Well, since CV spilled the beans on my new speakers I've been urged to post pics of them. Late last year I went temporarily insane and acquired a pair of Salk HT2-TL speakers. These were a bit of a dream of mine to own. . . .and, well, I'm still pinching myself. By far, the most stunning speakers I have ever had. On top of the beautiful finish, they produce an equally beautiful sound. Thanks to my temporary bout of insanity I have been happily listening to music almost everyday since last November.

My two channel set up:


Side view:


Close up of the curly cherry finish (apologies as it's a bit out of focus on the edges, I opened the aperture all the way):

How do you like the ribbon tweeter? i don't think i have ever heard one.... I guess i dont get out much.

Sean, those look wonderful! Many, many happy hours of listening! (And nice photos, btw!)

Sean, those are gorgeous, and I wish I could hear them in person. Have you had Dean over to check them out? I'm curious about those ribbon tweeters, too. I wonder if Axiom ever experiments with other manufacturers' drivers to see what kind of performance they can get out of them.

Congratulations on the temporary insanity. I can't wait to hear about future relapses.

Also, remind me what you're using for amplification.

Yeah, I meant to ask about the electronics as well!

Detailed and layered. First time I've heard a ribbon, too. Checking off that box on my audio "to hear" list!

Thanks Mark! I pretended to be a real photographer and broke out my tripod.

Good for you, Sean! Way cool! If I bought a pair of Salks, the first cd I'd listen to is The Vaccines.

BTW, you live in f'Phoenix! What in hell do you need a coat rack for? Or is that an ill-advised floor lamp?

Dean has not heard these yet, but I'd be more than happy to have him over for a listen. (Sorry, Dean, I don't think I want to risk transporting these to your place like I did with my other speakers. The Salks are even heavier!)

Right now I'm using my Odyssey Khartago amp and Etesian preamp. With the warm weather fast approaching here in Arizona, the tube amps will have to patiently wait their turn.

Ha ha, I hang my hats on the coat rack. It was a Christmas present. . . from my parents and they were here last weekend and I didn't want to hear, "We don't see the coat rack we bought you???"

It looks like it should feature a scissor arm that ends in an ashtray. But I'll bet your folks are really nice people.

Very nice gear you have there, wow!

Very cool, Sean! This settles it. I've got to hear these when I'm in town in May.

Oh man, you've been holding out on us since last November?!!?

I've been wanting to give anything built by Salk Sound a listen for a while now.

They are really beautiful. What drew you to Salk?

Very nice indeed. Beautiful gear Sean.

Wait a second...
what are those on the floor...

tube monos!

You dirty dog!

Absolutely, Peter! Plus, I'm fairly certain I have CDs you are familiar with.

Very nice Sean! those are Seas drivers are they not? nice finish, what is it? is the ribbon from Seas? what's your favourite beer?

Guilty.

Well, Fred, if you're serious about listening to these I will expect you in August. In Arizona.

Bring warm weather clothes.

Numerous things, really. For one, everything I have read about them has been mostly positive. I like that they are custom built to whatever a customer may want or afford. That right there makes them. . . .extra personal? Plus, Jim Salk is generous, patient, and very down-to-earth. An absolute pleasure to deal with. Customer service on par with Axiom.

Mostly, I wanted a pair of speakers that were both gorgeous to see and listen to.

Ha ha, Chris you are one of the few on this forum that runs tube gear. I've always wanted to hear Manley gear (how's that for a set-up line for Bob?). I used to live in Chino, Ca where they are located. Didn't know that until after I moved away.

Yes, they are Seas Excel W18s and the ribbon tweeters are from RAAL.

The finish is a curly cherry, which, by the way, is a standard finish for Salk. How nice is that? Pictures don't do the finish and workmanship justice.

Just curious, but is his name pronounced like "gym sock," or is the L not silent?

Ha ha, I don't know? I've always pronounced the L, but I always get names wrong.

Wow, what beautiful speakers, and beautiful gear.

Have you now experienced audio bliss?

Thanks, 2x6!

They have made me a very happy camper in this audio hobby/addiction.

them are purdy! I'm going to crash your house next time I'm down that way visiting my dad.

just curious, but why so much cabinet for just two drivers? I know nothing about Salk speakers btw.

Thanks, Michael. Next time you are in AZ, let me know and I'll be glad to have you over.

It's based on a quarter wave transmission line design, I'm not an expert on it at all, but there is a lot of folded stuff inside. Ha, how's that for a technical explanation?

My dad lives in Sierra Vista, so I either fly into PHX or Tuscan, depending on the flight times, but it's usually PHX. I'll definitely give you a shout next time I come though. Any good pubs close by? lol.. I need to show Dean how drinking is done as well....

So what's the white things against the wall? Base traps??

Room treatments too. You are really making us look bad.

Yeah, those are bass traps. Got them when I was living in another space in a smaller room and I was trying to tame the low frequencies.

So they're piñatas with lots of origami inside? How multi-cultural of you! Let's go open 'em up, guys!

I'm picturing everyone showing up outside my door with a stick and a blindfold.

Don't take it personally if I don't let you in!

The new speakers are gorgeous, congrats Sean!

Sorry I didn’t see this yesterday but I got back late from Saint Croix. I’d love the hear them when we can get a chance to get together again.

If the summer is anything like this spring, I won't need any clothes.

I thought I would finally get my chance at a Detroit audio show. For the first time I was on day's that weekend and would have had the time to head down. They cancelled the show this year.

I trust you and Dean will post something from his visit when it happens.

I look forward to it, Dean. Were you in Saint Croix for work or vacation, or both?

Both, if you consider 2 days and 3 nights there just to pick up some of their Guard folks and take them to Memphis work.

Just awesome, Sean. More beautiful than I imagined. Looking forward to hearing them some time.

Thanks, Tom! I look forward to sharing a beer with you again.

That is top notch,Sean. That is one nice setup, it must sound incredible!

Well, Dean, la di da and excuuuuuse us!

Sean, it's now up to 5 pages all about you and your new speakers. I hope you're happy now. Told you guys.

"My Salks can do this. My Salks can do that. They have unobtainium tweeters. My name is engraved in the curly cherry on the back, then highlighted in gold leaf.

Oh, did I tell you guys that "Jim" (Salk) and I really hit it off and he's invited me to be his guest on a Caribbean fishing trip next month?"

Now that I know you grew up in Chino and your parents have questionable taste in coatracks, you should be more humble.

"It's okay coat rack, Bob doesn't mean to say such cruel things about you. Tell you what, if Bob ever visits you can accidentally fall over on top of him and get one of your arms stuck in his nostril. Yeah, we'll see who's laughing then. . . "

"Tales from a Disgruntled Coat Rack" ... coming soon in paperback to a bookstore near you!

Followed by the much-hyped sequel, "Weekend at BobKay's."

Those speakers are absolutely beautiful to look at. If they sound half as good as they look they must be simply amazing. After your posting i decided to look them up on the net. I found a review on Audioholics and the reviewer owns a set of song towers that he compared them to. Very good review indeed. During his review he dismantled one of the speakers and took pics.Now another website whose name i wont mention, made remarks about the not so elaborate (cheap) crossover in our Beloved axioms. So i am goin to share a picture of the crossover from a 4000.00 set of salk speakers which are highly regarded.




Crossovers dont need to be complex to be effective.

Thank you, Richard! Yes, to me, they do sound as good as they look.

Dennis Murphy, who designed the crossover, did a wonderful job. And you make a good point, it doesn't have to be complex to be effective.

For some reason stuff a certain guy whose name is gene really pisses me off.

there i feel better now

Oh and your tube amps are super cool. Another thing on my bucket list. Build a hagerman tube amp.

Damn you, im still laughing at this for some stupid reason.

Congrats! I have always loved the look of Salk speakers but unless I win Mega Millions on Friday they will always be out of my price range. I bet they sound wonderful with your gear. I keep talking about buying a tube amp, but there always seems to be some need more pressing need for my family. You have a great looking setup.

Whoa, absolutely stunning! Congrats man. You own some of the finest speakers on the market, very nice.
I just can't imagine what they sound like, enjoy!

Thanks, David and Dana. And thank you to everyone else for the nice comments.

You know, I'm still pinching myself. Coming home after work and being able to sit and listen to music makes all the stress kinda melt away.

Make sure you contribute to the Stunning Recordings thread now that you're playing so much.

I've been listening to the Best of the Kazoo SACD compilation for months now.

Congrats Sean, Salk's are on my short list for my next set of speakers should I ever have a chance to buy another set.

Thanks, Jason. They've been on my shortlist for years and an opportunity came up to get a good deal on them and I couldn't pass it up.

The craftsmanship in the cabinets alone is top notch.

Sean, considering we would ALL like to hear them, and yet we're unlikely to travel to your place to see them (what, with the temps soon to be in the upper 200s), why don't you package them up and ship 'em off to the first person for a week's audition? Then, that person can ship them back to you, and you can re-ship it to the next person...and so on, and so on and so on...

LOL! Excellent idea, Mark!

I will ship them out today. What can go wrong?

Plus, they'll all be broken (in, like a baseball mitt) when you get them back so they should sound better than EVER!

::runs away crying and tries to take speakers. . . .but they are too heavy to lift--cries harder::

Yeah, I don't think curly cherry will do that well out by the pool area, or will it?

7 pages now (and counting)...

The name 'Salk' hasn't been seen this much in print since the 1950's! My brain still goes from the name "Salk", straight to an image of a kid in an iron lung.

I'm such a ninny about the UV effects on cherry, I'm making sure I close the blinds in the afternoon so the evil sun doesn't attack my babies.

Have I gone over the edge?

No! Cherry looks pretty bad when it has pronounced demarcations (shapes) of damage caused by light or dampness. At least you only have one to worry about, 'cept for monsoons.
And boy, is THAT Arizona light baaad. Maybe you could start a Speaker UV Shield biz? Like the foil ones for dashboards.

I'm going out to Costco to buy a case of aluminum foil right now.


I've seen pictures of people's cherry speakers with the lighter colored rectangle where the grills were. Not a good look.

They only come out at night!

(nod to Edgar)

You can use the leftover to make hat liners for the rest of us (before they can contact me again, please!)
I've read that they can't read 10% screens.

Yeah, he probably has winter hats on the coat rack, along with a new unused snow shovel in the garage.

Those speakers do look great!

If any of you fine fellows announce you are visiting Sean, I'm gonna start googling Arizona and hat rack homicide.

Technically, Fred, I think it's a coatrack, but they'll likely be viewed as the same thing by the jury. Depends on what kind of evidence can be presented by the Home Fashion Police and whether or not they can prove motive or, at the very least, intent to commit a crime against decor.

So, who is getting them first? Mark, it would be much more efficient, for the current person to just ship them to the next person on the list... Why are you making more work for Sean?!?!?!?!

I'm sorry, Sean, but this rag-on-Sean's-coatrack thing has had way longer legs than I ever imagined when I started it. I am also sorry for the pun.

I think you can put this all to bed if you post a pic of it lying lifeless on your floor. Then they'll be the denial stage (you never had a coatrack), then grief (you're sorry it was ever in the photo), then bargaining (Can't you take Bob instead of my coatrack?). Finally, for all of us, there will be acceptance (it's OK if I put my only hat on a closet shelf) and we can get on with our lives.

I think we should break them down and ship them flat, Ikea style. That will save everyone some money.

lol,lol! Great idea, but I don't think that really matters, Chris, as Sean's gonna cover all of the packing and shipping costs anyway.

My coat rack has now locked himself in the bathroom. I hear sniffling and a lot of banging and clanking around the toilet. I think he's trying to drown himself.


I hope you guys are proud.

Yeah, that's it. Drown himself. That's why it went in there with "Headwear Monthly".



That was the point.....

Augh!! AND he took my hats in there with him.

I am NOT putting those on again.

Just tell your coatrack, he's in good company with "gym socks".

OOOO, that's cold Mark.

See, now it's had a psychotic break and thinks it's Whitney Houston. I told you it was bad news.