[Labguy68]

Hi all, 
Thanks for the killer support and input.
I went with the songtower, but quickly sold them at no loss. They worked great being only  foot out from the wall, and I really dig the raal tweeter. However, the 5" mids just didn't punch enough midbass for things like metallica.even though the low end extension was there. They were just too bright, and perhaps my Yamaha integrated contributed to that. I'm now wondering if the 6.5" drivers in the veracity ht2 would have more midbass punch. (I'm sure it would). What I'm not sure of is if that would be enough to "Thicken-up" the thinner brighter midrange I had in my room. Don't get me wrong, the songtower is Astounding! But it wasn't quite as full as I wanted. I. Sure I'll love the same tweeter in the veracity ht2, but will the 6.5" drivers be enough to bridge the gap between the missing midbass punch inbetween the songtower 5" drivers and the low extensions coming from the port. The clarity and transparency of the songtower while still digging deep.is super impressive. There's just a little lost on certain music like rock and metal. I wouldn't mind a.warmer speaker, so feel.free.to.suggest a midsize.tower , but I do love the clarity and transparency of Salk. Would the veracity ht2 thicken or warm up the sound by going from songtower 5" to.the 6.5" found in the veracity? Or should I start looking at something like Tyler Acoustics or GR research, etc.?

[WGH]

Would the veracity ht2 thicken or warm up the sound by going from songtower 5" to.the 6.5" found in the veracity?
...However, the 5" mids just didn't punch enough midbass for things like metallica.

Not with the Yamaha, the Seas W18 drivers are just as ruthless (but in a good way). I don't have any Metallica recordings so just guessing their albums were mixed to sound great on Cerwin Vega speakers. Not that I'm recommending C-V speakers.

"According to mastering engineer Ian Shepherd, Metallica's new Death Magnetic album has a serious sonic problem: it has been compressed (in the audio sense of the word, not the file size sense) just about as much as it's possible to compress audio.

"Part of the "loudness war," this type of compression is designed to make music sound as loud as possible at the expense of dynamic range.

"However, according to Shepherd, the problem goes beyond compression. He says some parts are actually distorted from digital clipping. "As you can easily see," he writes, "the CD version on the bottom has been heavily compressed, limited and/or clipped, and sounds massively distorted as a result."
https://www.wired.com/2008/09/does-metallicas/

Salk speakers with the magnesium drivers will accurately reproduce recordings, for better or worse.

[Labguy68]

Yes, I could tell the a few of the songs I listened to were better recordings than others, and the songtowers weren't too bright on every song, but I love music over pure revealing speakers I guess. If incredibly accurate speakers get so accurate that poor recordings.are.unlistenable, than I've strayed too.far from  fun musical.speakers to.ruthlessly unforgiving sound which just isn't fun for me. Ehhh, the journey continues.

[Labguy68]

As a follow up question,  has anybody tried McIntosh with Salk? Does Mac warm it up and smooth Salks out like AVA.van alistine stuff is reported to?

[MiamiAngler]

I have Salk Beats that are 4 years old.   I had McIntosh MA6600 for a couple of years and enjoyed it, very warm sound to me.   A year ago I replaced the 6600 and LUMIN T2 with a Krell K300i with the digital board.   I prefer the sound of the Krell and the smaller footprint.  I’m older and his hearing is fading and enjoy the bass from the Krell.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I would talk to Jim Salk and see if  he can recommend one of his speakers.  He also may be able to do custom capacitors to warm up the sound.

If you are going to move on from his speakers, consider Bryston speakers, Fyne Audio 502sp's, PSB, Monitor Audio Silver and Gold series.  Also KEF R11's, Dynaudio to name a few.

If you are looking for an amp that leans a bit to the warmer side and has tremendous punch, look at Pass gear, just not the XA25.  Pass gear which I own (I also have 3 local friends that own Pass gear) tends to have a rounded sound without any harshness.  They have tremendous punch and dynamics.

[Early B.]

Running high-end speakers with cheap gear is like buying an expensive, designer suit and wearing tattered sneakers and a wrinkled T-shirt with it, and expecting to look good. It's a sound system. Every audio component should be on the same level of quality.

[dpatters]

Running high-end speakers with cheap gear is like buying an expensive, designer suit and wearing tattered sneakers and a wrinkled T-shirt with it, and expecting to look good. It's a sound system. Every audio component should be on the same level of quality.

Two thumbs up

Don P

[kingdeezie]

Yes, I could tell the a few of the songs I listened to were better recordings than others, and the songtowers weren't too bright on every song, but I love music over pure revealing speakers I guess. If incredibly accurate speakers get so accurate that poor recordings.are.unlistenable, than I've strayed too.far from  fun musical.speakers to.ruthlessly unforgiving sound which just isn't fun for me. Ehhh, the journey continues.

There is an excellent point here. As your journey continues, remember this post. I've made the mistake of chasing "new" or "better" gear in an effort to improve the sound for poor or mediocre recordings. I listen to a lot of prog, metal, rock, and electric blues; most of which aren't recorded well at all. So much wasted energy, time, and money chasing improvement.

That being said, I didn't read your initial post, so I have no idea what your price range is. A used pair of Salk Exotica 3's would be sweet. I had these speakers for years and should have never sold them. They had a touch of warmth in the midrange and the bass was active. They did well enough with poorly recorded music that I could still enjoy the sound.

I had a pair of Daedalus Muse Studios after the Exoticas that were also very good with helping me enjoy poorly recorded music.

Good luck with your search.   

[WGH]

Or should I start looking at something like ....GR research, etc.?

I was at a friend's house a couple of weeks ago listening to a pair of GR Research NX-Studio speakers. We all agreed the speakers (and sound) had potential. Let me explain....

The NX-Studio were moved out of the smaller vinyl room to the larger living room, this was an experiment to see how they would sound in a bigger space. We listened to CDs but don't know what DAC was used, the integrated amp was all tubes so the sound should have been warmer, but it wasn't. The bass got lost in the big room and setup was not ideal because the main speakers were too heavy to move out of the way. Sub integration was a problem too, the NX-Studios don't go down real low so the sub has to go higher up in the frequency range.

We spent the afternoon listening to all types of music, this was the first time listening to GR speakers. They are an excellent value, nothing at this price point can touch them for dynamics and clarity. But because they are studio speakers, setup and electronics will be critical to get them sounding their best. My impression is the NX-Studio are more forward and less forgiving than my Salk HT2-TL. The open baffle design adds spaciousness but with the tweeter set back in a shallow horn the upper mids and highs are more focused and close to what you would hear in the first row.

Definitely not a speaker I would enjoy listening to Metallica on, especially using cheap electronics cranked up to 11. Although this is probably what Metallica sounds like at a live concert, which I wouldn't enjoy either.

Servo controlled subs required.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Before everyone trashes your Yamaha Integrated, tell us what model it is.  Not all Yamaha gear is considered cheap electronics.  And, we are not talking about ultra expensive speakers.

[opnly bafld]

Maybe you should have kept the SongTowers and added a couple of subwoofers??? 

[WGH]

I had a Yamaha CR-820 receiver in 1978, it was smooth and warm sounding, probably one of the best sounding receivers of that era. It cost $425.00 in 1978, Hi-Fi Shark has a couple listed for $1175.00.
https://www.hifishark.com/model/yamaha-cr-820

[Rocket]

Hi,

I really like rock music but I am always careful and seek out really good recordings.  A lot of rock music is compressed and just isn't recorded well.

You might want to consider AVA hifi who make excelling sounding gear and also sell at a great price.

https://avahifi.com/collections/power-amplifiers/products/vision-set-120-control-amplifier

Btw I have a pair of Song 3's and I'm pairing it with SST Ambrosia and Ampzilla 2000 mono blocks.

Cheers Rod