[Marbles]

Some deserved, but most probably not.

Anyway, I had a chance to listen to some of Jim Salks  HT3 and HT1 speakers this past Saturday.  Jim's cabinets are works of art, inside and out.
He uses Dennis Murphy designed XO's and in the HT3 he uses a custom TC Sounds 10"woofer, paired with 5" SEAS Excel midrange and a Arum Cantus ribbon tweeter.

The bass reproduction was some of the best I've ever heard from a non-subwoofer speaker.  The high frequencies were very good as well.
The off axis response horizontally was a bit better than my RM40's and the off axis response vertically seemed unlimited.

Where I had a problem though was the midrange.  If I had not lived with the RM40's for the past year, I'm sure I would have been delighted withthe midrange of the HT3.  As it was, it was not nearly as resolving as the RM40 midrange.  Or at least the midrange I heard in Jim's house using Jims equipment was not as resolving as the midrange I hear in my house in my system.

In fact I think that I am ruined for all single cone midrange driver speakers in my ref system.

For the past two weeks I had been playing with an active XO I had lying around the house.  My pre has two sets of outputs.  I first ran the active XO and high passed the RM40's at 70 and low passed my subs at the same spot.  This caused the RM40's to not sound well in the midrange.  Then I ran the 40's full range (not going through the XO) and brought the subs in at 70 hz and adjusted the volume of the sub amp until it sounded right.  I had been running it that way for a few days.  Saturday night when I came home from Jim Salks, I unhooked the  active XO and took two small fingernails of putty off each 40.  This really increased the bass response which had previously been overdamped.

Saturday night and most all day Sunday (even during the Colts Pat's game) I enjoyed the RM40's like I hadn't enjoyed a speaker in a long time.  Just the RM40's, no subs.

I figured it was about time I gave BC his props.  The RM40's in my room work very very well.  The midrange response ruined me for most  conventional speakers.  The bass is now very good.  
I am not looking to upgrade speakers.

Anyway, I had been thinking that after listening to a world class speaker like the Salk HT3, then going home and adjusting my speakers until the response blew me away, I at least owed Brian a post telling him how much I liked his speakers.

Thanks for the nice speakers BC, I appreciate them....

[John Casler]

Some deserved, but most probably not.

Anyway, I had a chance to listen to some of Jim Salks  HT3 and HT1 speakers this past Saturday.  Jim's cabinets are works of art, inside and out.
He uses Dennis Murphy designed XO's and in the HT3 he uses a custom TC Sounds 10"woofer, paired with 5" SEAS Excel midrange and a Arum Cantus ribbon tweeter.

Anyway, I had been thinking that after listening to a world class speaker like the Salk HT3, then going home and adjusting my speakers until the response blew me away, I at least owed Brian a post telling him how much I liked his speakers.

Thanks for the nice speakers BC, I appreciate them....

While B, listens to all types of music (you'd be surprised what he plays) your comments are surely "music to his ears", and what he likes to hear the best.

You also remind me why I became a VMPS dealer in the first place.  It certainly wasn't to become rich , but more to help others to get a chance to enjoy Brian's wizardry, the way I do.

A few weeks ago a wrote a peice called "High Perfomance Listening" which someday I'll finish and post.  But it is about my expereinces in using B's speakers to reproduce some incredible sonic delights.

It is always nice to be compared to "world class" speakers and still have that "something" that many like in their systems.

I know B's personal fulfillment is to offer what he deems as world class, high performance systems at reasonable pricing.

[Tyson]

I'm with Marbles.  I've simply given up on finding speakers I like better than the 40's.  I'm sure there are maybe a couple out there, and I'm also just as sure that I couldn't afford them if I did find them.

[jackman]

Marbles,
It's cool that you had a chance to listen to Jim's work and see some of his amazing cabinets.  Your feedback on the sound and how it compared to your RM40's is also very interesting.  One thing came to mind, however, Jim's system.  Is Jim's system on par with the one you have in your home?  If not, some of the differences could have been attributed to the system.  I'm not suggesting you would not have prefered your existing speakers, speaker preference is highly subjective, but amplification and source gear can have a huge influence, as can other factors like room interaction, etc.  From what I recall, your wires probably cost more than Jim's whole system.  

Can you please describe Jim's syatem, amp, CDP, and his room treatments?  Did he use any?  Either way, excellent write-up.  I look forward to your comments.

Jack

[Marbles]

Jim uses a Sony Multi disc CDP as a transport to an MSB Linkdac II, that goes to a Van Alstine pre to a Bryston 4B amp.  Speaker wire looked like fat zip wire, could have been Monster.  I didn't see the IC's.  He does not use room treatment.  He did have lots of carpet, and 4 bean bag chairs in front, then a riser with 4 theater chairs, than another taller riser with 4 more chairs behind that.  One wall had a large window, with blinds covering it's entirety.

As to which one sounds better, I couldn't say as I hadn't heard most of his equipment before.  I suspect my stuff is a little more to my liking though.

[zybar]

Marbles,
It's cool that you had a chance to listen to Jim's work and see some of his amazing cabinets.  Your feedback on the sound and how it compared to your RM40's is also very interesting.  One thing came to mind, however, Jim's system.  Is Jim's system on par with the one you have in your home?  If not, some of the differences could have been attributed to the system.  I'm not suggesting you would not have prefered your existing speakers, speaker preference is highly subjective, but amplification and  ...

Jackman,

That was my thought exactly!  I went from having the top of the line AVA preamp with NOS tubes to the Bent NOH (which Marbles has) and the level of clarity and detail (especially in the midrange) was vastly improved by the switch.  I have no doubt that some of the midrange issues were because of the associated gear.

On the other hand, the RM 40's are pretty damn good in the midrange and most other speakers haven't been able to approach them.

I am hoping to get in a pair of the HT3's as well as a pair of Selah Line Arrays and have a big shootout/listening session in February.  Look for more info in a different circle (most likely the NY Audio Rave) as I don't want to turn this thread way off topic.

George