Salk WoW1 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[Xulonn]

Those of you who have read my comments over the past couple of years here at ASR may have noticed my affinity for exotic woods. I accumulated a nice stash of planks, billets and turning blocks when I worked at long-ago closed Woodcraft franchise store in Santa Rosa, California from 2006-2011. Nearly every payday I would buy at least one piece of wood.

Below are a few pictures of that personal stash of exotic hardwoods that I put in storage for two years when I moved to live as an expat in Panama in 2012. At the time, a friend was the wood shop teacher at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, and in 2014, I finally accepted reality, and sold my tools to the school - and donated all of my wood to the school's shop. Those students probably never realized the value of the incredible collection of wood to which they had access for projects.

And now you can also probably appreciate my lust for a pair of Salk exotic-wood speakers

 

[Southall-1998]

The most high status plank in the world!

S.

 

[MattHooper]

Those of you who have read my comments over the past couple of years here at ASR may have noticed my affinity for exotic woods. I accumulated a nice stash of planks, billets and turning blocks when I worked at long-ago closed Woodcraft franchise store in Santa Rosa, California from 2006-2011. Nearly every payday I would buy at least one piece of wood.

Below are a few pictures of that personal stash of exotic hardwoods that I put in storage for two years when I moved to live as an expat in Panama in 2012. At the time, a friend was the wood shop teacher at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, and in 2014, I finally accepted reality, and sold my tools to the school - and donated all of my wood to the school's shop. Those students probably never realized the value of the incredible collection of wood to which they had access for projects.

And now you can also probably appreciate my lust for a pair of Salk exotic-wood speakers

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Awesome!!!

I'm a know-nothing about wood, but I nonetheless LOVE exotic wood finishes! Those are some beauties in those photos.

I was happy to find my current two speakers in beatiful wood finishes. My Thiel 2.7s are in a striped ebony (sort of like Tiger Ebony). My Joseph Audio Perspectives are in rosewood. Though I admit to be somewhat tired of rosewood as a common higher-end speaker finish, the actual finish and craftsmanship on the Josephs are out of this world. However, one day I may have the finish updated to a custom finish of one of my beloved darker brown/black finishes, perhaps some form of ebony.

 

[amirm]

Those of you who have read my comments over the past couple of years here at ASR may have noticed my affinity for exotic woods. I accumulated a nice stash of planks, billets and turning blocks when I worked at long-ago closed Woodcraft franchise store in Santa Rosa, California from 2006-2011. Nearly every payday I would buy at least one piece of wood.

Every time I would visit Woodcraft, I would drool over their exotic planks. I only bought some pen turning blocks which I still have, not having had time to turn even one.

 

[dep14]

If you want a Salk with a little bass... I'm your huckleberry.

Measures flat, Dennis tells me one of the flattest speakers he has ever helped design. Even if it didn't, sounds awfully good.

That said, at 170 lbs... tough to ship.

 

[MZKM]

If you want a Salk with a little bass... I'm your huckleberry.

Measures flat, Dennis tells me one of the flattest speakers he has ever helped design. Even if it didn't, sounds awfully good.

That said, at 170 lbs... tough to ship.

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And sadly discontinued due to the woofer no longer being available.

 

[jsalk]

For those who wondered what that speaker was that I posted, it was a Song3 Encore with the SS9.5 midrange - no passives, no open back midrange.

Talking about exotic veneers, over the past 18 years I have noticed a couple of things.

For example, spectacular pieces of African waterfall bubinga were plentiful when we started building speakers. I haven't seen much in the last 5 years or so and wouldn't know where to go to find it. My guess is that all the good logs were already made into veneer and the older trees are gone.

Another thing I noticed is the change in what people want in a "standard" veneer. When we began, maple was very popular. I don't think we did a cherry speaker in the first five years. Then things changed and people wanted cherry. Now, cherry is dropping off and walnut has become popular. I suspect that in a few years, maple will return. Tastes obviously change.

- Jim

 

[Xulonn]

For example, spectacular pieces of African waterfall bubinga were plentiful when we started building speakers. I haven't seen much in the last 5 years or so and wouldn't know where to go to find it. My guess is that all the good logs were already made into veneer and the older trees are gone.

Unfortunately, demand from China is a big factor. Endangered species seem to increase demand in China, and respect for endangered species is very often missing or ignored. Bubinga trees can be huge...

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...but so was the demand, and as a result, bubinga was placed on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix II list in 2018, and international trade is now restricted. Quote from wood-database.com:

Where Bubinga comes into play

A side note is that a couple of other wood types were also listed in the CITES appendix II along with rosewoods: Kosso and Bubinga. Both restrictions come almost entirely as the result of the situation in China. The CITES proposal dealing with Bubinga (listed just after the Dalbergia proposal) had this to say:

The woods of the different Bubinga species, the aesthetic qualities of which are close to those of the Asian rosewood species which are most highly prized in the Hongmu tradition, have gradually become established as the first choice alternative for this burgeoning sector. In the course of the past five years, the expansion of this “Hongmu demand” for the supply of the Chinese markets has led to unprecedented interest in Bubinga in the main producing countries of its range, particularly in Gabon and Cameroon.​

So what was the fault in that Bubinga was so stringently restricted? Simply put, it looked too much like rosewood. And going right along with this, Kosso has met a similar fate. Although this species isn’t seen very often in North America, the CITES proposal commented “Available information suggest that Pterocarpus erinaceus was in 2015 the most traded species of ‘Hongmu,’ in volume, at the international level.”

Here is a bubinga stand I made for a sculpture:

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Our local Panamanian true rosewood - Cocobolo (dalbergia retusa) - is very tightly restricted and cannot be harvested, even on private property, without a government permit. In spite of these laws, a container full of cocobolo logs was confiscated while being prepared for shipment to China. A few years ago, I went to a local commercial woodworking/furniture making shop looking for some small pieces of local hardwood for turning, the owner took me into his office in a back room and pulled out a few pieces of cocobolo from under the desk - out of which I turned into the below 4.5" and 6"inch square bowls. The one on the left had begun to darken and the one on the right is freshly finished, polished and waxed.

 

[maize and blue]

Very nice work Xulonn! Especially like the Bubinga stand.

 

[Lao Lu]

I obviously can't speak for Selah's older products, but I own the Tempestas, one of Rick's most celebrated designs, and they are subjective and objective champs.

https://imgur.com/a/QxU3E2o

Those are (my) gated measurements going from on axis to all the way to 90 degree off-axis, and you can see the directivity remains constant and with a wide listening window. These speakers are trivial to EQ in room because the directivity is so good. Here's how my complete system measure in room vs. a Genelec near-field system with 500 pounds of room treatment.

https://imgur.com/a/R1PhAkk

I'm purple.

Here's another one of Rick's designs measured at the NRC. Soundstage

Again, exceptional directivity with wide dispersion. As good as anything from modern Revel.

Yes, your generalization is unfounded because you seem to be assuming that speaker designers can't improve their designs over a decade. Furthermore, since your opinion of the Selah speakers you had is purely subjective without any provided measurements, they have to be taken with a heaping spoonful of salt.

And they look damn good.....

 

[MattHooper]

If you want a Salk with a little bass... I'm your huckleberry.

Measures flat, Dennis tells me one of the flattest speakers he has ever helped design. Even if it didn't, sounds awfully good.

That said, at 170 lbs... tough to ship.

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Beeautiful! Now that's more my kind of finish. Dark and lux.

Here is a bubinga stand I made for a sculpture:

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Oh damn. I need a speaker in that finish!

I had been in contact with Jeff Joseph about my Perspective speakers and he said he could do a custom finish on them if I want (the wood side panels come off and can be replaced). So I've been bookmarking wood finish ideas in case that day comes. I have a new bookmark!
Great work!

 

[Xulonn]

Very nice work Xulonn! Especially like the Bubinga stand.

Thanks. It was a stand for an intricate Balinese carved figure in a lighter colored wood. I wanted to subdue the striking figure of the bubinga a bit, so I used a black dye under the urethane finish. The frame of the box was solid bookmatched bubinga with mitered corners, but the top was plywood with bubinga veneer. A solid top could have expanded and pulled the mitered corners apart. As a salesman and amateur woodworker, I had lots of knowledge, but not years of experience. Fortunately, my friends in the Sonoma County Woodworkers Association gave me lots of good advice, and the piece came out pretty good.

 

[Lao Lu]

A number of people commented here on the cost of the speakers and cost of our cabinets. I should probably explain our philosophy.

When I began building speakers, someone posted a picture of a pair I built. A few days later, I received an unsolicited email explaining the I was doing things all wrong. I was spending too much for drivers and fancy woods and veneers. I responded that I wanted to use the best drivers I could find for a given project because I wanted to build the best speaker I could. Also, building cabinets is a lot of work and I wanted them to look like I put that much effort into them.

Yes, we could make less expensive cabinets. No doubt about that. We could use pre-veneered stock. Of course, there would be no book-matching. We could shoot them with conversion varnish in a single day rather than shooting as many as 12 - 15 coats of sealer over the space of a month. That would certainly lower the cost.

But we have no interest in such an approach. There would simply be no joy in it. Besides, there are scores of companies already doing that for those who do not care about fine cabinetry.

Here is a picture of a pair we finished today...

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A project like this makes everyone here proud of their work and excited to come back for another day. Pounding out cheap cabinets would simply be a job in comparison.

- Jim

Stunning...

 

[beefkabob]

Still interested in getting other salk speakers sent in for testing. Right now, the single data point is mediocre soundpproduction and high price with a pretty box. Since @jsalk is here, why not? Free testing! I'd love to see his lauded speakers perform well. You can even use the results to tune the speaker design. Maybe amir would let you go back and forth a couple of times with updates from retesting. I'd sure wanna see those articles and tests.

If there's one thing I have seen consistently in audio, it's that components and systems can be greater or less than the sum of their parts. The best components put together wrong can be garbage, and low end components put together well can perform nicely.

 

[Revelatorman]

Salk did update their website recently, the sensitity on the WOW1 is now listed as 82db, it was 84db as noted previously.

They state 84dB (no parameters given). Here is the manufacture graph for the woofer:
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We see the dashed line (estimated response for a sealed enclosure?) that at 100Hz it’s ~82dB. Then don’t forget about baffle step compensation in the midrange.

____

As for the port issue, @amirm it is interesting that Salk’s measurement didn’t show this issue. I wonder if at whatever measuring distance they use they don’t have that issue?
That said, you obviously heard it’s not that great of a speaker, especially in the bass department (yet the Innerfidelity review they show for this speaker has the reviewer stating: “That's not to say one would never pair these with a subwoofer, just that they do very well on their own.”) , and for the ~$1500 the member who sent them in paid, it is disappointing.

 

[MZKM]

Salk did update their website recently, the sensitity on the WOW1 is now listed as 82db, it was 84b as noted previously.

Looks like he is quoting @ 1kHz. It’s better, but still a good deal higher than what I get, which use 300Hz-3kHz.

 

[maize and blue]

And sadly discontinued due to the woofer no longer being available.

I believe dep14s SS12s are the last pair produced. Yep, that’s what I have heard, woofer no longer available, same with the SS10 and SS8.

 

[pjug]

I thought I should share my impressions of the WOW1 since I know at least one other forum member had these on order.

I am finding these to be really enjoyable. Since I have received them I have not had any thoughts of getting rid of them. They have limitations, but nothing too out of line with what I expected when I ordered them. I think Amir's review is on the mark: they have very low sensitivity and you can easily hear the distortion if you play low sine tones. But I thought they sounded OK playing full range with the typical music I listen to (mostly folk, americana, jazz). Currently I am playing them with a sub, passively high-passing them with just the 220uF cap included with sub, and set up just using the controls on the sub. It sounds really nice this way. I bought a miniDSP 2x4 to do a better crossover which can only help, and will allow steeper roll-off of the most problematic low frequencies. And also EQ for the 550Hz dip and room effects. So I look forward to setting that up but I am going out of town so it will have to wait.

I know I will be happy playing these, and the cabinets look great.

 

[Bghead8che]

Surprised Jim never commented on the measurements. I thought he would be all over this. I openly wonder if the relatively poor measurements extend up the line?

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Surprised Jim never commented on the measurements. I thought he would be all over this. I openly wonder if the relatively poor measurements extend up the line?

They don't. And the only real issue with the WOW was some kind of port-woofer interaction I still don't really understand. The woofer couldn't keep up with some of Amir's torture tests, but it wasn't reasonable to expect that even a superior mini woofer like the Seas Excel could make it through those tests unscathed.