silver305
Well-known member
Hi there guys,
As you know i had originally owned a pair of Montis which helped me voice a lot of different amplifiers (see my other thread where i comment on these) and so i had a great opportunity to grab a pair of Salon 2s at a great price so i decided to jump on these based on pure reviews out there and i was fortunate to have a buyer for my Montis.
With that said, i brought the salon 2's home and it has been a bit of a "struggle". Why you may ask? Well, the Salons have the power sucking ability that i have never seen EVER on any speaker. Harman does not even disclose their power handling capabilities which pretty much makes you wonder how much power do they really need?
Well, i first tried my current Classe CT-M600S which are rated at 600 watts into 8ohms and 1200 watts into 4ohms. I proceeded to play music at many different levels and simply put, the salons simply DO NOT produce the bass output i was expecting from such huge cabinets. i played with their positioning, and even placed them inches away from the front wall and put my couch up against the back wall which did improve the bass, but i recall the montis having much better bass in my room.
So one day, i came home and decided to close all windows, doors, etc and made sure my neighbors were not home. I went ahead and proceeded to literally BLAST THEM at EAR SPLITTING levels. I must have had the room at 112 Decibels. IT WAS SCARY to say the least how these speakers sound when pushed. They sound like a horse is racing and stomping the ground as it gets closer and closer to you. Just simply downright scary.
however, when played at normal levels, i felt they fall flat on their face. They lose all their magic and "thin out". i finally concluded, after weeks of playing with them that they are a speaker for a HUGE ROOM where you are going to be cranking them up. My room is 20 ft x 15ft and i am about 15ft away from the speakers and it was not big enough for them. I am telling you, the bass was such a disappointment even after i went ahead and decided to buy a KRELL 402E which is known for its bass control. Nope, that was not enough either. Although the speaker does have detail, i have to be honest, they are either too analytical or they just need to be played LOUD to be enjoyed. This is NOT the speaker for the average size room or just someone who wants to listen to music at low volume levels. You are wasting your hard earned money.
With that said, i decided to sell the salons (my friend will be buying them from me next month) and went ahead to listen to multiple other speakers before i decided to just buy another pair of montis.
i went to different stores, listening to magnepan 3.7s, focals, and lastly the Goldenear Triton Ones.
i am pretty familiar with the electrostatic signature sound. I was aware that i might have been spoiled by the montis' soundstage and clarity plus the benefit of a powered subwoofer which REALLY helps in those rooms that need that extra ounce of OOMPH.
I went and auditioned the Triton Ones and i wasn't really impressed because i was listening to material that i am not familiar with. I decided to go on and buy them (at a good price) and thought, well let me take them home and if i don't like them then i will just unload them and go back to the montis.
With with that said, i brought them home. Plugged them in and just threw them in the room ( i spoke to Sandy Gross on the phone before i even connected them so i followed his advice). From the minute i threw them in the room and played them, i KNEW right then and there, i had something magical. What i heard was UNBELIEVABLE!. I had played them MAYBE 30 minutes and i knew i had a speaker i wanted to keep. So much that i returned to the store THE NEXT DAY and bought the matching center XXL.
Guys, being a former electrostatic guy, i gotta tell ya, I don't miss my Montis one bit. These are OUTSTANDING. I get better bass than the Montis had (it has 4 woofers for bass and 1600 watts of power) and i STILL get that crazy detail, but with SUCH BUTTER SMOOTH silky high frequencies that i found myself tapping my foot on the floor as i listened to songs that i am familiar with.
These speakers have such an outstanding amount of detail, driver coherence, and the one thing that it does better is the MASSIVE SWEETSPOT which wasn't the case with the Montis. They also have one key thing, they are EASY TO POSITION. They sound good in just about anywhere in the room. i have even heard things in movies that i never even knew was there before. They are such a joy to listen to AT ANY VOLUME LEVEL.
Bass output? check, huge soundstage? check, imaging? check, easy to position? check, and at a fraction of the cost from many other high end speakers.
If i were to be honest with myself here, i would go as far as to say that they do it more for me than the montis or even the summits did. Why? because these speakers sound good WITH ANY type of material (electrostatics struggle with rock).
If you are thinking of trying something else outside of the electrostatic realm, i urge you to try the Goldenear triton ones. You will remember my words :rocker:
As you know i had originally owned a pair of Montis which helped me voice a lot of different amplifiers (see my other thread where i comment on these) and so i had a great opportunity to grab a pair of Salon 2s at a great price so i decided to jump on these based on pure reviews out there and i was fortunate to have a buyer for my Montis.
With that said, i brought the salon 2's home and it has been a bit of a "struggle". Why you may ask? Well, the Salons have the power sucking ability that i have never seen EVER on any speaker. Harman does not even disclose their power handling capabilities which pretty much makes you wonder how much power do they really need?
Well, i first tried my current Classe CT-M600S which are rated at 600 watts into 8ohms and 1200 watts into 4ohms. I proceeded to play music at many different levels and simply put, the salons simply DO NOT produce the bass output i was expecting from such huge cabinets. i played with their positioning, and even placed them inches away from the front wall and put my couch up against the back wall which did improve the bass, but i recall the montis having much better bass in my room.
So one day, i came home and decided to close all windows, doors, etc and made sure my neighbors were not home. I went ahead and proceeded to literally BLAST THEM at EAR SPLITTING levels. I must have had the room at 112 Decibels. IT WAS SCARY to say the least how these speakers sound when pushed. They sound like a horse is racing and stomping the ground as it gets closer and closer to you. Just simply downright scary.
however, when played at normal levels, i felt they fall flat on their face. They lose all their magic and "thin out". i finally concluded, after weeks of playing with them that they are a speaker for a HUGE ROOM where you are going to be cranking them up. My room is 20 ft x 15ft and i am about 15ft away from the speakers and it was not big enough for them. I am telling you, the bass was such a disappointment even after i went ahead and decided to buy a KRELL 402E which is known for its bass control. Nope, that was not enough either. Although the speaker does have detail, i have to be honest, they are either too analytical or they just need to be played LOUD to be enjoyed. This is NOT the speaker for the average size room or just someone who wants to listen to music at low volume levels. You are wasting your hard earned money.
With that said, i decided to sell the salons (my friend will be buying them from me next month) and went ahead to listen to multiple other speakers before i decided to just buy another pair of montis.
i went to different stores, listening to magnepan 3.7s, focals, and lastly the Goldenear Triton Ones.
i am pretty familiar with the electrostatic signature sound. I was aware that i might have been spoiled by the montis' soundstage and clarity plus the benefit of a powered subwoofer which REALLY helps in those rooms that need that extra ounce of OOMPH.
I went and auditioned the Triton Ones and i wasn't really impressed because i was listening to material that i am not familiar with. I decided to go on and buy them (at a good price) and thought, well let me take them home and if i don't like them then i will just unload them and go back to the montis.
With with that said, i brought them home. Plugged them in and just threw them in the room ( i spoke to Sandy Gross on the phone before i even connected them so i followed his advice). From the minute i threw them in the room and played them, i KNEW right then and there, i had something magical. What i heard was UNBELIEVABLE!. I had played them MAYBE 30 minutes and i knew i had a speaker i wanted to keep. So much that i returned to the store THE NEXT DAY and bought the matching center XXL.
Guys, being a former electrostatic guy, i gotta tell ya, I don't miss my Montis one bit. These are OUTSTANDING. I get better bass than the Montis had (it has 4 woofers for bass and 1600 watts of power) and i STILL get that crazy detail, but with SUCH BUTTER SMOOTH silky high frequencies that i found myself tapping my foot on the floor as i listened to songs that i am familiar with.
These speakers have such an outstanding amount of detail, driver coherence, and the one thing that it does better is the MASSIVE SWEETSPOT which wasn't the case with the Montis. They also have one key thing, they are EASY TO POSITION. They sound good in just about anywhere in the room. i have even heard things in movies that i never even knew was there before. They are such a joy to listen to AT ANY VOLUME LEVEL.
Bass output? check, huge soundstage? check, imaging? check, easy to position? check, and at a fraction of the cost from many other high end speakers.
If i were to be honest with myself here, i would go as far as to say that they do it more for me than the montis or even the summits did. Why? because these speakers sound good WITH ANY type of material (electrostatics struggle with rock).
If you are thinking of trying something else outside of the electrostatic realm, i urge you to try the Goldenear triton ones. You will remember my words :rocker:
