Alright I know everybody around here loves speaker porn. I received my STRT's in Curly American Cherry died medium cherry (I asked Jim to make them somewhat reddish) on Monday. I figured I'd keep it under wraps until I had some impressions and pictures ready.
Here's a link to the pix:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=2090First off, I can say that they are not as bright colored as the pictures will show. The flash really brightened them up but if I turned the flash off it was too dark as I have poor lighting.
I find the speakers gorgeous. My friend who also owns some STs asked if I could change them in any way would I. I don't think so. I think Jim created pretty much exactly what I was looking for. My wife and I love cherry finishes and wanted something that was very nice but could easily be incorporated into many styles. Didn't want something that was too flashy or too dull. I think they are just right. The black aluminum baffles are drop dead gorgeous as well.
I had first heard the Salk line up at AK Fest back in May. Up until then, I'd been researching heavily and was feeling pretty convinced I'd take the Salk route even without hearing them. I've never read about a piece of gear that basically had ZERO negative feedback. After hearing them at AK Fest, my jaw dropped. I spent A LOT of time in the Salk/AVA room throughout the weekend. After about a month of deliberation between STRT's and HT2-TL's I went with the STRTs and I'm THRILLED. I honestly think the HT2-TLs would have been a bit overkill for my application.
For the last year, nearly all of my music listening has been with my BeyerDynamic DT880 headphones. They are great headphones and kept me sane while I waited for the STRTs. As for the sound, all I can do is say "My God, The Midrange!". It's crazy how great vocals sound through the STs. It's weird because I've been complaining about the digital edge with my headphones and it seems like that has basically disappeared (if a good recording). What is cool is the soundstage and placement of instruments. Not just left to right, but front to back as well. I've never had that type of 3D sound before with my previous Aperion 633T towers. Not sure if it was to do with just the speakers or also room acoustics, placement, gear, etc as I'm in a different place now. I had a wonderful soundstage with my Aperions but not the depth. I also never got the "real" or "organic" sound that I'm getting with the STs.
One thing that first struck me was that the STs seemed to lack low end. But the more I listened the more I preferred the sound. I think I'm just used to speakers pushing the lows so much. On many recordings in the past, I found the bass distracting and like the sound I'm getting now.
I find it very interesting how revealing they are. I felt like I could categorize all my media into 3 categories (poor, ok, good). Now I feel like I'm on a 10 point scale. Sound quality is all over the board and many times track to track on the same album. It does really make me sad that many of my favorite recordings are just not that great. But it is all worth it for the great ones.
I could go on and on about them, but we all know these speakers are top notch and you can chalk me up on the list as another 120% satisfied customer of Jim's.
For anyone curious, here is the gear I am currently using. I've tried a lot of different things in the last year and liking what I got currently.
SongTowers (RT upgrade)
Emotiva USP-1 Preamp
Van Alstine Insight 240 amp
Oppo BD983 Bluray Player
Channel Islands VDA-2 DAC w external power supply (in the shop currently)
AppleTV (used as media server)
Rega P1 (glass platter upgrade & Ortofon 2M Blue cart)
JoLida JD9A tube phono stage
Toshiba 19" LCD (used as a monitor)
Enjoy the porn!!!
mchuckp
