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Review 1 of 2
Price Paid:
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from salksound.com Summary:
I've been an audio enthusiast for 30 years. With speakers, in the early 70's I started with JBL L100's, Dynaco A25's and AR3a's. Since then i've listened to and/or owned different designs from many high end companies.
We are movie enthusiasts (there are over 200 films in our Netflix queue). For the last 10 years or so we have had a dedicated home theater set up. I've always been intrigued by the airy/ethereal sound of high end ribbon tweeters. However, for a dedicated home theater system, the high cost (for multiple speakers) of systems from companies like Matin Logan made the high end ribbon technology unavailable to most people. I'm also a bang for the buck guy. I believe that most modern speakers sound fantastic and you can spend thousands of dollars chasing after that elusive 1% improvement in sound.
I saw an early review of the Salk HTS series and emailed Jim Salk to inquire about the system. We needed a front ported or sealed design to wall mount in our set up and the HTS-MTM's sealed cabinets are excellent for this application. Jim was very responsive and took the time to answer my questions. One look at Jim's web site will show you that he is a dedicated craftsman who takes great pride in his speakers. With the promise of Jim's excellent money back guaranty, I decided to buy the HTS-MTMs for my front soundstage. This was the first time i have ever purchased speakers without hearing them first.
Jim builds each speaker to order. I had mine customized with crossovers optimized for the on wall mounting (in our dedicated home theater). I also chose the piano black finish to blend into our flat black AV wall.
Jim kept me posted during every phase of the order. A problem developed with the UPS shipping and Jim stepped in and helped resolve it. This dedication to customer service really sets Jim apart.
The speakers arrived and i auditioned them for a week before mounting them.
In short, the sound is fantastic. I've had them for a month now and we've watched all kinds of movies, from modern Dolby Digital releases like "Finding Nemo" and "Gladiator" to older clasic films.
The MTM design projects a wide, immersive soundfield that anchors the action and dialoge to the screen. The ribbon tweeters have a transparent, liquid presentation of the high frequencies and the 7" Vifa midbass drivers handle the midrange so that the dynamics of the action shine through but the dialoge remains very clear. The piano black finish is beautiful during the day but disappears into the black AV wall at night, leaving the backlit plasma display floating in the air surrounded by superb sound.
I continued to test the speakers with music. The sound is smooth and neutral with a flat response that never calls attention to itself. Many high end ribbon designs sound "bright" or "brittle". The HTS-MTMs do not have that hard, edgy quality. They achieve a transparent sound that leans more to the "warm" side. They excel at vocals, both male and female. Holly Cole's torch songs sounded as if she were in the room for a private performance. James Taylor's smooth melodic voice is a difficult test for most mirange drivers. The HTS-MTM's passed with flying colors. Complex instrumentals sound great. In Steely Dan's fusion mix, you can clearly distinguish each instrument in the flow of the music. Acoustic guitar and piano sound superb. This is a great speaker for classical and jazz. Hard rock and metal listeners may find the sound a bit reserved, as it lacks that "in your face" presentation of some speakers (ie. horns).
The highs and midrange blend beautifully. The low end is very good for a sealed design, lacking only in the last octave of deep bass (but that's what the subwoofer is for).
In summary, the Salk HTS-MTM's are a superb custom built speaker at a very reasonable price. They combine world class components with a craftsman's attention to detail at a cost thousands of dollars less than you would expect to pay for this level of quality. They were designed from the ground up for a no compromise dedicated home theater.
Jim Salk is a pleasure to work with and he stands behind his speakers with a money back guaranty. I highly recommend that any home theater enthusiast give them a try. Strengths:
Proven world class drivers and components.
Optimized for home theater.
Customized crossovers.
Sealed design can be mounted close to a wall.
Beautiful, solid well built cabinets.
Smooth, flat response with an open "airy" sound quality (ribbon tweeters).
Superb "hands on" customer service from the speaker's builder.
Very reasonable cost for custom quality.
Money back guranty. Weaknesses:
Sealed design requires power, needs good amps.
A bit heavy to wall mount (40lbs. each).
Lacking very deep bass (designed to be used with a sub). Similar Products Used:
JBL, Infinity, Magnepan, Mirage, Boston Acoustics and many others.
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