System #181 (Sequel II's)

here it is..., my system.

Member Name: Nick Georges
Location: Southern Maine
ML Model: Sequel II's
Year Purchased: 2007

Overall, I've got a very modest investment into this. Everything was purchased used.
Also, I've put this together all within the 2007 calendar ...just a few short months. I've been a (disappointed) ML owner before, never able to get that magic in my living room. A few years, a new rear wall later...., and I'm giving things a go for a 2nd time. So far, VERY good.
I'll explain things as I go.

First pic: The Room.
23' deep x 17' wide. short 7' ceilings.
problems here are ECHO !!!! I can clap my hands and it rings for quite some time. I have treatments pending. More large plants and drapes to put up will also help break things up. Need to get things in place to manage that dipole information.



What we have here is:
- Oppo 971
- 24/192 Toslink feed from PC
- NO DAC (at the moment...so the networked FLAC library of 16 and 24bit music is off line)
- Dared SL-2000 preamp (probably amperex Bugle boy tubes..)
- Odyssey Stratos monoblocks
- MONSTER 3500HTS power conditioner. DIY power cords (silver clad MILLSPEC copper)
- all cables and ICs are Hydra-Audio silver clad millspec stuff.

I upgraded from an Odyssey Cyclops to these monoblocks. Wow...! that was a good upgrade. They are each sitting upon a 2" thick slab of granite. Leftover "cut outs" from counter installations. Think of the size of a deluxe sink..., about 20" deep and 2-3' wide. That is the size of these platforms (as that is what they are, the scraps from custom sinks). They make great stands. I am going to put my speakers on some next in place of spikes.
I was recently finding myself wanting a little more bottom end. Even if it wasn't there to begin with , i dont know.
I might hook the sub up again and see if it can keep the pace.

Planned upgrades:
I'd like to try some 'anti-cables' just to see how they are.
I hope to acquire a Cambridge Audio 740C CD player (w/the digital inputs so I can access my library stored on hard drives).

Nick, Welcome to the Club!

My first pair of Martin Logans were a set of the original Sequels, so I have a soft spot for them. Your system looks great, you're bound to have many hours of musical enjoyment out of it.

Why on earth are you thinking of parting with your turntable though? You say it's been fun to listen to

Nick, welcome to our club! :rocker:

Your sequel IIs look very comfortable in a very big room, though mine look very stucked in a small one.

BTW, as for your biwiring SP cables, why do you use one cable for plus terminals and the other for minus terminals? I think it is general to connect one cable to a plus and a minus for ML panel and the other to a plus and a minus for woofer. Is there any special reason?

All the sequel II users like Beat_Dominator, Dreamer and I would be very grad to welcome you.

Shuji

This is a very nice-looking system indeed! I'm always glad to see that other Sequel owners are still using these speakers! We are a much bigger segment of the ML club than I'd imagined!

But to set the record straignt, I don't have Sequel II's, Rabbit. I have the original Sequels, and I'm still VERY happy with the way they perform. They were a really sweet speaker in their day, and I think they still hold up pretty well, even after all these years.

Welcome to the club, and congratulations on putting to gether such a nice system!

--Richard

Nick, Welcome, your state has one of the most beautifull bodies of water around...Moosehead Lake, my winter and summer retreat.

As Tim said , sorry to hear your thinking about giving up on the turntable, tis a shame considering all the great viynl out today.

Nick, is it just my glasses, or are your ML's slightly toed OUT ??

Great looking system! I've got a CIA DAC myself, which I got used from this forum's Jeff Zarat (today's birthday boy, BTW ), and it also came the the CIA power supply as well as the original wallwart. When I compared the two I thought the PS gave a noticably cleaner, more distinct sound. You might want to consider it, yourself.

Dreamer said:

.......But to set the record straignt, I don't have Sequel II's, Rabbit. I have the original Sequels, .......

Click to expand...

Sorry, Richard! It was my big mistake! :banghead:

Shuji

Very nice system, and a room big enough for the MLs as well.
The Sequels are comfortably away from the surrounding walls.

The 'hand clap' effect can be easily fixed, while close proximity to rear/side walls is more tricky to tackle...

I wish mine had as much breathing space.

Nice system!

Rabbit house said:

Nick, welcome to our club! :rocker:

BTW, as for your biwiring SP cables, why do you use one cable for plus terminals and the other for minus terminals? I think it is general to connect one cable to a plus and a minus for ML panel and the other to a plus and a minus for woofer. Is there any special reason?

Shuji

Click to expand...

these cables are a shotgun config.
what you see here is basically two pairs of cables going to each speaker. instead of a +/- in each set, I wired them up as a pair of + and a pair of -. Just makes for easier identification.
I dont think there is any impact doing it this way. Its the shotgun config, having a separate run going to the posts that do the magic.

lugano said:

Nick, is it just my glasses, or are your ML's slightly toed OUT ??

Click to expand...

they are toed in *ever so slightly*. I did the ol' flashlight trick from my listening position to get that reflection in the inner 1/3rd of the panel.
I know it looks a little funky (especialy as I see EVERYONES MLs toed in what I would call severely).

I can't argue w/what I hear though.


Thanks for all the kind words folks.

Super Sequel II System!

Nick,

Welcome to the ML Club!
Excellent Sequel II system! Plenty of space and staging for your Sequel II's as well. Do I see a chocolate Lab puppy, I see relaxing on the carpet near the coffee table? If so, may I ask his/her name?

Also, how do you like the Monster 3500 power conditioner?

Great system!

Actualy, that is a 9 year old. Her name is Queen Jane, approximately.
we call her Janie though. She was supposed to be chocolate, but ended up sort of black/brown. weird.
my other dingo, not pictured..is a dobermin / lab mix named Rudy. a real junk yard dog!

the MONSTER conditioner was some of the best money i've spent in my system. It did blacken the background considerably...but where it really shined was in video performance. that was the by far the most dramatic improvement. Still, I think it was $140 ...and I consider it a good investment at the very least for excellent surge protection.

bump for updates

Been through a bunch of gear since originally posting.
figured i'd update. pictures are not the best..but you get the idea.