Salk Speakers

[Everett T]

For some reason I had assumed, ribbon tweeters are always rectangular or a square.. In the Song 3 encore photograph I thought, I saw a circular configuration for the tweeter..

The Encore, which I have, uses the Satori Be.

 

[jd3]

For some reason I had assumed, ribbon tweeters are always rectangular or a square.. In the Song 3 encore photograph I thought, I saw a circular configuration for the tweeter..

The Song 3 Encores have a beryllium tweeter. The standard Song 3 has the RAAL. I’ve owned the Encores and the BeAT’s. Both have the beryllium tweeter. The RAAL is rectangular.

 

[Everett T]

Again, the finish looks real beautiful, exquisite and classy.. Nice job picking that finish.. I had a hard time trying to make up my mind.. I can't wait for the ST's. I am hoping they will pair well with the mc equipment.. How far apart are the speakers? I can go anywhere from 2 meters to 4/5 meters in the room..

Mine are 14' feet apart and in quite a large room. I have two 15" sealed Salk/Rythmik subs setup in stereo.

Also note my speakers have the Eton midrange, not the AT.

 

[Everett T]

For some reason I had assumed, ribbon tweeters are always rectangular or a square.. In the Song 3 encore photograph I thought, I saw a circular configuration for the tweeter..

I edited my post to reflect this, just note I have the Eton 4" magnesium midrange as well on the 3e.

 

[rman9]

Mine are 14' feet apart and in quite a large room. I have two 15" sealed Salk/Rythmik subs setup in stereo.

Does the 14' separation affect the sound stage? asking this question without a firm knowledge on sound stage.. Just checked the website on the rythmik subs.. just wow, and two of them.. they are beautiful.. Did you get them in the same finish? I have the SVS 2K and 1K Pro and and Miller&Kreisel subs.. So far I have not included them into 2 channel stereo. But I'll definitely try them out..

 

[Everett T]

Does the 14' separation affect the sound stage? asking this question without a firm knowledge on sound stage.. Just checked the website on the rythmik subs.. just wow, and two of them.. they are beautiful.. Did you get them in the same finish? I have the SVS 2K and 1K Pro and and Miller&Kreisel subs.. So far I have not included them into 2 channel stereo. But I'll definitely try them out..

At my listening position, with just a slight toe in, the soundstage is presented as full, with none of my music seeming out of place.

I bought the subs from Jim just for the matching aesthetics and almost didn't purchase any at all, glad I did, especially for higher playback levels.

You're gonna love those Excel drivers, they make you fall in love with music all over again.

 

[12Many]

These were debuted at Capital Audiofest. I gave them a long listen and my subjective impression was great. I think they'll be demoed at any of the bigger US shows that will occur in the next year. Crossover by Dennis Murphy

Colonel (or anyone), do you know if these are a pure 2 way design or more of a 2.5 way design, which is to say, is there are crossover for the two Purifi woofers such that one woofer is dedicated to mids and the other dedicated to low frequencies? I don't fully understand how well it would work to have two woofers and a tweeter, albeit, the Purifis seem to be flat into the mid range. Thanks. I sure which I could listen to these before buying since listening and hearing the sound is more important then any measurement.

 

[Colonel7]

Colonel (or anyone), do you know if these are a pure 2 way design or more of a 2.5 way design, which is to say, is there are crossover for the two Purifi woofers such that one woofer is dedicated to mids and the other dedicated to low frequencies? I don't fully understand how well it would work to have two woofers and a tweeter, albeit, the Purifis seem to be flat into the mid range. Thanks.

According to Salk's website it's a 2-way. That's a pretty common design with 2 midwoofers and a tweeter. Dennis Murphy is a member here so he'd maybe answer the whys as to the choices for crossover topology. Jim Salk is too but I wouldn't hesitate to call Salk Sound if you're interested in purchasing . It's a terrific sounding speaker with beautiful finish. The ones I listened to are the walnut colored pictures on the site.

 

[12Many]

According to Salk's website it's a 2-way. That's a pretty common design with 2 midwoofers and a tweeter. Dennis Murphy is a member here so he'd maybe answer the whys as to the choices for crossover topology. Jim Salk is too but I wouldn't hesitate to call Salk Sound if you're interested in purchasing . It's a terrific sounding speaker with beautiful finish. The ones I listened to are the walnut colored pictures on the site.

Thanks for the fast response. I read the remainder of this thread and it became over my level of understanding. It seems less common to have two woofers and no mid range and at this price range in the Salk line, where there is usually 3 ways design with a mid range. There is one graph on the web site and a few details. Some one I was asking about this speaker design mentioned that there could be an issue subject to implementation including vertical directivity and that I should be sure to listen to them first if they are true 2 way design to make sure I liked them. I believe for a speaker, listening trumps a measurement, and from everything I have read about Salk speakers, they should be top notch. I saw a youtube video from Axpona and even with all the limitations of a youtube video, I was impressed by the sound and clarity. Nevertheless, I wanted to ask and . . . it sure would be nice to listen to them.
There are probably reasons that I am naïve to, but it would be interesting/helpful if there were audio clips recorded (using quality equipment) of the various speakers that manufactures, without a local store or dealer network, could provide to allow potential buyers to download the clip and play it to hear the speaker. Of course it would be influenced by that customer's speakers or headphones but it would be more than a web page and would allow for comparisons between products.

 

[Colonel7]

Thanks for the fast response. I read the remainder of this thread and it became over my level of understanding. It seems less common to have two woofers and no mid range and at this price range in the Salk line, where there is usually 3 ways design with a mid range. There is one graph on the web site and a few details. Some one I was asking about this speaker design mentioned that there could be an issue subject to implementation including vertical directivity and that I should be sure to listen to them first if they are true 2 way design to make sure I liked them. I believe for a speaker, listening trumps a measurement, and from everything I have read about Salk speakers, they should be top notch. I saw a youtube video from Axpona and even with all the limitations of a youtube video, I was impressed by the sound and clarity. Nevertheless, I wanted to ask and . . . it sure would be nice to listen to them.
There are probably reasons that I am naïve to, but it would be interesting/helpful if there were audio clips recorded (using quality equipment) of the various speakers that manufactures, without a local store or dealer network, could provide to allow potential buyers to download the clip and play it to hear the speaker. Of course it would be influenced by that customer's speakers or headphones but it would be more than a web page and would allow for comparisons between products.

I personally wouldn't sweat vertical directivity unless I planned on listening to speakers standing up and kind of close to them. Outside of coaxial designs like KEF nothing is going to do well on the vertical side. I wouldn't buy speakers in that price range without hearing them first either. You should look up binaural recordings - some folks have been experimenting with them and think they're good representations. Check out Joe n'Tell. Crutchfield does recordings you can check out for different speakers too (not binaural AFAIK) that you can play with online. It'll at least give a semblance of the tonality and brightness/sibilance.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

According to Salk's website it's a 2-way. That's a pretty common design with 2 midwoofers and a tweeter. Dennis Murphy is a member here so he'd maybe answer the whys as to the choices for crossover topology. Jim Salk is too but I wouldn't hesitate to call Salk Sound if you're interested in purchasing . It's a terrific sounding speaker with beautiful finish. The ones I listened to are the walnut colored pictures on the site.

You are correct--they are conventional 2-ways. 2.5's are actually quite tricky to pull off, and the main advantage is a little smoother vertical response. I haven't found that to provide any audible benefits, but vertical radiation pattern is a very controversial subject. We used two of the Purifi woofers in order to increase sensitivity. Why not a 3-way? In addition to its exceptional bass extension and power handling, the 6.5" Purifi also provides a very smooth midrange response with vanishing low harmonic distortion. Our thinking was that we could take advantage of those characteristics and keep the cost in control if we partnered the Purifi's with a high quality Be tweeter that could be crossed low (around 1800 Hz). I would have to compare the design with a similar speaker using a less expensive woofer to know whether the Purifi's distortion performance in the midrange is really audible. I'm an agnostic in that respect.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

yeah i think these purifi are good for 2 way and godlike when 3-way.

Hope someone do a 3-way with these purifi and xover a ribbon/planar magnetic/somethinglikethat driver, around at 5000hz~ and the purifi drivers at 200hz~}
a 8'' purifi + 4'' purifi + a ribbon ~

 

[Dennis Murphy]

yeah i think these purifi are good for 2 way and godlike when 3-way.

Hope someone do a 3-way with these purifi and xover a ribbon/planar magnetic/somethinglikethat driver, around at 5000hz~ and the purifi drivers at 200hz~}
a 8'' purifi + 4'' purifi + a ribbon ~

I'll be working on a 3-way for Jim with the new 8" Purifi, probably the 6.5" dedicated mid, and either a Be or ribbon tweet. The 4.5" Purifi might seem like a better midrange choice, but it just isn't sensitive enough to work with the 8".

 

[Wolf]

I'll be working on a 3-way for Jim with the new 8" Purifi, probably the 6.5" dedicated mid, and either a Be or ribbon tweet. The 4.5" Purifi might seem like a better midrange choice, but it just isn't sensitive enough to work with the 8".

I would tend to agree. The 4-in is actually more akin to a small two-way as it digs pretty low for a 4-in design. It is not a mid-range by design.

I have wondered what the 4-in purify and the SB acoustics ribbon Tweeter would do in a very small two-way.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I would tend to agree. The 4-in is actually more akin to a small two-way as it digs pretty low for a 4-in design. It is not a mid-range by design.

I have wondered what the 4-in purify and the SB acoustics ribbon Tweeter would do in a very small two-way.

Did you mean to say RAAL tweeter? SB doesn't make a ribbon or an AMT unless it happened very recently.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

But what if the 8'' are active hypex? ...and only the purifi mid-bass - high drivers, are just like any passive normal speaker? hybrid design.. pls

 

[Wolf]

Did you mean to say RAAL tweeter? SB doesn't make a ribbon or an AMT unless it happened very recently.

It's one of the Satori tweeters. It is definitely a small AMT, no I did not misspeak.

Satori AT60NC-4 AMT Tweeter

Satori AT60NC-4 AMT Tweeter

www.madisoundspeakerstore.com

It's been out about 3 years now, and I heard it in a set of towers at INDIYANA 2019.

 

[Wolf]

 

[Dennis Murphy]

It's one of the Satori tweeters. It is definitely a small AMT, no I did not misspeak.

Well, technically you did--it's not a ribbon. Actually, I was just looking at that. Short term memory loss. I just wish it had a little broader dispersion, and that face plate is pretty funky. I couldn't find any power handling data. I'll probably give it a try and see if it will work well in a high output version of the BMR. Did you come away with any impressions from Iowa?

 

[Wolf]

I still refer to anything with a very thin element as a ribbon-type whether it's a leaf, planar, an AMT, or a true ribbon. It's still a very thin piece of membrane, it just happens to be folded with etched conductors.

As it turns out the faceplate can actually be mounted two different ways. There is a metal plate underneath and you don't have to have that silver thing in front. It looks a lot like the old Eton without it in place.

When I heard those back in 2019 at InDIYana (the annual event I've hosted since 2009), not Iowa, they were an experimental and preliminary model, and weren't quite yet released to the market. They were using it as a trial run with a couple of builders that I know. It turned out that he was having a phase issue between the six and a half inch woofer and the amt. Apparently it was pretty difficult for him to figure out. I don't know what the problem was, but beyond that it sounded pretty good if you were talking about the Tweeter alone. It may have been a directivity issue were I to wager a guess. It seems to me a smaller mid would likely be better. It could even be a possibility that the diffraction off the top panel was wreaking havoc on his phase response with the delayed reaction time. Diffraction can be a royal pain.