Ken Songer really is one of the good guys who makes great speakers. Very trustworthy and reliable. If you are looking for highly efficient speakers which work especially well with tubes, do yourself a favor and give Ken's speakers a listen. I think that you will really enjoy his 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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Update following Capital Audio Fest Songer had the S1x speakers with the new power supplies and the A3 amplifier. The wood cabinet power supplies and amp are drop-dead gorgeous! The Songer room served as my baseline for comparison to the other rooms. For me, everything compared to the S1x’s that I know and love. My show favorites definitely lean towards non traditional speakers such as full-range, open baffles, and horns. Three real standouts for me were the new Audience ClairAudient Bellair speakers (two small full range drivers augmented with active bass), the Wilson Benesh Discovery 3Zero (2.5 way with no crossover on the midrange), and the wonderful Totem Tribe Thunderbirds (no crossovers on the woofers). All three of these speakers have very limited crossovers which seems to really appeal to me. The Wolf Von Langa hybrid open baffle and the Cinnamon open baffle speakers were both superb. Other show standouts were big Avantgarge and Volti horns and the GT Audio hybrid panels and Arion speakers. One highlight of the show for me was in the VPI room where Harry spun “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” over the mighty JBL Everest speakers. I wanted to get up and dance! While there were many systems that I really enjoyed, there was nothing that impressed me enough to even entertain trading my Songers. They really are very special speakers. A great show and a really fun weekend! |
The S1/S1x has been on my wish list since I first heard about them over two years ago. I'm thinking I might initially try them with SS amps, I have a Pass INT-25 or AGD Duets that I can use, but at some point I'll probably have to try a 300B amp. From the show did you get a feeling for how Ken's A3 amp compares with your Airtight? And are you using the Mola Mola's Tambaqui DAC volume control? |
@tonnesen |
I have speakers set up in two different rooms, YG Hailey 3, and PAP Trio with the Coax10. Looks like we have tried some of the same speakers. I've also had the Sonus Faber Amati and Electa Amator III. Yes, selling some of the old speakers and amps is probably a good idea, I need to do that too. There is a used Airtight 300B currently listed, which would be much more affordable then Ken's A3. A benefit of the Songer A3 is that it is an integrated amp and doesn't need the preamp. And there is also the Treehaus 300B which is similar to the Songer A3, but the Trehaus would also need a separate preamp. Guess I'll wait and see how the SS amps sound.
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