[Rocket]

Hi,

I think you should definitely not swap drivers around due to shape as this is going to change the sound of the speakers.  These are now a mature design and have been well reviewed.  You made a point that you have not listened to these speakers and I was wondering is there a possibility prior to going further to listen to them.  If you do decide to swap drivers it will mean a redesign of the xover.

Jim is very good to deal with and I'm sure he will try to accommodate your request as far as possible.  I've bought 2 pairs of speakers and a subwoofer from him since 2008 and I'm a happy customer.  Sure wish I could afford the SS8 but I have HT3's will have to do.

Regards Rod

[Rocket]

Hi,

It looks like this thread has gone cold.  Can the OP let us know if he buys a Salk SS8 what type of design both him and Jim come up with. 

Cheers Rod

[mirekti]

...will do.

[RDavidson]

I'm a believer that speakers that weigh more are better as a general rule. It takes a lot of weight to damp vibrations, have better bass drivers, etc.  This is unlike a car, where curb weight is actually a detriment (think carbon fiber panels = good).  For cars, though, generally the lighter the better at least given a certain class of car, such as sports cars.

Understood. You're getting a bit too far into the semantics of my comparison, but at the same time have kind of furthered my point. The Focals and Salks are different speakers. It's like comparing oh, I don't know, a Lotus Elise to a Porsche 911. Both are sports cars. Both are mid-engine. One is bigger, heavier, and has more horsepower. The other is smaller, lighter, and has less horsepower. They both perform fantastically around the track, but they aren't really in the same class. So the idea of making a weight comparison is moot, unless one is trying to compare weight : $ ratio. Simply stating that one set of spreakers has the aspect of being heavier, so that makes it better, doesn't really make sense. It's horses for courses.

[DaveC113]

Like Ryan said about cars, There are also different design philosophies wrt cabinets... some will build a stiff, light cabinet with minimal damping and very high resonant frequencies that are unlikely to ever get excited. Others may go for a heavy, mass damped cabinet. In pro audio, where stuff is moved around a lot, the stiff/light designs are obviously the way to go but for home use there are examples of all sorts of cabinet designs. Like anything it's all about implementation, there is no right answer and good sounding examples of very different designs do exist...

The Focal at ~$9k doesn't have a light cabinet because they are trying to save $20 on mdf, it's the result of their design philosophy. and there is also the fact the Salks go ~10 Hz deeper and probably also have greater low bass output as well.

This thread is a great reminder that a speakers #1 priority is to look good though.     If it doesn't look good folks won't even make an effort to listen to them.

[jsalk]

This is correct.  I know of at least one designer who designed a cabinet that was meant to resonate at frequencies that contribute to the frequency response of the speaker itself.  This is quite rare, of course, but does happen.

Another factor that some designers take into account is shipping costs.  This is especially true of speakers sold world-wide at retail.  In this case, lighter speakers reduce  shipping costs and help them meet their retail selling price target.

When you produce a speaker that plays down to the mid to lower 20's, there is a lot of energy at those lower frequencies.  More mass helps dampen cabinet vibrations at these low frequencies and keeps cabinet vibrations to a minimum.  That is generally why our larger speakers are heavier.

- Jim

[kingdeezie]

This is correct.  I know of at least one designer who designed a cabinet that was meant to resonate at frequencies that contribute to the frequency response of the speaker itself.  This is quite rare, of course, but does happen.

Another factor that some designers take into account is shipping costs.  This is especially true of speakers sold world-wide at retail.  In this case, lighter speakers reduce  shipping costs and help them meet their retail selling price target.

When you produce a speaker that plays down to the mid to lower 20's, there is a lot of energy at those lower frequencies.  More mass helps dampen cabinet vibrations at these low frequencies and keeps cabinet vibrations to a minimum.  That is generally why our larger speakers are heavier.

- Jim

Can I just say, and not just because after my latest purchase I am a super Salk fanboy, but this is a perfect example of one of the reasons why I bought, and would continue to buy from Salk.

Instead of hyping up his product, at the expense of another, Jim provides a counter perspective and some insight into his competition.

This is one of the reasons why I went with Salk, and why I would buy from the company again in a heart beat. Just a quality and classy company, owned and run by some truly fine people. 

The whole buying experiance was truly a breath of fresh air for me in this hobby. 

[Tomy2Tone]

Can I just say, and not just because after my latest purchase I am a super Salk fanboy, but this is a perfect example of one of the reasons why I bought, and would continue to buy from Salk.

Instead of hyping up his product, at the expense of another, Jim provides a counter perspective and some insight into his competition.

This is one of the reasons why I went with Salk, and why I would buy from the company again in a heart beat. Just a quality and classy company, owned and run by some truly fine people. 

The whole buying experiance was truly a breath of fresh air for me in this hobby.

+1

[ckunstadt]

Here's my quick rendering of a Meridian-shaped SS8. Curved, but it's gotta be less work than an oval shape with stacked CNC plywood. Use a matte black finish behind the tweeter and mid to hide the driver frames - as opposed to reworking the drivers themselves. I'm also assuming that, because of the considerable curve near the top, the tweeter and mid can be placed on-center with the cabinet.

Chris

[mirekti]

Here's my quick rendering of a Meridian-shaped SS8.

Looks nice. The radiators are missing. Good point is that you don't change the drivers, but not sure if the box would perform the same in terms of SQ.
Thanks!!!

Use a matte black finish behind the tweeter

That sounds like my wife Good point, though.

[ckunstadt]

radiator. I raised the woofers a bit.

[EdRo]

Hey Chundstadt...you've somehow made my Nimbus look boring! Put an angle on the top, then lean it back 3 degrees. Ta-daaa!!! I like the colors.

[Tomy2Tone]

I like the color as well. I thought long and hard about which Mercedes grey to go with. The imola grey below is close to what you have there and would match nicely with the raal ribbon and accuton mid.

[DEP14]

wouldn't it be much harder to swap out a driver?

I think that the OP may have to consider swapping the wife out...

... Or let her pick the color.  But at 130lbs each unless she's a body builder she won't be moving them one you have them in position in your home.