Tempesta Towers, A layman’s review
This review is strictly based upon my opinion and is not intended to be considered a professional review. I will try and relate to the reader just how well Rick’s Selah Tempesta Towers perform and just how exceptional they are.
Background:
The set-up is a dedicated 2-channel system in a spare bedroom (12’ X 11’) the amp is a Modwright KWI-200 with a Luxman D-06 CD player, cables are by Signal Cables. At present I have the speakers about 22” from the rear wall and towed in. There is no sub being used and with the Selah’s there is no need for one. The CD’s listen to range widely in genres but include such groups as Dream Theater, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings, Dire Straights, Joe Bonamassa, Jeff Beck, Joan Osborne, Nora Jones . . . and others.
Sound:
To sum it up the sound is very clean, detailed (w/o being analytical) dynamic, the bass is weighted and has good depth; the mid-range is spot on and lush. Overall this is a very balanced performing speaker. The biggest attribute I look for in a speaker is the degree of clarity, as an example Transatlantic’s “The Whirlwind” is a 77 min epic of progressive rock, and has many moods and changes. The Tempest performed flawlessly and I was able to hear individual parts that were layered into the song that I did not notice before! As another example takes Dream Theater’s “Ministry of Lost Souls” and “The Answer lies Within” very different songs the bass on the first was deep and powerful but not too much, while in the second, the string section and bell ringing are spot on.
When listing to female vocals precision best describes the Tempesta’s presentation of Nora Jones’s track “Waiting” the xylophone section of the song notes are crisp and seem to float and linger. One of my test tracks is Joan Osborne’s “What you are” has a consistent drum cadence through out the entire song and the guitar near the end of the song are amazingly vivid and lifelike. . . a real you are their feeling. With the Tempest’s everything sounds natural and I was truly drawn in while listening. Lastly, I played for my folks (who define hifi as anything by Bose’s . . . no insult to them) Jeff Beck’s “Live at Ronnie Scott’s” song “Cause we've ended as lover’s”, a CD of instrumental tracks, their jaw hit the floor and all they kept saying is how clear and wonderful the speakers sound! That is about as good as it gets from them.
Conclusion:
It always risky to buy speakers without being able to hear them first, I knew from reading the many posts on this site, that all the components would be exceptional, still the sound is unknown until you actually hear them for your self and how other people describe the sound, that may not be your experience. I can only base this on what I have owned before PMC, Focal and a few others. By far the PMC’s are an excellent speaker and until now the best I have owned, but the Tempesta, as Rick said too me, is a “significant step-up” was dead on. Hope this helps others.
