Ah, now I see what you are saying. I fully misunderstood your comments. Indeed, the Salon 2s are ruthlessly revealing. Bad recordings sound BAD. And many rock recordings are definitely BAD. Only sounds good on the FM radio
You are not alone.
At some point the cross over and cabinet make difference.
You have a very different opinion of Wilson than I do … they measure poorly and those issues are clearly audible. But, no doubt a lot of folks like Wilson, more power to em (albeit one of the poorest values in all of HEA … you are paying big bucks for a name and cabinet jewelery, but they are very well made, no doubt about it). I will say Wilson has one of the best marketing departments around. Very savvy folks
But to be fair, and as I mentioned previously, my recent audition of the DAWs was pleasant, and I could see how some would like the sound (better than previous Wilsons I have heard for sure). But, they definitely are not flat, see below. Serious BBC dip going on here, amongst other issues. I would take the Revel 328Be for only $16k vs the ~$40k DAWs any day of the week, have a much better speaker (if one values accuracy) and huge chunk of change left over for room treatment and electronics. As always, YMMV
From the Stereophile review of the DAW:
View attachment 262616
Step response is very controversial, and personally, one of the few measurements I don’t put much stock into, as I have never been able to correlate poor step response to poor loudspeaker performance (subjective listening sessions), and vice versa. Maybe just my lack of “golden ears”, but doesn’t mean much to me.
LOL, well said … ashamed to admit it, but you probably just described meI've learned to never depend on any audiophile who declares "I've found my endgame speaker!"
Most of us have felt that at some point in the past...for some amount of time. But audiophiles gonna audiophile.
The only time I could evaluate an audiophile as having found is end-game speaker is once that audiophile is dead. Then, if he hadn't changed speakers: "Well, I guess he was right." Until then, I'm suspicious.
I find the acoustics of coffins less than pleasing.I've learned to never depend on any audiophile who declares "I've found my endgame speaker!"
Most of us have felt that at some point in the past...for some amount of time. But audiophiles gonna audiophile.
The only time I could evaluate an audiophile as having found is end-game speaker is once that audiophile is dead. Then, if he hadn't changed speakers: "Well, I guess he was right." Until then, I'm suspicious.
This is just a figure of speech and you are absolutely right. I don’t know about other folks but to those who work for a living and aren’t rich…this was what I said to my wife to convince her to spend her bonus on my salon2. Although she probably took it with a grain of salt as her response was didn’t you say the F228Be was your end game speaker and you weren’t going to buy anything else?I've learned to never depend on any audiophile who declares "I've found my endgame speaker!"
Most of us have felt that at some point in the past...for some amount of time. But audiophiles gonna audiophile.
The only time I could evaluate an audiophile as having found his end-game speaker is once that audiophile is dead. Then, if he hadn't changed speakers: "Well, I guess he was right." Until then, I'm suspicious.
I must have said, this component is my last purchase a dozen times lol.Indeed the journey has been a blast. I fully expect will be some level of let down and maybe PTSD for a time after I have made the “kill”
I can see why you thought that from how I wrote it. Yes we are on the same page now.Ah, now I see what you are saying. I fully misunderstood your comments. Indeed, the Salon 2s are ruthlessly revealing. Bad recordings sound BAD. And many rock recordings are definitely BAD. Only sounds good on the FM radio
What I thought you were saying is that the Salons are good for a particular type of music genre only, which of course I fully disagree with (and I know you do also)
Thanks for the clarification
Having worked selling home audio for 9 years and then repairing mechatronics for another 15 years I found that my gear flipping exhaustion worked up to the degree that I wanted something more serious and better sounding so I made a KEF transmission line cabinet with tri'amp'ed active X-over c/w Altec Lansing horns and tangerine compression drivers. That solved the long term issue of constantly flipping through speakers every 4 to 12 months dependent on sales contests that I won etc. There was a couple of times where I won multiple pairs of speakers. Like... I had a delivery to my home address of 15 pair of RFT Classic BR-26 and on another date I had 3 pair of MB Quart 280 speakers delivered to my home address that was won in another sales contest. The MB Quart I sold in the local newspaper and the 15 pair of RFT was deemed a conflict of interest in selling them in the local newspaper so the business bought them from me and I was paid out in cheque form. Flipping gear can become exhausting and finding a end game speaker that satisfies your itch is critical and enables you to get accustomed to a good pair of speakers and stop the cycling through speakers.Indeed the journey has been a blast. I fully expect will be some level of let down and maybe PTSD for a time after I have made the “kill”
As to purchasing ”HEA” speakers (whatever that means exactly), you certainly don’t have to do so! If you are happy with what you have, why bother? And if you have seen my other posts, I am currently enjoying a system that cost a grand total of about $1k (not including the >20 yr old Onkyo receiver) and it is fully satisfactory, even vs all the megabuck gear I have heard recent weeks.
dang! I only drove 4.5 for mine (9 hours there and back and stayed at my in-laws). So hard to audition in this market. Especially when the speakers are over 100lbs a piece.No form of built in adjustment? Ugh. Once again Keith, actives not the only way to skin the cat. And note the Salon 2s do have built in adjustment, as an example, albeit very minimal. Plus there is this cool thing called EQ that you can implement in many different and cost effective ways these days with passive speakers
And again, such a scenario may be possible for folks that live close to said dealer, but I do not. My closest dealer that carries products I am interested in is ~16 hr drive from me! Would you deliver a pair of massive floorstanders to a customer that was a 16hr drive from you? If yes, well, then you are indeed a rare fella (I mean that in a very positive way
To be clear, I didn’t make that 16hr drive, I flew! Just trying to make a counterpoint to Keith’s comments
…
apollonaudio.com
Maybe these would drive the Salon 2s effectively?
Hypex NC2k Premium NCore Monoblock Amplifier Apollon PNC 2k
Experience precision and power with Apollon Audio PNC2k Monoblock Amplifiers, featuring the Hypex NC2k NCore module for studio-grade clarity and dynamic bass.
www.audiosciencereview.com
You posted almost the exact same text on the $4k speaker thread. At least take the time to tailor your response to a different topic (this thread)
Not saying it doesn’t work, and there are no doubt many fans (zealots) of Tekton out there, but until I see measurements, which are mostly strangely absent on Mr Alexander’s offerings for such a novel concept as his tweeter array, I am hesitant to take the time to audition them. In all fairness, they were on my short list initially (albeit not the first one published here in this thread months ago), but the more I researched Tekton and given the lack of measurements, the more “nervous” I became, so to speak, so off the list they went.Thanks @benanders … very well aware of that thread, and it is helpful to be sure. It is in fact primarily what inspired me to seek out nuclear power station amps if I go with the Salon 2, along with first hand observing the ATI 6000 struggle (in a relatively small room no less) during my audition.Maybe you can garner input on that here:
Revel Salon2 questions
Hi - I am thinking about upgrading my stereo audio setup (all because I spend too much time on ASR!) and need guidance from the experts. I have decided on Revel Salon2, and here are my questions - 1. Will I need a subwoofer to complete the range? 2. Will a pair of Benchmark AHB2 in bridged mono...
I used to think the garbage in / garbage out idea was 100% true with revealing speakers, but the Ascend ELX Ribbon towers were the first revealing towers where I didn't experience that to the same extent as other revealing speakers. With these speakers I found they were ruthlessly revealing (I realized some of my typical test tracks weren't as well mixed as I thought they were) and at the same time I was still addicted and couldn't stop listening to songs with subpar mixes.
