Tanzanite (or similar) vs. Salk Sound Veracity?

James Romeyn · « **on:** 20 Apr 2005, 08:35 pm »

Anyone compare Rick's sweet little Tanzanites (or Calcedony or Carnelian) to the Salk Sound Veracity HT1 (or Veracity QW or HT3)?

Rick I'd love to hear your comments too.

Prices are in the ballpark with each other, Rick's Tanzanite w/deluxe XO $1650pr assembled, HT1 $1900pr assembled.

If anyone in the Bay Area is willing to allow an audition of only one or two songs, please let me know.

Rick, mind if I inquire the approximate XO frequencies & acoustic slopes?

Thanks all.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 03:06 am »

Quote from: RibbonSpeakers.net

Anyone compare Rick's sweet little Tanzanites (or Calcedony or Carnelian) to the Salk Sound Veracity HT1 (or Veracity QW or HT3)?

Rick I'd love to hear your comments too.

Prices are in the ballpark with each other, Rick's Tanzanite w/deluxe XO $1650pr assembled, HT1 $1900pr assembled.

If anyone in the Bay Area is willing to allow an audition or only one or two songs, please let me know.

Rick, mind if I inquire the approximate XO frequencies & acoustic slopes?

Thanks all.

OK, I'll bite and try to be as objective as possible. On the Salk Sound website it mentions that the HT1 transmission line (QW) version "won" the Iowa 2003 DIY event. Here's a link to the results, which also included good speakers like GR Research and Ellis Audio.
See http://www.kaiaudio.com/ for the ratings.

The other first place speaker was a custom design that I did for Jim Holtz. This was a format similar to the Chalcedony (8" 3-way) except a different tweeter (3/4" Hiquphon dome) and a Focal Kevlar cone woofer. This design was a sealed box with a higher F3 than the others (60hz) and intended to be augmented with a subwoofer but balanced to be very neutral above 60hz. Even at that it still tied for first with the much more expensive HT1/QW speaker (driver and cabinet cost).

Given the success of that speaker I designed the other models which I feel provide even greater performance. With the Tanzanite "EX" version (same 7" woofer as used in the HT1 and HT3) I'm able to operate each driver in a more conservative range than compared to a 2-way. This improves the power response and widens the soundstage with better dispersion in the upper octaves. It also reduces the inherent upper end peaks in the stiff magnesium cone of the woofer. Increasing the crossover frequency for the ribbon lowers its' distortion and increases headroom / power handling.

The HT3 (which I've heard and is a nice speaker) is quite different from the others being a 10" 3-way. The RC4 (pictured on my "What's New" site page) would be a better comparison.

Crossover points and slopes are part of the secret recipe

tkp · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 04:52 am »

Rick,

Two questions

a) Did you use premium parts in the crossover of the JH3 Reference?

b) The price of a basic finished HT3 is 3.5K. What would the cost for a pair of RC4 with basic finish and no subwoofer and ported design cost?

James Romeyn · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 05:15 pm »

Hi TKP, how are you?

I forgot to mention, because of my sub, I am only concerned with satellite speaker output above about 80Hz. That's why I lumped such widely varying speaker sizes together from two different designers. I assume, in the range I'm interested in, they all have similar performance.

So Rick, if I read between the lines, it looks like you would generally agree with someone who believed your sweet pocket-rocket Tanzanite & the Salk Sound Veracity HT1 are two fantastic standmounts, both aimed at pleasing pesky picky audiophiles (are their any here?) shopping for the highest levels of performance for their size (the speakers, not the audiophile).

PS, sometimes I just hate those pesky secret recipes............

Rick Craig · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 05:47 pm »

Quote from: tkp

Rick,

Two questions

a) Did you use premium parts in the crossover of the JH3 Reference?

b) The price of a basic finished HT3 is 3.5K. What would the cost for a pair of RC4 with basic finish and no subwoofer and ported design cost?

The JH3 used standard Solen poly caps and air core inductors. The resistors were made by Mills.

The dual 8" RC4 without the powered subwoofers would run about $3,300 a pair in most veneers (Curly Maple, Mahogany, Figured Cherry, Flat Cut Bubinga, and Bloodwood included).

James Romeyn · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 06:01 pm »

A clarification please from Rick:

Does the Tanzanite $895pr kit deluxe crossover price include cabinets? I'm going to be shocked if it does, because that's a $755 savings over the $1650pr assembled deluxe crossover price. Am I missing something?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 06:25 pm »

Quote from: RibbonSpeakers.net

A clarification please from Rick:

Does the Tanzanite $895pr kit deluxe crossover price include cabinets? I'm going to be shocked if it does, because that's a $755 savings over the $1650pr assembled deluxe crossover price. Am I missing something?

No cabinets are included with the kit.

Rick

tkp · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 06:27 pm »

James Romeyn · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 10:41 pm »

That makes sense. How much for kits including cabinets?
Thanks.

NealH · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Apr 2005, 12:35 am »

Rich,

Can you briefly describe the soundstage attributes of this RC4? I would like to know if it produces a more immediate and vivid soundstage or, is it more laid back? Also, how is the soundstage height - as high as your line arrays maybe?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Apr 2005, 03:14 am »

Quote from: RibbonSpeakers.net

That makes sense. How much for kits including cabinets?
Thanks.

I usually don't supply the kits with cabinets but I can do that if you're willing to drill all of the holes. Everything else is already done (routing, finishing, etc). The cabinets cost around $750 / pair depending on the veneer.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Apr 2005, 03:25 am »

Quote from: rnhood

Rich,

Can you briefly describe the soundstage attributes of this RC4? I would like to know if it produces a more immediate and vivid soundstage or, is it more laid back? Also, how is the soundstage height - as high as your line arrays maybe?

Imaging and soundstage are really difficult to convey in words. I would say that they tend to be more immediate whereas the line arrays are more enveloping.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Apr 2005, 01:10 pm »

Quote from: RibbonSpeakers.net

Anyone compare Rick's sweet little Tanzanites (or Calcedony or Carnelian) to the Salk Sound Veracity HT1 (or Veracity QW or HT3)?

Rick I'd love to hear your comments too.

Prices are in the ballpark with each other, Rick's Tanzanite w/deluxe XO $1650pr assembled, HT1 $1900pr assembled.

If anyone in the Bay Area is willing to allow an audition of only one or two songs, please let me know.

Rick, mind if I inquire the approximate XO frequencies & acoustic slopes?

Thanks all.

I forgot to add that I can do a custom design using the W18EX woofer and Fountek CD3 ribbon. Assembled w/ cabinets and deluxe crossover for $1,500 to $1,600 a pair depending on the veneer.

Marbles · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Apr 2005, 01:56 pm »

Jim (Ribbonspeakers),

IIRC, size is a concern of yours. I have inwalls that Rick built me to use as side surrounds. In that regard they sound great. They are built to high standards and because they have only a baffle, and not a full cabinet, they were VERY competitively priced.

I can not comment on the sound because I have only used them as side surrounds, but they sound great in that capacity. Rick can build them in the thickness needed to match your drywall, and the width to match your wall studs.

He changes the baffle step compensation of the XO to account for the infinite baffle.

Have you given any thought to very high quality inwalls?

My inwalls use the same drivers as the Tanzanite...

Rick Craig · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Apr 2005, 02:15 pm »

Quote from: Marbles

Jim (Ribbonspeakers),

IIRC, size is a concern of yours. I have inwalls that Rick built me to use as side surrounds. In that regard they sound great. They are built to high standards and because they are only a baffle, they were VERY competitively priced.

I can not comment on the sound because I have only used them as side surrounds, but they sound great in that capacity. Rick can build them in the thickness needed to match your drywall, and the width to match your wall studs.

He changes the baf ...

Actually the woofer is different, a 8" Seas aluminum cone as used on the $5K? Von Schweikert VR4SR.

Rick