Hi,
I did not find much reviews on the Veracity ST so I decided to start this thread with, humbly, my very own (and rather emotional than technical) review of these fine speakers.
If you find professional reviews or want to add your own, be my guest !
It all began with a very convincing review (
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0408/stalk_signature_songtower.htm) of the SongTower QWT by Nels Ferre on Enjoy The Music.com...
I was looking for a decent pair of speakers in the $2000-2500 (!) price range to go with the venerable McIntosh MC2100 amplifier that I had just acquired, with an MX118 preamp/tuner and, upon reading the review, I decided to contact Salk in order to get more details on their speakers and how much it would cost to get a pair over here. Living in France and Salk being a “factory direct” company from the USA, you can imagine how hard it was for me to have any kind of listening experience with any Salk creation, to get at least a glimpse of what they really are “made of”.
It would have been so easy to simply buy some very nice French or European made speakers, as there are so many worth considering, or going the Klipsch, KEF or B&W way, since they are available just about anywhere but I both wanted to consider brands which I had never listen to or never heard of before and find a speaker, even though not the most expensive, that I wouldn’t want to change within the next 6 months because of some limitation(s) that I might have thought was not that important after all but which would become the only thing that I would think of (and hear) every time I would play music. The SongTower QWT seemed like a very good choice because their only real lacking seemed in the bass extension, which I could eventually fix with a decent subwoofer, should I ever feel that it was needed.
So began a writing exchange with a very patient, convincing and, of course, admittedly biased Jim Salk, regarding what I was looking for and which speakers would best fit my needs. This took place over quite some months so, in the meantime, both the Supercharged SongTowers and the Veracity ST saw the light of day...
...both with more bass extension. So I went from the SongTower QWT to the Supercharged SongTower, to the Veracity ST and then, since the budget had already exploded, to even considering the Veracity HT2-TL, as the price difference with the Veracity ST was not that huge, why not examine every option ? In regards of what I had told him of my placement issues and room size, Jim made a strong case for the Veracity ST. It might seem like a big jump budgetwise but, by then, it became more and more evident that I really, really did not want speakers which I would feel the need to change anytime soon and, I admit it, the Veracity ST fever was getting contagious ! Even more so that, since I had an incredible deal, I was now owning McIntosh MC501 monoblocks. The SongTower QWTs, no matter how good they may be, just seemed to have become a little “light” for my system (even though I’m now sure that the result would have been great).
At this point, however, I don’t know if Jim started to think that I would never buy anything and that I was just a “loony” wasting his time – if so, to his credit, it never showed in any of his emails – as I was inquiring on all of his speakers (new designs, old designs, open baffles...). After all, I was still on my “mission” to find that rarest of speakers with both the sound I would love and the price I could (stretch to) afford. On this mission, other than Salk, I’ve discovered 2 very fine speakers that I only knew by name and reputation, for one and not at all, for the other : the Magnepan 1.7 and the PMC Twenty 24.
The Magnepans were out of the question because of the place I have but I was really impressed ! Maybe one day...
The PMCs were equally convincing, especially with their incredible smoothness and handling of all kinds of music, no matter the equipment driving them (from my MC2100 to Heed, to Marantz, to Lavardin) but also because of their incredible bass quality and low extension ! The only thing I had against the PMCs was some kind of a “miss” somewhere in their overall frequency response that I, at first, thought was just an hallucination, or not linked to the speakers, but which, after hours of listening, I heard very rarely but just often enough to become convinced that there was their trade-off for such an incredible bass quality and extension. Still, I could have easily lived with that.
But being someone who had adopted the Betamax format instead of VHS, the Apple Computers instead of Microsoft PCs, I thought that I could give the Veracity ST, a $4000 + (Please, don’t tell my wife !) speaker – a new design with barely any real review – which I had never listened to, from a company unknown to me, a chance...
I will skip everything in between the time I’ve placed my order and the time I’ve received my beautiful speakers (Veracity ST in Standard Natural Curly Cherry with front firing bass port, black plinths and stainless steel spikes for hardwood floors) as it would fill another story by itself (not because of Salk Sound, must I specify but rather the transport company and the French Customs) and go directly to my first impressions...
From "right out of the box" to "2 days in only" :
- First, they really, REALLY do look much, MUCH better "in person" than on pictures ! No picture I saw ever really did the quality of the finish any credit. Truly fantastic craftsmanship (and I "only" took a standard finish) ;
- Right away, I heard music, not speakers ;
- Great bass, even listening at low volume ;
- Lively (not dull) sound and not broken-in yet ;
- Sounds I had never heard before in songs I thought I knew very well and had played on other very expensive equipment ;
- Great match for my McIntosh amps and preamp (either the MC501 monoblocks or the MC2100 - what a fantastic amp this is, by the way ! - and C2200 preamp), which really was worrying me because, again, I was buying speakers without having ever heard them ;
- The RAAL ribbon tweeter (another possible worry for me, not being convinced by ribbon tweeters, so far) is superb. I don't know yet if it's the best I've heard but it sure does a great job and, most important, the "blend" with the SEAS Excel W16 woofers works awesomely well for my ears ;
- Customized front firing bass port (instead of the original rear firing one) not only allows for real easy placement in my room configuration (i.e.: not enough breathing room for a rear firing bass port but in, still, quite a big room) but also really, really “delivers” and if the sound was in any way sacrificed, well, owners of Veracity STs with rear firing bass ports really are lucky people ! ;
- They don't make bad recordings sound better (but the C2200 does that, of course, only to a certain extent but this is why I think that they're such a great match) ;
- I finally feel like I have “sound for my money” (and much more), with the speakers that my system deserved (and needed). The Veracity STs are not cheap but, nonetheless, they are a steal ! ;
- I never want to switch the music off ! ;
I now need to let everything "sink in" and experiment with details to optimize sound but it is clear to me that I have made the best possible choice. Thank you Jim and crew as you do an incredible job !
I’ve included, at the bottom, the “Welcome Home” playlists which I had prepared for my Veracity STs. They include a mix of very good recordings (to my ears, anyway...), songs I know very well (or thought I did...) and have heard on many different systems and, of course, some songs “just for fun”, no matter the quality of the recording, to enjoy but also hear how they come out.
I won't comment the songs individually as the goal is not to bore you even more but, let's just say that, in Playlist 1, songs 1 to 7 revealed great voices, great bass extension, outstanding individual instruments (especially the piano in "Mistral Gagnant" and the harmonica in "Si Fragile"). Songs 8 to 13 are most of my usual "standards" for both sound and enjoyment and they came out ever so beautifully ! It's really hard to speak in terms of "imaging" and "3D" as, like I said before, you do not hear speakers anyway ! You just have music. It's deep, it's wide, everybody is where they were meant to be... Songs 14 to 18 were to test some points more precisely (some types of sounds, some voice, if some "so-soish" recordings could sound better than what I've heard of them so far...). I will just say that every test was marvellously passed and that I've never heard Pearl Jam's "Indifference" sound so good before: wide, detailed, deep... goose bumps ! And God bless (well made) transmission line cabinets !!!
As for Playlist 2, since I was convinced after Playlist 1, I just enjoyed.. It’s really been a long time since I rock and rolled !!! Also, people whom elected Maurice André The Best Trumpet Player of the Century probably did so after hearing him play through Salk speakers !
I did not mean to have the "perfect test" on every aspect as I already have a couple of test CDs (+ Salk's CD...) for that. To me, the most important test is how it all sounds while listening to
my music, not with a "perfect track" which I will never listen to. I agree it's nice to see how the equipment handles all kinds of sounds and tunes and paces and so on but, at the end of the day - literally - when I sit and "fire it up", all I want is to really like what I hear. Every time.
Now I can say that, with Salk's creation (and all the equipment in front), I've accomplished that.
What’s next ? Well - other than burn in and enjoying even more - I honestly think that Jim Salk should open a plant in France or deliver his great speakers himself. If I ever make the move up to the SoundScape family, I don’t think that I’ll be able to go through another DBSchenker delivery ! ;o)
Regards,
François
Playlist 1 (somehow more quality/test oriented (but full of fun nonetheless))
1- Mining for Gold, Cowboy Junkies
2- Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis), Cowboy Junkies
3- Angel, Massive Attack
4- Hyperballad, Björk
5- Des Armes (Léo Ferré), Noir Désir
6- Mistral Gagnant, Renaud
7- Si Fragile, Luc De Larochellière
8- Your Latest Trick, Dire Straits
9- The Marching Saints, Harry Belafonte (Live at Carnegie Hall)
10- I still get jealous, Louis Armstrong
11- Fremilo, Dizzie Gillespie
12- Angel Of Harlem (U2), The Persuasions
13- My baby just cares for me, Nina Simone
14- The Gallery, Muse
15- Phoner to Arizona, Gorillaz
16- Musik Non Stop, Kraftwerk (from “The Mix”)
17- A Strange Kind Of Love, Peter Murphy
18- Indifference, Pearl Jam
Playlist 2 (definitely more “fun” oriented (but full of quality nonetheless))
1- Stand Up, The Prodigy
2- Make Some Noise, Beastie Boys
3- Y’a tu kelkun, Groovy Aardvark
4- Rock And Roll, Led Zeppelin
5- Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues, Eels
6- Back In Black, AC/DC
7- Loser, Beck
8- If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out, Cat Stevens
9- Good People, Jack Johnson
10- I’ve Got You To See Me Through, Eleanor McEvoy
11- Slow Emotion Replay, The The
12- St. Louise Is Listening, Soul Coughing
13- Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad, Moby
14- Happiness Is Easy, Talk Talk
15- Te Deum (Charpentier), Maurice André
16- Gavotte en Rondeau, Maurice André
17- Brandenburg Concerto #5 (Bach), Jordi Savall: Le Concert Des Nations
18- Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits
