M
Mikael
Guest
Hello,
As others here I’m too fascinated by Martin Logan sound and magic. For about a year ago I got a pair of high quality headphones and finally discovered how reproduced music should sound. Since then I’m looking for a pair of loudspeakers that could match, if not transcend, that sound. As others here I have been listening to many speakers from various vendors and shops, and in wide price range. None of these traditional pieces could live up to my expectations. Then, by coincidence at a local dealer, I discovered a pair of “strange” things with a fascinating price tag – Martin Logan Vantage. After a short listening session I knew that I found what I’ve been looking for. Perhaps not perfect but pretty close. Few days later, my wife and I had a longer listening session using our own music – still excellent sound. In another shop, I listened also to Martin Logan Vista which was very good too.
So, I borrowed Vantage plus few amplifiers and receivers from the shop, went home, placed out and connected the equipment in my room, and started to play music. It was a complete anticlimax. What I heard in my home was not the same thing as in the shop. The presence feeling and the 2-D magic was there but the sound was not the same. It was as if the bands and artists were playing in a can. I removed some large glass and metal objects from the room, covered parts of windows, glass doors and a mirror with thin curtains and even tried to move the speakers and my listening position around. Nothing helps, the “can” effect is still there.
If I feed output of a DAC (either standalone or built into an AV-receiver) directly to an amplifier (including the one that was used in the shop) then the sound is very dark and down damped – no high frequencies. If I use automatic audio room characteristics measurement and equalization in one of the receivers then I get much better sound, still in a can, so to speak. I can see that the automatic frequency adjustment lifts up the entire range from 1 kHz and up by 3 – 8 dB (in 5 bands). The 125 Hz band is also amplified by 4 dB and 63 Hz is damped by 2.5 dB, I would say that what I hear at home contains a lot less harmonics (over- and undertones) than what I heard in the shop.
Many vocal artists sound as if they had cold, drum beat is dry and not distinct, and simultaneous bass and saxophones are flat and not as “overwhelming” as they use to be.
I should say that I listen at high volume (some would say very high) and I live in a wooden house with plasterboard walls on the inside. Both the speakers and the amplifier are the very same that were used in the shop where they sounded fantastic well. The music source going through the same DAC sounds excellent in my headphones. Therefore I’m seeking for another explanation. What can be wrong?
Thanks/Mikael
As others here I’m too fascinated by Martin Logan sound and magic. For about a year ago I got a pair of high quality headphones and finally discovered how reproduced music should sound. Since then I’m looking for a pair of loudspeakers that could match, if not transcend, that sound. As others here I have been listening to many speakers from various vendors and shops, and in wide price range. None of these traditional pieces could live up to my expectations. Then, by coincidence at a local dealer, I discovered a pair of “strange” things with a fascinating price tag – Martin Logan Vantage. After a short listening session I knew that I found what I’ve been looking for. Perhaps not perfect but pretty close. Few days later, my wife and I had a longer listening session using our own music – still excellent sound. In another shop, I listened also to Martin Logan Vista which was very good too.
So, I borrowed Vantage plus few amplifiers and receivers from the shop, went home, placed out and connected the equipment in my room, and started to play music. It was a complete anticlimax. What I heard in my home was not the same thing as in the shop. The presence feeling and the 2-D magic was there but the sound was not the same. It was as if the bands and artists were playing in a can. I removed some large glass and metal objects from the room, covered parts of windows, glass doors and a mirror with thin curtains and even tried to move the speakers and my listening position around. Nothing helps, the “can” effect is still there.
If I feed output of a DAC (either standalone or built into an AV-receiver) directly to an amplifier (including the one that was used in the shop) then the sound is very dark and down damped – no high frequencies. If I use automatic audio room characteristics measurement and equalization in one of the receivers then I get much better sound, still in a can, so to speak. I can see that the automatic frequency adjustment lifts up the entire range from 1 kHz and up by 3 – 8 dB (in 5 bands). The 125 Hz band is also amplified by 4 dB and 63 Hz is damped by 2.5 dB, I would say that what I hear at home contains a lot less harmonics (over- and undertones) than what I heard in the shop.
Many vocal artists sound as if they had cold, drum beat is dry and not distinct, and simultaneous bass and saxophones are flat and not as “overwhelming” as they use to be.
I should say that I listen at high volume (some would say very high) and I live in a wooden house with plasterboard walls on the inside. Both the speakers and the amplifier are the very same that were used in the shop where they sounded fantastic well. The music source going through the same DAC sounds excellent in my headphones. Therefore I’m seeking for another explanation. What can be wrong?
Thanks/Mikael
