Notes on Salk SS 6M bookshelf speakers

I have owned the Salk SS 6M Monitors in Curly Maple since August 2020. They have been a fabulous speaker. I have decided to move on and get towers for my room, but I have lived and loved these speakers and wanted to contribute some comments to the forum.

The speakers retail for $3795 and are among the most beautiful bookshelves I’ve seen. The cabinetry and finish are furniture level. Nice furniture. Many people wait many months for custom built Salks. It is worth the wait. Jim is easy to deal with -- answers emails promptly, politely, informatively, and is happy to talk on the phone. 

My room has low ceilings (6.5 feet) and is long (30 feet or so) and about 14 feet wide. It is treated with bass traps, diffusors, and absorbers. 

Regarding sound and amplification, I chose these after extensive research and auditions against a range of worthy competitors, including Focal 936s, Martin Logan 60 XTi, Dynaudio’s Evoke 20 and Evoke 30, and Fritz Heiler’s Carbon 7 and Fritz Carrera stand mounts. The Salks beat them all, with the Fritz Carrera as the closest (coin toss) competitor.

The highs are clean and crisp without being sharp; the bass is startlingly full but tight (these really do go low). Indeed, I would say that a sub is really not needed given the bass response of these front-ported speakers. Midrange is lush, intimate, and accurate — a singer is in the room with the listener! Imaging is fantastic; they project a wide and deep soundstage, well-articulated and natural.

These are versatile speakers, capable of handling a range of music— classical, jazz, folk, rock, world music. Voices are right-sized, instruments sound accurate — including such tough cases as pianos, French horns, clarinets — and dynamics and transients are conveyed with alacrity and tempo.

SUB OR NO SUB! Here’s what tube amplifier designer Mike McGary had to say about the Salk SS6m on Audio Circle: “I own a pair of 6M and use with my amps. Jim also demonstrated the 6M at the California Audio Show with the McGary Audio SA1 amp and we had really good reviews. For a relatively compact speaker, the bass is tight and goes low. You are really getting the sound experience of the much larger SS9.5, and closely to the sound of the Song3 BeAT. Imaging is wonderful. Jim also built a custom subwoofer, but honestly I haven’t used it much....very satisfied with bass performance without the subI listen to the 6M in my home, with the same equipment Jim and I have demonstrated at the audio shows. As for a direct comparisons on midrange dispersion, I have not compared these speakers ‘side by side‘, but that is why I wanted a monitor to begin with... so I could minimize speaker size/ displacement in my room and ability to adjust for speaker positions and room interactions with a smaller speaker...while having the dispersion of the monitor. Yes, pros and cons with a separate sub vice a full range floor standing set of speakers, but I also can apply DSP corrections to the active subwoofer...and I can move the sub easily around (anywhere in the ) room. However, these monitors are not lacking in bass for my taste and haven’t used the sub much.” SOURCE: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=170204.0

AMPLIFICATION. As for amplification, I’ve run these with a range of amps — Quicksilver Mono 60’s with KT77 tubes can drive them just fine and the sound is lush and warm as you’d expect from tubes. In addition, I’ve paired the speakers with other lower powered amps, such as the Pass Labs XA-25 (class A), mid-powered solid state such as the 60w Adcom 535L (solid state), and some amps which were over 100w, such as Van Alstine’s solid state SET 400, the MiniGan 5 (class D), and theAtoll IN200 SE. In *all* cases, the speakers were well-managed — an even tonality, capable dynamics, and excellent soundstage. While the specs on the speaker — 88db — might imply a more powerful amp is necessary, I can testify that how enjoyable it’s been to listen with lower watt amplifiers like the Pass and the Quicksilver Monos.

Some video about the finish can be found here: https://youtu.be/N4GQV_4LeWI?t=23

A nice interview with Jim can be found here: https://youtu.be/3Eg_qDKgNqA?t=1823 — in the interview, he holds up as his go-to drivers, the SS95; this is a tower speaker but the SS6M’s for sale here have the same top two drivers. These are Jim’s go-to.

Tube amplifier designer Mike McGary had to say about the Salk SS6m on Audio Circle: 

“I own a pair of 6M and use with my amps. Jim also demonstrated the 6M at the California Audio Show with the McGary Audio SA1 amp and we had really good reviews. For a relatively compact speaker, the bass is tight and goes low. You are really getting the sound experience of the much larger SS9.5, and closely to the sound of the Song3 BeAT. Imaging is wonderful. Jim also built a custom subwoofer, but honestly I haven’t used it much....very satisfied with bass performance without the sub I listen to the 6M in my home, with the same equipment Jim and I have demonstrated at the audio shows. As for a direct comparisons on midrange dispersion, I have not compared these speakers ‘side by side‘, but that is why I wanted a monitor to begin with... so I could minimize speaker size/ displacement in my room and ability to adjust for speaker positions and room interactions with a smaller speaker...while having the dispersion of the monitor. Yes, pros and cons with a separate sub vice a full range floor standing set of speakers, but I also can apply DSP corrections to the active subwoofer...and I can move the sub easily around (anywhere in the ) room. However, these monitors are not lacking in bass for my taste and haven’t used the sub much.” SOURCE: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=170204.0

From the Salk website:

Model SS 6M

Design 2-way ported

Tweeter Beryllium

Woofer 6.5" Satori

Response +/- 3db 35Hz - 40kHz

Sensitivity 88 db

Impedance 8 ohms

Amplification 50 watts

Alignment Front slot port

Dimensions 9 W x 20 H x 14 D

Weight 33 pounds