SA (System Audio) anyone?

Lietuvis91

This weekend I went to what I think is the last hi-fi audio shop left around New Orleans. The owner was older (60s? maybe) and said he has sold everything under the sun through the years. Right now he was pushing SA speakers and about the only other thing he had were Paradigms. I was surprised at such a limited offering, but he said that there is simply nothing else out there that beats SA for the money, so he only carries what he deems is the best product.

I listened to SA bookshelves (don't know the model) running on a NAD integrated, and I have to say they sounded very nice. Seemed sharp, VERY clear, not edgy, really sounded like a much bigger speaker than it actually was. The shortcoming may have been depth and low end, but these were bookshelves, so that is understandable. Paired with a 10in pradigm sub they put on an amazing show!

The owner was knocking everythig from Polk, KEF, Klipsch to Totems. He said SAs were just better. Just surprises me that he had this much faith in this speaker, so I wonder if anyone here has listened to anything from SA and what your opinions are of them. I will bring one of my amps to them for service Tuesday and will try to get an ear on them again. I really want to figure out what all the fuss is about with these speakers.

decal

I know exactly who you are refering to, he bad mouths anything he doesn't sell. Did he insist that you listen to the Galt speakers that he sells?

Lietuvis91

decal wrote: »

I know exactly who you are refering to, he bad mouths anything he doesn't sell. Did he insist that you listen to the Galt speakers that he sells?

No, I don't think he mentioned Galt. He told me about some local speaker maker in north LA. Might that be what you are talking about?
He actually tried to sell me some used B&W 801 series2 floorstanders. They sounded nice, but not enough to trade my lsi9s for them.
He seemed like a very knowledgebale person, we talked for just about a couple of hours, he did seem extremely sure of himself, so that is why I am a little intrigued about this SA brand.

audiocr381ve

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

No, I don't think he mentioned Galt. He told me about some local speaker maker in north LA. Might that be what you are talking about?
He actually tried to sell me some used B&W 801 series2 floorstanders. They sounded nice, but not enough to trade my lsi9s for them.
He seemed like a very knowledgebale person, we talked for just about a couple of hours, he did seem extremely sure of himself, so that is why I am a little intrigued about this SA brand.

Sounds like a good salesmen to me.

Lietuvis91

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Sounds like a good salesmen to me.

Well, he's an older guy, he's clearly doing this for fun as he wasn't really trying to shove anything particular down my throat, just showed me a few things and then told me the story of his life, about the gear he sold, the stuff he liked, the stuff he hated, the things that changed with different brands and so on... Since i love audio talk, I just nodded and smiled and was more than happy to soak it up

audiocr381ve

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

Well, he's an older guy, he's clearly doing this for fun as he wasn't really trying to shove anything particular down my throat, just showed me a few things and then told me the story of his life, about the gear he sold, the stuff he liked, the stuff he hated, the things that changed with different brands and so on... Since i love audio talk, I just nodded and smiled and was more than happy to soak it up

Those types of older dudes are always fun to talk to (mostly listen too). I haven't had my ears on any SA audio, wish I could say more about them.

Lietuvis91

Well, we all know it comes down to tastes, preferences, etc. I guess i just was curious about his excitement about SA because he said he had dropped many other brands and stuck with SA. My ears told me it was a pretty darn impressive speaker, however my only comparison was those used B&Ws and a new Paradigm bookshelf. SA blew the other two away in clarity and realism. And for such a small speaker and little power pushing it, it produced a TON of sound. I guess i just wish I could have compared them directly to my lsi's or something else. This seems like a speaker that can literally be run off of any decent quality receiver and sound amazing, and if that really is ture then I can see reason for his excitement. I may have to ask if i can bring my spare onkyo 608 in to see what they sound like running off of something lower end. Maybe even bring my lsi's in for listening session. The old **** has nothing better to do anyway... we'll see :razz:

Lietuvis91

Zero: I am sure there is more to that story, you're most likely right.

I do wonder what you mean by "opposite side of tonal spectrum"?! My observation was that B&W and Paradigm are more laid back than SA, and SA is a more "in your face" kind of a speaker. So is that kind of what you meant?! The interesting thing is that I didn't find them fatiguing, or maybe I just didn't listen to them long enough.