Compare: Salk Sound, Silverline, Tyler, Zu

silverline makes fine speakers. i would however say that for the kind of music you like.....and a large sweet spot, i would recommend the castle harlech or howard. i'm sure the other lines have their fans, but for big orchestra, the castle would be the best loudspeaker between 2k and 3k new.

I have heard Silverline (in an HT system playing music), Tyler Reference Monitors and Linbrook monitors, and the Salk HT1 and HT3. I'd take the Salk speakers overall, they simply drew me in. The other speakers are all great. I really mean that. You literally do not have a bad choice. But the Salk's really captured me. Their sound was like magic to me. I'm sorry I can't be more specific but I wasn't feeling critical when I listened to them, I just listened. The Tyler Linbrooks were similar but didn't have the same impact on me as the Salk's. I wish I could have heard the Silverline's in a two channel setup as they sounded excellent in the HT scheme. All these speakers do those good audiophile things like detail, soundstaging and imaging and they look great too. Terrific build quality. Maybe the ribbon tweeters in the Salks made the difference. I don't know, they just do it for me. If you are in the Detroit area in late April you should be able to hear the Salks at the Audiokarma Fest. More info on Salk at audiocircle.com. Lots of input on Tyler right here. By the way I'm not associated with Salk, I just wish I could afford'em. Hope this helps a little.
Gary

A lot of good choices there... I liked all of them except ProAc (the floorstanders I heard were way too dark for my tastes, and some detail was missing that I am used to). I would add Spendor also to your list of "Britsh classics." They probably are my favorites from the UK...

As for a "winner," I guess it really comes down to personal tastes. In my case, I would probably narrow it down to the Tylers and the Salks (not to imply that the others aren't also very worthy and merit consideration as well). Woodworking-wise, the Salks have it (absolutely beautiful speakers by all accounts, even as good looking as the Tylers are, I don't think any speakers can compete to my tastes)... Sound-wise the Tyler's midrange and bottom-end were a tad more to my liking (Linbrook Signature System) and I bought them accordingly -- but I really loved the Salks too and can easily recommend them. You really can't lose with those two, IMO. The value for the money on both brands is quite impressive.

---Dave

Matt and Dave: Both of you seem to be familiar with Salk products. I have a question about that line. The basic Veracity model is HT1, if one can afford it HT3 is clearly the flagship. However, the middle spot is muddled a bit: there is QW, and the new HT2 (not yet on the web site but is a production model). They are identical size, similarly priced.

Do you know these two and how do they compare?

Theoretically, the situation is as follows. QW uses transmission line to go lower. HT2 uses an extra midwoofer, so it is more sensitive, there is less strain on either midwoofer, but their sounds will "interact" for better or worse. HT2 also uses a different tweeter.

Would be curious to know what people think.