Salk Speakers - Opinions & Advice?

Often a glare in the upper mid/lower treble area is a mismatch between amp and speaker crossover. Also, tube amps have to be carefully matched to speakers to avoid impedance and phase angle problems. And I say this as a 25 year owner of tubes amps.

I also heard the big Decade at AKfest and found them very detailed but with that slight glare James mentioned. The wooly bass was from the room as it was VERY small and had no treatment whatsoever. I got the impression from the owner of Tyler Speakers that he is in it for the love of audio - he just wanted to let people hear his big design. I also have to say that listening to the big Tylers caused me to really pay attention to the arrangement of the musical pieces being played, the time signature changes, the way the musicians were obviously listening to each other, etc. Hmm, guess you could say the music making ability of the speakers drew me in! It was a very relaxed room, small, low lighting, good music, really good speakers.

I thought the large and small Tylers were quite well made. However, they have a simpler finish than the Salks which are finished to fine furniture grade. I think the Salks would be conversations pieces in a room, the Tylers would be more relaxed and subtle. The Salk room was big, exciting, busy, bustling, and brightly lit. I had trouble paying attention to music (which sound real good through some drop dead gorgeous speakers) as there were so many people and so much going on.

The Salk room had such a wide array of beautifully finished speakers that I was onlyt able to admire the designs, woodworking, and finishing. I'd buy a pair just for that and reward Jim Salk for such design and beauty success.

Often a glare in the upper mid/lower treble area is a mismatch between amp and speaker crossover. Also, tube amps have to be carefully matched to speakers to avoid impedance and phase angle problems. And I say this as a 25 year owner of tubes amps.

I also heard the big Decade at AKfest and found them very detailed but with that slight glare James mentioned. The wooly bass was from the room as it was VERY small and had no treatment whatsoever. I got the impression from the owner of Tyler Speakers that he is in it for the love of audio - he just wanted to let people hear his big design. I also have to say that listening to the big Tylers caused me to really pay attention to the arrangement of the musical pieces being played, the time signature changes, the way the musicians were obviously listening to each other, etc. Hmm, guess you could say the music making ability of the speakers drew me in! It was a very relaxed room, small, low lighting, good music, really good speakers.

I thought the large and small Tylers were quite well made. However, they have a simpler finish than the Salks which are finished to fine furniture grade. I think the Salks would be conversations pieces in a room, the Tylers would be more relaxed and subtle. The Salk room was big, exciting, busy, bustling, and brightly lit. I had trouble paying attention to music (which sound real good through some drop dead gorgeous speakers) as there were so many people and so much going on.

The Salk room had such a wide array of beautifully finished speakers that I was only able to admire the designs, woodworking, and finishing. I'd buy a pair just for that and reward Jim Salk for such design and beauty success.

My company is based in Troy, MI and on a business trip a while back I visited Jim Salk at his home to hear his speakers. Even without proper placement and room treatments I was very impressed. I didn't find them cool in their presentation. They are neutral and have very good low end extension. Also, the designs are well executed as is build quality. A couple of the speakers can be considered works of art and the paint work is automotive quality. I never saw Ferrari Red look so good.

Price wise they are a great value IMO.

The A.K.Fest is a wonderfull place to see what is happening in Audio, it is like most audio shows not a great place to hear what is happening in Audio. The rooms were difficult esp from a bass standpoint. Tyler speakers were brand new and did not have any break in time also he has redesigned his Decade line with different drivers and crossovers from his older series...Salk speakers do have some of the best looking cabinets around but with the source equipment at the show not the sound quality to compare with the looks...

I too attended AK Fest '10 and the comments about the Tyler's by Tomryan are exactly the impressions I walked away with. This was my second year in a row of attendance and the Decade's sounded pretty much as they did last year. IMHO, Tyler should have had one of his smaller models at the show due to the size of the room.

The Salk's are a handsome looking speaker, but not my cup of tea. I had a pair of Songtowers for about a year and they sat idle for most of their stay with me because the top end was not satisfying. The HT3's have been auditioned twice in two different highend systems and I couldn't get use to the upper midrange/lower treble hotness. Listener fatigue for me, but YMMV Salk's newest speaker seems to have promise if he can get the lower frequencies to balance with the rest of the drivers.

As others have stated, if you can audition them WITH YOUR OWN MUSIC and your cdp and preamp, then you will be able to make an ~85% informed opinion.

The speaker that totally and unexpectedly surprised me at this year's AK Fest was the mini Dali Menuet speaker. They plan on making a floorstanding version of this design, which is now on my short list.

Good luck with your equipment journey.

D.