Originally Posted by
davef
Salk Song 3 is a nice speaker, but it is really no different than the Sierra-2 from about 60Hz and up with regard to power handling and sensitivity. The Song Song 3 essentially uses the same RAAL ribbon as our Sierra-2 and a significantly smaller midrange. The issues that I have mentioned is power handling of the speaker and clipping of your amp or receiver to reach the volume levels at your listening distance. The result of testing these limits might very well be a torn 64-10 ribbon tweeter (expensive to replace).
We use RAAL's best ribbon tweeter in our tower for just this reason, a custom version of their 70-20xram. This ribbon can handle about 3x the power of the 64-10 and has a unique damping system that prevents various types of distortion (such as transverse waves caused by clipping) from tearing the ribbon. This ribbon is specifically designed for massive dynamics, an even smoother polar response and the ribbon element can be replaced without having to replace the entire tweeter. The 70-20xram is also about 4-5 times the cost of the 64-10 but for those that want to play at reference levels, or anywhere close - especially at a 15 foot listening distance, it is the safest and best choice.
In addition, the 3dB higher sensitivity of our tower is very important in your situation. If you are not familiar with how this works, it means that if it takes 200 watts of power to reach reference level peaks in the Song 3, it will take half that power to reach the same volume level with our towers (100 watts)
If you are looking at Salk and want to stick with the ribbon, look at something with 90dB+ sensitivity and that uses the RAAL 70-20