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I am planning to upgrade my Aperion Grand Towers with Salk SoundScape 8's. Has anyone listened to both? can someone tell me how they should compare? Thank you
Replacing Polk LSi15's with SCST's w/ W16 driver upgrade. I'll post pics once I receive them! They will be in a satin black finish. The suspense is killing me, since I bought these without hearing them.
I did a complete system rebuild. The Veracity ST's and Modwright KWI-200 were purchased based on reviews, no first hand experience. After a year or so of ownership, I sold Sonus Faber Elipsa, ARC REF75, Bel Canto DAC/PRE 3.5 vb mk2 and replaced with the Veracity ST and a Modwright KWI-200 with Phono and DAC. So many firsts here: MTM transmission line, RAAL, SEAS W16, and integrated amp. Everything is burned in except the amp (180 hours only) but I really like what I hear form the Salks (and the Modwright). The RAAL tweeters were unfamiliar to me and I would have previously said that I'm a paper/natural fiber cone driver kinda guy. I generally shy away for the B&W type of sound as I think the metal and diamond tweeters are too bright and color the natural tones. I appreciate them and think they are very good speakers - just not my flavor. Happily, the RAAL is articulate and natural.Long story short - I am very happy the choices. So far, I have found the Veracity ST's play a wider range of music very well than the Elipsas. The combo of REF75 and Elipsas deliver a midrange performance that few speakers can match (in any characteristic). As you can tell, I wanted a smaller footprint with high performance and fewer "boxes". I think the RAAL delivers a solid presentation and the Seas W16's really deliver more punch than the Elipsas could (in my space). The W16's are quite surprising actually and they hold together fairly well at higher SPL's. I have been told my amp and these W16's take a bit longer than some of their peers to "burn in". Based on what I hear, that continued goodness will exceed my expectations. I was warned that the RAAL is too fast for the woofers. I have learned this is not a concern and this may be an antiquated concern from several years ago. The RAAL is a really non-fatiguing and accurate high-frequency performance. I feel the PRAT and coherence is very good. I have always like narrow baffle speakers as they give a less invasive presence. I can recognize more of these speakers character as the narrow baffle allows them to be unobtrusive at distances further than I normally have speakers off the back wall. Letting these speakers "breathe" improves the image but they sounded good at 18" as well (14'x19.5' room). They seem to do well in a broad range of locations and are not "touchy" about placement. I haven't done the final laser level placement yet but they are 25in from the back wall, 6.5ft a part (at the tweeters) and 9.5ft to the listening position.I did also have my Mac Mini upgraded by Mojo Audio and my Oppo BDP-95 by EVS while the Amp was being built. These changes also contribute to the narrow gap of this system and a much more costly predecessor. I am impressed with the Salk speakers and would encourage anyone to "make and effort" to hear the Veracity ST if they want a great performing, high value, high quality, small form factor floor standing speaker. I really can't remember the last time I hear a speaker this size perform this well. I am glad I did!
Mg8,That is a big change you got there. Though, the SF was supposed to be a better speaker.....
thought this would be a good thread for my first post. my father was the head recording engineer for RCA in Chicago in the early 70s. he would take me to the studios at night when he had unfinished work. i used to play around with instruments left in the studios, mostly drums, with kettles being my favorite to pound on. the coolest thing i remember was the lathe room, where he would cut albums to take home to my older sister. sadly, she has given all of them away years ago.. artists like chicago, alice cooper and the guess who. ebay would have loved those one of a kind vinyls. what does that have to do with the speakers i am replacing? well, JBLs were all they had in the RCA studios at that time and my father always told me those were the ones to get when i got older and started buying my own equipment. i remember enjoying their sound in the studios. he would cue up some music off the tascam reels and give me a soldering iron with some wire to create things. my first real job at the age of 16 was used to save up for my first speakers & electronics. i bought a technics integrated, turntable and a pair of JBL L19s. i have had the L19s ever since. they are 36 years old and i still love the way they sound, especially in the mid and high freq.. a lot of non-audiophiles have told me my current stereo with an EAD Sig-8, parasound hca-855 amp and oppo 83SE is by far the best they have ever heard. i know better, but the JBLs still sound smooth and sweet. its time to see what a modern speaker design sounds like, so after much reading, and a little listening (B&W, PSB and Maggies) i have ended up here with an order for a pair of SongTowers. I hope Jim and all his forum followers are not all talk. i wont like something just because i researched it and bought it... so it must be the greatest deal in speaker-dom. nevertheless, i have a great feeling about those boxes that will be heading my way in a few weeks.
