[JoshK]

Since there have been questions regarding upgrade options, and since we strive to provide complete customization when requested, I created a web page with the upgrades customers have requested to date.  I will try to keep this page updated as time goes on.

Here is the link:
http://www.salksound.com/ht3-upgrades.html

- Jim

I think this is a really good idea, it gives your customers some info to digest when choosing their config.

[Robert C. Schult]

Hi Marbles and ACer's.

Wow! Marbles and Jim...those are drop dead gorgeous! Congratulations Marbles! And Jim...you da man! Beautiful woodwork! I think, in good part, it's stuff like this that makes this hobby so fun and captivating.  

Been thinking about calling you Rob just to follow up and see if you had gotten the speakers and how they were performing for you. Guess this thread answers most of that. Still, I'll be calling once you have more time with these. I would suspect they're breaking in yet? At some point, if I can be so forward, I'm thinking road trip too.

As for Ridge Street's contribution to this project, I've posted some useful info HERE.

Mainly just wanted to say to Jim and Rob....Outstanding!

Oh, BTW, such an admirable labor of love...

...I have no idea what I would do to top this pair in terms of performance.

I know the next step and I don't think I would mind sharing it with you to improve such a worthy and ambitious effort. Call me if you're interested.

Cheers to all!

Robert

[Marbles]

been thinking about calling you Rob just to follow up and see if you had gotten the speakers and how they were performing for you. Guess this thread answers most of that. Still, I'll be calling once you have more time with these. I would suspect they're breaking in yet? At some point, if I can be so forward, I'm thinking road trip too.   ...

A road trip would be great, come on down.  Will have to be in August as I'm going to visit the  NY/NJ/CT audio guys Saturday the 23rd.

I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but THANK YOU for your contribution to these speakers.  I didn't mention it in this thread, but not only wouldn't I have heard about the Cardas Patented binding posts if it weren't for you, but I wouldn't have seen how to use them to their potential even if I had heard of them.  

Give me a call and we'll definately set up a fun day.

I think the speakers are settling nicely.

[pugs]

Has anyone heard the HT3 wtih Solen caps vs. HT3 with Sonicaps?  How about bypass caps vs. no bypass caps?  Any opinions of the quality and quatity of improvement with these two upgrades together or separate?  One more question (I hope it's not a stupid one) - Would a cap upgrade in the HT3 and not the HTC, cause the two speakers to not blend as well?

[Woodsea]

Hey Josh,
Are you and the missus expecting?  I noticed a theme in your avatars.  Is this old news?  Have I missed something?  Or forget.  
If my guess is correct...congratulations.
-Eric

[beatdownvictim]

hot damn, i'm just some other dude out there, but reading all these threads about salk makes me sulk (ha ha.... ugh, terrible) that i got maggies.  The guy really knows his shit and golley gee, his products are nice as hell.  i might be sending the maggies packin and getting a set of his speakers.  Bloody hell, waterfall bulgonasdifsanf looks insane! cheers mate!

Regards,

BDV

[beatdownvictim]

Okay seriously, i'm selling myself onto these speakers bigtime, just thinking bout things and i've got some questions about how this speaker compares with others.  Most notably, the aurum cantus / red rose speakers.  I know that i sure as hell won't get the attention to detail nor customer service (hell no mang!) but has anyone compared said speakers.  Something about hand rubbed cabinets tickles my fancy though.  Fawk, must read more! mang, i got it bad.

[Marbles]

Has anyone heard the HT3 wtih Solen caps vs. HT3 with Sonicaps?  How about bypass caps vs. no bypass caps?  Any opinions of the quality and quatity of improvement with these two upgrades together or separate?  One more question (I hope it's not a stupid one) - Would a cap upgrade in the HT3 and not the HTC, cause the two speakers to not blend as well?

There have only been two finished pairs of HT3's with upgraded caps, both had Sonicaps, and mine also had bypass caps.   So in answer to your first question, Jim has with one pair.

Jim has heard bypass to no bypass caps, but they were two weeks apart and I had some other upgrades as well.  

Jim thinks that going to the upgraded Sonicaps made a significant improvement.

I do not have upgraded caps on my HTC because they come standard with Sonicaps .  It  blends very well.

[audiojerry]

Hey it's me - I haven't visited or posted in a few months, and wow, it looks like lots has been going on at AC.

Marbles, those are mighty impressive looking speakers! How do they compare to those VMPS you had, or is it not politically correct to ask?

Who is this Jsalk guy, anyways? Is he relatively new to the Circle? Has he been demoing his work to the AC guys?

And Robert, it's interesting that you were involved in the effort. Whatever happened to the very impressive looking line of speakers you were involved with? Aren't you aiding and abetting a direct competitor? Whatever, I like to see combined efforts like this. I still think your Poiema is best in class.

bye for now...

[Marbles]

Hey it's me - I haven't visited or posted in a few months, and wow, it looks like lots has been going on at AC.

Marbles, those are mighty impressive looking speakers! How do they compare to those VMPS you had, or is it not politically correct to ask?

Who is this Jsalk guy, anyways? Is he relatively new to the Circle? Has he been demoing his work to the AC guys?

And Robert, it's interesting that you were involved in the effort. Whatever happened to the very impressive looking line of speakers you w ...

Welcome back Jerry!!

I still have the VMPS RM40's, they are for sale.  It's still pretty early for me to do any sort of comparison, but initial comparison is that the RM40's give a much tighter image of the instruments in space, but the HT3's seem to have more weight to the images.  I get emotionally connected to the music through the HT3's in a way I don't with the 40's.  

Jim Salk was (is?) a recording engineer/guitar player who decided to turn a woodworking love and an audio love into a business.  He soaked up everything he could learn on woodworking and cabinet making.

He made the HT3's for himself and brought them to the Iowa DIY fest last year and they took the Best of Unlimited class.

His woodwork is special, but this speaker is the total package.  It sounds as good as it looks, and it looks better in person than in pictures.

I also know that Dave Ellis shared some thoughts with him.  In fact Jim makes no secret that the Ellis 1801 was his insperation for his HT1.  The HT1 is an 1801 with an LCY ribbon tweeter instead of the Hiquephon.

Jim read about 15 years ago that people will start cacooning (staying in their own house more) and will want to feather it with nice things.  He also read that people will want things individualized specifically for themselves.

When he started his business it was with these two things in mind.

It's clear he is not a mass produced speaker house.  One of the weaknesses of having him build a set of speakers is the 60-90 days before you get them.

Boy oh boy though...when you get them you will swear you got a fine piece of artwork before the artest is discovered for the genius that he is.

[audiojerry]

Thanks for the info, Rob, and I'm glad he found his way to AC, which is a benefit to all.

I wish you the best with the VMPS. I'd love to hear the HT3 some day. There is a lot of talent involved in the collaborative effort.    

Do you think they would be equally compatable with tubes and SS?

[Marbles]

Do you think they would be equally compatable with tubes and SS?

Right now they sound pretty good on both my analog front end, which has a tube phono pre, and my digital front end.

If you mean a tube amp, I would think it depends on the amp as they are relatively ineffecient at 85 DB 1w/1m.

They seem to like power and I would think they would need a MINIMUM of a 30 watt amp and the more the better.

Jim lives in Detroit.  I think you should get a demo of them...you know you are always welcome to come down to my place as well.

[Papajin]

I do not have upgraded caps on my HTC. It still blends very well. The speakers don't start off identcle, but they do have many similarities. Getting the caps on the HTC would be better than not getting them IMO.

I asked Jim about the HTC and HT1's last night, and he said that both already use sonicaps.  The HT3's don't because they require a large value in the midrange which gets somewhat expensive relatively speaking.  Apparently Solen caps were used instead.

[Marbles]

It's been so long since I ordered the speakers I forgot that.    

Thanks

[Robert C. Schult]

Hi Jerry.

Hope you're enjoying the Summer months.

...And Robert, it's interesting that you were involved in the effort. Whatever happened to the very impressive looking line of speakers you were involved with? Aren't you aiding and abetting a direct competitor? Whatever, I like to see combined efforts like this. I still think your Poiema is best in class.

Well, unless I'm playing basketball, I don't typically play "competitively". I'm not sure I view a lot of companies that are involved in the same products as we are as competition. Seems to me too many times competition leads to exageration to get a "one up" or worse yet, deception. While I'm certainly a huge fan of what we're doing here, you may have noticed I don't play the "Hoora, Hoora! We're better than everybody else"  game very much if at all. To a good degree, tempered with some wisdom, I much prefer a co-operative spirit where everyone wins...except in basketball.

That I got to work with Jim was actually a commissioning by Rob and I trust Jim and I will work together again. Pleasant experience. Speaking of commissioning, we're very pleased here that we've been commissioned to do the wire harness for a Sound Lab client who is having a custom pair of Ultimate Series U-1 built for him by Dr. West. I'm pretty excited about that as one might imagine.

As for the Sason Ltd loudspeakers, they are still Steve's baby and they remain part of our product line up . May be up your way again with them in the Fall. If so, I'll let you know.

Cheers my friend.

[DanG]

Okay seriously, i'm selling myself onto these speakers bigtime, just thinking bout things and i've got some questions about how this speaker compares with others.  Most notably, the aurum cantus / red rose speakers.  I know that i sure as hell won't get the attention to detail nor customer service (hell no mang!) but has anyone compared said speakers.  Something about hand rubbed cabinets tickles my fancy though.  Fawk, must read more! mang, i got it bad.

I'm a bit late giving you a reply...just saw this board after visiting Jim's site - ordered a pair of speakers a while ago and they are being finished soon so was back looking around his site to see what he was up to.  I'm very curious to read all of these threads and see what people are saying.  I hope this info isn't too late in coming but if it is, maybe it will benefit someone else.

I found Jim and started this process about a year ago almost to the date.  I tested Jim's speakers in home specifically against the Aurum Cantus and the Red Rose Rosebuds.  On some board or in some e-mail I did a long write up at the time and will look for it.  I initially listened to dozens of speakers between $1000 and $7500 before coming upon the Red Rose ones and loving them.  Then in doing research found the Aurum Cantus ... then in researching the tweeter used by both, found Jim.

At least by way of short answer.....

I listened in home to these speakers for 2-3 weeks.  Had over 3-4 friends who are either musicians or audiophile types to listen as well.... and had over a grammy award winning jazz pianist who happens to live in our condo building to listen as well.  While there was some back and forth as to whether one of the three was a clear winner or which one was 2nd or 3rd, not a single person said Jim's HT1 was anything but a clear 1st or tied for first (testing done without anyone but myself knowing anything about the brands or cost of the speakers).  We listened to jazz, classical, pop, rock, smooth vocal, etc., etc...with and without my REL attached - using a Bryston 4bSST amp.  For me, having spent the time, Jim's were a clear winner as well as looking the best ....and being cheaper than the Red Rose (though more than the Aurum Cantus - which were beautiful by the way).

As a pure value without getting into nit picky stuff on sound, (1) the Aurum Cantus were the best speakers I have ever listened to in their price range, (2) the Red Rose speakers were a "good" overall value that bested everything in their category at retail that I could listen to whether for less or even up to $5,000 and (3) Jim's were the best speakers retail or otherwise that I listened to until I hit something like $7500 speakers that another custom guy does in Chicago that are around that size and those were not necessarily better just perhaps different and equal in pleasure.

Ultimately, I thought the Aurum Cantus didn't quite have the transparency or definition of the Red Rose, but in some ways I liked the sound stage better on the ACs.  The treble was a bit more delineated on the RR than the AC and the bass while more prevalent was a bit mushier on the AC than the RR.  You get the best of both worlds as to transparency and sound stage with Jim's.  Perhaps asking the much less expensive AC to perform at the level of Jim's or the RR was asking too much but they hung in there and given their level of sound and their beautiful look, most people thought that they were as or almost as expensive as the other speakers.  If someone had around $1,000 to spend give or take, the AC would be a no brainer (they were also very nice to deal with in the purchase and return).  For me, already having made a decision to spend $3200 on the RR, Jim's speakers were well within the price range and a no brainer to achieve what I thought was the best sound I had heard from a two-way stand mounted speaker.

Hope that's useful information .....

[LadyDog]

Dan,
As many of us are former H/D people, welcome back.  Hopefully your intiutive insights will continue.  

Regards,
Jeff

[DanG]

Jeff, thanks for the welcome!
__________________________

I did find an old post and thought I would copy a few parts of it here to supplement my post above.....
_______________________________________ ___


Unfrotunately, I came pretty late to finding Jim and had been in the process of hunting for speakers for almost 10 months. I visited virtually every high end audio store in the Chicago area and listened to perhaps 20-25 monitor in the $1200-5000 price range. I started the process thinking I'd get decent speakers and be done with it. BUT, then I realized that if I'm bothering to do it I should do it right and that very luckily my budget was flexible (helps to justify it as part of a new house, gut job with new furniture, etc.) and that I would buy the best speakers I could justify for the money....I had good equipment in the past (Harmon Kardon, Denon, Pioneer Elite, NHT speakers, etc.) but figured that going somewhere in the middle didn't make sense - either get something passible that sounded pretty good but wouldn't stand up to critical listening or get something which hit the quality point such that I'd really have to push it on the price side and my ability to differentiate to get anything better.

I decided on a used Bryston 4bsst amp (tank with great reputation for neutrality and with a 20 yr warranty a no brainer used) and an Anthem AVM-30 processor and for a sub, a Rel Storm III (just out did the more conventional subs I demoed speakers with).

I probably spent 40-50 hours over a good number of months listening to speakers - Monitor Audio, JM Lab, Revel, B&W, Linn, Polk, NHT, Totem, Vienna Accoutics, Sonus Faber, Red Rose, Dynaudio, Aurum Cantus and on and on......

What I realized after all this listening is that I had narrowed down to Dynaudio Special 25s at $4500 and Red Rose Rosebuds at $3500 and then decided to order the Rosebuds, but to my disappointment and ultimate luck, they were backordered and after 8 months I started looking again, but knew that I really liked the sound of the ribbon tweeter in the Rosebuds..... after doing some research I learned that Aurum Cantus was somewhat of an OEM for Red Rose and so I figured I'd try the Leisure 3se at $1400 [larger size to their older model]....a bit more research led me to Jim's website and between his use of the G2 ribbon and a great woofer - as well as the speakers being perhaps the best looking speakers I've ever seen for under $15000 - I knew I had to try those as well.....

I got the Rosebuds, Aurum Cantus and Veracitys in at the same time and spent 30 days comparing them and getting to know them as well as doing test listening sessions for a number of friends (among them a professional violinist and a multi grammy award winning jazz pianist).....

Well, after getting to know the speakers it became clear where they fell out..... the Aurum Cantus were absolutely incredible for the price - beautiful, stunning finish in fact - probably the best speakers I've ever heard in that price range and the smaller version is only $1000...., but given that my "budget" didn't stop there, I felt they would be a compromise because they lacked a bit of the high end detail in Jim's and the Rosebuds as well as the mid-range detail of Jim's (that was the biggest difference in my perspective)....I just didn't feel the music in the same way...

The Rosebuds, also beautiful speakers, were not quite as impressive in my home against these two speakers as they had been when I was auditioning speakers back when and they blew away the competition. They were marvelous speakers with great detail and soundstage, but I felt they rolled off the highs a bit and pushed the mid, though with good clarity.

The Veracity's did everything better - better broader soundstage, better detailed transparent highs and incredible mid range detail and even for monitors a very nice low end (even with my Rel off). When I had my friends in to listen I didn't reveal my biases and each one came to the conclusion that Jim's speakers were the best. In fact the Jazz pianist, had it pegged almost immediately as much superior and was incredibly impressed overall - he basically saw the difference as night and day, though I thought they were all a bit closer than he did.

I did go back and relisten to the Dynaudio Special 25s to double check my perspective, though without a home audition and wasn't nearly as impressed with them as I had been 10 months earlier and before I had listened to the Veracitys.

It was clear that at around $2000 (more with my choices of wood, etc.) that Jim's speakers were better than the $3500 competition and $4500 competition.... and really the best monitors I had heard period (though I couldn't find the $6500 JM Lab monitors to listen to anywhere in Chicago and there may have been 1-2 other monitors I had researched and wanted to listen to but couldn't find). I did then wander into a store in Chicago that sold Linn and listened to a pair of Linn at $5700 a pair - I was definitely impressed and it was the first time that I'd heard anything approach Jim's speakers...after 30 days of listening I knew what I wanted to hear on various tracks and heard a lot of that with the Linn (though the room they had was terrible - surprise given the cost of the speakers they sell), but at almost 3x the money it wasn't worth a second thought.

All that being said, there was another thing that really clinched it and that was dealing with Jim..... through e-mail at first, then talking on the phone, then in person when he passed through Chicago and then by e-mail again - just a great guy all around who really cares about what he is doing and doing a great job of it, is willing to stand behind his work (when I asked about the length of the warranty, the response was something to the effect of "well, for as long as I'm around" - doesn't get better than that) and he is clearly willing to spend time on questions and detail (and probably quite annoying for him, my and my wife's utter indecision over finish which delayed things quite a bit) - all for what I have found to be very rare in the audio world, an AMAZINGLY great value. I just really like doing business with someone like Jim.

So far a great experience and one I was lucky to fall into by finding a thread on the internet about beautiful speaker cabinets..... I am actually getting a modified version of the Veracity which is a bit smaller with a sealed (not ported) cabinet because given my in home application and spacing (mostly from the interior decorator/wife factor), the Veracitys were just a bit too big and I couldn't have them sufficiently out from the wall to work the port properly).

_______________________________________ ________

[LadyDog]

True, though I had you figured as the same DanG who was one of the moderators of HarmonicDiscord.  I apologize in advance if I was mistaken.  

Anyway, your HT1 post was insightful and since you have only a few posts(not that I have many either), please stick around for a while.

Regards,
Jeff

[audiojerry]

Nicely done, DanG. You've provided a great endorsement, and definitely encouraged me to consider Salk