HT Advice - Preface or Source

For a home theater (little music) - which would you recommend (using Yamaha 95wpc AVR)? I am considering the Source or Preface. The Source with a Matinee CC or the Preface with Encore CC are quite different I understand.

Thanks - I look to your advice as a ML owner that has hopefully heard them both and for the use I have mentioned.

Hi,

I use the Source for mostly music but also have it setup for home theater. The sound is so clear on movies that my wife thought it was one of our children upstairs making noise but it was actually from a movie where the movie's mike had picked up sounds from another source.

The speakers truly reproduce all sounds. I turned them on one time for a cooking show and could hear the sugar hitting the baking goods. I could also hear background noise which was not present through the TV or other speakers that I was using.

The bass is excellent once the speaker are broke in for the movies that I've watched. Even with the speakers not turned up much, they will still vibrate the walls but with excellent sound not just loudness or power.

I do not know how many watts your amp pushes but my amp is pushing 150 watts at 4 ohms. You want to make sure that your receiver can push speakers at 4 ohms for the Source.

I have not listened to the Preface but it appears to be a different speaker all together. The Preface is also cheaper which may be the route to go especially if you are not listening to music. One thing about the source is that you have to set them up properly for the room. I am not sure if the Preface is as particular about setup and placement of speakers.



Justin

Thanks - I never really understand the specs:

Minimum RMS at 8ohms is 95w;
for the front: Dynamic Power (IHF) shows: 8ohm-135w; 6ohm-165w; 4ohm-195w; 2ohm-240w.

I have no real clue what all this means and Yahama is not really helping by saying "it should work" and to be sure to set the receiver at 6ohms (only can select from 8 or 6). The docs say if you have a 4ohm front you are ok, but you would have to have 8ohm center and rear. Right now I have sides/rear at 4ohm (Encore) and the fronts/center are most likely 8. I thought I read that someone on this board had the Source connected to the Yamaha v663 and was ok.

I would think that you would not have a problem driving the speakers.

My amp does not have a switch or selection. I just hooked in the speakers to the back and it works at 5 ohms. I had 8 ohm speakers before.

I think the best speaker for you would depend on the size of your room and how you are going to place the speakers. I put my source in a smaller room yesterday to listen to the difference in sound. The room was more of a square shape and the speakers were too much for the size of the room. I could have put damping material up but the speakers sounded better naturally in the room that was longer and bigger. I really do not have to put sound treatments up in the bigger room. The smaller room would have required a lot more work to make them sound good.

I have never owned dipole speakers before and always owned regular floor standing speakers. It really does make a difference how the dipole speakers are setup in the room, since you have sound coming from the back and the front. It is also has its pluses since the sound coming out can have excellent presence and sound-stage. A lot of times, I am listening now to my music and find myself getting lost in the music. The sound of the instruments envelops the room, especially now that I am learning how to place them in the room.

The source are listed at 5 ohms. The MartinLogan preface are listed at 4 ohms. Your amp may be able to drive the Source easier. There is also only one 8 inch driver in the Source compared to 3 6.5 bass drivers in the Preface.

You may want to ask a question of people who own the Preface speaker about how sensitive they are to room setup. Personally, I think it is worth the problem of room setup for the Source, especially with the payoff of the sound reproduction, presence, and sound-stage.

I do not know if you are married but this may make a difference. My wife thinks the Source speakers are ugly. Personally, I really like the way they look. Your spouse may not like the look of the Source speakers. If it is in your own dedicated room, then it should not be a problem.

Thanks for the comments. My room is 14' wide and 28' deep. My current front speakers are 3' from front wall and 2' from side wall and about 10' apart. My seating is also 10' from center. My Encore side surrounds are 12' back (due to a support column) and my rear surrounds are 28' back. I am not sure what a 'small' room would be and hope this size would work with these speakers.

As for appearances, my wife actually thought the Source was more 'interesting' than the Preface - although she has never heard either.

I went ahead and ordered the Source last night based on the 30-day trial that was being offered and thought I would run them through the break-in and see how the AVR worked before I made a final decision. If the AVR pushes them as I am hoping, and the sound is what everyone says, I will then order the Matinee for center. I would think that would be a pretty good home theater setup and should be quite happy for some time to come. I may even start listenting to music again. And, if the Source does not work out, I will just exchange for the Preface and save a bunch of cash.

As always - I welcome your comments.