Heard my first Salks in a home

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JLM

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Heard my first Salks in a home
« on: 19 Nov 2019, 12:59 pm »
Have heard a variety early on (2007 and 2009, few of those models are still listed) at shows local to me and Jim, then briefly at an Axpona 3 years ago.  But you know all the caveats about show conditions.  Was impressed by the quality of drivers, am a fan of transmission lines, favorable pricing, and of course the fine craftsmanship of the cabinets.  But the sound never seemed to impress, particularly under cramped show conditions where the drivers didn't cohere.  Did like the early SS8, but those were in a much larger room and way more expensive compared to the rest of his offerings. 

Fast forward to last Saturday.  A new friend had our small audio club over for a short visit.  He had a Devialet integrated (very, very nice) driving a pair of Silk towers (rear ported) in a fairly typical apartment setting.  Speakers were positioned roughly a foot from front wall, 7 feet apart, with gear and TV in between.  Sitting about 10 feet away the sound was wonderful.  Amazing amount of bass from the small Illuminator drivers.  And the Raal tweeters were smooth, unlike I'd heard early on when ribbon tweeters were new and vendors were emphasizing them too much.  Plus there was full driver coherence and no need to keep one's ears exactly between the mid/woofers to avoid cancellation like with MTM designs I'd heard in the past. 

Call me smitten.   Not in the market, but have to visit Jim in the near future. 

Mag

Re: Heard my first Salks in a home
« Reply #1 on: 19 Nov 2019, 01:19 pm »
Yeah the room is a big factor to how a sound system is going to sound.

I use my basement because I can contain the sound. I like the sound I get in my bedroom upstairs with small speakers, but the walls are too thin to contain the sound at my listening spl.