Salk Signature Sound, Wells Audio, EXOGAL, Gingko Audio, Danacable
With woodworking being one of my other hobbies, I spoke at length with them about all the amazing veneer they use as you mention. Just incredible, top of the line work.Look at the gorgeous examples of Salk speakers in Amir's AXPONA reporting posts above this post, and see even more halfway down Salk's home page. Here is a LINK to their list of Salk's available hardwood veneers, most of which I am familiar with, and have turned on my wood lathe. Go down to "Custom Finishes," select a veneer, and click on "Conduct Search" to see many, many examples of some of the most beautiful wood in the world. Using veneers rather than solid hardwoods for any fine woodworking project reduces the environmental impact of exotic wood harvesting.
I don't think you should make such absolute statements about a veneer cracking without having records of Salk's speakers cracking over a 10 year period.^The trouble with such veneer (the highly figured veneer) is that it will crack over a ten year period. As much as I love the look of that veneer, I would never buy a speaker with it. An open grain such the one with the burnished edges would be my preference. Truly beautiful.
With woodworking being one of my other hobbies, I spoke at length with them about all the amazing veneer they use as you mention. Just incredible, top of the line work.
Salk speakers - I've fallen in love. Plain-jane rectangular monkey coffins like the Salk Songtowers, softened a bit with rounded edges, and covered with gorgeous exotic hardwood veneers makes for some beautiful loudspeakers. I don't know how I overlooked the Salks. Indeed, I had seen references and hearty recommendations for them many times over the years, but ignored them for some unknown reason.
I have been an audio enthusiast and hi-fi music lover since my high school days in 1958. Many years later, I worked as a salesman and exotic and tropical hardwood specialist from 2006-2010 at a Woodcraft store in Northern California. This was after I retired from IT, but I needed to supplement my Social Security pension. At Woodcraft I learned to appreciate the beauty of those woods under the guidance of Kris Warden, a fellow salesman who had worked for Alembic guitars, and later went back to jos job there. I learned how to turn wood, bought a small benchtop lathe, made many beautiful bowls and platters. I even managed to place first in my category in juried competition at the Sonoma County Museum in 2011!
So then, I prefer speakers that sound good as well as look beautiful. In spite of Salk's association with audiophool woo products (if it helps their sales and keeps them in business, I could care less), their designs seem sound (pun intended) and on-axis FR looks excellent.
I owned a pair of transmission-line speakers many years ago in the 1970's - ESS Heil AMT-1T towers - and really liked them. Supposedly, the TL towers sound a lot like sealed box speakers, and the bottom port reduces bass and mid-bass boom and makes flattening room response with DSP easier. The Salk Songtowers look like a refined and updated evolution of that ESS design - especially with the RAAL ribbon tweeters in a d'appolito array - although I would probably consider the standard silk-dome tweeters because of the additional cost of the RAAL ribbons. Here are the ones that I like, could afford, and would probably work best in my room.
Look at the gorgeous examples of Salk speakers in Amir's AXPONA reporting posts above this post, and see even more halfway down Salk's home page. Here is a LINK to their list of Salk's available hardwood veneers, most of which I am familiar with, and have turned on my wood lathe. Go down to "Custom Finishes," select a veneer, and click on "Conduct Search" to see many, many examples of some of the most beautiful wood in the world. Using veneers rather than solid hardwoods for any fine woodworking project reduces the environmental impact of exotic wood harvesting. My very favorite wood in the world is ziricote with its black "veining," pictured below - but it can be quite expensive.
At age 77, but fortunately with very good hearing for my age except for the almost universal age-related loss of high-frequency perception, I feel blessed. As my mobility decreases year by year, I lean towards having an excellent little office/media room with my 40" LED TV and 2-channel audio system, and spend many hours traveling the world and listening to a vast array of available digital music, both from my own large collection and internet streaming options.
What is available today in the world of recorded music and video boggles the mind of this older person who was born when there was no television, and it took an album of monaural 78rpm records for a single symphony. I plan to continue to enjoy recorded music and video as long as I can. I am well aware that music therapy for dementia has demonstrated that music can even bring back awareness and a life worth living for many people for whom it had faded, and likely can help to stave off any propensity for dementia. (When my posts become incoherent, you will know that I am fading! )
My current system - listed below - is an excellent budget stereo system. A dedicated media room (which is coming together now) will be the fulfillment of a dream for me, and upgrading to pair of small floor-standing speakers covered in exotic wood veneer - like the Salk Songtowers - would be a step towards audio/video nirvana.
Quote from someone selling a pair on Audiogon:I don't think you should make such absolute statements about a veneer cracking without having records of Salk's speakers cracking over a 10 year period.
Quote from someone selling a pair on Audiogon:
"These speakers are about 7 years old...There is a tiny, hairline crack in one of the front baffles, which can be seen only by close inspection...."
I don't wish to disparage Salk speakers in any way. I have been working with veneers for 30 years and know from experience that highly figured veneers will crack.
I only worked at Santa Rosa Woodcraft store for five years, but I was also a member of the Sonoma County Woodworkers Association and the Wine Country Woodturners. My experience was dwarfed by the many lifetimes of experience of my fellow SCWA members, and I learned much from them. SCWA has sponsored the annual "Artistry in Wood" exhibit and juried competition at the Sonoma County Museum since 1982, and I won my class there in 2011 with a woodturning piece I called "Oasis" which was crafted from African bubinga and sea-green dyed quilted maple from the Northwest coast region of the U.S. This piece sits in my living room to this day.
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I don't want to disparage you, but your information is not totally accurate. First of all, open grain wood (meaning it has open pores like oak) is not the same as "straight" or "plain" grain wood - which is what I think you meant. Also, although highly figured woods may be more likely to crack, they don't all crack, and things like avoiding direct sunlight, high humidity or extreme low humidity is good for any high-quality finished fine wood furniture, art, and even speakers. Having a stable, material like moisture sealed MDF under properly prepared, glued and finished veneer is a plus. Not all figured veneer pieces do crack, and the level of skill and experience by the craftsmen contributes to their lasting beauty. So yes, wood veneer surfaces can crack, but the risk is minimal, and just like older point-to-point and trough-mount wiring for audio electronics, repairs can be easy and relatively inexpensive.
There are many types of figure in wood, and that particular set of Salk speakers on Audiogon had a cocobolo (a rosewood from here in Latin America) front baffle, and quilted African makore sides.
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Those Salk loudspeakers must have been truly beautiful - and it would be easy for a good wood finisher/refinisher to fix the crack, especially when he could communicate with the original craftsmen at Salk Sound about the finish used. If you cannot live with a minor risk of an easily repairable flaw, you are not a candidate for owning speakers covered with some of the finest and most beautiful woods in the world.
(For those of you who are curious about exotic woods Here is a LINK to a mind-boggling collection of information on exotic woods - a personal website from someone with a true passion for wood. It has been my "go-to" wood website for many years.)