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danvu

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Jan 12, 2012
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Location
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Hi all,
First, I want to say I'm a first time and proud ML speaker owner. And now the story of how I got into being one.

My previous main setup was a Aperion 5.1 consisting of 633 Tower/632 bookshelf/634 VAC center driven by a HK635. That was 2006/2007 and back then I thought they sounded really good. But then my ears demanded more, something better than good. And I also wanted a separated stereo setup. As I got a room freed up for a home theater setup, I started to move things down there; got a great deal on a Onkyo 906 and my home theater was done.

Now, it was time to hunt for separates and a better pair of tower speaker. I'm married and on a tight budget for my audio stuff so I couldn't just get whatever I wanted. I patiently waited and slowly got a HK3490 serving as a pre/pro and recently a pair of Emotiva UPA1 amps, all at great prices and new. I was satisfied with the sound coming out from the Aperion 633T being driven by the combo. Much better than the HK635 or Onkyo 906 or the HK3490 internal amps driving the towers.

And time to upgrade the speakers. I was into B&W and eyeing for a used pair of 805S or 804S for a while. 2 or 3 years ago, I totally liked the B&W sound over Martin Logan. For this search, I also considered the Aperion Grand Verus towers but didn't want to rush into buying them as a prof review stated that they were good but still had short comings. A few months ago, one day I walked into a Fry's store that had a demo pair of ML Vista playing Norah Jones and it got my attention. The music was so detail, life like, open, and the vocal was warm and so real, even though the setup was not optimal. So I spent more time auditioning ML and reading reviews on recent ML ESL models and particularly the Vista. They all have great reviews. I even compared directly a pair of ML Ethos vs a pair of BW 801D at Magnolia and to my surprise prefered the sound of the Ethos, even though the BW setup had better pre/amp (McIntosh preamp/monoblocks vs some small integrated amp). I decided to pursue for a deal on ML Vista as it suited my price range vs sound quality the best. And luckily found a great deal on these babies on a ML authorized online dealer recently. Now I can sit back and relax listening to them everyday :)

Hope to get to know more ML owners here on this forum and in sound SF bay area to share knowledge and listening experience.
Thanks,
Dan

My setups:
Stereo:
ML Vista's
Aperion S-10 sub
Emotiva monoblock UPA-1's
Harman Kardon HK3490 as preamp
Harman Kardon CD/DVD player
Roku soundbridge for streaming mp3 and online radio
Impact Acoustics Sonicwave speaker cables
Emotiva ICs (optical and RCA)

HT setup:
Aperion 633-T towers
Aperion 634VAC center
Aperion 632 bookshelves
Emotiva Ultra12 sub
Onkyo TX-NR906
Harman Kardon AVR635 (driving the fronts)
Panasonic DMP-BD85 Bluray player
Optoma HD20 projector
 
Last edited:
Hi Dan, thanks for sharing your journey....'so far' !

oh yeah.......Welcome aboard !
 
Thanks, Dave. Every day, I discover something new going thru my music collection and can't stop listening :).
Nice setup you have there. I really like your spires but they were out of my waf price range, lol.
 
Hi Dan,
Welcome aboard! You realized that your journey has just begun, right? "Discovering something new everyday" is just the start of the slippery slope, but like many here, the knowledge and experience gained during the journey is enlightening. Ask lots of questions and enjoy the journey!!!

Spike
 
Vista decision

Seems as tho you can never get a decent demo at Magnolia,
I went to hear the EM'S liked them even that the equipment wasent that good.
Ordered the Vista sight unseen & unheard and love them.
Good luck with the new toys!! :cool:
 
I know. They put the emesl in the room where they demo receivers and lower priced speakers and I think limit the potential of the emesl. However, that may help them to demo to more people and sell more.
 

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