In the past few months, we have shown at the California Audio Show and at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest. As we prepare to head to the Capital Audiofest, I thought I'd share a few comments from these earlier shows.
We received some very nice comments from Dagogo's Senior Reviewer Douglas Schroeder. In describing the SS 9.5's at CAF in July, Doug commented:
"Jim Salk deserves a place alongside Richard Vandersteen and Bill Dudleston of Legacy Audio for giving audiophiles high value in speaker systems, and his designs largely destroy Vandersteen’s aesthetics. Here was another top 3 system; it was warm, but not blubbery, incisive, but not brittle, and authoritative with gracefulness."
Carlo Lo Raso of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity commented on the SS 9.5's at RMAF...
"Jim Salk makes some gorgeous looking and beautiful sounding loudspeakers and the SS 9.5 towers that he brought to RMAF were no exception. The SS 9.5 are a 3-way design with dual passive radiators in the base section and an open-backed midrange section that can be adjusted, or even sealed, to control the amount of room ambience. Crossover design was done by long-time Salk collaborator Dennis Murphy... I personally own a pair of Salk Songtowers so I’m freely admitting a little bias here, but I just had a huge smile on my face listening to these! Lush, detailed and with imaging to spare! They are rated to reach down to 25 Hz in-room and I believe it from the demo. And the King-wood veneer looks superb. Well done Jim!"
Eric Franklin Shook of AudioHead also commented on the SS 9.5's...
"How’s it all sound? Well, not to blur things up too much, I heard the Salk Sound SS9.5’s on McGary tube amplifiers at Axpona 2019 and it was absolutely awesome. The Salk and McGary combination in multiple formations is a pairing that elevates both brands to new heights. I’ve written that the McGary/Salk combination is the right way to go.
However. And it’s a big however. Here we are with a completely solid-state system...In the case of Schiit Audio and Salk Sound, using the new Freya S preamplifier with Nexus engaged, and the Aegirs in mono-block formation, I’m thoroughly confused as to which way is the right way.
Not to say that there aren’t differences or that I can’t hear them. I’ve found both. The point is, the SS9.5’s sound really damn good on both. Schiit’s Aegir in mono-block configuration only crushes out 80-watts per channel, and the Salk’s are traditionally known to bloom with ample power. Here at RMAF 2019, everything I hear from the Schiit/Salk combination has me thinking the old cliche is true. There’s more than one way to skin the 'audio-bliss-cat.'"
Archmigo's Musings commented on our new SS 6M Monitor that we played occasionally during RMAF...
"The more lateral, smaller 6M speakers were in use at the time. Jesse Cook's Vertigo and Dave's True Story's "Like A Rock" were playing. Excellent sound, I was quite impressed by how low the small 2-way speakers could dig into the bass range."
Brian Hunter of AudioStream also commented on the SS 9.5's...
"On more than one occasion I have heard “Misery” by Dave’s True Story playing through a high-end system, but during this playback session, I was caught by the collective richness and vibrancy of the recording. At no point did the song feel bottlenecked by the middle-of-the-road Bifrost 2 (Schiit Audio's $699 DAC) translation. The grand sum of the lengthy equation just sounded superb coming out the other side."
Rynosaur commented on Audioholics regarding the SS 9.5's at the California Audio Show...
"Jim Salk brought the 9.5s. All I can do is paraphrase a quote from Heathers: “F’ me gently with a chainsaw!” Wow. D@mn. Jumpin’ Jesus on a pogo stick! There is a sound I love and it has 2 names: Dennis Murphy and Jim Salk. He set up NO room treatments. Frankly, this was the best sound in the show."
Tyler on AudioCircle regarding the SS 9.5's at Rocky Mountain...
Pics don't really convey just how incredible these speakers look in person. Just beautiful. Heirloom quality, really. How did they sound? Like Schiit!! Haha, of course you had to see that one coming. I think the beauty of Jim's speakers is they sound very much like whatever is driving them. Very neutral and transparent. With the Schiit gear, it was very clear, see through transparency and very big sounding, lots of strong dynamic swings, to go along with exceptional micro-dynamic tracking. Micro dynamics, IME, are particularly difficult to get right. Kudos.
Pez on Audiocircle from same show...
As Tyson said, the quality of wood work is simply awesome! I enjoyed the sonics and was blown away by the overall performance. Smooth and nice treble thanks to the beryllium tweeter. Solid performance!
David Das on AVSForum
The first thing I noticed was the exquisite finish of these speakers followed by the rich glorious sound emanating from these beauties...Mr. Salk is known for using the most exotic and expensive drivers in his designs. He features the super expensive and rare RAAL ribbon tweeters and the delicate ceramic Accuton midrange drivers in some of his models. The ones that were playing were the Salk Signature Sound SS 9.5 3-way floor standing model sporting Satori Beryllium tweeters and Satori 9.5” woofers ($9,595 in standard finish). The fine craftsmanship of Salk designs rival Wilson Audio. It is that good. On top of that Jim uses expensive drivers that define his signature sound making it a better value than Wilson Audio. Jim’s creations are something your wife will never complain of having in your living room. They are a work of art and the price is justified.
imagic on AVSForum regarding the new SS 6M Monitors...
I feel like you really can't go wrong with Salk if you want solid, gorgeous, great sounding speakers. The standmounts you see are playing now... It's an orchestral piece and I can't find fault.
There were a few more, but that is a pretty good summary of the reactions from the past few shows.
Next, it is on to the Capital Audiofest!
- Jim
