Songer Audio: Simple is Best!


I have been an avid audiophile for decades. I own a large collection of high end gear that I use in multiple rooms, frequently rotate, and listen to constantly. I attend AXPONA and CAF perennially and regularly visit audiophile friends to experience their systems. I’m really into music and audio!

My long audio journey has brought through my system many different speaker configurations, including multi-driver box speakers (B&W, McIntosh, Raidho, YG, Wilson Benesch), panels (MartinLogan, Magnapan, TSW Apogees), omnis (MBL), horns (OMA), open baffles (PureAudioProject, Linkwitz, Cube), various subs (MartinLogan, JL, Linkwitz), full rangers (DIY, Voxativ, Cube, and Songer). I’ve experienced myriad tube and solid state configurations as well as most analog and digital source types. Additionally, I’ve experimented with numerous DSP and analog processing devices including some state-of-the-art components.

My ultimate litmus test is my long-term engagement. No matter how sophisticated, resolving, acclaimed, or expensive a speaker or system may be, if I find myself disengaged, distracted, or just bored, then I will move on from it. I have found that the systems and speakers that hold my attention most are typically the simplest. I tend to increasingly gravitate to simplicity.

The Songer S1x speakers are both the simplest and the best speakers I’ve ever owned. Source to the minimalist conrad-johnson preamp to a magnificent AirTight 300b amp to the single-driver, full-range, field-coil, Songer S1x speakers is a truly magical combination. These speakers are my favorite that I’ve owned (preferable to even my significantly more expensive and sophisticated Wilson Benesch Resolutions which are otherwise superb speakers). They hold their own to anything I’ve heard at shows.

The Songers have bass that should be impossible from a single driver and a 9 watt amplifier! The resolution is superb, the stage is huge, the dynamics are excellent, they are the epitome of musical and natural, and I could listen to them for hours at a time without ever losing interest. Every time I rotate in one of my other speakers, I quickly gravitate back to the Songers.

I credit this incredible accomplishment to Ken Songer’s magnificent driver design, no crossover, the field-coil motor, a superb cabinet, high efficiency, and the perfect point source single full range driver.

At $45,000 a pair, the Songers may be one of the greatest bargains in high-end audio. They’re in that rarified club with the world’s truly great speakers.

If you’re attending CAF, the Songers are a must listen. If you’re in the $50k price range for speakers, contact Songer and arrange a demo. You will not be disappointed!

One more thing….since purchasing my Songers, I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know Ken Songer. On top of being a brilliant designer and a master craftsman, Ken is also one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in the audio world. I do not consider myself to be his “customer”, I consider myself to be a proud patron of his art!

(This is my current system configuration. It’s a temporary set up. I’m in the process of building new equipment racks and tweaking my cable configurations.)

audionutjeff

@audionutjeff 

Congrats, that’s quite a system you have put together! I am curious to learn, what are you using for source components, analog or digital. 

As a longtime fan of single-driver speakers (for obvious reasons), the Songer Audio S1x has been on my radar. In my experience, field coil designs are an ideal match for low-power triode amps — especially 300B or 2A3, where tone, immediacy and coherence come together so effortlessly. 

My current system is wonderfully balanced and full-bodied, but the allure of a field coil single-driver setup driven by 300Bs continues to tempt me :-)

A little bit of a word of caution.  At 96 db/w efficient, the Songer S1X is probably fine for use with a single ended 300B amp, provided that you don't demand high volume levels.  It might be a little bit more iffy with a 2a3 singled ended amp and probably not suitable for a single ended 45 amp.  If one insists on single ended, perhaps 211 and 845 are even better choices, but these more power tubes are not the same as the lower power tubes.  I don't subscribe to the notion that single ended is inherently better sounding than pushpull if one can make do with lower power.  There are many pushpull amps that sound great so don't rule out a pushpull amp. 

As for the Berning and LTA ZOTL amps, they do deliver the immediacy and dynamics of OTL amps, but for my taste, they are voiced a little bit lean.  If a touch lean vis-a-vis a typical 300B amp is what you want, they are worth considering.  

This is great thread. Living down in Melbourne, Australia, i haven't been lucky enough to experince Songer speakers. I would love to hear their open baffle design. 

Maybe not in the same league, not still exceptional quality and sound is the Lii Song Platinum 10 driver. I use it in an open baffle arrangement with their W15 bass driver, bi-amped. Currently using an Ayon Spark V (18W, 6C33 single ended) amp for the P10 and class D amps driving the woofers. 

Have any of you compared the Songer to the Treehaus Audio open baffles? 

In my opinion if you use a sub with a single driver speaker you no longer have a single driver system 

whether or not a full range driver is supplemented by a sub for low end extension, or a super tweeter for high end extension, there is still the potential benefit of there being no crossover in the mid- or upper midrange, which I suspect is why many experience that unique sense of immediacy.