WARNING: LONG POST.....
I'm not very good at describing speaker sound, but I'll attempt to describe what I heard on a recent visit to Dennis's (thanks Dennis!). Another local SongTower owner also joined us. I should note that I'm describing only what I heard. It was quickly apparent that Dennis has a much more decerning/educated ear than me. As such, he could give a much better desciption of the differences (Dennis, you are welcome to post your impressions/opinions of my ADS, good or bad; it won't hurt my feelings
). Also, I will focus on comparing the differences between my speakers and the Salks, rather than trying to describe the sound of the Salks. Many others have already done so and I will say they are not wrong.
As some of you may know, I'm looking for possible replacements for my ADS L1290's that I've been enjoying the past 24 years. I was very happy to have the opportunity to take my speakers to Dennis's since he has the equipment/setup that allows a direct/instant A/B comparison (this eliminates the problem of short audio memory and was an extremely valuable tool, IMO). He was also able to take some measurements on my ADS.
First we did some listening tests using various recordings I brought as well as some that Dennis had (he had one recording that was absolutely stunning!). Along with my ADS he had the HT2-TL and SoundScape hooked up (I focused mainly on the HT2-TL since the SoundScape is out of my price range).
Switching back and forth, at first it just sounded like different flavors of two excellent speakers with the ADS having an overall brighter character. Neither speaker sounded "wrong". The SongTower owner and I agreed on this, but Dennis probably wondered what in the world we were hearing, or not hearing
! Dennis can certainly pick out what's going on much quicker than me.
After continued listening between the HT2-TL and the ADS, it became obvious that something was different in the midrange. The ADS had a more recessed, nasal quality and the HT2-TL was more foward and fuller in the midrange. The more I listened, the more it sounded like some midrange details were being lost when switched to the ADS and the nasal quality became more obvious.
When Dennis took some measurements on the ADS, it became more clear what was going on. The ADS has a dip in response around the crossover region between the midrange and tweeter, and the tweeter output was elevated a little relative to the rest of the frequency band. Below and above the response dip, everything was very smooth. The ADS does have a switch that reduces tweeter output, but it was still elevated slightly even when switching to a lower output setting. By contrast, the HT2-TL is very flat through the crossover region and on through the teble region without the elevation in tweeter output like the ADS.
In the treble range, the two sounded remarkably similar (both are excellent) except that the ADS had an overall brighter character for reasons described above.
Imaging and soundstage was excellent on both, although to my ear the ADS speakers "disappeared" a little more than the HT2-TL. In other words, it was a little more difficult to locate the ADS in the soundstage than the HT2-TL. This may be caused by the ADSs more recessed midrange. Don't get me wrong, the HT2-TL was still excellent in this regard, it's just a small difference between the two I noticed.
In terms of bass, the HT2-TL showed it's superiority below about 40hz or so. It was downright scary at times what the HT2-TL can do in this area. In the region above 40hz or so, I would say both are equally capable in terms of quantity and quality of bass.
Overall output and dynamics were equally impressive in both speakers. In neither case did you get the sense that the speaker was limiting the dynamics of the recording even at some scary listening levels.
After a bit more listening and switching back and forth I would say that I prefered the HT2-TL overall to my ADS. Both were excellent, but the HT2-TL certainly represents an upgrade. Of course the difficult question that only I can answer in the end is whether or not the HT2-TL is a $$$$ improvement over the ADS.
I found it very interesting that Dennis didn't use any fancy equipment, interconnects, or speaker wires in our audition. I think some would be shocked at the modest equipment used. No matter, there was no problem driving any of the speakers we auditioned to live music levels and I heard nothing but beautiful sound completely filling the good size room (it was larger than my room). It gave me complete confidence that my own equipment would not be a limiting factor.
Although not the focus of my audition, I did also listen to the SongTower (dome tweeter) and the SoundScape.
As brief as my exposure was to the SoundScape, their superiority was quickly obvious. If price was no object, I would have run home and placed my order! The SongTower owner that was with us said I shouldn't listen to speakers I cannot afford, and he was right. It was almost depressing to think I would have to "compromise" by buying something lesser than the SoundScapes.
The SongTowers surprised me. They sounded much closer to the HT2-TL than I expected and both sounded better than my ADS overall, although admittedly we didn't do as much A/B'ing with the SongTower (I really didn't expect the SongTower to be better than my ADS). One could certainly wonder if the HT2-TL is worth twice the price of the SongTower. And this may prove to be even more true with a RAAL tweeter in the SongTower (not available yet; Dennis is still working on the crossover). I still prefered the HT2-TL over the SongTower, but they had more in common than differences. For value for the money, the SongTower is a winner. It would be interesting to return to Dennis's and do another audition once the SongTower/RAAL tweeter combo is finished.
After leaving Dennis's, I went to the SongTower owner's house (thank you for your generous invitation!) to see what finished Salks look like and do a little more listening (Dennis's speakers are unfinished MDF cabinets......he doesn't need them finished to work on them). As other owners have mentioned, they are beautifully finished and scream high quality. The standard cherry finish I saw certainly didn't look like a "standard" speaker finish!
Fortunately we were able to finish all the auditioning before the severe storms came through and knocked out power. I'm glad I wasn't on the road when they hit.
So will I be replacing my ADS with Salks? I don't know yet. The visits were very educational and gave me alot to consider. Also, I would still like to hear the VMPS RM30, Von Schweikert VR33, and perhaps even the SongTower with the RAAL tweeter. It's also interesting that once I got home after a 4+ hour drive and listen to my ADS again at home, the differences that were so obvious when doing instant A/B'ing weren't nearly as apparent when listening to just my ADS at home. This makes it very clear how difficult it is to compare speakers when separated by time and place.
There is one thing that is certain, anyone considering purchasing high quality speakers should put the Salks on their "must hear" list.
