[jsalk]

ACT ONE

My wife worked for a short time at a high-end contemporary furniture store.  Curious, I asked her what the hottest new trends in woods were.  She indicated that wenge, a rich, chocolate-brown wood that generally has a fine grain and usually not much figuring, was becoming extremely popular.  A few months later, I came across a batch of some particularly nice wenge.  It had a very fine grain that looked almost like fine golden threads running through a chocolate background.  While I had never had a request for wenge speakers, I bought the batch.

The wenge sat on the shelf for about six months.  Since it didn't have the dramatic grain structure or figuring patterns of many of the woods we typically use, I didn't know quite what to do with it. 

I didn't know how much demand there would be for a wood such as this.  But I eventually decided I would build a pair of HT3 cabinets using it.  I figured that if they didn't sell, I would at least have some very nice chocolate brown speakers that would work well in my home theater.  So we started to build a pair...

ACT TWO

We brought two pairs of speakers to this year's AKFest - a pair of V3's we built for Frank VanAlstine and my current personal pair of HT3's done in Pal Dao.  Frank was going to take the V3's home after the show.  But when he saw the Pal Dao pair, it was love at first sight.  Even though he already had one pair of HT3's, he just had to have this one.

Of course, that meant I had no HT3's after the show since Frank took my pair.

Nick and his friend John attended the show and stopped by our room for a listen.  Nick had heard about the HT3's and was interested in hearing them in person.  John had never heard them or heard of them.

Both Nick and John were very impressed with what they heard.  So much so, in fact, that Nick emailed me later that day to ask if he could come and listen to the HT3's again, in a better listening environment.  I explained to him that Frank had purchased the Pal Dao HT3's and that I would have to finish a new pair so he could have a listen.

ACT THREE

Since the wenge cabinets were close to being completed, the following week we pulled out all the stops to finish this pair so Nick and John could stop by for another listening session.  We finished the speakers on Thursday, brought them home on Friday and Saturday (the day before Easter) the two of them stopped by with CD's, amps and a CD player to put the HT3's through their paces.

I won't tell you what Nick thought of the speakers (I'll let him post his own impressions), but he emailed the next day (Easter Sunday) saying he just had to have the wenge HT3's. 

So the HT3's I brought home, to replace the pair that Frank purchased, lasted just one day before they were sold as well. 

Here are some pictures...



And a close-up...



PROLOGUE

This coming week I will have to start work on a new pair of HT3's for myself.  But this time, I think I will build two pairs, just so I can hang on to at least one of them for a while.

While I don't have a personal pair of HT3's at the moment, it is comforting to know that the wenge pair found a great home with Nick and his lovely wife.

Happy listening, Nick!

- Jim

[rajacat]

Very nice! I really like the understated elegance of the wenge. At times some of the more spectacular woods seem a little too busy for my taste.

Raj

[bpape]

Exactly.  Those are absolutely gorgeous Jim.

Bryan

[nicksgem10s]

Hello Jim & fellow ACers,

I can't tell you how satisfying it is to see my very own HT3 thread on AC.

I have been looking at  the threads of Jim's speakers for the last few years on AC and have always been amazed at the work he does.  When I heard that he was going to be at AKfest in Southfield I made up my mind that I was going to go with the goal of finally having the opportunity to hear Jim's HT3 speakers.

I brought John, a good friend of mine to check out AKfest and to have the chance to hear the HT3 speakers.  We went in many rooms while we were there and heard a number of excellent sounding rooms.  We both agreed that Salk Sound & AVA had a certain magic going on in their room.  It was the only room that we went back to have a 2nd listen. 

I am a person who always has placed a premium on how a speaker sounds and not how it looks.  My wife never agreed with that approach and many times I paid the price for those decisions.  I have my system in the living room which is centrally located in our home and also the largest area.  After the show I talked to my wife Nicole to see if I could get her blessing and show her all of Jim's designs on his website.  Nicole was impressed with the different speakers he had built and featured on his website.  We talked about what wood we would like to have for our speakers.

Upon talking with Jim and asking him more details about his speakers and options I asked about the specific pair I had the chance to hear in his home.  Jim was a really gracious host and even let me bring my Red Wine Audio Signature 70 monoblock amps to see if they could drive the HT3 wihtout a preamp.  I was really happy to find out that they are able to drive them direct from a cd player or dac.   

Once Jim let me know that the Wenge HT3 that I heard were not sold yet I asked him to send some pictures so Nicole to see them.  She loved their appearance so I contacted Jim immediately.

I have owned many speakers over the last several years including the following:  B&W 601 s3, Coincident Total Eclipse (LCR monitors), Coincident Super Eclipse II, Von Schweikert VR1, Von Schweikert VR4 Gen III HSE, Consonance Eric Grand,& Reference 3A Royal Master Series II.  I have also heard a ton of other speakers at other stores and at homes of other audiophiles.  The HT3 is the sound that I have been chasing the entire time.  I only recognized it when I heard it both at the AKfest show and then had my initial thoughts confirmed when Jim had me over to his home to hear them in a much better environment. 

I have never heard as much air or presence as what I am hearing through the HT3 speakers.  Jim Salk is brilliant and his attention to detail is second to none.  To top that off he is an approachable down to Earth guy that has a real passion for music & audio.

I want to thank everyone on AudioCircle for showing and letting me know about Salk Sound.  I have all of you to thank along with Jim for letting me get closer to the music.  I can stop worrying about speakers and get back to enjoying music. 

I really encourage anyone who is looking for their last pair of speakers or has found themselves on the merry-go-round of loudspeakers or equipment to try to audition a pair of HT3 speakers.

[audiotom]

wow, nice new finish

very impressive and glad you've found a great fit Nick
now enjoy that cd collection all over again