[Big Red Machine]

Was it quiet?

[TJHUB]

Terry,

Sorry to hear that.  As nuance stated, i have no issues like that whatsoever with my 2100 preamp.  I did receive the first one and it died on me, but was quickly sent back and the new one sent to me.  You may want to give another 2100 a try before ruling it out completely?  Everyone heard mine at patricks also, and there was no issues at his place with it either.  As for the amps in my setup, I had to buy a Hum-x to eliminate the ground loop hum in my setup, did you try a cheater plug?

Well, either way, I hope you find what works for you in your setup, those Salks deserve some good front end equipment:)

Good luck,
Brandon

Thanks Brandon. 

I'm getting replacement units for both the preamp and amp.  I will have them both Wednesday.  Hopefully I have more luck this time.

Trust me when I say that I tried EVERYTHING.  Nothing I did changed anything. 

One more try for Parasound.  Trust me, I'm trying to do the best I can for my Salk's.

[Art_Chicago]

I do not know, guys... All these troubles to get 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby? I am so freaking happy with my 2- channel AVA gear and ST's.  Movies sound good enough in stereo (good for me, anyway). And ST's can reproduce the surround sound if the soundtrack is well recorded . The AVA preamps have a second output for a subwoofer. The  Insight preamp + Insight 240 (120 W p/ch) would cost about 2 grants including shipping.  Just something to think about.

[Nuance]

I do not know, guys... All these troubles to get 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby?

Nope.  This is for strictly 2-channel, as the amp and preamp Terry is experiencing trouble with are 2-channel (well, the preamp is 2.1 channels - one of the few available out there with a subwoofer out). 

[oneinthepipe]

I do not know, guys... All these troubles to get 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby? I am so freaking happy with my 2- channel AVA gear and ST's.  Movies sound good enough in stereo (good for me, anyway). And ST's can reproduce the surround sound if the soundtrack is well recorded . The AVA preamps have a second output for a subwoofer. The  Insight preamp + Insight 240 (120 W p/ch) would cost about 2 grants including shipping.  Just something to think about.

Art:

Don't forget the DAC.  

BTW, there is a great deal on an AVA Ultra EC pre-amp with remote on a'gon for 1100.00.

[TJHUB]

I do not know, guys... All these troubles to get 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby? I am so freaking happy with my 2- channel AVA gear and ST's.  Movies sound good enough in stereo (good for me, anyway). And ST's can reproduce the surround sound if the soundtrack is well recorded . The AVA preamps have a second output for a subwoofer. The  Insight preamp + Insight 240 (120 W p/ch) would cost about 2 grants including shipping.  Just something to think about.

Art:

Don't forget the DAC.  

BTW, there is a great deal on an AVA Ultra EC pre-amp with remote on a'gon for 1100.00.

You AVA guys must be rich.  Some of us can only spend $1,100.00 on the preamp AND amp.

The Parasound 2100 is really a nice piece.  I have a few acquaintances that have achieved their goals with this preamp even after owning more expensive preamps (I know; cost doesn't mean everything).  If you look around, there are some really great deals even on new ones with the full Parasound warranty.  For the price, features, and sound quality, I'm not sure it can be beat.

Just my opinion of course.   

[oneinthepipe]

I do not know, guys... All these troubles to get 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby? I am so freaking happy with my 2- channel AVA gear and ST's.  Movies sound good enough in stereo (good for me, anyway). And ST's can reproduce the surround sound if the soundtrack is well recorded . The AVA preamps have a second output for a subwoofer. The  Insight preamp + Insight 240 (120 W p/ch) would cost about 2 grants including shipping.  Just something to think about.

Art:

Don't forget the DAC.  

BTW, there is a great deal on an AVA Ultra EC pre-amp with remote on a'gon for 1100.00.

You AVA guys must be rich.  Some of us can only spend $1,100.00 on the preamp AND amp.

The Parasound 2100 is really a nice piece.  I have a few acquaintances that have achieved their goals with this preamp even after owning more expensive preamps (I know; cost doesn't mean everything).  If you look around, there are some really great deals even on new ones with the full Parasound warranty.  For the price, features, and sound quality, I'm not sure it can be beat.

Just my opinion of course.   

Nah, the darTZeel guys are rich, or they were rich prior to their electronics purchases.     Thankfully, none of us needs to spend that kind of money to get great sound. 

[Art_Chicago]

Terry,
I got my gear used for a half of the price. Do not know what Parasound would cost, but, again, I followed Jim Salk's advice, and more than happy with the AVA gear. The Insight has even deeper bass, so you save on a subwoofer unless you MUST have it.

Nuance,
excuse my ignorance, I just assumed you are talking about multichannel HT. But, really, a 2-channel setup should be easy to find. At least, I am a happy camper. No matter what Terry paid for the preamp and the amp, it is a nonsense to get a defective Hi-Fi gear.

Hope it works well next time.
Art

[Art_Chicago]

Art:

Don't forget the DAC.  

BTW, there is a great deal on an AVA Ultra EC pre-amp with remote on a'gon for 1100.00.

Yep, it is a great deal as well as a 3-month-old Insight 260 for $900 and 3-year remaining warranty.
In my opinion, Salk's speakers deserve great amps (as AVA), in particular, HT2 with their top class woofers and the ribbon tweeter.
Regards.

[bzaggie]

Sorry for the late review, I was on spring break and was out of town when the ht2-tl's arrived last monday. Today i went and got them from the fed-ex and let me say they have been well worth the wait. First off i do apologize in advance because this is my first audio review and being my age and my experience I feel like a little kid amongst all of the audiophiles out there, but i consider privileged to have the opportunity to own such a fine set of speakers this early in my life.

I feel a little repetitive but the boxes they are packed in are amazing, I worked for a retail electronics store for two years and this kind of packaging is second to none. I also like the envelope that came with them with the instructions, birth certificate, and cd. Jim I have to commend you for such a great customer service experience, I will be a customer for life and recommend you to anyone looking for high end audio.

Once i managed to dismantle the package I got my first look at the gorgeous veneer that lied underneath. I do not think it could be more perfect for my tastes ( and I say MY TASTES understanding that not everyone loves every look out there ). With a lot of light in the room the 'fireburst' finish really shines its great, and under my normal low lighting its much more subtle and does not demand all of the attention in the room.

For my review I am using a handful of cd's and music dvd/blu rays that will be played through my playstation 3 that is connected via HDMI to my Denon 988 that is my preamp. Powering the speakers are a pair of 500 watt wyred for sound mono amplifiers and Im using 12awg bluejeans cable and gls audio bandanna plugs. I did as jim recommended and put in his cd to see what these things were capable of, and let me tell you my jaw hit the floor. One thing that i did before i hooked up the new speakers was to play jims demo cd with my boston acoustics vr2 towers. The difference was amazing, all of the vocals seem to be compressed with the bostons and with the ht2's it sounded like a filter had been removed and I now had breathtakingly clear vocals. I decided after listening to the cd to put in something more familiar so I put in the cd moving pictures by rush (re-mastered version). My favorite track is yyz because there seems to be alot going on, the first thing that I notice is how much more separated the instruments are. I can clearly focus on each aspect of the song and hear every little detail. The drums in this song are incredible as they move across the soundstage if feels like they are right in front of you. As a side note the special effect noises sound amazing on the song tom sawyer, in the words of my girlfriend "this sounds incredible".

The second thing i listened to was the blue man group dvd how to be a megastar. The second scene or track is titled drumbone, and It starts off with just them playing on pvc pipe like a trombone then the song transitions into the rest of the band and a wave of sound just engulfs the room. I have to say when I heard this I knew i was in love. Everything seemed to be in perfect balance, the midrange was crystal clear, highs were flawless revealing every little detail, and the bass was unlike I could have imagined it was very deep and accurate. One thing i remembered from auditioning the songtowers at Chad's was that I felt like i was missing some on bass, with these I can't imagine needing any more for music reproduction, they just play loud and deep.

the last thing im going to put in my review which i didn't intend to but It sounded so good i could not resist was my experience playing guitar hero world tour. I always thought the tracks were very well recorded and even heard somewhere that they are re-mastered just for the game but im not sure of that. Anyway,  I was first blown away when listening to the song love spreads. Once again everything sounded so much more separated and it is probably the closest experience that i will ever have to playing a guitar . I was playing the song freak on a leash by Korn, this is not the best recording song or necessarily my favorite type of music but the bass was INCREDIBLE. So good that my neighbor shortly after knocked on the door complaining how loud it was.

The one thing that I know is restricting my performance is the fact that I am in a condo not a house (hopefully getting one for Sr. year), and the layout ( I have everything infront of a window area) combined with the size is less than ideal but i knew i wanted speakers to last for a long time.

I hope this review has been somewhat helpful to everyone, and not painful to read either. All in all I have to say I am now a satisfied salk customer and look forward to rediscovering my collection of music.

p.s. pics will be coming very soon

[oneinthepipe]

Nice report, bzaggie, and congratulations on your speakers.

[guptaas]

One month follow up: Have been doing some late night listening at very low volumes. The sound is crystal clear to my fading middle-aged ears with even better imaging. My components are all supposed to be accurate and "analytical" rather than "musical". My aim was to recreate whatever the recording engineer intended rather than an artificial "musical" sound. So I was ready for hearing deficiencies of poorly recorded music. I have to say all I've heard sounds very musical to me and I've covered the entire period of the history of recorded music - from 20's to the 00's. Are these speakers not "monitor" like or I love all good music reproduced well? I can't say because I haven't had high-end electronics till now. As other friends hear them, will add their thoughts to follow ups.

Another important point - Jim's original reason for suggesting that I go with HT2 TL's has proved to be true, these speakers are very forgiving for placing very close to the front wall, if one is short on space. I've successfully placed them as close as 12" and managed to get a realistic soundstage by adjusting the toe-in. I do get more depth by moving them out a bit more.

Recordings tried critically: Johnny Cash-Solitary Man; Miles Davis - So What; DJ Shadow - Building Steam with a Grain of Salt; Van Morrison - Meet Me In the Indian Summer; Boz Scaggs - Lowdown; Pink Floyd - Speak to Me

HT2's are the best optional expense I took on in a long time - better than cars, TV's, laptops or travel.

[Nuance]

bzaggie,

As stated on AVS, welcome to the family!  Thanks for sharing your impressions with us; well done.  I am happy to hear your Salk's are going to bring you happiness for a long time.  I look forward to seeing the pics.

guptaas,

Thanks for the update.  I am happy to hear your still honeymooning with your HT2 TL's.  Sweet!

[OgOgilby]

bzaggie,

Welcome and thanks for the review! Glad to hear that you are happy with the HT2 TL's. Can't wait for ours to arrive.

How do you like the W4S monos (SX-1000?)? I am thinking about getting a W4S ST-500 to use for 2 channel music with my Denon 4308ci for a preamp (once I can save up the cash) and might even spring for SX-500 mono's if they are noticeably better. Have you tried comparing your Denon 988 with the W4S mono's to see how much difference there is between them?

[bzaggie]

bzaggie,

Welcome and thanks for the review! Glad to hear that you are happy with the HT2 TL's. Can't wait for ours to arrive.

How do you like the W4S monos (SX-1000?)? I am thinking about getting a W4S ST-500 to use for 2 channel music with my Denon 4308ci for a preamp (once I can save up the cash) and might even spring for SX-500 mono's if they are noticeably better. Have you tried comparing your Denon 988 with the W4S mono's to see how much difference there is between them?

They are the sx-500 which push out over 500 watts at 4 ohms i believe, I love them but i will have to try that comparison with the denon whenever i can pry myself off my couch and stop listening to the salks for a few min.. i will let you know

[OgOgilby]

One month follow up: Have been doing some late night listening at very low volumes. The sound is crystal clear to my fading  with even better imaging. My components are all supposed to be accurate and "analytical" rather than "musical". My aim was to recreate whatever the recording engineer intended rather than an artificial "musical" sound. So I was ready for hearing deficiencies of poorly recorded music. I have to say all I've heard sounds very musical to me and I've covered the entire period of the history of recorded music - from 20's to the 00's. Are these speakers not "monitor" like or I love all good music reproduced well? I can't say because I haven't had high-end electronics till now. As other friends hear them, will add their thoughts to follow ups.

Another important point - Jim's original reason for suggesting that I go with HT2 TL's has proved to be true, these speakers are very forgiving for placing very close to the front wall, if one is short on space. I've successfully placed them as close as 12" and managed to get a realistic soundstage by adjusting the toe-in. I do get more depth by moving them out a bit more.

Recordings tried critically: Johnny Cash-Solitary Man; Miles Davis - So What; DJ Shadow - Building Steam with a Grain of Salt; Van Morrison - Meet Me In the Indian Summer; Boz Scaggs - Lowdown; Pink Floyd - Speak to Me

HT2's are the best optional expense I took on in a long time - better than cars, TV's, laptops or travel.

Thanks for the update. Glad they work well with your middle-aged ears. How old do ears need to be to be qualified as middle-aged these days? I'm worried mine might be considered as post middle-aged ears

[gchuva]

How do the HT2-TL's compare to the HT3's?  I have a living room HT set up, and for the short to medium term, the HT2-TL's will fit my room aesthetically much better.  But that said, I don't want so spend so much on an HT system and then wish I had ordered the HT3's for a couple thousand more.  Are we talking a 10-15% improvement or a 100% improvement?  I am mainly interested in HT, but also just interested in feeling good about my system.  Thanks

[Nuance]

I cannot imagine the HT3's being 100% improvement over the HT2 TL's.  In fact, I be willing to bet my SongTower's on it.  I've never heard the HT3's, but I have heard the HT2 TL's.  The TL's were simply amazing.  I'd guess maybe 10-15% would be a good estimate.  At this point, the law of diminishing returns is in full effect.

[rahimlee54]

I asked Jim the difference between the  Songtower and HT2 at one point and told me if the HT3s are 100% of the salk goodness, then the ST=80% and the HT2=90%.  He didnt put it in those words but that was the take home message.  Of course as you go up in the family the midrange gets better, more bass, and better cabinet construction (dont quote me on that last one).  If you already have the equipment to power the HT3s and dont mind the extra cost of entry then go for it, but if you dont already have the gear to use the HT3s go for the ST or HT2 TL and buy some more gear.  Not sure how picky the HT3s are for placement but the HT2s are easy to place, from my reading anyway.  It's your $$$ so only you can decide which way to go, if I had already had amps and a better room I would have gone HT3, but I dont so HT2 TL will be showing up on my doorstep very soon. 

[bahorn1]

How do the HT2-TL's compare to the HT3's?  I have a living room HT set up, and for the short to medium term, the HT2-TL's will fit my room aesthetically much better.  But that said, I don't want so spend so much on an HT system and then wish I had ordered the HT3's for a couple thousand more.  Are we talking a 10-15% improvement or a 100% improvement?  I am mainly interested in HT, but also just interested in feeling good about my system.  Thanks

Great question.  I recently faced the dilemma of going with the HT2-TL's or HT3's.  Unfortunately, very few people have heard both.  And probably the only place you could go to hear both is Jim's place.  I ultimately chose the HT3's even knowing I may have to change amps.  Here are my reasons:

1) I've been coveting the HT3's almost since the time I got my SongTowers a year ago.  The HT2-TL did throw a wrench in things for a brief period because of all the great reviews since its recent debut.

2) I've heard the HT3's but not the HT2-TL's.

3) I'm paraphrasing a response from Jim.  I may not be able to hear a difference between the two when it comes to bass.  But because the HT3 woofer is a more massive driver, it's going to move more air.  Therefore, it may get you a little closer to the "you are there" experience of a live performance.  Although if you are an HT guy, you may already have a subwoofer so this point could be moot.

4) I didn't want to wonder if I should have spent the extra money to get the HT3's.  I did think briefly about waiting for the HT4's.  But it's probably going to be beyond what I want to spend.  So I don't think I'll have that regret.

5) I wanted to go with a non-rectangular shape this time.

Note though that I lean more towards 2CH music than HT.  If you are mostly HT, I think you would be fine with SongTowers or V3's.  Just my opinion though.

--Doug