[Thorton]

Those look amazing!!!

[chargedmr2]

Great timing on delivery!  One more thought: those Salks have some seriously good looking rears

[TomS]

Very Happy Birthday to the one who shall remain nameless

[Big Red Machine]

Very Happy Birthday to the one who shall remain nameless

Ha!  Well after the blue thing I wasn't sure I should let Jim post this creation.

[TomS]

Ha!  Well after the blue thing I wasn't sure I should let Jim post this creation.

They turned out great!

[Big Red Machine]

I spent a ton, and I mean a ton, of time sketching, buying copper samples, researching paints, finding all the detail parts for this project.  Started really getting into the design phase in late June.  I downloaded a CAD program and designed the baseplate, etc.

[Folsom]

Now that's a finish! Veneer? pffft. Now we're talking up to date, styling, worthy of a modern home and something that makes Jim a badass.

[Big Red Machine]

Now that's a finish! Veneer? pffft. Now we're talking up to date, styling, worthy of a modern home and something that makes Jim a badass.

Thanks.  I tried to find a veneer that was different or worthy but just came up with the same boring results.  One day when I was agonizing over the finish I spouted out that I really wanted copper....and that was it!  I grew up in a copper family - my dad was a 40 year Revere Copper & Brass R&D employee, we had copper everywhere.  Grew up standing on roofs installing copper snow flashing with my dad, learned to solder and braze at 10 years.  My grandfather, who I never met, made copper stills on the side for extra cash in the 30's.  So why the heck not.

My original paint idea was black as I thought it was the perfect match.  But I have always wanted white and a more modern look, so my wife, who has a styling eye, encouraged me to go white.

Looked at every automotive paint in any shade of white there was and finally we chose by process of elimination in both indoor and outdoor lighting, a Hyundai tri-coat metallic white.  Not too white and not too yellow or gray.

Found anniversary edition WBT's in white.

Provided copper colored cable sleeving.

Bought solid copper balls for the feet.  Drilled them, tapped them, inserted stainless set screws, and polished, polished, and polished some more.  Then sealed them in clear.  (good excuse to buy that new bench grinder)

Base-plates are 3/8" hot rolled steel.  Had them plasma cut.  Drilled and tapped them (not easy with hot rolled), sanded them, primed them, and painted them - twice.  The steel plates alone are over 20 lbs. each before copper.

The team also made me grills which I was not expecting.  They also made me white standard plinths for back-ups.  My crates fit perfectly and provided 100% assurance no damage would occur during that 3 hour drive and handling.

The system is getting overhauled and 1/2 of it has begun - new amps, speaker cables, power conditioner.  Can't wait for everything to come together this week.  Friday is a vacation day!

[Early B.]

The system is getting overhauled and 1/2 of it has begun - new amps, speaker cables, power conditioner.  Can't wait for everything to come together this week.  Friday is a vacation day!

OK, I'll be the one to ask the obvious question -- what amps, cables and power conditioner are you gonna mate with your new speakers?

[Big Red Machine]

I wanted Class A and my RMAF searching led me to tubed amps first, but finally I zeroed in on solid state (for many technical reasons).  My two top contenders were Pass XA30.8 and Electrocompaniet anything.  I ended up with EC AW180 mono blocks.  Should be plenty of power for 92 db upper cabinets.

Bought some Acoustic Zen Hologram 6 foot SC's in great condition - highly rated.

Looked for a Velocitor at my price but could not make the deal so I went with an Acoustic Revive RTP-4.  That should be here Wednesday.

Am reworking my outlet box with Maestros and Furutechs and some tourmaline crystals to try and keep up with the RTP-4.

And for kicks I made matching copper sleeved power cables for the bass modules.

In 2015 I am looking at dacs and preamps and if the AZ cables show promise then either more AZ IC's or perhaps High Fidelity IC's.

[WGH]

Amazing speakers. The Electrocompaniet and Salk sound like another winning combination, this could the best B'Day ever! (more like a birthday week)

Wayne

[Mudslide]

HOLY......Pete (and Jim et al), those E3's are simply fantastic.  Wonderful wonderful.  Many congrats to all.   

Pete, don't forget to let us know how the beauties sound and a little about their synergy with the ECs.

Oh yeah, and Happy Birthday!   

[sfox7076]

I was going to buy Electrocompaniet at one point.  Have NCores and a Ultimate 70 (with XF2 Mullard EL34s).  I will go back to Electrocompaniet if the 1625 amps don't work out on my Exoticas.  110 Watts per channel from 4 1625 tubes.  I am looking for speaker cables.  Currently using Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerators, but they are short (8 feet), I need to get 10, so I am on the lookout.  I am using a Lampizator Big 7 Dac, Dave's Cables, a Tortuga LDR (this will be the next change I think) and a headless MacMini with an LPS.   

I am in the process of figuring out power.  I have built a few 12 volt trigger boxes that I am currently using (fed off of an UberBuss).  I have never really heard much difference with power, so I am not sure where I want to go here.  I also picked up a WattBox IP controlled power strip.  Thinking I may use that. 

Shawn

[roscoeiii]

Beautiful speakers. And I adore the sound of the Exotica 3s. My favorite of what I have heard from  Salk. And top 5 of all the speakers I heard at RMAF.

[Tomy2Tone]

Hey BRM,

Would you mind sharing your thoughts on the need or desire to have the tweeter/midrange in separate cabinets. When I read that you were planning on doing this I guess I was expecting a little more drastic change to the design, but it looks like a standard E3 cabinets with just a little space in between.

I think it was a good call on going with the white!

-Tom

[Big Red Machine]

Hey BRM,

Would you mind sharing your thoughts on the need or desire to have the tweeter/midrange in separate cabinets. When I read that you were planning on doing this I guess I was expecting a little more drastic change to the design, but it looks like a standard E3 cabinets with just a little space in between.

I think it was a good call on going with the white!

-Tom

Simple:  I wanted to keep the weight down for moving them.  Sure, I end up with 4 pieces, but I kept the size and weight down to where I can move them w/o blowing out my back.  And they fit into vehicles better, even in the crates.

Was there any thought that the speaker would perform better?  Not really.  I actually anticipated the upper rattling due to the lower energy but that has not occured and my backup plan was to change to a thick piece of foam between them if need be (plenty of extra from the shipping crate build).

I wanted the smallest crack between them and we got pretty close - there is a brow on the upper hiding the recessed spikes.  I also wanted very sharp edges all around for a super modern look but Jim talked me out of it for acoustic reasons.  As it turns out the cabinets are different dimensions than the one piece because the volume relationships between the upper section and lower section change when they are not integral.  So I had to go back and modify my baseplate design to take on the deeper cabinet dimension.

Everything about this build was custom except the drivers and crossover!

[Big Red Machine]

Amazing speakers. The Electrocompaniet and Salk sound like another winning combination, this could the best B'Day ever! (more like a birthday week)

Wayne

Yeah, I like that idea Wayne, a week of excitement!

[JonnyFive]

I wanted Class A and my RMAF searching led me to tubed amps first, but finally I zeroed in on solid state (for many technical reasons).  My two top contenders were Pass XA30.8 and Electrocompaniet anything.  I ended up with EC AW180 mono blocks.  Should be plenty of power for 92 db upper cabinets.

Pete, congrats on those amazing speakers! 

Can I ask you to belabor the amp search a bit more?  I'm considering PrimaLuna HP power amp with KT120s, which if run as a mono block, would provide 90 watts in triode mode (appx double if put in ultra linear).  These are about $8k/pr.

The Parasound JC1 can provide up to 10W/25W Class A if set to low/high bias mode.  Did this not make the short list?

Thanks for any input.  Enjoy! Jon

[Big Red Machine]

Pete, congrats on those amazing speakers! 

Can I ask you to belabor the amp search a bit more?  I'm considering PrimaLuna HP power amp with KT120s, which if run as a mono block, would provide 90 watts in triode mode (appx double if put in ultra linear).  These are about $8k/pr.

The Parasound JC1 can provide up to 10W/25W Class A if set to low/high bias mode.  Did this not make the short list?

Thanks for any input.  Enjoy! Jon

I read alot.  Bunches of reviews online including archives in Audiogon, Audio Asylum, here, etc.  I look for trends in analyses, watch for blowhards, and try to sift for honest assessments and then draw conclusions.  When you see repeated comments from different sources postively or negatively about a certain product then you start to feel good about working your way through the funnel.

My first choice was a set of used Lamm ML1.1's at 90 watts in Class A but the darned tubes take a beating and glow like toasters.  Plenty of power for 92 db, very highly rated, and for the most part reliable units.  I had lots of encouragement at RMAF to go tubes but the more I looked, the more I saw reliability and longevity the issue with Class A tubes (and sockets).  I hate to say I am lazy, because I don't believe I am, but it is a heck of a lot easier to own Class A in solid state form.

Can't comment on PrimaLuna, but if I was looking at tubes I'd contact Hugh and look at the Melody gear as well.  As for Parasound, very good company, great crew, but the common theme I read was that while powerful, they are consistently lean sounding.

In comparison, everything I found about the new Pass .8 series was exceedingly positive (and you need to sift through the fanboyism) but I was a little concerned that even up to 60 watts Class A was going to be barely enough headroom.  The larger amps were out of my price range.

Everything, and I mean everything I found out about EC gear was positive.  "Tube like", "smooth", "powerful" were consistent themes.  I spoke with the EC sales rep at RMAF and was inspired by their thoroughness outside of the independent reviews I did before and after the show.  I also contacted customer service and inquired about circuitry changes over time and how to tell one model from the next - very little has changed in their designs.  List on those 180's is now $5800 each.  I found 2 pair for sale and actually bought the more expensive pair in the states, with a warranty no less, for a very good cash price.  It was kind of a no-brainer to give them a try and be future-proof in the power output stat.

Class A will also reduce the need to power up my space heater in my basement as well! ha  These monos are 48 lbs. each as well.  Hello chiropractor.

[BobC]

Those are beautiful!  I've always lusted after Salks.

A noob question though....does the choice of a copper face impact the sound?  I'm use to front baffles trying to be thick and stiff pieces if MDF.  We these glued on? 

Bob