System #285 (CLS IIz)

1. Member Name: Shigeo Yamada

2. Location: Yokohama city, Japan

3. ML Model(s): CLS2z

4. Year Purchased: 1997

5. Mods/Changes: none

6. Associated Electronics:

Amp: Spectral DMA-90(power), DMC-15(pre)
Source: dCS Delius (DAC), Micromega CD2.1 (Transport), MSB i-Link + iPod (Transport)
SP cable:
MIT-Spectral MH-770 Ultralinear CVTerminator
Interconnect cable:
MIT-Spectral MI-350 Ultralinear CVTerminator
Nirvana Audio S-L
Digital cable:
Nirvana Audio Transmission Digital (S/PDIF)
dCS (AES)

7. Comments and/or stories about your Martin Logan experience:

It was 20 years ago when I first auditioned a pair of CLS at dealer's show room in Tokyo. It's beautiful transparent tranducer and a music reproducing knocked me out. Since then, I falled in love with ML. In 1997, I got a pair of CLS2z and drove it with Quicksilver 8417 monoblock tube amp. It was nice amp but when 8417 output tube was no longer available (discontinued), I swapped it with Spectral amp.

Welcome !

CLS club members (a cult here) will provide you with their "decoder ring and handshake" !

Love the black look !

Ring is in the mail ! Secret handshake is well just that SECRET ! You will be notified by a unknown carrier with the information on it:ROFL:

Welcome to the CLS club A Martin Logan design that bests many of todays speakers. . Are those set up just for the picture? Ever thought about stands? It makes a world of deference. There are a few of us here and we all are helpful with our set ups. I have several tweaks that can be done to better them. Some are very easy and even ML has said it will be of benefit.

Love the Black its sexy and powerful at the same time !

Beautiful. How about some more shots of the rest of the system?

From one CLS IIz owner to another...

:welcome:

Welcome, from another CLSIIz owner.

CLS's look great in black.

As Tim mentioned please post more pics of your system.

I have never heard CLS's that close together. How would you describe the sound compared to farther apart?

Those black frames look great!

Another pics

Thank all of you for friendly comments:music:. Here are another pics of the system.

amey01 said:

Those black frames look great!

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Agreed
The Black Frames really look sweet in your room.

yeah, i have to agree that is the nicest pair of black frames that i've seen. i went for the natural oak frames when i got mine way back in the early 90's, because the black looked so oppressive and 2001 to me.

but yours seem really airy and pleasant. perhaps it is the light coloured wall behind them - when i was choosing, the black where in a room with black curtains behind them and they just looked like big black blocks - not at all like yours.

Brad225 said:

I have never heard CLS's that close together. How would you describe the sound compared to farther apart?

Click to expand...

The system is set up in living room so we can enjoy music a lot. Room geometry is 16ft by 13ft and ML pair is set up along a longer side. Best listening seat position is at 7ft from SP. Despite this narrow and zero toeing in setting, it presents a wide and deep sound stage and good separation of instruments. Dense, natural vocal and deep, clear bass is what I quest for.

I also have tried to set up a ML pair along shorter side with L-ch and R-ch more apart as well as some amount of toe in (just like many of you are doing). In compare to current setting, this configuration present richer bass and 'bigger' proportion of stage but I could not control bass clarity.

C.A.P said:

(snip) Ever thought about stands? It makes a world of deference. There are a few of us here and we all are helpful with our set ups. I have several tweaks that can be done to better them. Some are very easy and even ML has said it will be of benefit. (snip)

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Chris, I just learned your system (#234), the stand is really nice design and finish is excellent. Yes!, I'm definitely interested in installing a stand and brace. Raising panels makes decoupling transducer/floor interaction and rear brace alters vibration mode. It must contribute to clearer imaging and bass response.

zaphod said:

yeah, i have to agree that is the nicest pair of black frames that i've seen. i went for the natural oak frames when i got mine way back in the early 90's, because the black looked so oppressive and 2001 to me.

but yours seem really airy and pleasant. perhaps it is the light coloured wall behind them - when i was choosing, the black where in a room with black curtains behind them and they just looked like big black blocks - not at all like yours.

Click to expand...

Lance, I too like a natural oak frames. Natural texture evokes image of musical instruments. I chose a black frames because I want to coordinate the system with black and silver. As black and silver are both colorless, it match for any other colors in the room.

BTW, 2001 (A Space Odyssey, 1968) is one of my favorite movie.

DIY repair CLS II frame

Hello everyone,

Just fixed CLS IIz frame. Recently, one of the wood frame of my CLS IIz (left channel) start tearing apart at the bottom, developing a gap. ML Service Associate person kindly provides me with a detailed instruction for repairing. If you are interested in how it has been going, please see a photo in Picasa albumhttp://bit.ly/LvUxZv.

Great job ,illustrations, & system good luck

Welcome to Martin Logan Owners.

The CLS2z look stunning in black. First time i have seen the CLS with black

wood frame. Very sleek and smart. Happy Listening!

Nice job on the repair. Great looking system. Congrats.