[grenamc]

Gorgeous finish on those HT2's.  It makes me want to reconsider Rosewood on my project speakers.  I love Rosewood grain patterns.  Nice choice.  Having heard the HT3's I know you are in aural paradise. 

-Michael

[funkmonkey]

    In a word....   Beautiful. 

[jriggy]

Nice!!! Now pull those suckers out from the back wall a bit! Open em up!

::edit::
Oops, that was mentioned already...

[Nuance]

Haha - thanks.  If we're ever up that way I'll certainly take you up on your offer.    So what are you doing here on the forums?  Go listen to those speakers!  HA! 

This from the guy who has over 7,400 posts on AVS alone!?! When do listen to your Salks?   

haha, guilty as charged.  It's all good, though...I find lots of time to listen. 

[OgOgilby]

You played a big part in our getting them. If you and you family are ever in the Boston area we owe you a dinner 

Haha - thanks.  If we're ever up that way I'll certainly take you up on your offer.    So what are you doing here on the forums?  Go listen to those speakers!  HA! 

I took your advice... 

Still in awe of the speakers. I have had a few guests over and I love the look on peoples faces when I start playing music, everyone has been amazed and I haven't enjoyed listening to music this much in quite a long time.

On the nit pick side, I do think I need to play with my speaker positioning. It sound like the singers aren't quite as up front as they should be (if that makes any sense).

[OgOgilby]

Nice.  Know yer happy.  A wee suggestion . . when listening to music, pull those lovelies out bout 2.5X their depth from the back of the speaker to the wall behind and adjust to your triangle postion if need be.  Were it me, I would add two GIK acoustic panels to put in front of my TV, too.  Happy trails.

Thanks for the advice Jim. I have to admit that I don't know much about room acoustics.

[OgOgilby]

OgOg:

Beautiful HT2-TLs.  Nice FedEx truck, too. 

Really happy that you are pleased with the speakers.   

Thanks, I actually like your Pal Dao's a little bit better, but my wife wanted the Rosewood. I am much happier with the finish than I thought I would be, Jim did a great job. I was expecting a slightly better version of my Rosewood Rockets. These are not as red, have more grain, way better finish, and the color varies more in comparison to the Rockets. They are kind of half way between the Rocket Rosewood and Pal Dao in color. The Rockets look like they have been dyed red, which I never really noticed before.

Now to improve my room and electronics ...but I don't know where to start.

Gorgeous finish on those HT2's.  It makes me want to reconsider Rosewood on my project speakers.  I love Rosewood grain patterns.  Nice choice.  Having heard the HT3's I know you are in aural paradise. 

-Michael

I think you would be happy with Jim's Rosewood, and they have exceeded my audio expectations!

OgOg:

Beautiful HT2-TLs.  Nice FedEx truck, too. 

Really happy that you are pleased with the speakers.   

My sentiments exactly.    I'm happy the delivery truck pics live on. 

The truck pics are becoming a tradition around here, so I had to do it

[oneinthepipe]

On the nit pick side, I do think I need to play with my speaker positioning. It sound like the singers aren't quite as up front as they should be (if that makes any sense).

OgOg:

If you speakers were further apart, the vocals might move to the front of the sound stage.  Angling the speakers inward slightly will also help but will narrow the sweet spot.  The speakers should be as far out from the front wall as practical.  Also, acoustic treatment will help in a variety of ways, including influencing the sound stage.  

When your schedule is less hectic, maybe you and I can get together, and if you would like, I could bring a few acoustic panels over (or you could come over to my place) to hear the difference.  I don't think that we are very far from each other, IIRC.

[oneinthepipe]

Now to improve my room and electronics ...but I don't know where to start.

That is the easy part.     Your system is two channel, correct?

Broadband acoustic treatment will improve your room.  Electronics are very subjective.  I am a satisfied AVA owner. 

[OgOgilby]

Now to improve my room and electronics ...but I don't know where to start.

That is the easy part.     Your system is two channel, correct?

A two channel seems like it would be a lot easier - but we have a 5.1 system (no spare room for 2 channel only) that has to handle both. Our HT2 sealed Salk center should be here in a couple weeks and we may stay with Rocket 750's for the rear channels for the time being. I posted some room pics in this thread. We have a Denon 4308ci receiver (140 watts for surround, 155 for stereo), an OPPO DV-983H for DVD's and SACD's using HDMI, a Sony NS999ES we use for CD's using analog outputs, and a PS3 using HDMI for Blu-Ray. Not sure what to do next. The room acoustics are probably not the greatest, nor are the electronics, but they are pretty good. I know we won't be able to have a perfect 2 channel set up, but I would like to improve what we have and still have decent 5.1 system. It's tough to upgrade on a tight budget. The HT2's are a real big improvement to what we had before, so I feel like we are headed in the right direction

Now I am thinking about better amps, DAC's, CD players like the Cambridge Audio 840C (which also works as an external DAC). Network audio. Room acoustics. Getting back into LP's. My head is spinning...

[oneinthepipe]

The Cambridge 840C's DAC is very detailed but, in my brief listening experience, is harsh, bright, and fatiguing.  There are much better CDP/DAC combos for less money, in my opinion.  Why not use the NS999ES with an external DAC?  There have been some great deals on used DACs on a'gon.  I've mentioned this before on the Salk forum, but a couple of months ago I bought a 6 month old AVA Transcendence 8 DAC (with more than 2 years left on the warranty) on a'gon for $650.00 (retail price is $1349.00 plus shipping) including shipping and paypal fees.

I don't know anything about 5.1, but I believe that $500.00 spent on DIY room treatments would probably be among the best "audio dollars" that many people could spend. 

[OgOgilby]

On the nit pick side, I do think I need to play with my speaker positioning. It sound like the singers aren't quite as up front as they should be (if that makes any sense).

OgOg:

If you speakers were further apart, the vocals might move to the front of the sound stage.  Angling the speakers inward slightly will also help but will narrow the sweet spot.  The speakers should be as far out from the front wall as practical.  Also, acoustic treatment will help in a variety of ways, including influencing the sound stage.  

I moved the speakers away from the wall another 6 inches and moved the TV (and stand) back about 4 inches - that helped a lot. I also tried changing the angle by about 5 and 10 degrees (guessing  here). 5 degrees opened things up, 10 degrees seemed to be too much.

I haven't tried moving them apart yet - I got caught up with listening to music. These speakers are amazing, and everything sounds even better now.

When your schedule is less hectic, maybe you and I can get together, and if you would like, I could bring a few acoustic panels over (or you could come over to my place) to hear the difference.  I don't think that we are very far from each other, IIRC.

That sounds good, I am hoping that things settle down in a couple weeks (we are going on vacation next week). I'd love to find out if a few acoustic panels would help my setup, and I'd love to hear your system. We aren't far from each other.

The Cambridge 840C's DAC is very detailed but, in my brief listening experience, is harsh, bright, and fatiguing.  There are much better CDP/DAC combos for less money, in my opinion.  Why not use the NS999ES with an external DAC?  There have been some great deals on used DACs on a'gon.  I've mentioned this before on the Salk forum, but a couple of months ago I bought a 6 month old AVA Transcendence 8 DAC (with more than 2 years left on the warranty) on a'gon for $650.00 (retail price is $1349.00 plus shipping) including shipping and paypal fees.

I don't know anything about 5.1, but I believe that $500.00 spent on DIY room treatments would probably be among the best "audio dollars" that many people could spend. 

A external DAC might be the best option, but I have never auditioned any DAC's. Heck, I'm not sure where I could listen to them in our area.

At this point I have read enough posts about Amps, CD players, and DACs that my head is spinning 

Thanks for all of your help!

[OgOgilby]

Woohoo, the Sealed HT2 center channel has arrived! I updated the pics on the first page of this thread. Jim was out of grills for the center when it was shipped, but he said I should have one soon.

I built a little stand to angle the center speaker up (from some stuff around the house). It will have to do for a while since my wife was laid off from her job a couple weeks ago.

We are absolutely loving the HT2 TL's. I pulled them out from the wall more and played with some different toe-in positions. The sound stage has opened up more. They Salks seem to be getting better with time (bass has more punch, etc.). I wonder if there is something to the break in theory.

[TJHUB]

Woohoo, the Sealed HT2 center channel has arrived! I updated the pics on the first page of this thread. Jim was out of grills for the center when it was shipped, but he said I should have one soon.

I built a little stand to angle the center speaker up (from some stuff around the house). It will have to do for a while since my wife was laid off from her job a couple weeks ago.

We are absolutely loving the HT2 TL's. I pulled them out from the wall more and played with some different toe-in positions. The sound stage has opened up more. They Salks seem to be getting better with time (bass has more punch, etc.). I wonder if there is something to the break in theory.

I'm still in waiting mode to order my HT2-Center (my wife's request).  I'm hoping to order it soon.  I'll have it before the end of summer for certain.    Enjoy yours you lucky bastage! 

I don't by into speaker break-in.  This doesn't mean speakers can't break-in, but I think it's more you that "breaks-in" or gets used to the new sound.

[DMurphy]

The only part of the break-in hypothesis that makes sense is flexing of the woofer surrounds.  That could improve bass response, but the improvement would occur very quickly.   

[OgOgilby]

I admit that the improved sound probably has more to do with the revised speaker positioning and my getting used to the new speakers than "break-in", but it is strange how they seem to get better with time.


On the Salk center channel... we were using the Rocket "Bigfoot" before and there is noticeable improvement even with regular television with the HT2 center. Since the HT2 TL's arrived, I've been concentrating on 2 channel and was waiting for the center to arrive before setting up our system for surround (I need to run Audyssey this weekend). We didn't listen to any music DVD's, SACD's, or Blu-Ray movies with the Salk's until yesterday.

Last night I finally threw in a DTS 5.1 concert DVD - "Loggins and Messina Live - Sittin' in Again at Santa Barbara Bowl". It's not exactly a reference DVD to show off your system, but we had seen them perform in Boston during that tour in 2005 and knew what they should sound like. We were not impressed with the recording in comparison to the live performance when we had an all Rocket setup. In fact, we were pretty disappointed with the DVD. Well, my wife and I were amazed at the difference with the 3 Salk's across the front. It's hard to describe the differences other than saying it was like we were back at the concert! A much bigger improvement over the Rocket 750's and Bigfoot than I expected. Amazing speakers! Now all we need are Salk surrounds and a matching sub...

[rahimlee54]

Cool that center channel looks way bigger than I expected, as do the HT2-TLs.  I have had to adjust to the speakers as well, I think the break in is for our ears. 

[Vulcan00]

I have a question about the center speaker. I see you chose the HT2. Is this the recommend center? Or are there others?
Thanks,

[OgOgilby]

Cool that center channel looks way bigger than I expected, as do the HT2-TLs.  I have had to adjust to the speakers as well, I think the break in is for our ears. 

The camera position might have something to the reason they look big - I shot the pics from a low angle. Funny, the center is smaller than I expected. It is smaller than the Rocket "Bigfoot".

[OgOgilby]

I have a question about the center speaker. I see you chose the HT2. Is this the recommend center? Or are there others?
Thanks,

That is the center that Jim Salk suggested