[K Shep]

I took delivery of my ST RT's one month ago.  I have waited to post my impressions because I wanted to live with the beauties for a while.  I will say that my experience with Salk Sound was and continues to be satisfying.  The bass produced from these speakers has continued to impress me.  At first I thought the bass was a bit light, but as I've learned, it depends on the recording.  I listen to female vocal and acoustic material and the midrange on these tracks has a combination of definition and clarity that I have only heard from speakers costing twice as much.  I have been able to visit many of the audio shops in San Francisco since this hobby has grabbed ahold of me and now when I sit down in front of speakers that are playing, I think to myself "my songtowers sound better".  I know better is not the correct word, but I listen for soundstage depth and width, I listen for midrange clarity, I listen for the 3 dimensional spacing of instruments, I listen for tight bass (kick drum) all of these charactersitics I have with my SongTower Ribbon Tweeter Speakers from Salk Signature Sound.

Thanks Jim

[evan1]

 

[Art_Chicago]

nice finish of the ST's! just what I have 

[funkmonkey]

  Sweet.  Your ST/RTs look great!  Room looks pretty cool too. 

[K Shep]

Thanks gentlemen,

Funk, I too have a Parasound A21, which I love.  I was also considering a Modwright preamp do you own the SWLP 9.0SE? and your HT3 they are squared at the top.  I know we have "custom" speakers but yours are quite unique.  Please explain the design.

[bahorn1]

Cool!  Another SF Bay Area Salk owner.  Congrats K Shep.

[funkmonkey]

K Shep-

My Parasound is actually an A-51.  I have it set-up to passive bi-amp my HT3s.  It also drives my HTC.  My pre is the MW 36.5, I was going to go with a 9.0SE but at the time I was working a lot and feeling rich.  Plus a major selling point for me was the HT bypass w/ the power off on the 36.5...  I am not disappointed.  The squared of cabinets are a compromise between me and my wife, that Jim was gracious enough to consent to build.  She absolutely would not let "monkey coffins" in the house, and after hearing them, I had to have my HT3s.  Thats pretty much it.     everybody is happy. 

But this thread is about your kit.  Are your STs cherry veneer?  one of my favorite woods actually...  Did you figure out an ideal placement for your Salks yet?  Or still tweaking?

[Frisco]

K Shep....I didn't realize you are in San Francisco? As a former resident in the City by the Bay I would love to hear your ST's one day. I haven't been back home for about 3 years now.....rather spend the money on audio equipment.  aa  I also noticed that you owned a pair of the PMC GB1 i's...in which I presently own. Can you tell me how they compare? would love to hear your comments.

btw....you got a beautiful pair of ST's......just the finish I would chose 

[R Swerdlow]

K Shep

Your description and photos of your new STs clearly show you are in love with your new speakers.  I recognize this easily because I'm there too.  I hope your honeymoon period lasts a long time.  Enjoy listening to and being surprised by all your old favorites and lots of new music too!

The clear cherry veneer looks great in your photos 

[Nuance]

Great looking speakers and system buddy!  Have you told them about your custom room treatments you just put up?  The man has been busy folks, and the results have been very good.   

[K Shep]

Funkmonkey-Are your STs cherry veneer?  one of my favorite woods actually...  Did you figure out an ideal placement for your Salks yet?  Or still tweaking?

Medium Curly Cherry.  They are beautiful...the veneer match each other too, inother words, the left side of the left speaker matches the right side of the right speaker.  Its pretty cool they mirror each other.  I am still tweaking, I have moved the listening position back to give the speakers more room and the rack and amp base back so that they are out of the listening path as much as possible.  The position doesn't seem to be as critical as the other speakers I have owned.  I don't know if that is due to the ribbon tweeter and the way it fills the room horizontally. 

I mentioned the MW preamp.  I ended up picking up a Conrad Johnson preamp that I stumbled upon and I too was feeling rich.  The "monkey coffins"  I am still laughing!

[K Shep]

Great looking speakers and system buddy!  Have you told them about your custom room treatments you just put up? 

Thanks buddy!  My system has changed over the last few months and so has my attic (listening room).  I am fortunate that I was able to add a 200 sqft space in the attic of my home that has turned into a very comfortable place to listen.  I bought acoustic panels, Aurelex, used and I just finished my first diy panel build.  Owens Corning 703 wrapped, if you're interested PM me or check out the thread I added to at The Acoustic Circle of this site.
My ST's sound wonderful in their listening attic! 

[K Shep]

Frisco-I also noticed that you owned a pair of the PMC GB1 i's...in which I presently own. Can you tell me how they compare? would love to hear your comments.

My PMC's are GB1 not the i's.  So your PMC's are a step up from mine.  The GB1's have a huge soundstage for their size.  The bass is surprisingly tight.  I went from an NAD integrated amp to seperates Parasound/VTL while I had the PMC's in the system and the change was amazing, those PMC's can sing.  With that said when I hooked the ST RT's up it was another astonishing new experience.  The ST's have twice as many mid drivers and you can hear twice as much information coming from the speakers.  The ribbon tweeter is also an added bonus.  I look for acoustical music because I love the organic sound of the instruments and the way in which the ST's deliver it.  I enjoyed owning the PMC's, they are for sale, and I would recommend them for the right application, the cabinets are beautiful, but I wouldn't trade them for my SongTowers now.

[tgp06]

K Shep-
If it weren't for the ribbon tweeters, I'd swear I was looking at my own STs! I specified a slightly darker than stock finish (slightly tilted toward brown versus red) and sent Jim a sample piece. This finish is classy and beautiful. I saw your bass comments and agree- very natural sounding and much deeper than I expected. Great sound from top to bottom- even with the domes. If I ever get my daughter to return my digital camera I will post pictures of mine- but I'm not holding my breath! My STs were also very forgiving of placement.
Tom