captain_tinker
Well-known member
Hello folks,
This is my very first post here. I am not yet a proud owner of any Martin Logan products, but I have had my eye (and ears) on some of them for a while now. I plan on getting the Dynamo sub sometime after the tax returns come back. In any case, I have some other questions that hopefully you may be able to answer for me.
I asked a question over in the Audioholics forum, and they referred me to come here and ask it. I have a Marantz SR5600 receiver currently running two Paradigm Titan's as my fronts. I was hoping to someday move them either to the rear as surrounds and get some larger floor standing speakers, or move them to another room. I have been looking at Paradigm Reference Studio 60's, but when I went to listen to them the other day, I also listened to some larger (and way more expensive) Martin Logan Summit's. I had them put on my Telarc Sacd of the 1812 Overture. Wow! What an experience! I also had them do it in their room with the newer in wall ML speakers... I have to say, I was really impressed. I have since learned that there is another speaker by ML called the Mosaic, and it seems that a few of you here have them and seem to like them. I figured if they sound anything at all like the others I heard, I would like to get them very much. They actually don't cost much more than the Studio 60's I was looking at.
So of course doing my research, I found that they have a different Ohm rating than most regular speakers do. Most are 8 ohms, the mosaics are nominally 5 ohms. So I am thinking, I may not be able to use my Marantz receiver to run them, would I? It's not really rated to run at anything lower than 8 ohms. So I guess I will be needing an amplifier. Problem is, I don't have a whole ton of cash lying around to spend on one. That and the WAF is fairly high in our home. And we have two young children, ages 3 and 1 1/2. So I am also worried about little fingers poking and toys scratching good speakers, and equipment. So far they have been ok by not playing much with the receiver, so maybe there is hope.
Anyway, finally to my question, if I decide to go with the ML Mosaics, and need an amp, what kinds and brands of amps would be recommended? The boutique that sells the ML's also sells Anthem amps, but I don't know much about them. I would probably only need a 2 channel amp, fairly simple, one that can turn on when it detects a signal would be nice, but is not required I guess. I guess I can manually turn on a power button. I would like it to be fairly inexpensive, but I understand that may not be an option if I decide to use such a high quality speaker as the ML's. What are your recommendations?
One that was recommended to me was the Behringer A500, though at $180, compared to much more than that for some of the other brands I've looked at, I can't help but think that there may be a catch somewhere. I'm leery of it at that price considering everything else is much more expensive. What do you think?
-capT
This is my very first post here. I am not yet a proud owner of any Martin Logan products, but I have had my eye (and ears) on some of them for a while now. I plan on getting the Dynamo sub sometime after the tax returns come back. In any case, I have some other questions that hopefully you may be able to answer for me.
I asked a question over in the Audioholics forum, and they referred me to come here and ask it. I have a Marantz SR5600 receiver currently running two Paradigm Titan's as my fronts. I was hoping to someday move them either to the rear as surrounds and get some larger floor standing speakers, or move them to another room. I have been looking at Paradigm Reference Studio 60's, but when I went to listen to them the other day, I also listened to some larger (and way more expensive) Martin Logan Summit's. I had them put on my Telarc Sacd of the 1812 Overture. Wow! What an experience! I also had them do it in their room with the newer in wall ML speakers... I have to say, I was really impressed. I have since learned that there is another speaker by ML called the Mosaic, and it seems that a few of you here have them and seem to like them. I figured if they sound anything at all like the others I heard, I would like to get them very much. They actually don't cost much more than the Studio 60's I was looking at.
So of course doing my research, I found that they have a different Ohm rating than most regular speakers do. Most are 8 ohms, the mosaics are nominally 5 ohms. So I am thinking, I may not be able to use my Marantz receiver to run them, would I? It's not really rated to run at anything lower than 8 ohms. So I guess I will be needing an amplifier. Problem is, I don't have a whole ton of cash lying around to spend on one. That and the WAF is fairly high in our home. And we have two young children, ages 3 and 1 1/2. So I am also worried about little fingers poking and toys scratching good speakers, and equipment. So far they have been ok by not playing much with the receiver, so maybe there is hope.
Anyway, finally to my question, if I decide to go with the ML Mosaics, and need an amp, what kinds and brands of amps would be recommended? The boutique that sells the ML's also sells Anthem amps, but I don't know much about them. I would probably only need a 2 channel amp, fairly simple, one that can turn on when it detects a signal would be nice, but is not required I guess. I guess I can manually turn on a power button. I would like it to be fairly inexpensive, but I understand that may not be an option if I decide to use such a high quality speaker as the ML's. What are your recommendations?
One that was recommended to me was the Behringer A500, though at $180, compared to much more than that for some of the other brands I've looked at, I can't help but think that there may be a catch somewhere. I'm leery of it at that price considering everything else is much more expensive. What do you think?
-capT