Chris' Exotica 3's in Mexican ziricote

roscoeiii · « **Reply #40 on:** 1 Feb 2015, 07:57 pm »

An excellent speaker. My favorite of what I've heard from Salk. Look forward to hearing about how it breaks in.

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #41 on:** 1 Feb 2015, 08:20 pm »

There is no accounting for what electronics some folks may be using with their speakers, so sure, with some gear the E3 probably could sound forward. I'm betting any one of you would love the sound I am getting now. Clear and tight but never irritating. I've done alot with power conditioning tweaks to eliminate sibilance. Whoa, what a difference. QRT, PEA, Gen ZX, TotalDac USB, and now Black Treasures. It's 99% there now.

sfox7076 · « **Reply #42 on:** 1 Feb 2015, 08:29 pm »

Black treasure tubes? What pre are you using?

Shawn

kingdeezie · « **Reply #43 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 02:31 am »

What myself, and some others have been trying to illustrate, is that these speakers are very refined high resolution transducers.

While the drivers and parts have certain intrinsic sound properties, what comes before them is greatly influential to the sound. You can make them sound bright, laid back, euphonic, aggressive, and all sounds in between with the proper selection of electronics.

I had them running for around 5 hours today, so maybe 10 hours total. The highs were opening up and sounding amazing towards the end. I had to shut them down for the night, still super hype over them.

I'll post more as they mature.

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #44 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 04:38 pm »

Quote from: sfox7076 on 1 Feb 2015, 08:29 pm

Black treasure tubes? What pre are you using?

Shawn

Dude

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #45 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 04:40 pm »

Quote from: kingdeezie on 2 Feb 2015, 02:31 am

What myself, and some others have been trying to illustrate, is that these speakers are very refined high resolution transducers.

While the drivers and parts have certain intrinsic sound properties, what comes before them is greatly influential to the sound. You can make them sound bright, laid back, euphonic, aggressive, and all sounds in between with the proper selection of electronics.

I had them running for around 5 hours today, so maybe 10 hours total. The highs were opening up and sounding amazing towards the end. I had to shut them down for the night, still super hype over them.

I'll post more as they mature.

Exactly. I always seem to find myself upping the game of the electronics to keep pace with the Salks. Now that we are at the top of the food chain, the pressure is on!

Tomy2Tone · « **Reply #46 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 05:15 pm »

I'm assuming you guys are the first to hear these E3's with electronics other than AVA. All the comments I've read before are from people who have heard them at shows where SALK usually uses AVA to power them. I'm not familiar with how AVA electronics sound so it could be a matter of some hearing the E3's with a low watt tube amp from AVA and think they are vintage laid back while others are hearing them with a high watt hybrid AVA amp and found it forward and aggressive. Could be different AVA preamps being used as well.

I'm still a newbie to this hobby so I'm always trying to learn and understand why speakers sound different to different people. Like I said before I look forward to hearing your thoughts on how the E3's progress as I like how you explain what you're hearing.

Cheers!

sfox7076 · « **Reply #47 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 05:53 pm »

Yeah. The more I throw into the mix, the more I realize that the Exotica's pick up everything. I am demoing cables that blow me away. I don't get it, but they do. I have gone back and forth between the cables I own, cables I built and these, and I just cannot even fathom how big the step up is in the sound. It's pretty shocking that speaker cables or ICs can make such a difference with these speakers. I also have moved my Tortuga (which I liked a lot) out to pasture for a tubed pre. Amazing synergy just moving to that.

sfox7076 · « **Reply #48 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 05:57 pm »

It could be, but I have used AVA solid state (Insight level, not FET Valve), AVA tube (Ultimate 70), home brew, NCOREs and a PS Audio Sprout. None have raised the speaker to aggressive, but who knows... We all have different ears.

Tomy2Tone · « **Reply #49 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 06:04 pm »

Quote from: sfox7076 on 2 Feb 2015, 05:53 pm

Yeah. The more I throw into the mix, the more I realize that the Exotica's pick up everything. I am demoing cables that blow me away. I don't get it, but they do. I have gone back and forth between the cables I own, cables I built and these, and I just cannot even fathom how big the step up is in the sound. It's pretty shocking that speaker cables or ICs can make such a difference with these speakers. I also have moved my Tortuga (which I liked a lot) out to pasture for a tubed pre. Amazing synergy just moving to that.

Just curious what tube pre you're using? I'm always looking at different tube preamps that are out there.

sfox7076 · « **Reply #50 on:** 2 Feb 2015, 08:21 pm »

An older Concert Fidelity LSX.

kingdeezie · « **Reply #51 on:** 8 Feb 2015, 12:20 am »

Just hit the 25 hour mark.....

The burn in for these will be slow with using tube amplifiers. I wish I could just leave the whole thing on for a week. The stridency disappeared pretty much a few hours into playing, so that is pretty awesome.

The Clarity Cap MRs however, and this is assumption on my part, are what are killing me. It sounds odd, and most people will probably call this audiophoolery, but I swear I can hear the sound change sometimes minute to minute.

One minute the sound will be recessed but smooth, and the next it will be forward and grainy.

Last night I started to get a great inclination of what I hope they ultimately sound like. Everything was smooth, ripe with beautiful tone, and the highs were amazing. I think I prefer dome tweeters to planars or ribbons. I am sure there are great examples of all different forms of tweeter reproduction, but the highs on these Exoticas are splendid.

They have this amazing ability during a cymbal strike to have both air and tonal bloom, it creates some very cool moments. Every planar or ribbon I have heard has excelled at the airy portion, but to my ears always lacked the brassy depth of a cymbal strike. These seem to nail both aspects.

There is also this crazy stillness in the music that I never heard before in my room. I don't know if it is because the cabinet is so inert, or the Clarity MRs, or what, but it is something I haven't experienced till this point.

It is hard to say for me what I feel is lacking at this point, because they are seemingly yin or yang. I have been looping the same tracks over and over again, and the difference is sometimes staggering during this break in period.

In the end I hope that the ying and yang that I have been hearing find a common ground to exist on. There are sometimes when I feel the music sounds too reticent and veiled, and other times I feel the music is too harsh and brittle.

The one constant that has remained spectacular is the vocals. You just hear everything on the recording, and it is fantastic.

I do get glimpses of greatness that peak out, and I get this beautiful, smooth, meaty, detailed presentation, and I really really really love it.

The other thing to note is the Rythmik amps run very cool. I have had the music kicking, and have yet to have the amp feel barely warm to the touch.

Its been a shade over a week, and I still adore their build quality. I don't know if that will ever wear off, I hope it doesn't.

In any event, I look forward to the next 25 hours and beyond. When I started in this hobby, I didn't think I would ever get to this level. These speakers are so well built, sound so good, and are from such a great company. I feel very fortunate to own them.

gregcss · « **Reply #52 on:** 8 Feb 2015, 02:13 am »

Quote from: kingdeezie on 8 Feb 2015, 12:20 am

One minute the sound will be recessed but smooth, and the next it will be forward and grainy.

Sounds crazy....same song?

sfox7076 · « **Reply #53 on:** 8 Feb 2015, 02:43 am »

I have not experienced that with my rig. Could you have a tube warm up issue?

Rocket · « **Reply #54 on:** 8 Feb 2015, 02:52 am »

Hi Guys,

Quote

The Clarity Cap MRs however, and this is assumption on my part, are what are killing me. It sounds odd, and most people will probably call this audiophoolery, but I swear I can hear the sound change sometimes minute to minute.

One minute the sound will be recessed but smooth, and the next it will be forward and grainy. /quote]

The only time I hear this type of thing is in comparison to different songs. Sometimes depending on my mood I'm really happy with my system and other times I want more. For example, if I listen to my system at night time it sounds superb but during the day not quite as good. I bought HT3's in 2013 and I use Spread Spectrum Technologies Ampzilla 2000 mono blocks with them. Recently I replaced my ageing preamp with a Red Wine Audio Isabella and there was a noticeable increase in performance.

Your speakers are obviously a few levels higher than mine. Are you listening to top notch recordings. Rubbish in is rubbish out with these speakers.

Cheers Rod

kingdeezie · « **Reply #55 on:** 9 Feb 2015, 05:26 pm »

If not the same song (sometimes), its the same album. Also, I'll have an album on loop so that I can just leave it running when I am up and about the house.

A song that I'l hear and say, "This sounds too recessed and the highs are lacking", I'll listen to again in a couple of hours and say, "now it sounds more transparent, but grainy in the highs."

Quote from: sfox7076 on 8 Feb 2015, 02:43 am

I have not experienced that with my rig. Could you have a tube warm up issue?

Maybe the Solens and the Clarity Caps just have a different break in routine, and maybe the Clarity Caps are less consistent during early stages of usage?

I don't think its a tube issue, because it happens throughout when the tube amplifiers have been on for hours.

My tubes are getting a little old, I need to retube soon, but just recovering from the speaker purchase first.

The tubes bias perfectly though. I check it evey two weeks, and they barely ever drift.

Who knows.

I'm just going to keep enjoying the process. They never sound bad, just presentation variations here and there.

jsalk · « **Reply #56 on:** 9 Feb 2015, 07:15 pm »

Sometimes when we are developing a new design, I drive myself crazy trying to analyze every little nuance of the sound. Is the tweeter too bright or too laid back? Is the midrange too forward or too recessed? Is the bass too heavy or too thin? Over a period of weeks, we make scores of major and minor changes to the crossover in order to achieve the ultimate voicing for a particular design.

On more than one occasion, when we finally got to where we were really happy, the crossover that resulted was almost identical to what we started with in the first place. In other words, I drove myself (and Dennis Murphy, I'm sure) crazy listening intently to the speakers (rather than the music) and over-analyzing everything to the 'nth degree.

After a while, I quit obsessing over the speakers and start listening to the music. My level of enjoyment is vastly enhanced once I do this. I find I can analyze things to death and I'm missing what it is all about...enjoying the music.

Just a thought...

- Jim

NickC · « **Reply #57 on:** 9 Feb 2015, 09:08 pm »

Boy ain't that the truth!

Ace Deprave · « **Reply #58 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 01:03 pm »

Quote from: jsalk on 9 Feb 2015, 07:15 pm

Sometimes when we are developing a new design, I drive myself crazy trying to analyze every little nuance of the sound. Is the tweeter too bright or too laid back? Is the midrange too forward or too recessed? Is the bass too heavy or too thin? Over a period of weeks, we make scores of major and minor changes to the crossover in order to achieve the ultimate voicing for a particular design.

On more than one occasion, when we finally got to where we were really happy, the crossover that resulted was almost identical to what we started with in the first place. In other words, I drove myself (and Dennis Murphy, I'm sure) crazy listening intently to the speakers (rather than the music) and over-analyzing everything to the 'nth degree.

After a while, I quit obsessing over the speakers and start listening to the music. My level of enjoyment is vastly enhanced once I do this. I find I can analyze things to death and I'm missing what it is all about...enjoying the music.

Just a thought...

- Jim

Sometimes I will listen to a song and I can't believe how perfect it sounds, but the next time I listen, something seems off and I start tweaking my settings...other than possibly the operating temperature of the electronics, nothing else has changed. It makes me think the real variable is me.

Saturn94 · « **Reply #59 on:** 10 Feb 2015, 01:23 pm »

Quote from: Ace Deprave on 10 Feb 2015, 01:03 pm

Sometimes I will listen to a song and I can't believe how perfect it sounds, but the next time I listen, something seems off and I start tweaking my settings...other than possibly the operating temperature of the electronics, nothing else has changed. It makes me think the real variable is me.

I've experienced the same thing and came to the same conclusion.