My Audiophile purchase.

krbabu · « **on:** 28 Sep 2013, 04:03 pm »

Hi Jim

I live in singapore, i intend to invest in a good audiophile speaker for listening to music, i heard that the song series is very good, may i know how are these compared this with Dali epicon 800 Mark II or the Proac response D40 ,

could you please comment , I like the sound of D40 better than Dali, if you can recommend me a good speaker from your design for Vocal and classical rendering , I have a marantz PM 11 S2 amp, I intend to upgrade with a Power amplifier , could you please recommend a good speaker for me , I will proudly own this in singapore.
Thanks
babu

front242 · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Sep 2013, 05:52 pm »

What are the dimensions of your listening room?

ricardojoa · « **Reply #2 on:** 1 Oct 2013, 09:10 am »

I guess you are also factoring shiping cost. Arent both models you mentioned more expensive then the song series? Even the raal version. I think the HT2TL may be a better comparison. Cant give you the sound comparison but the advantage of Jim speakers is that you can buy a specific veneer and other customization.

yetis · « **Reply #3 on:** 1 Oct 2013, 10:31 pm »

I think you are a perfect contender for THE Philharmonic Slims

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=116005.0

They are perfect for the space constraints of Singapore and appear to be very dynamic.

Proac D40r is a great speaker. Just a hard nut to swallow.

Austin08 · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Oct 2013, 11:43 pm »

If your budget is $12000 (proac d40 retail price) then why not go for SS8 or SS10. The sound scape line got the most natural midrange and can go very deep to 20hz region. Excellent contender for vocal, jazz and classical music. If your budget is somwhat lower then you could go for HT2 TL or Phil Slim.

Any speakers from Salk is representing a tremendous value added product and service. The pride of owing a Salk product is something that set it apart from its competitors.

krbabu · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Oct 2013, 02:30 am »

Quote from: front242 on 30 Sep 2013, 05:52 pm

What are the dimensions of your listening room?

My room is 4.5 m wide x 3m ,

krbabu · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Oct 2013, 02:32 am »

Actually i have a 6 months old Speaker from my friend for the D40 8 k SGD & a 1 year old Dali Epicon. @ 5K SGD .

front242 · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Oct 2013, 03:38 pm »

Quote from: krbabu on 2 Oct 2013, 02:30 am

My room is 4.5 m wide x 3m ,

That is not a large room for Soundscape 8's, D40's, etc.

Firing across the short wall? Or down the long wall?

Veracity STs, Philharmonics, Supercharged Songtowers, or my favorite (Silks) are among your best calls it seems to me. Don't let the comparatively low list prices fool you. The Salks play with the big boys.

krbabu · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Oct 2013, 11:46 am »

Thanks , I am hesitating to buy for that reason , firing across the short wall , but the height is 3.5 mtrs.
But i saw the Song series review and i am in discussion with JS on the shipping. But your suggestion of the SILK could be also very valuable

as i could Ship it by AIR.

could you please let me a bit more about the SILK series , actually i am looking at chario from italy , i liked the sound , coupled with the tube amp.

can any one share your experiences with SILK

thanks

Rocket · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Oct 2013, 02:03 pm »

Hi,

Whilst the room is small I would still consider the Salk Sound HT2TL's. My new speakers should be shipping by Air from the US to Perth, W.A. in a few days time. This is the second pair of speakers that I've had shipped to Australia.

Good luck with your decision.

Regards Rod

front242 · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Oct 2013, 05:11 pm »

The only downside to going down the "Silk Road" is that you will have to buy proper stands, and they will cost about US$700 before shipping. Here's a re-write of my listening impressions (posted elsewhere here in the Salk Audiocircle):

I recently bought a pair of Silks that Jim modded for me to include Mundorf Silver/Oil capacitors -- which raised their price by about $900. Jim had to stretch the speaker's height dimension by an inch to make room for those very large caps. So, mine are 15 inches tall. They sit on 26 inch four post Sound Anchor stands (which I heartily recommend), but 24 inch stands might be better and allow better coupling to the floor.

When the source material is up to it, the Silks are as smooth, neutral and accurate as anything I have ever heard at my house, or at a show. On top of those attributes, there are four significant bonuses: (1) beautiful inner detail that other speakers (like my Reference 3A mm de Capo i's) obscure; (2) razor sharp, rock solid imaging (both in terms of left to right positioning and depth); (3) UNCANNY bass for a speaker this small (really amazing); and (4) an organic nature to the sound that lets your recordings' dynamic range be expressed to the fullest. Of course, when the source material is a little bright, the speakers reveal that, too.

If a stand mount configuration works for you, you would be hard-pressed to top these. I will call them Pulsar-killers, not so much because their performance exceeds the Pulsars' performance (both are extremely good speakers and I have never heard them side-by-side), but because they cost so much less.

ricardojoa · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Oct 2013, 07:55 pm »

Dont forget the ST supercharged. The added sensitivity is a plus, and smaller foot print then the ST should work pretty good in your size room.

Rocket · « **Reply #12 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 09:15 am »

Hi,

Definitely consider the ST series speaker. Shipping was quite affordable at $1000AU but my thought is that you might as well get your dream speakers first time around.

Cheers Rod

krbabu · « **Reply #13 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 01:30 pm »

Hi Rod

What is the ST Series , you mean the song tower ?

Rocket · « **Reply #14 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 02:43 pm »

Hi,

It is the ST Supercharged similiar to song towers but quite a bit more expensive. It has a similiar footprint to the song tower series speakers but uses 2 x seas mid bass drivers plus the raal ribbon tweeter. I understand that you have a small room but these might be just right for you and I'm confident that they would sound great. I had the HT2 speakers and they are wonderful.

When you factor in shipping and the extra costs of importing I just think its worth doing it once and getting some really top notch speakers (not that the song towers aren't good either). Just my opinion though.

Cheers Rod

martyo · « **Reply #15 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 04:07 pm »

Quote from: Rocket on 4 Oct 2013, 02:43 pm

Hi,

It is the ST Supercharged similiar to song towers but quite a bit more expensive. It has a similiar footprint to the song tower series speakers but uses 2 x seas mid bass drivers plus the raal ribbon tweeter. I understand that you have a small room but these might be just right for you and I'm confident that they would sound great. I had the HT2 speakers and they are wonderful.

When you factor in shipping and the extra costs of importing I just think its worth doing it once and getting some really top notch speakers (not that the song towers aren't good either). Just my opinion though.

Cheers Rod

The actual name of the speaker is the Veracity ST. The mid/bass drivers are Seas from the same series as the other Veracity speakers.

Saturn94 · « **Reply #16 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 06:37 pm »

Quote from: martyo on 4 Oct 2013, 04:07 pm

The actual name of the speaker is the Veracity ST. The mid/bass drivers are Seas from the same series as the other Veracity speakers.

Actually, the Veracity ST uses a larger driver than the SCST. I just checked the Salk website and noticed the SCST is no longer listed. Perhaps they were so similar they decided to drop the SCST from the website?

Of course being a custom builder one could have Jim build either one.

Jdgate · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 06:47 pm »

Quote from: Saturn94 on 4 Oct 2013, 06:37 pm

Actually, the Veracity ST uses a larger driver than the SCST. I just checked the Salk website and noticed the SCST is no longer listed. Perhaps they were so similar they decided to drop the SCST from the website?

Of course being a custom builder one could have Jim build either one.

The SCST is still listed on the site, it is under the SongSeries tab under products.

krbabu · « **Reply #18 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 11:10 pm »

Quote from: Rocket on 3 Oct 2013, 02:03 pm

Hi,

Whilst the room is small I would still consider the Salk Sound HT2TL's. My new speakers should be shipping by Air from the US to Perth, W.A. in a few days time. This is the second pair of speakers that I've had shipped to Australia.

Good luck with your decision.

Regards Rod

Dear Rod

Thanks for All your suggestion, I thought of all of them, but finally i am deciding to go with the H2TL. T2

Rocket · « **Reply #19 on:** 4 Oct 2013, 11:50 pm »

Hi,

I think you've done the right thing. I had the original HT2 speaker with the lcy tweeter and it sounded great. The HT2TL is simply a better speaker with deeper bass and a better tweeter. Considering the costs of importing the speakers and duties you have to pay you might as well go for a pair of speakers that will last a long time and look beautiful.

I only sold my HT2's because we had an accident at home where they got damaged and I went for the HT3 speaker because that was the speaker I really wanted in the first place but I couldn't afford. Good luck with your purchase.

Cheers Rod