I've heard both the "Supercharged" Salk SongTowers with RAAL and the Sierra Towers with RAAL, thanks to local owners that were kind enough to open their houses to a fellow audio enthusiast. I haven't had the opportunity to listen to the standard version of the SongTowers, but I would have paid a little more to have the "better" supercharged version if I were to have bought them. I didn't listen to them on the same day, but I did take notes on both speakers. In fact, I had listened to numerous speakers on the same days that I had listened to both the Ascend and Salk towers.

I've been in the process of looking for new speakers to replace my Definitive Tech BP-30s for more than 3 years. I'm not in a rush (as you would guess). As much as I want to find speakers that would be a leap ahead in sound quality, I've come to realize that I enjoy the hunt for new speakers, and so there is some satisfaction to searching without having made a purchase. Like many others on this forum I have listened to everything that I can to learn more about what is out there, and what I like. I've listened to B&W, PSB, Def Tech, Martin Logan, Energy, Anthony Gallo Acoustics, Paradigm, Klipsch, Golden Ear, Totem, Polk, Boston Acoustics, Revel, Focal, Dynaudio, Salk Sound, Ascend Acoustics and others that aren’t coming to mind. I’ve had the chance to listen to the Focal and Revels in my listening room (thanks to local dealers).

As far as the Salk and Ascends, I would say that they were both in my top five with my preference going to the Ascends. When I listened to the Salk Songtowers I was most impressed with the RAAL tweeters. They didn’t have the sibilance/ringing that I have heard in so many other tweeters (including my Def Tech). I thought that the midrange was very good, but I didn’t care for the bass. They sounded as if the bass was plenty deep, but I felt that it was a little slower than the Ascends and Focal 836W speakers. I also felt that I could hear the resonance of the cabinet with bass heavy music (I was told that this is likely due to the transmission line design). In fact I had heard Focal 836Ws (and numerous other speakers) just before listening to the SongTowers and I felt that I liked the bass of Focal’s better. The Focal’s also had excellent midrange, but the tweeter did get a bit harsh when pushed (especially in my own listening area). So I left feeling that I wish I had the RAAL tweeter blended with the Focal woofers (something that I would never get). I then turned my attention to the Ascend Sierra Towers with RAAL with the hope that they would have midrange and bass that was comparable to or better than the Focal “W” cones.

As I had hoped, the Ascends had the top end that I remembered and loved in the Salks. The midrange and bass also seemed to be very good. However, to be honest I noticed that I heard the sound of a woofer straining. I asked the owner if he had heard it and he didn’t think he did, but he stated that recently he noticed that when he pushed the Sierra Towers he would sometimes hear a sound as if one of the woofers was straining. Within 20 seconds of listening to Rusted Root’s Drum Ecstasy we located the blown woofer in his right speaker. I will be totally honest, I was disappointed that I was unable to hear the speaker at its best (because it seemed that it could be the best speaker for my tastes) and because I was a little concerned about its reliability (I’m one that listens at moderate to loud volumes).

The owner recently stated that Dave sent him a replacement woofer and he would still like to have me over to listen to his Sierra Towers. As luck would have it, I will be going over to his house tomorrow during the day (because I have an extended holiday weekend) and this time I will be bringing my Def Tech BP30s with me to do a direct comparison. I’m very grateful to the owner of Sierra Towers for allowing me the chance to directly compare my speakers to his. The only other speakers that I have directly compared to my Def Tech are the Focal 836Ws and the Revel F32. I will post my thoughts if anyone is interested.