Martin Logans are outdated??

[FOUNTAIN]

As I was searching for some audio I found this on a popular website that sells so called audiophile music and gear. He lists a few bad systems for audiophiles which included a picture of a Martin Logan setup! While I definitely agree with his remarks on the room and lack of proper treatments, since when did esl speakers become outdated and not worthy of audiophiles? I believe these are Martin Logans but even if they are not he goes on to trash all "screen speakers" as he calls them. Here are his remarks:

"...basically: Hate the speakers, hate the room, have no idea what the rest of the equipment is but couldn't care less. Good electronics cannot fix bad speakers or a bad room, or in this case, both.

My advice: start over. Get a good sized room, treat it with the right stuff, and don't waste your money on some twenty-year-old, long-out-of-date screen speakers that didn't sound good when they were new.

...get a pair of good speakers, not screens. Get the kind that can move some air."


HERESY!!!!!

Evidently this system belonged to an unnamed popular reviewer that he ridicules in his rant. He follows a line of logic that says: "...surely you can do better than this. Please stop writing reviews" Well if he can't recognize a truly great speaker then maybe he should stop selling audio equipment! Anyway here is the picture:

 

[sleepysurf]

... I found this on a popular website that sells so called audiophile music and gear...

Apparently he doesn't sell ML's, and probably has never heard them properly set up. I would just classify it as a TROLL ad for his business. Care to share the URL?

I do agree, however, that the room/setup does not look very good.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Apparently he doesn't sell ML's, and probably has never heard them properly set up. I would just classify it as a TROLL ad for his business. Care to share the URL?

I do agree, however, that the room/setup does not look very good.

Yeah, I definitely agree about the setup. If his only complaint were about the room then he would be right. But to go on and ridicule Martin Logan's as being as much of the problem as the room then that is another issue entirely. But you are probably correct that he has never heard a ML's properly setup.

As for the store, I'm not sure if I am allowed to post that it was :yell:dccblowout.com . So since I don't know that, I probably shouldn't tell you that it's :yell:dccblowout.com . If you want to PM I'll tell you who it is.

 

[amey01]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Otherwise ML and other 'stats would be the only speakers in the world.

This guy probably doesn't sell "screen speakers" so he wants to take any idea that they sound good out of anyone's head.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Otherwise ML and other 'stats would be the only speakers in the world. QUOTE]


Good Point.

 

[sleepysurf]

Reading some of his reviews/commentary, it's quite apparent he hates screen speakers (as he calls them). I'd like to see a picture of his setup! To each their own!

 

[sleepysurf]

Ahhh, here's a telling quote, from his review of Dave Brubecks "Time Further Out". Anybody have a copy of that recording to test his claim!

In the Market for New Speakers?
See If They Can Play This Record!


By Yours Truly

The drum solo Joe Morello lets loose on Far More Drums is one of the best on record. I was playing that very song recently and it occurred to me that it is IMPOSSIBLE for any screen or panel speaker of any nature to reproduce the sound ...
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[Feltran]

Unsurprisingly, a quick Google search suggests that the phrase 'screen speakers' is seldom used at all, and when people say it, they are generally referring to speakers attached to a video screen. This guy clearly has no credibility at all, and that's really all that needs to be said. But I'll also add that ML wasn't even making elecrostatic hybrids like the ones pictured 20 years ago.

 

[MotorToad]

HAH! To say planar speakers can't play drums is ignoring one small fact... which type of speaker has the actual surface area of a drum? I've often remarked to my friends that drums sound more like drums at home that at concerts when they're being "mic"ed into horrid house systems.

 

[tonepub]

The system in question is that of Myles Astor, who writes for Positive Feedback, I believe.

Tom Port is one of the most confused and misguided people in high end audio today and part of the reason record prices are so over inflated. He tries to convince people that he has one "hot stamper" pressing that is the most amazing record in the world that he usually wants 2-900 dollars apiece for.

We bought a couple of his hot stampers and they were junk. Our classical editor bought a few records from him that were no where near what they were claimed in terms of physical condition or sound and he had to go to American Express to get his money back. BTW, when Tom Port sells records, you better be ready to die with em, because he won't take anything defective back, like Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct or Elusive Disc.

He called me after the first issue of TONE was published to tell me that I was an idiot because I said some good things about a Peter Gabriel record in the magazine and he had a magical "hot stamper" that sounded way better.

Magical price for this "hot stamper".... $500 and that was three years ago!

And on the next page he had a copy of Heart's Dreamboat Annie on Nautilus (which is so so at best) that he wanted $600 for.

A year later at the rocky mountain audio fest, he was in a room blathering on about what an "expert" he was about music and records, talking about his amazing system by which he grades all of these "hot stampers"....

Are you ready?

A pair of Von Schweikert VR-4's, can't even remember the electronics, an Oracle turntable and a Dynavector 17D3 cartridge. I've got an Oracle and a 17D3 myself, but I wouldn't exactly call that the table by which I'd judge the ultimate quality of records on, and certainly not at $900 a piece.

So, I wouldn't lose sleep over anything he's got to say. And I certainly wouldn't buy records from him either. Overpriced junk at the worst, overpriced mediocrity at the best. There are much better deals to be found on vinyl if you sniff around a bit.

The guy is a complete goofball.

 

[tonepub]

Ahhh, here's a telling quote, from his review of Dave Brubecks "Time Further Out". Anybody have a copy of that recording to test his claim![/INDENT]

And if any of you heard the guys at Martin Logan playing the sheffield drum record on the CLX's (or your speakers for that matter) knows how silly this guy is!

 

[Craig]

There are a series of threads over on the Vinyl Asylum that mostly slams his so called "Hot Stampers" marketing gimmick. I can't see paying 100's of dollars for a used LP soley based on his word that's it's special. Nah...that's not for me.

 

[C.A.P]

And if any of you heard the guys at Martin Logan playing the sheffield drum record on the CLX's (or your speakers for that matter) knows how silly this guy is!

Exactly ! I can attest to the Sheffield drum track on the CLX, having heard it first hand. Its the best drum sounds I have ever heard from a speaker. My CLS with a SUB can do it proud but its a bit shy in dynamics !

 

[Beakman]

As a rule, anyone offering these beauties for sale will never, ever get my money.
http://www.dccblowout.com/product.asp?pf_id=Hallograph

 

[Feltran]

As a rule, anyone offering these beauties for sale will never, ever get my money.
http://www.dccblowout.com/product.asp?pf_id=Hallograph

Took me a minute to figure out that's a real site. The absurdity of the product made me certain it was some kind of deliberate joke or blatant scam.

 

[Beakman]

I don't know if its the sonic benefits claimed or the

. . . consisting of staggered activated panels that are mounted on an elegant base that beautifully blends into any style room environment.

statement that gets my goat worse

 

[tonepub]

Yeah, I love it, the guy tries to sell you a run of the mill copy of Aja for 900 bucks and a pair of coat racks for another 1200.

I heard those at Steve Hoffman's house one time. Our technical editor and I teased him so mercilessly at dinner, he put em in the garage and they are still there.....

Tom Port's a real piece of work.

If you are a big vinyl enthusiast and music collector, the key is to get relatively low stamper numbered pressings. The lower the numbers, the closer you are to the first generation of the record.

Unfortunately, with the resurgence of LP's, guys like this are out there fleecing everyone. With so many people buying vinyl because it's "collectable", there aren't nearly as many good records to buy just to listen to!

I liked it better when everyone thought I was a weirdo for buying albums! There were a lot better buys in the used record stores!!!