Killer system, SonicWeld!

[tonepub]

Here's one for you guys to check out at CES this year:

The SonicWeld system.

www.sonicweld.com

Just took delivery yesterday and the owner Josh Heiner spent the whole day setting it up. The results are quite amazing and all you need besides the complete system is a CD player and Turntable with phono pre. It is a powered speaker and subwoofer system all in one.

It has digital crossovers and EQ built in and infinitely controllable from your laptop.

Definitely some of the best sound I've ever heard and the BEST subwoofer integration I've EVER heard...

and it looks pretty cool too!

 

[Joey_V]

Geezuz... so what's the price of admission?

Sounds better than the Summits?

 

[tonepub]

100k for the whole system, which includes the two speakers and two powered subs.

The speakers and subs are actively powered, with about 5000 watts total. The crossovers are digital and it also offers digital room correction. This also includes a day or two of Josh setting it up. He comes in, measures the room and dials it in to the system. All you need to supply is a CD transport and/or a turntable and phono preamp. It has inputs for both.

Once the speakers are setup and the room is dialed, you can also add your own programs to do custom EQ for recordings that are less than optimum or to make up for any deficiencies in your hearing, or even your personal taste, yet still keep the room correction in memory.

As my system with the Summits and Descent is now solidly in the six figure range, it was a good comparison.

The SW system is a different flavor. It is very dynamic, open and transparent. I've never heard better integration between a speaker system and subwoofer, EVER. Because of the digital crossovers and amplifiers, it is very accurate. It lacks that last few molecules of "reach out and touch it" that I get with my CJ gear, but I haven't hooked a turntable up yet.

Also, it is so good, it's like comparing a Porsche GT3 to a Ferrari 360. Which one of these outstanding cars would you prefer?

The cool thing about the SW system is that if you are someone who does not want to make the journey of exploring all the combinations and just want to plug in and go, this is the ticket. Connected to the Sooloos music server it is the ultimate turnkey system.

Full review in Dec issue.....

 

[sleepysurf]

I'm sure they sound great, but way too techno-looking for my tastes, not to mention the pricing.

 

[MiTT]

Really?

I gotta tell you Jeff, I've heard them 2 years in a row at RMAF and I've walked away pretty much unimpressed both times. Now granted, this was under show conditions, and with music I wasn't intimately familiar with. Still, considering the SIGNIFICANT amount of coin they want for the system...

I don't do what you do for a living, so I don't have the opportunity to listen to a vast amount of equipment for hours and days on end. Still, I am a true amature - I listen purely for the love of the thing. I frequent as many shows and industry events as possible, and try to hit as many concerts as my schedule will allow.

To my ears alone, in comparison to a lot of the other equipment I've had a chance to hear, I think one could do a lot better for 100 LARGE.

They ARE a feat of spectacular machining though I'll grant you that...

 

[Joey_V]

100k for the whole system, which includes the two speakers and two powered subs.

The speakers and subs are actively powered, with about 5000 watts total. The crossovers are digital and it also offers digital room correction. This also includes a day or two of Josh setting it up. He comes in, measures the room and dials it in to the system. All you need to supply is a CD transport and/or a turntable and phono preamp. It has inputs for both.

As my system with the Summits and Descent is now solidly in the six figure range, it was a good comparison.

How much is the Summit system with the components? Minus the TT, the 555 CDP, and all other sources? If you add up the Summit + Descent + preamp/amp to the mix, does this hit 100K?

 

[tonepub]

How much is the Summit system with the components? Minus the TT, the 555 CDP, and all other sources? If you add up the Summit + Descent + preamp/amp to the mix, does this hit 100K?

Its more like about 125k....

I never judge extremely high end gear by how it sounds at a show. Doesn't even come close. Most of the best gear I've heard at shows probably sounds 25 to maybe 50% of what its really capable of.

Personally, I'm sticking with my Summits/Descent and my current system, but the SonicWeld offers up great sound that I could easily live with too. Again, a different flavor.

Even at 100k every system has it's strengths and weaknesses, not to mention the room that it's optimal for.

 

[JonFo]

...
It has digital crossovers and EQ built in and infinitely controllable from your laptop.

Definitely some of the best sound I've ever heard and the BEST subwoofer integration I've EVER heard...

and it looks pretty cool too!

Definitely looks great, that type of industrial design totally floats my boat.

And the general concept does as well. The use of fully active crossovers, dedicated amps for each band and a fully integrated, tuned to the room approach leaves pretty much everything else in the dust.

Interesting how the DEQX has been at the heart of several winning designs, including the NHT xD.

The general 'active speaker' philosophy is what Meridian has been espousing for decades, and with great success, especially now that they integrate MRC (Meridian room correction) in most of their pre-amps as well.

As I've demonstrated with my system, Martin Logans seriously benefit for going fully active and using DSP based room correction as well.

One maintains the awesome sound qualities of the ESL and gains the benefits outlined by SW (and others) around the separation of amps for each band and the use of digital crossovers and room correction.

I'd be interested to see what you would think of the SW system compared to your Summits being room corrected by the DEQX system (and using DEQX for bass management as well). Bet you'd be surprised at how much better the ML's can sound in your room.

 

[tonepub]

I am definitely intrigued by the active stuff.

I was pleasantly surprised though, that when Josh measured my
room, that he said the acoustic treatments I did were working
really well and that he had to do pretty minimal corrections to the
system, which had a different set of peaks and dips than my Summits
did.

The rest of my room measured really well, so I'm pretty happy there
too!

Where my Summits and Descent had a bit of a peak at 50hz and a dip
at 40hz, which was easily corrected by the level controls on each, his system had a bit of a dip at 80hz, which we got about half of it out by moving the speakers and the rest digitally.

We have the Meridian 7200's coming in sometime this spring and just
got the Saligar speakers as well.

Again, it's definitely a new way to skin the cat and something that Im
very intrigued with going forward...

 

[mikesinger]

i think $100k might be a bit too for a set of speaker, amps, and pre... granted it does include the crossover / sub but most larger speaker systems do anyways....

i'm too picky when it comes to amps/pre/speakers and really like to upgrade when "i feel like it" - this doesnt allow you to do that (i guess that could be a good thing if you didnt want to tweak your system).

 

[tonepub]

this system is definitely aimed at the buyer that wants world class sound
and doesn't want to upgrade....

Seriously after listening for a while now, there isn't anything I would want to change! Same with my main reference system with my Summits. Its been a few years in the making, it's dialed to my room and I doubt that I would change anything going forward. (still thinking about that SME 20, but that's a source component)

Most systems at this level are a destination, not a further journey.

Also, just like the 100k Continuum turntable, there aren't a ton of takers at this level. It's a pretty custom product.

Still fun to have the experience for a month, that's my job.