ML at 2015 CES

CES 2015 ended on Friday and for me it was the most fun CES in a number of years. For one thing I was able to free myself for four uninterrupted days of the latest tech. But what really made this CES special was Martin Logan. Not just the new Neolith's, but more importantly the people from ML. I was able to see some old friends and meet some new ones and they were all helpful and friendly. A special shout out to Peter Soderberg who gave me an extraordinary amount of his time considering the rigors of CES.

I'm happy to report that ML's is doing well and thus able to bring new products for us users and it looks like our future will be interesting. I will post some thoughts on the Neoliths a little later but as a Los Angeles Clippers season ticket holder I must run off to the Clippers vs. Maverick's.

Regards,
Gary

View of Neolith CES set up. I was thinking sound not vision and therefore I didn't take many pictures and what I took were not very good.
As you can see the room is a little tight. Approximately 2 feet from the side walls and 5 or so from the front wall.

The associated equipment included:

Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series. At $16,000 you can spend more but IMHO you can't buy a better DAC. Of course I'm biased as I have one.
Krell Solo 575, that's 575 watts per channel at 8 Ohms and about $11,250 each. The Neoliths come in somewhere between 4 and 6 Ohms.
Laptop with a great selection of music including many high resolution selections.

As I mentioned the staff was great. At one point I was asked what color I was getting and when I pointed at the speakers and said "Ferrari Red" just like those, he grinned and told me that each of the guys got to pick one color and he had chosen the red. It turns out he had been the one that named the Prodigy's.

Over the four days I made 3 listening trips to ML. The first two were about 30 minutes each and the third was a 2.5 hour marathon sitting in the sweet spot. Much of the music was familiar to me. Eva Cassidy, Keb Mo, Muddy Waters and John Coltrane were among the artists. Some classical and an occasional current artist were in the mix. There was an ah-ha moment when I knew I was going to love the Neoliths. A young man named Chase took over the server and asked what would I like to hear next and I asked if they had any Bela Fleck. He said "Yes" and I immediately said "The Flight of the Cosmic Hippos?" It turns out they had it so I asked "Can you play it at volume?" A wry smile appeared on Chase's lips and another employee jumped in and said there wasn't a volume that scared Chase.

Those of you that know the piece understand that I'm looking for the wicked bass combined with the midrange banjo. Those of you that don't know the piece get it and you'll understand. Anyway, Chase cranked up the volume and when the bass hit I felt a compression in my chest. I looked down at the sofa and could see and feel the vibration. I closed my eyes and smiled. When it was done Chase said "That deserves another round". And he cranked it up a little more and played it again. Bless Chase.

The ML team seemed genuinely excited as they presented their latest child to the CES audience. They took pride as they showed the various points of build quality. They had been given a reasonable checkbook to experiment with and they brought in new materials and high quality components and it really showed in the final product. I have been in production most of my life including product development in both medical and now aerospace. When I look and listen to what's currently available in High End audio, I now believe the Neolith is reasonably priced.

Gary

Very nice! Would love to hear them. I still haven't heard the CLX's properly, as the guys in the Dallas area didn't have them in a decent system or setup environment and they sounded absolutely horrific. I hope ML decides to attend this year's RMAF, but I doubt they will. The other possibility is that the dealer that sells ML here in Austin may bring a pair in, but that's doubtful, too.

Awesome Gary. Good to hear!

Gary, that is an awesome CES report! Thanks for sharing.

Any hints or rumors of future products from ML personnel ? The affordable ones.

longhorn said:

Any hints or rumors of future products from ML personnel ? The affordable ones.

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Can't say. However, I was told progeny "are" coming. And it sounded like the first salvo would arrive within a year. I didn't press for details.

Gary

GaryG said:

View attachment 17666

View of Neolith CES set up. I was thinking sound not vision and therefore I didn't take many pictures and what I took were not very good.
As you can see the room is a little tight. Approximately 2 feet from the side walls and 5 or so from the front wall.

Click to expand...

Gary, "little tight" is an understatement, IMO, I'd be embarrassed to put my company's 'flagship' in anything but a first class environment. I know it's 'show conditions' but your pic confirms how ridiculous they look in a small room……………. '80k speakers in $200 a night hotel room' !

twich54 said:

Gary, "little tight" is an understatement, IMO, I'd be embarrassed to put my company's 'flagship' in anything but a first class environment. I know it's 'show conditions' but your pic confirms how ridiculous they look in a small room……………. '80k speakers in $200 a night hotel room' !

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Dave,

During CES there are no $200 a night rooms. I had a friend booked into the 4 Queens downtown (old and dingy) and it was $500.

Yes, ML was on the 30th floor of the Venetian which is where they usually show. The big boys such as TAD, Lamm, MBL are in large suites on the 34th and 35th floors. These upper suites have one or two empty suites between them so you don't have much interference between vendors and can play at a good volume. I know CES is expensive but I agree if you want to play with the big boys you should be on the big boys floors. Still I would say ML had a very favorable show.

Gary

GaryG said:

Dave,

During CES there are no $200 a night rooms. I had a friend booked into the 4 Queens downtown (old and dingy) and it was $500.

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I know Gary, I was merely being my usual sarcastic self ………. :devil:

Yes, ML was on the 30th floor of the Venetian which is where they usually show. The big boys such as TAD, Lamm, MBL are in large suites on the 34th and 35th floors. These upper suites have one or two empty suites between them so you don't have much interference between vendors and can play at a good volume. I know CES is expensive but I agree if you want to play with the big boys you should be on the big boys floors. Still I would say ML had a very favorable show.

Gary

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again, understood, as I said your pic confirmed (at least too me) why those speakers not only need 'room' to breath acoustically but for purposes of aesthetics as well.

GaryG said:

The associated equipment included:

Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series. At $16,000 you can spend more but IMHO you can't buy a better DAC. Of course I'm biased as I have one.
Krell Solo 575, that's 575 watts per channel at 8 Ohms and about $11,250 each. The Neoliths come in somewhere between 4 and 6 Ohms.
Laptop with a great selection of music including many high resolution selections.

Click to expand...

Holy cow. $16,000 for a DAC...