Considering Upgrade from SL3 > Vista -- thoughts?

[JasonR]

Hey folks,

I've got a pair of SL3s that I've been very happy with. I've only owned them for about a year, and recently upgraded my amplification to an Outlaw 7500 which really brought new life to the speakers. The upgrade from a Rotel RB-980BX amp is a huge improvement, but also made the bass much more accurate and deep... almost too much so since I live in a high-rise apartment building. I've found recently I use the -3dB switch to knock a few dBs off the low frequencies pretty frequently, at least in the evening. Previously I've always been a fan of small monitors (Totem Model 1, ProAc Response 2 and 1sc, etc) and don't mind losing a little bit of low frequency response in exchange for clarity, imaging, staging... all the stuff that matters more to me.

So, with that in mind, would an upgrade to the Vistas be a good choice? I wasn't considering a speaker upgrade, but I came across a deal that may be too good to pass up.

Has anyone made a similar upgrade from SL3s (or Sequel IIs) to Vistas? What's your impression of how these speakers compare to one another?

Thanks!
- Jason

 

[jjay]

If bass response isn't that important to you, The Vista is a good speaker choice. That does not mean that the Vista does not have decent bass but compared to either the Vantage or Summit speakers, the Vista speaker is a little bass shy. In the future you could add a servo sub though.
Jim

 

[JasonR]

Thanks. I guess my big question is this: Is the Vista a significant upgrade from the SL3, excluding the bottom octave?

I once heard the SL3s side-by-side with either Vistas or Vantages... honestly don't recall which because I wasn't seriously considering them at the time. I do remember being more impressed with the sound of the new speaker. Unfortunately that's the only time I've had the pleasure of hearing the current series of ML speakers, so I don't have a lot to go on.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[JasonR]

I decided to pull the trigger. The Vistas have been playing for the past 8 hours, and they're starting to sound okay. I haven't ever owned brand new Martin Logans... man they really sound pretty terrible right out of the box. They're starting to come together... the highs and mids sound a lot better. That woofer still needs to get a serious workout to get it broken in, and the midrange is pretty honky sounding, but like I said - it's improving. Having heard them before, I feel pretty confident that I made the right decision. From a visual perspective, the Vista is just a gorgeous speaker.

I'll start listening for real in a couple days after they've begun to really break in. I can hardly wait. :music: Meanwhile, it's time to find a new home for the SL3s. They've served me well, but there's only so much room in my apartment.

- Jason

 

[static]

new Vistas

I've had my Vistas for a month now and I can honestly say I'm blown away by them but they really need the 100 hours the manual says they need to break in properly. Bass response is not an issue because I already have a sub, the Abyss. I find the combination extremely impressive.