Backstory: I came out of grad school in 2010 with a 15 year old 32” CRT TV, 20 year old JBL receiver, and some 4” Infinity satellite speakers. The TV was barely viewable, and the audio quality sounded like chipmunks talking over the radio. Here’s my all-white living room which we got around to painting last summer.
I upgraded the sub and receiver first, and I was literally blown away by the improvement with the Marantz SR6006 and the SVS SB13. Things spun out of control shortly after that.
A combination of hearing saturn94’s HT2-TLs, Jim’s customer service, and the reptile hobby doing well financially motivated me to upgrade my front speakers. I had already upgraded the Infinities to SVS S-02 series sealed monitors (pretty good), and then GR Research N3S sealed monitors (very nice). But I knew I wanted towers. I had originally contemplated STSC, but I knew I’d just say “what if” if I didn’t reach for the Soundscapes.
Upgrading the finish was the hardest part. We found some nice rosewood on closeout pricing, so I bought the whole batch. My jaw literally dropped when I first unboxed these SS8’s and saw how beautiful the finish was. I chose the red dye over the rosewood, and I’m very happy I did so. I also chose to upgrade the capacitors to Mundorfs, although I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to tell it made a difference. It definitely didn’t hurt.
I’m driving them with the 3 year old Marantz SR6006 (I know, probably the record for the worst device to ever drive a Soundscape) but soon to be upgraded to the Marantz AV8801. I’m currently running the Soundscapes full range experimenting with and without Audyssey engaged. They sound incredible for both movies and stereo listening. They are accurate, natural, and very detailed. My focus is always the mids and the highs, and I love how the Accuton and the RAAL have come together in this design. Bass is great too, of course. They simply disappear, which makes it so hard for me to describe them.
A huge thank you goes to Jim Salk and team for producing such a high-quality and beautiful set of speakers. I will continue to discover new capabilities of these speakers for many years to come as I upgrade my electronics. Credit for the “assist” goes to Jim K (saturn94) who provided the in-home audition of the HT2-TLs and all the kind Audiocircle members.
See that tan chaise to the left? That was about 3 months worth of work finding a chaise lounge that wouldn't stick out so far as to obstruct the SS8s. Boy oh boy that was a lot of stressful shopping with the girlfriend. In the end, I'm happy with how it turned out.
Some 2013 babies I produced.
Some 2013 babies I produced.
Thanks again, Jim Salk and team!
