Time For A Change Me Thinks

Just goes to show how personal loudspeakers are Bub. That is a very unusual reaction to a properly setup and powered pair of Martin Logans, although snoring could be understandable in certain cases.

 

Merlin? Did I miss something?

 

Hi Tony,

I agree that the bass cones don't integrate very well. My experience is limited, but correlates with Mr Small's. The ones I heard could've killed a cat, as they say.

 

Firstly listen to the Ascent i or later models. Also the larger panels crossover lower down and integrate far better, The latest Summits integrate superbly and whilst it would still be preferable IMO to have a full range panel, the bass and dynamics available on this model are better than 95% of dynamic loudspeakers I have heard.

If they are tearing your ears off, they are either being driven by poor quality and unsuitable electronics, or being asked to play horribly processed rawk music at dangerous levels. It is simply not a characteristic of the brand's speakers I can identify with (and I have owned two pairs and auditioned many)

 

It was top-o'-t'-range Moon CDP and amplifiers. £££££s-worth of it. Not dangerous volumes, and a wide range of music (including some interminable drumming, brought along by one of the nerds).

 

Must have been something wrong with them......or your ears maybe. But the bass integration when new was truely outstandingly bad .....but after 500hrs or so this mellowed and is now almost seamless, I even had them praised by a couple of naim freaks and that speaks volumes. They are not the best speakers in the world, but the y do mid and top like no other speaker I've heard under £5k. I think you will find they are highly sensitve to the partnering equipment, get that wrong too and you'll be really up s*it creek. And of course people do have there own opinion contary to misconception that those that shout loudest are always right!

 

You might want to consider Living Voice speakers. All are very listenable, with a natural sound and really excellent big soundstage. Easy to drive with valves, if you go down that route

 

Mmm soundstage.

Paul

 

James (NEWGUY, not 'bub), PM me if you decide to sell the ATCs. I might be interested.

Cheers,
Rich

 

The main "fleshing out" effect of a valve amp happens simply because of the higher output impedance, which has a noticeable effect on the frequency response. While this can be very pleasant with the right speakers, another way to go is simply to choose a pair of speakers with the response you require. If you want a 'fleshed out' response (by which I assume you mean something that dosen't suffer the usual brightness or the usual lower-mid thinness caused by the floor bounce) why not go for something like Harbeths or the old model Spendors - natural, honest, 'fleshed out' sound by design, not accident.

 

Yes...

...have sat down to listen to them on a couple of occasions; once because they were there and the second time 'on purpose'. In principal I like them - I even like the way they look - but I haven't heard them sound really good - there always seemed to be something missing in the middle - like the music wasn't stuck together properly. I'm told that the amplification has to be just right for them - I guess it wasn't when I heard them.

 

I had them in my house for 6 weeks or so. They are very good speakers in many ways and efficient but they didn't really draw me into the music in the way I expect They seeemd too "over there" where I prefer a more intimate sound. They almost certainly needed more space around them than I could give so that didn't help. If you have the space then they should be auditioned. They are omni's as well which makes them slightly more of an acquired taste. Looking at alternative (pseudo-) omni's in my room and system I preferred both the Heed Envoy and Shahinian Obelisk.

Regards

Jason

 

but demos in shops are a waste of time, as you've repeatedly told us.

 

That one certainly was.

They are not a complete waste of time, they can sometimes give you a flavour. As it happens, my impressions of the M-Ls tally, to some extent, with those of both TonyL and Leonard Smalls. But I wouldn't advocate choosing any equipment without a home trial.

 

The Duevels do need a bit of space, or at least they sounded good at Walrus where I heard them, and they were well away from walls...
The Sugden Masterclass integrated seemed to drive them very well, and together with the Verdier TT produced a grand soundstage, with plenty detail.. Mebbe not the bass slam that I would want, but very civilized indeed..
Worth a listen though.
It's also possibly worth a listen to the big omni Mirages (doesn't someone here use them?).. I heard them with a Moon cdp and Pass Labs pre/X350 power, and they produced a smashing everywhere sound (if you know what I mean) with good bass extension.
And as for the MLs, I've only heard a pair once - they were rather large (which I always applaud in a speaker ) but I can't remember the model.. They were driven by a Krell amp system (big'n'black whatever it was), and produced an initially impressive air and space sound, that then started to grate in the way that nails on a blackboard do.
Funny how one's appreciation (or not) of a brand can be based on 1 listen (reactionary, moi?).

 

Try pmc instead of atc - it will give a more balanced fleshed out sound. A valve pre might be considered to be artificially adding something to cover up something lost or added elsewhere in the chain.

 

Vale Pre For Atc

Thnax for all your replys ,well i'm going to take this a step at a time i think.I have a Conrad Johnson pv14l valve pre on order.I have my Musical Fidelity A308 pre up on ebay.I dont think i'll be buying there gear again,sounds ok'ish but kind of pisses me off when they replace there range every six months !!
Anyway if i like this with the atc's then i'll be happy for a while,if not then yes time to have a listen to speakers,power amps....thanx again.... James

 

sorry about the spelling,well it is sunday morning!!

 

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