[nickspicks]

I have a buddy that is interested in hi-fi, after several sessions in front of my stereo, so I had offered to take him out and show him what exists for retail opportunities in our area.
He wants an HT system ultimately, but agrees to start w/two good channels and build from there.

I decided to go w/a top down approach, so we went straight to Tweeter, whos high end consists of Martin Logan and JM Labs Focal...which they don't have any real good models on display.

we listened to the ML Vantage, a new model w/a powered sub instead of the passive ones of ol'.  I believe this was a replacement for the Ascent i which is discontinued.
wow.  ML finally got the bass right.  fucking awesome.
We were driving these w/a Cambridge audio integrated amp, their top of the line..which retailed for $1500.  We had not even gotten into the Krell gear, the sales guy was a fan of the CA stuff, so that is what we played.
It was quite impressive.  sound stage was 10' outside the speakers...I shit you not!  It was uncanny.  I've never heard anything like that before, including many hours in front of various ML speakers both at home, other peoples houses and in showrooms.
this room was treated, but nothing exceptional.  Just some echo busters and things like that.  Plus, the room was jammed w/gear so it was far from ideal.

The sales guy put on a disc for us.  It was called "4 miles", and it was a live recording of a bunch of session musicians playing Davis' material at some club in NYC.  It was a cheskey  recording (probably spelt that wrong..choskey?..can't recall).  It was an SACD disc, but we only listened to the redbook layer.
Unreal.  best recording I've ever heard.  there was a track w/a solo sax that was like an invisible man in the room.  I could hear is incoming breath flow through the sax the wrong way (backwards, up through the instrument) between blows.  It was completely surreal.  I've got to get that!!!!

Any way..
I was blown away.  Best speakers I've ever heard, hands down.  And that was being driven by mid-fi gear.  amazing.
Now, I need to drum up $5k to get a pair.

[fabaudio]

 That's Chesky, my favourite audio engineer. I also heard the new ML's at a local store and I also was very, very impressed.
 Frank

[sleepysurf]

Here's a pair of Vantages on A'gon, asking $3750... http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrplan&1170692001

Rumor has it the ML Vantage and Summit prices are going up shortly.  Now might be a good time to buy.

[bpape]

If you like the ML sound that's great - for music.  I would strongly recommend NOT going with the ML's for a home theater setup.  If he's building toward that, please consider this advice.

I can't tell you how many of my customers have done the same thing against my advice - and then later regretted it to the point of selling and starting over with speakers.  The ML's are very nice for music but just don't get it in terms of the huge dynamics in a home theater environment - not to mention the inherent issues in using any kind of dipolar speaker up front where the front wall is ideally totally damped in a multi-channel environment.

Bryan

[sleepysurf]

Ideally, for an optimal soundstage, ML's should be positioned 3-5 feet OUT from the front wall.  If placed against the wall in a home theater setup, you're wasting your $$.  Also, ML's "sweet spot" is definitely narrower than with cones.  That being said, there are MANY home theater setups that HAVE successfully incorporated ML's, but it takes some work.  Many of those setups (and advice on how to do it) can be found at the online ML Club... www.martinloganowners.com

FYI, I have ML Summits, 90% two channel listening, 10% home theater use.  For the kids, wife, friends watching DVD's, my setup works well.  YMMV.

[andrewdoan1955]

If you get "blown away" with the Cambridge, please listen to the combo Kav 400XI/ SACD Standard/ ML Vantage or even the Profile. I am speechless and ended up with the 400XI in my system since then.

[Wayner]

I have a pair of M/L's called reQuests that have the ability to create the most dynamic range i HAVE EVER HEARD, PERIOD. I have 600 watts RMS per channel on them and I do experience life like dynamics that have made me weep a time or two.

W

[lonewolfny42]

Nick.....This is.. the cd you mentioned.....another good Chesky recording.....