I’ve heard both the Treehaus and Songer open baffles at Capital Audiofest where both were demonstrated in similar rooms. I like the Treehaus, but not as much as I liked the Songer. The Songer had a much smoother sound—no tough peaks—and the sound had more “weight” (bigger sound and more authoritative delivery). Open baffles speakers can sound a bit thin and lacking in weight, perhaps the cost of having such an open and airy sound. The open baffle Songer was a little bit thinner sounding than the one in the box, but it still has the kind of weight I like. While I thought both Songer speakers look very nice, they don’t come close to the looks of the Treehaus speakers.
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.)
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“that unique sense of immediacy” My Tannoy’s dual-concentric design keeps the midrange and treble beautifully coherent — voices and instruments have that seamless, “of one cloth” quality. The RELs simply take care of the foundation, adding weight and scale without interfering with that midband purity. The REL’s simply keeps that single-driver magic intact with a touch more bandwidth and authority on the low end. |
Great gear is indeed revealing of everything before them in the signal path! Amplifier selection can make a dramatic difference with the Songers and they are definitely partial to premium tube amps. I have an Air Tight ATM 300R amp with Takatsuki 300b tubes and a pair of conrad-johnson ART300 KT150 amps. The Air Tight is a superb match for the Songers, I believe the 300b is really the perfect tube for these speakers. The way more powerful ART300s are surprisingly good as well. |
You're right about the subs! I titled the post "Simple is Best" and then veer right back to complicating magnificent simplicity with invasive subs! Sorry, REL, you're out! |
Thank you for the kind feedback! My analog source is a VPI HW-40 (a superb 'table) with a Koetsu Black Goldline cartridge and a Pass Labs XP-15 phono stage. Digital is the wonderful Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC with an Innuos Pulsar streamer and a Teac CD drive. I run my FLACs, Qobuz, and Tidal on a dedicated NUC Roon server. I'm pretty happy with my sources, but a Lampizator DAC and a tube phono pre are my next upgrades under consideration. |
- 88 posts total