVore 9's which are 91db, it was hard to get the meter to move at all.  You'd have to ask Mark at Reno Hifi or someone at Pass where exactly the amp leaves Class A.  I think it's biased at twice its 30w rating but its still impressive to see that's all the power being used.

I've spent a large portion of this hobby without anyone else to sanity check my audio perceptions.  Steve, thanks for being patient with me as we swapped some things around.

Luke

[Nuance]

Congratulations, Steve.  You have a very nice system.  Enjoy, and welcome to the Salk family!