[Felixxia]

Hi guys.

I live in jakarta, indonesia, so purchasing direct to united states is lot of hassle. i may still go with it in the future, depending on the outcome of my research.

my home theater room is 4meter wide, 6meter in length, about 2.8 m in height. Movie and music = 50:50. i already have two svs pb2000, and sherbourn pa5-200. Currently using monitor audio gs lcr and gs10 all around, no atmos yet, but i want atmos with in ceiling speakers eventually.

i have been using monitor audio for 12 years and one of them is developing something that doesnt sound right, so i am looking for a good upgrade path that i can enjoy for more than 12 years.

before becoming aware with salk sound ( thanks to internet ), i was obsessed with kef reference 1. I want the best / flagship product from a tier A manufacturer that produces their own drivers, 3 way, and visually looks good. i may want to purchase a pair of monoblocks, like parasound jc1 that go to 400 watt per channel to accomodate it.

now, since i have no idea about salk product and the website itself is not really helfpul, i thought why not go to audio circle and ask lots of questions? i dont go to jim salk directly because i also want other people's opinion about this.

here we go :

1- what is the flagship product of salk sound? is it the soundscape or is it the exotica? which line is better for 50:50 ratio of music and movie?

2- the soundscape 3 way standmount does not visually look appealing to me, so i went to exotica pages. but exotica line doesnt have center channel, and doesnt have smaller version with 6.5 inch driver. i dont want to go with tower speaker, because i already have two subwoofers. i might go like this : one center channel with two 8inch exotica drivers, a pair of exotica standmount that has 8 inch driver, and two pairs of smaller exotica stand mount that has 6.5 drivers. is this possible or not? or would this be more expensive since the team at salk would have to build new product from scratch?

3- is it possible to order speakers from salk whose color look like a focal kanta no2? bright blue on the front side, light creamy wood on every other side?

4- is it possible to have drivers in white only? i dont like black drivers.

5- is it possible to have grill cloth like amphion? i really dont like black on my speaker.

6- how do i calculate shipping cost? have the salk team ever shipped anything to south east asia? what shipping company did you guys use?

7- how is the exotica standmount compares to kef reference 1 in term of performance? does it have to be powered with high powered amp to sound their best, or would my current sherbourn with 200 watt per channel enough to drive the exotica?

thank you.

[2bigears]

  phone Jim.  He would be happy to guide you. 

[Felixxia]

I have tried to email and inbox their facebook page, no reply. Is a phone cajj the only way to make inquiry?

[srb]

I don't know why anyone bothers with Facebook.  I would just contact them either through their website contact form, or always my preference, the direct email address.  I've always received a response that way.

http://www.salksound.com/contact.php

[dB Cooper]

Salk makes some fantastic stuff but one of your stipulations is a company that makes their own drivers, which AFAIK Salk does not do.  Dirty little semi-secret of audio is that the vast majority of speaker builders, even high-end ones, use off-the-shelf drivers. Since available black or dark grey drivers probably outnumber white drivers by 10:1, that may be a challenge too. Their (and thus, your) cost ratchets up VERY fast with custom drivers due to economy of scale issues, so plan on digging deep if you go to something that has them.From first hand experience, I can tell you that Salk knows how to get every bit of 'fi' there is out of whatever driver they use.

3) Jim could probably make your cabinetry in paisley if you want. I doubt custom grille cloth would be a problem either.

7) In a reasonably sized space and without outrageous volume expectation, 200 wpc is probably fine.

I'd crank up Skype and call Jim for the best help. He's legendary for customer service, one reason his company is doing so well and has such a good reputation.

[Big Red Machine]

email him.

He makes custom speakers, so almost all your desires can be had.

Exoticas are around 92 db efficient, so you don't need high power at all. 100-150 wpc is enough. Use good cables for these high caliber drivers.

[Felixxia]

i did email them / contacting them via the email provided on their website, and also sent the email to their inbox on facebook.

about the color of the driver... i didnt know that means they have to build a custom driver just for that. but i do believe there are white woofers out there. the accuton drivers for example, light gray with polkadot patterns? that is better to me than just a black cone.

[Felixxia]

 info at (@) salksound.com

that is the email at salksound website. so i guess i sent an email to info@salksound.com.

a phone call is next to impossible, since the time difference is about 12 hours, and i dont speak conversational english very well, plus internet connection where i live is quite unpredictable. so i prefer to contact them via email.

is that the correct email then?

[audio.bill]

info at (@) salksound.com

that is the email at salksound website. so i guess i sent an email to info@salksound.com.

a phone call is next to impossible, since the time difference is about 12 hours, and i dont speak conversational english very well, plus internet connection where i live is quite unpredictable. so i prefer to contact them via email.

is that the correct email then?

Yes, that should be their correct email address. (It's common practice to 'disguise' an email address on websites to avoid bots picking it up for spam.)

[jsalk]

Thanks.  Email answered.

- Jim

[Felixxia]

hello, mr salk? i replied to your reply. please check email. thank you.

[jsalk]

hello, mr salk? i replied to your reply. please check email. thank you.

Lelixxia -

Can you re-send that email?  Sometimes when an email requires research or an extensive answer, I defer answering at the time with the idea I will come back to it when I have the time required to answer.  Then the email gets buried in a mountain of new emails and I never see it again.  I'm sure I have your email, but it would take a bit of time just to locate it.  So if you can re-send it, that would be quite helpful.

- Jim

[Felixxia]

i understand you are busy, mr salk. that is okay.

just ignore my last email, because it is irrelevant now.

i considered the soundscape in that email because you said the soundscape would be a better choice in my situation, but i found a lot of freak incidents where the accuton ceramic broke and shattered. i live on the other side of the planet from detroit, so the shipping would give me heart attack. if i lived in united states, i am sure i wont be this worried. if you shipped a replacement driver, here in indonesia i have to pay more tax, and since the government officials are corrupt, i would prefer not to deal with too many "shipping procedures".

So, my questions would be :
1- is it possible to build an mtm center channel version of the exotica R monitor?
2- where can i get gray or blue cloth for the grill?
3- how much is the additional cost for a white / dark blue piano gloss?
4- how much is the shipping cost for 1 center channel and 2 pairs of exotica R monitor? ( R for raal ! )
5- i heard about something like "mundorf capacitor upgrade", but couldnt find the thread / page where i read it. is it necessary? if i ever purchase anything from salk sound, i am going to live with these speakers for at least 15 years, so i want the best of the best.

i need all of that info to calculate the tax i am gonna have to pay in here.

thank you.

i also send this email to you in case you prefer your reply to me to be confidential.

[jsalk]

Email answered.

- Jim