grenamc,
Great write up!
Searching for that 'perfect' pair of speakers can be extremely time consuming and frustrating. I have been through this painful journey and what I have learned can be summarized as follow:
(1) If you're completely starting from scratch, then you should decide on the speaker first, and then take time to find the electronics that synergize with the speakers.
(2) When auditioning speakers, it is very important to keep in mind that what you heard is the total system sound. And if you're not familiar with any of the equipments (from CD players, cables to speakers to room), then it's very difficult to judge how good each of these pieces is in the system.
(3) Assuming you're sticking with the same speakers, attributes like 'soundstage, imaging, forwardness and etc...etc.." can be easily altered by changing any other component(s) in the system.
(4) There are many ways to achieve the objective of "audio nirvana". Over the years I have found many different systems (different speakers, different amps..etc) that sound 'heavenly' to my ears and I can easily live with any of them.
(5) When embark on the journey to "audio nirvana", as you're trying to figure out what changes is needed to take your system to the next level, you need to be able to determine the 'weakest link' in your system. It will save you a lot of time, for example, if you know for sure that one (or two) piece of your equipments will remain in your system forever until you have exhausted all other means.
(6) Therefore when buying your first piece, it will be smart if you can decide on a piece that is going to be the 'strongest link' in your system. Next question to ask: Does Salk HT3, at $5000 a pair, fulfill this criteria? The answer is, of course, it depends on your budget for the total system. If you can afford a million dollar system, then sure, you will find plenty of weakness in the Salk HT3. But if your total system budget is in the range of $20k to $50k, then my experience told me that the HT3 will serve you very very well. How do I know? I have friends who are either dealers or owners of big high end electronics power houses - BAT, Krell, Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Mcintosh, Cary Audio - and over the years I have tried to drive the Salk HT3 with electronics/cables costing more than $70k in total - and the Salk HT3 has yet to make me feel that it is the weakest link.
(7)The HT3 is a 'high resolution' speakers, it is very accurate and truthfull to the source, it lets you hear the source rather than the speakers. Some expensive speakers that I am familiar with, like Sonus Faber Elipsa, JM-Lab NOVA Utopia, have tweeters that 'roll-off' the high frequency, and they tend to make me feel that the speakers are 'limiting' the signals from the source(s). After getting used to the the Salk HT3, these Sonus Faber and JM-Lab speakers can never give me the intimate feeling that I am sitting close to the performer(s). Although depending on the types of music, I will sometimes prefer the NOVA or Elipsa over the HT3.
(8 ) About a year ago, after visiting the room of Wilson Audio at RMAF07, where a pair of Wilson Sophia was driven by ALL Audio Research Reference series equipments, I came home and borrowed the entire same set of Audio Research gears to hook up in my system, at the end, I didn't find myself 'lusting' for a piar of Sophia.
(7)What I also found was that the Salk HT3, at $5000 a pair, when matched with the right gears, set up properly in a 'well treated room", can handily compete with system that cost 20 times more. Where do I get this figure "20 times' more from? Well.. I attended RMAF many times and listening to systems that cost 20 times more. Apart from the $200k a pair Acapella Triolon Excalibur speakers with the 'plasma (ion) tweeter', I don't feel that my system is 'lacking' in any area. Recently I had a good listening at the Von Schweikert VR9SE room ($90k/pair) powered by impressive VAC gears. I had no doubt that the VR9SE is a more 'capable' speaker, particularly in the bass region, if I have unlimited freedom to optimize the setup of VR9SE, I am sure I can make it sound better than the Salk HT3, but I wouldn't trade the sound of my system with the sound of VR9SE in that big room.
(8)I hope I don't give people the impression that Salk HT3 is the best speakers in the world? No..of course not. I have a friend who owns a Salk HT1 and for two years he keep telling me that he wouldn't trade the HT1 for that $200k/pair Acapella speakers
. Well... I have to respectfully disagree with him. What I can say is, if you have limited budget, and you do not have a BIG room, (and by 'BIG' I meant at least 14ft tall x 25ft long x 20ft wide), you will not find the Salk HT3 to be the 'limiting factor' in your system.
(9) The AVA gears tend to sounds a little too 'lean' and 'edgy' to my ears. My ears are perhaps too sensitive to high-frequency. I cannot stand the HT3 being driven by solid state gears. There are many reasons why the HT3 is far from being the best speaker in the world, one of them - because SIZE DOES MATTER! The HT3 cannot play as "BIG" (and as effortless) as some of the mega big speakers like JM-Lab Grand Utopia, Acapella Triolon, Evolution Acoustic MM3, Marten Design Coltrane, Kharma Grand Exquisite, Wilson Maxx and etc etc...
(10) The bottomline, I doubt, for $5k, you can find another pair of speakers that is as 'versatile' as the HT3. As I mentioned earlier, I have tried driving the HT3 with electronics that cost 8 times more than the speakers and I still haven't found the limit for the HT3 yet. I am pretty convinced, that the weakest link in my system right now is my room. And until I manage to take the room out of the equation (by moving to a bigger room), the HT3 will not be the 'limiting factor' for me.
Of course, YMMV - "the truth about this hobby is that there's absolutely no truth to it!"
(In retrospect, why did I waste my time writing all these craps:duh:
well... perhaps I have had too many bottles of Calsberg tonite and it helps when I don't have to work tomorrow
)