Martin Logan @ CEDIA 2018

[RUR]

Thus years presentation is quite the mystery. ML wanted everyone to focus on the quality of the presentation, so every lick of gear was hidden behind acoustically transparent walls.

Several jazzy cuts were played and they did sound pretty darned good. I'm sorta sure we had L/R/C and some # of surrounds, but that’s just a guess. Sean was in fine form and, when i asked what to post, said (paraphrased) “Tell them you just heard the best speakers you’ve never seen.”.

AVS’ interview here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WOC1vDN5dNc Skip the first two minutes on subs to hear more - or maybe not.

 

[Brad225]

The way he described the booth, he seemed more like a sideshow barker.

Step right up and listen to what you can't see and don't take any pictures of what you can't see either.

Hopefully going forward it will be revealed and make sense. I guess if they don't reveal it, sales will be a bit of a problem.

 

[twich54]

Ken, I agree with Brad, time will tell ..................

 

[RUR]

Wow! I said yesterday the ML demo was pretty darned good. Midrange and up was superb, but the bass was kinda wooly i.e. not as well defined and controlled as it could’ve been.

Well, the team dialed things in last night. Today was an extraordinary demo from top to bottom. The guys with me who listened to today’s demo said they had never heard an ML demo with the kind of dynamics on display today, and neither had I. Kudos to the ML team for an amazing performance, whatever gear was in play.

 

[Peter Soderberg]

it was only a stereo pair with 2 Dynamo 1600s. I will not provide any more details so don't ask. Glad you liked it and I agree the first day needed more time. We thought we would be ready in plenty of time for the rep meeting that afternoon, but Murphy's Law can not be resisted and as a result, we only had 20 minute run through before the first meeting. Good news is we did a proper setup after reps left although we lost Joe McCracken (lead on this project) due to him not feeling well, going back to his room.
Yes, in a very tough market, we are doing pretty well and have a busy year ahead (again, don't ask). This was unusual as it was a raw product, good enough to start getting input but not good enough to show or talk about and more importantly, it was a message hinting at the next direction for us and really not about 1 specific product. General response was great so things look good going forward. I will say, I hope not to hear Chandelier again as she really eats the mic. ouch.
As to Sean, he is one of the FNG and one can't fault his enthusiasm at his first show. it is CEDIA, which means a young crowd of installers, not us old jaded audiophiles. I think he did a good job even if it was a bit over the top for me but then I am old, jaded.
But, come on, the really cool thing was the history tour on the outside of our booth. That was the very first Monolith at the beginning of the row. Scares me that I have had sold, owned or worked for ML since that Aerius that was in Joey's apartment that was on the row. Neat to see the evolution over time. ML has have been in my life since '91.

 

[RUR]

As to Sean, he is one of the FNG and one can't fault his enthusiasm at his first show. it is CEDIA, which means a young crowd of installers, not us old jaded audiophiles. I think he did a good job even if it was a bit over the top for me but then I am old, jaded.

Peter, I found Sean's razor-sharp wit to be half the fun, and my comment earlier was intended as a compliment, not as any criticism. Hope to see him in Denver next year!:cheers:

 

[JonFo]

... This was unusual as it was a raw product, good enough to start getting input but not good enough to show or talk about and more importantly, it was a message hinting at the next direction for us and really not about 1 specific product. General response was great so things look good going forward. ...

Hi Peter, thanks for that, and it makes sense to not 'show' something that is in early cosmetic prototype stage and focus more on the audible results. Reading some press coverage of speaker vendors with mucho bling and rather poor performance, one gets the sense visual bling has an undue influence on opinions.
Maybe all demos should be like yours, behind a screen and judged solely on hearing, not on specs or looks.

That said, really looking forward to learning more about the new speaker designs.
Monopole ESL's perhaps? As Ken (RUR) says "The guys with me who listened to today’s demo said they had never heard an ML demo with the kind of dynamics on display today, and neither had I", only way I know of achieving that is careful room acoustics management and/or monopole config from 800hz on down.
Can you say how treated was the demo stage/room you used?

It was great to see the lineup of historical ML units, and hilarious to read the number of comments on boards that thought the leftmost Monolith was a door

So glad you and other old-hands are still there and enjoying the ride. Thanks for sharing here.

 

[Peter Soderberg]

again, sworn to secrecy, but being a cardboard box of a room that CEDIA offers, lets just consider it nearly worse case situation, especially in the mid bass region. I have done set up for years in those standard rooms and given the low bar that CEDIA sets, it gets ok in there. Still, gives us a chance to impress with sound versus how cheap I can sell a 6" in ceiling speaker. it was fun having the museum tour though. brought back memories but also reminded us how far we have come.

 

[JonFo]

Thanks Peter, Understood it's 'classified'

And yes, the rooms at trade shows are rarely ideal, and getting anything to sound good there can be a challenge, which is why I assume a bit of acoustic treatments were used as well. Regardless of speaker topology, the right treatments, even if minimal, can go a long way. I have a secondary system in a room that's a cube with highly reflective stucco walls, and it works OK, with pretty impressively smooth bass thanks to 4 ML subs.

Cheers

 

[Peter Soderberg]

There was a bit of obvious treatment at first reflections, etc but not too much. Another issue with shows in that often Murphy's Law means you have time magically disappear. You only have about a day and half to set the entire thing up so any delays can really hurt. Final tweek time was a couple of hours, after our initial rep meeting the day before the of beginning of the show. it came out pretty good but can always be better.
I do remember your adventures with some close out Dynamo 300s.