[brett11]

                                                  The Salk Song Towers
[/center]                  More than I ever expected in a $1500 speaker!
    I have owned many speakers over the years, as well as having auditioned over 100.  A year and a half ago, I became so frustrated with the hobby that I sold everything.  I just couldn’t take the ongoing upgrades and the incredible amount of money I had invested in the quest.  This was truly significant considering how much I truly love music.  I have been fascinated with its reproduction for as long as I can remember.  I had reached the point of diminishing returns and always found myself wanting anyway.  It was a good excuse to get out and enjoy my young family. 
   My wife and I found other activities to occupy our time with, especially our wonderful children.   Unfortunately, maybe fortunately, we missed music.  It had been such a special part of our lives that we realized we needed it back in our home.  Our childhood memories always had a musical theme.  My wife and her Shaun Cassidy record player listening to Elvis.  My family listening to Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and many others.  I remember how much we enjoyed music on old eight tracks and cassette tapes.  My parents got out of the records because of the kids.  (I have them all now!) 
   I digress, along came Jim Salk.  Arguably, the nicest man in Hi-Fi!    I had to hear these speakers that I had read about.  Could they really be that good for that price?   As we all know, we never really hear about the great obscure speakers.  Apparently, you have to take out a full-page ad in TAS or Stereophile to be recognized.  Ah, the joys of big business. 
   I contacted Jim and quickly realized that this was the type of man that I wanted to purchase speakers from.  He is kind, accommodating, knowledgeable, and really cares about satisfying his customers.  (ALL OF THEM!! )  I am a Michigan resident, so I had the pleasure of auditioning the speakers in Jim’s lovely home.  I told Jim that I would have to bring my kids.  Of course he said, “No problem.”  My kids are 3 and 1.  Who else would have said that? 
   We listened to many different types of music.  Jazz, folk, vocals, blues, classical, you name it.  I was mesmerized by the mid-range, but just couldn’t believe the top to bottom coherence of these speakers.  They are just amazing at this price point or any other for that matter.   As you know, the mid-range is where it’s at.  Unfortunately, and all too often, the rest is just not that good.  We are always making sacrifices or concessions for the perfect mids.  I owned Maggies for years.  They are great in their own right, but you better have a very good amplifier with TONS of power.  Not the case with Song Towers!
   We had to leave that night, but I vowed to bring my wife back.  She is always my voice of reason.  I needed to make sure that I was hearing what I was hearing. 
   A week later my wife and I made the trip.  She really isn’t an audiophile, but she knows what music is supposed to sound like.  She is brutally honest and doesn’t have a problem telling it the way it is.   She claims that I am sometimes lacking in that department.  She is right.  Well, the obvious happened first.  She immediately fell in love with the looks of the speakers.  LET’S GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT RIGHT NOW.  SALK MAKES THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SPEAKERS OUT THERE.  THE FINISH ALONE WARRANTS TEN TIMES THE PRICE TAG.  YOU CANNOT BE DISAPPOINTED. THEY ARE BREATHTAKING.   THE MAN IS AN ARTIST AND CRAFTSMAN.
   How do they sound?  As I previously stated, WONDERFUL MID-RANGE.  That’s where it starts.   Fortunately, that’s not where it ends.  All of the audiophile terms that I generally have disdain for apply.  Top to bottom coherence, three-dimensionality, delicacy, accuracy, detailed, boxless, and so on.  All positive adjectives apply.  We continued to be amazed.  Everything he played sounded good.  Regardless, of the genre of the music.  $1500!  Are you kidding me?
   Now as you know, all speaker manufacturers have demo CDs.  Jim does too.  Be prepared, its fantastic.  It truly demonstrates what these speakers are capable of.  By the way, we were using a Squeezebox.  That’s right.  No ten thousand dollar CD player here.  It makes you wonder?????  I brought my own CDs too.  Jim gladly obliged.  Of course, they sounded great too.  All validated by my wife, who sat entranced in the zone.
   DYNAMIC!!  BASS!!   When I listen to the Tower of Power, I want to hear the music, but I want to feel it too.   The STs make you want to move.  The groove hits you.  By the way, these have five-inch woofers.  Yes, I’m not kidding.  Five-inch woofers can’t produce this kind of bass.  Wrong.  Bloated – No Chance.  Accurate.  Musical.  I still can’t believe it. Treble!   Sweet, delicate, accurate, non-fatiguing.  Love the Danish.  You can listen to these all day and you just don’t want to stop.   Be careful, they’ll play LOUD.  REALLY LOUD!
   I ordered them.  I am sure that you figured that out by now.  These were some of the longest weeks I can remember.  BUT, is the best investment I have ever made in audio.  I cannot describe how pleased we are with these speakers.  To have something that sounds this good in your home makes the quest worthwhile.  The looks are just a bonus.  The old adage applies, beautiful inside and out.  Ours are SA Tineo.  You have to see to believe. 
   Does the quest have you down and out?  Call Jim.  You won’t be disappointed.  You too, can enjoy the music again!

Brett [/img]
Salk Fan Club Member since 2007


PICS - http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/bslotka11?backState=prevPage%3D/ap/myAlbums.do%26state%3DalbumId%253D19959.1171.1153761792385.1

   

[Big Red Machine]

But why don't you tell us how you really feel!

[martyo]

By the way, we were using a Squeezebox.  That’s right.  No ten thousand dollar CD player here.  It makes you wonder????? 

That Squeezebox does run through a DAC. 

I briefly heard the Songtowers at RMAF and was impressed. Yes, Jim is a special guy and certainly builds very special speakers.

[R Swerdlow]

Brett, welcome to the club of ecstatic SongTower owners.  I've had mine since September, and I enjoyed reading what you had to say about yours.  The whole time while I was reading it, I was nodding my head in smiling agreement.  That tineo veneer looks great.

There is a repeating theme here... that many new SongTower owners feel compelled to tell the world how wonderful their new speakers sound and look.  Others might easily dismiss this as yet another case of "looky what I just got" over the internet.  There is no doubt some truth to that, but I firmly believe that these speakers are the best thing in the $1500 to $3000 price range.  And I don't mind accosting strangers on the street to tell them. - Richard

[brett11]

I completely agree Richard.  These really are special.  I hope to see more enthusiastic customers singing Jim's praises.  He deserves it. 

[idiotec]

Great review.  Although it does just make my wait more painful, but I will be ordering soon enough.

I contacted Jim and quickly realized that this was the type of man that I wanted to purchase speakers from.

I was the same way.  I had heard great things about the speaker, but not being able to audition something is tough (I am in California, a bit of a hike).  But, after a couple emails back and forth with Jim I thought the same thing,  "This is the guy I want to buy my speakers from."

Enjoy the music! 

[jd3]

Brett,
I'll echo everything you said about the ST's and Jim.  Best sounding speakers I've ever owned in my 40 years of audio 'foolery'.  I was fortunate enough to meet Jim and audition my ST's in his home since I too live in Michigan.  Jim is not only a craftsman but a true gentleman.  You won't find a better person to deal with if you're looking for speakers. 

John

[Legendlime]

Thanks for a very enthusiastic review.
 
My St's left Troy, MI at 9:54 pm last night. They should arrive early next week. I haven't seen them yet but I'm very much looking forward to their arrival. My wife wanted something light in color so Jim suggested an oak finish. Jim has been very easy to deal with, great communication.

[jam2001]

I sooooo much want to purchase the SongTowers!  I have no doubt that if I put on certain types of music (jazz, classical, piano, etc), that I will be floored by how good they sound.  But I'm still concerned that when I put on bands such as P.O.D. or Linkin Park, the SongTowers are not going to be forgiving enough.  I suppose I could change my music style, but I love guitars, and kick drums, and I'd rather find a speaker that fits what I listen to.

I've recently tried speakers from PSB (didn't like any of them), KEF iQ9's (sounded OK) and Focal Chorus line (816, 826).  I think I've liked the Focal 826's the best so far, but in the back of my mind, I believe the SongTowers are much better and about $1000 cheaper.

Can current SongTower owners help me out here.  Please put me out of my misery!  

Let me know if you've listened to stuff like P.O.D., Linkin Park, Nickelback, Cold, etc and how did it sound?  I also listen to U2, Journey, Norah Jones, as well as piano and instrumental music.

Thanks,

[BikeWNC]

I'm not sure you will find a speaker that shines with all types of music, much less so at price point of the Songtower.  If I were you, I would save the Linkin Park etc for the iPod and enjoy music on the Salks.    

[fsimms]

Let me know if you've listened to stuff like P.O.D., Linkin Park, Nickelback, Cold, etc and how did it sound?  I also listen to U2, Journey, Norah Jones, as well as piano and instrumental music.

Have no fear.  On acoustic music and hard rock the SongTowers sound great.  They arguably would sound better than any other speaker that you could get in their price range on all the music that you listed.  For twice the money, you could get one of Jim's Veracity speakers and get improvement with acoustic instruments and over all clarity.

PS You may be concerned by comments made about the Veracity speakers in playing hard rock.  Electric guitars do not have a sound.  They need speakers to make a sound.  These guitars are voiced with speakers that sound more like the SongTowers than the Veracity speakers.  Hence they sound different than we are used to when played on the Veracity's, but sound similar to what we are used to hearing with the SongTowers.

[BrianM]

I wonder if there's a misconception about revealing speakers, that they necessarily limit one's choice of recordings to "only good ones."  In my experience bad recordings are almost never downright unlistenable.  (But then I don't tend to listen to music that's deliberately distorted with a lot of white noise.)  Normally (for me) bad recordings just don't excite.  They sound less open, less transparent, less dynamic, maybe tinnier, more fake, congested, too dry, etc.  But usually listenable enough, if you like the actual music.

A bigger concern, possibly, if you get a pair of revealing speakers, is whether your electronics are up to it.  Some components screw up the sound more than you might think, and that'll be there no matter what recording it is, and will make bad recordings sound worse.  So depending on what you have, you might go through a period where the speakers make some recordings sound worse until you get better electronics, at which point they improve again.  All that said, I don't think getting better speakers should ever be considered some kind of tradeoff.  Most of the time the monitors used to engineer a professional recording are excellent speakers, so even if they screw up the balance you still have something that isn't outright offensive.

[avahifi]

I own two pairs of Salk HT3 loudspeakers.  One set was an equipment trade with Jim, the second set a purchase outright.

Why?  Because they have the "magic".  I can't define it, but you will know it when you hear it.  Very few speakers I have ever heard in 50 years of listening have had that magic.

The only other speakers I have heard in recent times (besides a set of four stacked KLH 9 electrostats and Dave Ellis's 1801 towers) that has the "magic" too is the SongTowers.  Simply astonishing at their price.

No debate needed, if you can afford them, buy them.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine 

[DMurphy]

I wonder if there's a misconception about revealing speakers, that they necessarily limit one's choice of recordings to "only good ones." 

I would like to second Brian's comment.  I think too much is being made of the suitability of one speaker vs another for "bad" recordings.  I think you could take away the misimpression that the SongTower "rounds over" and obscures irritating faults in recording, while other speakers, like those using the W18 magnesium woofer and a ribbon reveal such failings in relentless detail.  That just isn't true.  The differences I've heard are more subtle, and are likely to be most evident on the very finest recordings, not mediocre ones.

[Boybees]

Let me know if you've listened to stuff like P.O.D., Linkin Park, Nickelback, Cold, etc and how did it sound?  I also listen to U2, Journey, Norah Jones, as well as piano and instrumental music.

Seems you are asking "are they dynamic and do they deliver room-shaking bass?" Yes they are dynamic, and yes they do deliver an impressive amount of bass for a design that uses two 5" mid-woofers. However, they are not going to shake your room like speakers with much larger drivers. It's a matter of physics.

[JoshK]

Let me know if you've listened to stuff like P.O.D., Linkin Park, Nickelback, Cold, etc and how did it sound?  I also listen to U2, Journey, Norah Jones, as well as piano and instrumental music.

I haven't heard the songtowers but I'm familiar with that music and I've been an "audiophile" for some years now.  I've heard that music on a few very nice speakers.  Unfortunately, a good transparent speaker will show the faults in these recordings.  They are so terribly compressed that the waveform is constantly clipped.  Cymbals sound like sh#t.  However, I still listen to this kind of music sometimes (Cold is the only one among those you listed that I care for).

The double edge sword of hi-fi is hearing the truth of a purposefully poor recording (compressed to hell).  This doesn't mean you won't be able to listen to that music, but you will notice that it doesn't sound as good as a good recording.  But most of the time when you listen to this music are you in the sweet spot sitting still and listening intently?  I doubt it.

[jam2001]

I appreciate all the replys.  There were a lot of good points. 

Let me clarify my thoughts on this though.  Last weekend, I went to the local B&M and listened to some Paradigm Studio 100's.  When I played Norah Jones and some other easy listening music, the Studio 100's sounded good.  Then I put on one of my favorite Cd's from a rock band called Pillar, and I immediately cringed and wanted the volume turned down.  The midrange was so forward and fatiguing with that style of music.  The same midrange that made Norah Jones sound good, amplified the poor qualities in the Pillar recording, and now had become very fatiguing.  Also at the B&M, there were some Era speakers (I'd never heard of them before).  The Era's weren't very detailed with Norah Jones and that type of music, but they handled Pillar pretty well. 

So I'm wondering, do I need a "jack of all trades, master of none" type speaker, or can the SongTowers be both dynamic and detailed without being fatiguing on poor recordings?  I'm not an audiophile (but trying to learn ) so forgive me if I'm using the wrong terminology. 

To answer one of the questions; Yes, I am looking for a dynamic speaker because I like to play my music fairly loud at times.  But I will be using a sub, so I'm not looking for a lot of bass from the SongTowers.  And it is true that generally I am not in the "sweet spot" when listening to rock recordings.

[jam2001]

Oh, one last thing.  I have no problem with listening to lesser quality recordings.  Certainly I perfer the better recordings, but in some cases, the bands that I listen to are not mainstream and don't necessarily have a lot of money to produce their music.  A good example of this, was Creed's first album.  While they certainly became a mainstream band, their first album was produced for $6000.  And you can definitely tell when you listen to it. What I can't handle though, is "screeching, very forward" midrange which is what I encountered with the Paradigm's when listening to a lesser quality recording.

The gear that I'm running at home while not top of the line, is still good.  I have an Emotiva MPS-1 amp, along with the Emotiva DMC-1 preamp.  Together, they are worlds better than the Yamaha receiver that I was using.  I play all of my music through a Squeezebox (music is encoded in Flac format), but I do not have an external DAC yet.  I plan to get one after I upgrade my Polk Audio RT800 speakers. 

Hopefully these last two posts of mine will help clarify what I'm looking for.  Basically, I'm transitioning from mainstream equipment to hi quality equipment.  I still like my "mainstream" music but I'm starting to see the light and I've begun to look for better quality recordings as well.

[prpixel]

Jam2001,

One thing that you might want to consider is having your squeezebox modified by bolder cable.  For what you'll pay for a decent DAC, you can get the analog mods and a modded elpac power supply.  I have a modded SB2, with both the statement analog and digital mods, and the ultimate power supply.  I prefer the analog outputs to the digital outs running into my Anthem processor.  The analog outputs are very smooth and non-fatiguing; the digital is a little bit more forward.  So, I use the digital outs when listening at low levels while reading and the analog outs for serious listening.

Another thing that you should keep in mind is Jims excellent customer service.  I called him at 6pm on Saturday evening and he answered the phone.  I wonder how many people are hanging out at Paradigm answering the phone on a Saturday.

[BrianM]

Hmm, I've heard the Paradigm 100s described as both non-fatiguing and slightly edgy.  Go figure.  They do have aluminum tweeters...I've yet to hear one of those that didn't end up fatiguing me.  I'm inclined to believe the Hiquphon tweeter is likely better (my speakers have the same one) and that Dennis' crossover is also likely better (among the best executions I've heard).  A fatiguing midrange can be the result of less-than-ideal driver integration between mid and tweeter, i.e. too-pronounced upper harmonics & sibilants.  But that's too much speculation, and I don't want to pass judgment on the Paradigm 100s since I haven't heard them.  I'm just biased against metal tweeters.  Based on customer feedback I guess I'd be surprised if I didn't personally find the SongTowers to be more pleasing sounding speakers than the Paradigms in a head to head comparison, but whether that ultimately translates into reduced fatigue on compressed POS recordings is anybody's guess.  I'll assume my speakers are at least as "merciless" as the STs and I have yet to play a bad recording that had me running from the room.