[oneinthepipe]

I am posting here before I post on the Salk forum because I never would have considered Salk speakers if I hadn't been a member of the AVA forum.  Based upon Frank and Wayner's independent recommendations, I considered both the Ellis 1801 and the Salk Sound HT-3 when I was deciding on new speakers.  When I contacted Dave Ellis and told him which speakers I already owned (three pairs of LS3/5A-type monitors) and which electronics I owned, he recommended the HT-3.  When I contacted Jim Salk, he seemed to think that my room was too small for the HT-3 and suggested the SongTower or Veracity QW, both of which are a modified quarter wave transmission line speaker.  After I communicated several times with Dennis Murphy, I ordered a pair of SongTowers with ribbon tweeters in Pau Ferro veneer.

I received the speakers on Tuesday and have been extremely pleased with them.  The SongTowers are very detailed, and I can hear instruments in recordings that I have never heard before (similar experience to receiving my Insight DAC but even more pronounced).  The bass is tight, and each note is distinct.  Getting accustomed to the bass took a day or two, since my previous speakers were Spendor S3/5, which don't have any bass below 80hz, and I knew that there would be an enormous difference in the SongTowers' bass response.  However, I was more surprised with the quality of the SongTowers' mid-range in comparison to the Spendors, particularly since I have always considered the Spendors' mid-range to be the speakers' best quality.  The SongTowers are much more revealing.  The Spendors have a softer, warmer sound, and they cannot produce the detail that the SongTowers produce.  IMO, the SongTowers are much more accurate, based in part on my experience a week before receiving the SongTowers, when I attended a Shelby Lynne performance and was seated about 15' from the stage, which was about 18" above the floor.  I know that this isn't an A-B comparison, but Shelby Lynne's voice on her Just a Little Lovin' album played through the SongTowers sounded much more like her voice, albeit amplified, in her live performance than her voice sounded played through the Spendors.  In fact, her voice on the SongTowers sounded pretty much exactly like her voice sounded in her live performance, to the best of my recollection.  The Spendors seemed to disappear in my room, and I was concerned that I would always be aware of the SongTowers' presence because of their size and their ribbon tweeters, but the SongTowers provide good placement of instruments and voices, a deeper soundstage than the Spendors, and the tweeters are very quiet, and there isn't any extraneous noise that draws attention to the speakers.  (Ribbon tweeters seem to have come a long way in 25 years, when, to the best of my recollection, ribbon tweeters tended to hiss a little and had poor dispersion.)

Jim also helped me after I received the speakers and advised me about acoustic panel placement related to the speakers' distance from the front wall, since the SongTowers have a rear port, and I have acoustic panels behind the speakers.

I think the SongTowers are a great match for my Insight preamp, amp, and DAC.  I wanted accurate sound, and I think that I have found it.

Thank you Frank, Wayner, Dave, Jim and Dennis for your assistance.

[Wayner]

I glad you are enjoying your new speakers OITP! It's fun to get new speakers or electronics, just cause it's a nice excuse to go thru the collection to see how different things sound. Though I am not a fan of "break-in" time, I do believe and have witnessed this event with speakers. I do think it takes a little time to loosen up the surrounds and spiders. Their timber may change just a smidgen as they start to warm up.

My Focals are still in break-in but I can tell these are also dandy little bookshelves that can torque some bass for such a small cabinet. Do my mirror trick to get them super aligned. make sure you measure from a corner of the speaker to the outside wall and make sure both speakers are the exact distance from side wall and back wall. You want these suckers to be totally symmetrical with in the room. Don't let the wife think these are plant stands either.

The other trick I would do is to tilt them back abit. I always think the tweeters slightly off center sounded very sweet. The ribbons should act similar. Other then that you lucky dog, we are all jealous. BTW, where are the pictures?

Wayner