Hello from Beanblossom, IN

Just saying hello, from a long-time ML lover. Here's the system I've had for almost 10 years now:

Krell HTS pre/pro (Home Theater Standard)
Krell 250a 2-channel left & right
Krell 250a/3 3-channel center & surrounds
Martin Logan reQuest left & right
Martin Logan Scenario rear surround channels
Martin Logan Logos center channel
Sunfire Signature sub-woofer

I researched and auditioned a lot, and don't believe you can do much better at any price, or any better at the price I paid.

I'd heard some electro-statics all the way back in college (around 1969). Must have been Magna-Planars, I think. Couldn't believe how much better they sounded than anything else available, at the time. It took me until around December, 1999 to finally realize my dream of owning a sound system like that. Martin Logan was the clear choice for me. Interestingly, I'd looked a few years before that, and Martin Logan was the best I'd found, but either the shop demoing them was driving them very poorly or ML still hadn't managed to marry the low-frequency cone-speaker base to those lovely, crisp mid- and high-frequency electro-static panels. I think they were Quests. The mids and highs were gorgeous, but there was almost no bottom end until a subwoofer the shop had bridged in kicked in and thumped very muddily. I was very disappointed. But when I went looking in 1999, Martin Logan had their reQuests out (and these were probably driven better) and it was everything I'd ever dreamed of. Those crystal clear electro-statics seamlessly blended down into a warm, but still tight bottom end. This was what I'd always been looking for. And they're mine, all mine. (Queue evil laugh...)

I remember auditioning the reQuests and some other speakers... I'd brought several CDs with me, from various genres. And certainly the classical music and Jon Hassell's PowerSpot sounded wonderful on the Martin Logans. But, curiously, it was a rock song, by Live, that just floored me and made me stop even pretending to compare speakers any further. The music builds up and up and then this beautifully distorted hard chord slams in, and on the Martin Logans the guitar was... there... right there... 1/3 of the way in towards center from the left speaker. It was so perfectly and solidly placed, spatially, that I had a feeling like I could see it, visually. I bought the speakers that day. And have been wildly happy I did ever since.

I found my way here thanks to a suggestion from JonFo over on avsforum, where I was asking a question on the main thread for the Denon AVP-A1HDCI, that I'm planning to buy to replace my aging (and somewhat problematic) Krell HTS pre/pro. Nice to see all these happy Martin Logan owners, who appreciate what they've got. I really don't think music reproduction gets any better. Congrats to us all!

Welcome to the forum! I'm new here too, but just wanted to say hi.

larryy,

Don't believe anything that JonFo guy tells you, he's nuts! Ha,ha... :0

Welcome and check out some of the systems here. I'm upgrading from Vistas to Spires. Hope to have them next week.

j/k about JonFo. His advice is always top notch.

Hey Now Slappy,

Let me know when you get your new rig hooked up. I'm due for a quick road trip and if you get to the C.B. neighborhood you're welcome to come over for a listen.

Satch

Hi Larryy,

:welcome:

Glad you joined us is in this little corner of the webiverse

Between your ML’s and a new AVP, you will soon have even better sound.

Hopefully we can all help you get the most out of the speakers and the rest of your system.

As you’ll soon learn, some of us will try and convert you to the ‘acoustic treatments are good’ view of the world. Right Satch?

You have a great system, please post to our System Description sub-forum.

Your intro above is great, you can almost copy-paste that, add a pic and be done


PS to the others, I was doing a bit of a soft-sell on Larry over on this AVS thread

I'm sure larryy knows a lot more about M.L. speakers and high end audio than I do. Heck, two years ago I didn't even know what an electrostatic panel was! But with the help of JonFo and the rest of the members, I've been able to enjoy music on my home stereo like I never thought possible.

After hooking up the Vistas to the Ayre V-5xe and Cary SLP 98 P, The biggest improvement (IMHO) to my sound was the placement of acoustic sound treatments. Maybe some day I'll find a way to bribe Mr.Fo to come to Cocoa Beach with his Audyssey Pro and help me Really tune my room. Most likely I'll have to wait for his book.

Satch

Hey Satch,

No problem, I'll let you know as soon as I get it all set up. It's looking like it may be July before it's complete though, as I'm waiting on Emotiva's new pre-pro and Mitsubishi to ship there new diamond models.

If I make it over to your neck of the woods I'll be sure to hit you up for a listen. Heck, maybe head over to Coconuts for a soothing beverage and a bite to eat. Last time I was there I had the Chef's house steak and it was amazing!

Slappy,

That sounds great. Coconuts is just up A1A from me and I do have a spare bdr. in case you want to do a serious sampling of the beverages there. The Beach Shack is right next door (to Coconuts) and they have national acts all the time.

By July I should have most of the work I'm doing in my kitchen and living/listening done. I hope!

Satch

Welcome!

Nice to see another long time ReQuest owner, make sure you post your system up in the "Members Systems" section. I've owned mine since '98 and I'm never letting them go. Whenever I can afford to upgrade them to something better in the ML line these will just move to a different system in the house (bedroom maybe). Anyway, they still sound fantastic and they're still the original panels!

Welcome again!

Dan

Welcome larryy

Welcome To another Larry

always good to see new members come on board, your system sounds awesome

Larry

Welcome Larry, I was not aware Beanblossom had enough electricity to run a full Martin Logan surround sound set-up

I am willing to bet none of these guys have ever been to Beanblossom or better yet know who put Beanblossom on the map. How did you end up there?

Larry, Welcome ! nice to have another 'old fart' around here....hell I was only in high school in '69 ! listening to music through the family Stromberg Carlson console stereo.

JMAUSGP said:

Welcome Larry, I was not aware Beanblossom had enough electricity to run a full Martin Logan surround sound set-up

I am willing to bet none of these guys have ever been to Beanblossom or better yet know who put Beanblossom on the map. How did you end up there?

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Ah, Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Festival. We can hear it from the porch. (Not terribly clearly, mind you, and not very loud unless the weather conditions are just right, but it's still kind of nice to hear it wafting in from the distance.)

My wife is from Brown County (where Beanblossom is located) originally. We were both living in LA when we met, would come home to visit her parents, and I fell in love with Brown County's natural beauty, coupled with nearby Bloomington, home of Indiana University, which is an absolutely magical town. We'd moved from LA to Los Gatos (in the mountains above Silicon Valley--I was working for Apple), and loved it there, but loved it here even more. Searched for three years for just the right place, found it, and I had a great supervisor at the time who agreed to let me telecommute. Off we went.

How do you know of it? The bluegrass festival?

twich54 said:

Larry, Welcome ! nice to have another 'old fart' around here....hell I was only in high school in '69 ! listening to music through the family Stromberg Carlson console stereo.

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Hey, I resemble that remark. :} Yeah, I graduated high school in '68. And hearing those first electro-statics was such a revelatory experience I can actually remember the context around hearing them, where I was living at the time, who turned me on to that shop, etc. Obviously made one heck of an impression!

And to Wink, yeah, I completely love these reQuests. Can't believe how inexpensive they were when I bought them (relatively speaking). The Thiels the shop were pushing weren't nearly as good, to my ears, yet cost twice as much as my beloved Martin Logans. I glanced at the prices on the current line up and I'm sorry to see that apparently they've decided they can charge quite a bit more these days. Hope these beauties hang in there!

- larryy

larryy said:

Ah, Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Festival. We can hear it from the porch. (Not terribly clearly, mind you, and not very loud unless the weather conditions are just right, but it's still kind of nice to hear it wafting in from the distance.)

My wife is from Brown County (where Beanblossom is located) originally. We were both living in LA when we met, would come home to visit her parents, and I fell in love with Brown County's natural beauty, coupled with nearby Bloomington, home of Indiana University, which is an absolutely magical town. We'd moved from LA to Los Gatos (in the mountains above Silicon Valley--I was working for Apple), and loved it there, but loved it here even more. Searched for three years for just the right place, found it, and I had a great supervisor at the time who agreed to let me telecommute. Off we went.

How do you know of it? The bluegrass festival?


- larryy

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Wow, where to start. Went to IU in the 70s where one of my roommates’ dad would rent a motor home for Bill Monroe each year.

Then freshman year I met a guy who also owned a Triumph motorcycle and we used to ride all over Monroe, Morgan and Brown counties every day after class.

Then my friend who now lives in Bloomington also got the dreaded Red car sickness and we have organized several driving events that have passed through Beanblossum.

I live in Nobletucky now on what is probably the only slice of Brown County like property north of Indy. I have probably been through Beanblossum somewhere between two and three hundred times maybe more.

As you know the roads around there are spectacular and in the fall, it is breathtaking. I have only stopped there a handful of times, but I am usually riding or driving through there 2 or 3 times a year even now.

Welcome to the club, you will find a wealth of Martin Logan knowledge here.

Although some of the guys here like me are a bit strange

But that's not a problem, you will get used to it

Just beware of the 2-channel guys they lack the extra channels