jk319
Well-known member
Thanks again Kruppy for that listing before, as it sent me off on a fast and furious upgrade to these speakers. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have these right now. That’s a fact, and so thank you. :bowdown: I can’t believe they are in my room. I almost don’t deserve such. (Notice I did say ‘almost’). Well, first impressions: as expected, they are incredible. I wish I did not have the large dlp tv, of which I am sure is disrupting the imaging at least to some degree. The speakers are a good 9 ft apart, and are in front of the tv. Also, the imaging is heavier on the left, and I realized that the rake of the left Summit was more vertical. I think the old wood floors must be uneven. I have temporarily put a manual underneath the right speaker’s rear legs to get a similar rake. Improved for sure, however, the left side is open to the kitchen/nook, and Im sure this is playing with the imaging just a bit. No dedicated room.
All in all, extreeeemly happy. :banana: However, I do now realize how I’ve been spoiled with my innumerable visits to showrooms this year, with perfectly symmetrical rooms and incredibly expensive amplification, transports, cabling, even DAC’s. I am very impressed with the fantastic bass response and fidelity, something I was not necessarily expecting. A very big departure from the Vantages I now realize.
I am starting to rediscover my entire cd collection. This will take a long time as I have many recordings (well, a subjective statement, but its true in comparison to my friends). I am hearing all kinds of things. Itzhak Perlman’s sausage fingers articulating on the fingerboard of his violin. The friction of the horse hair of the bow on the string. Dynamic stresses and nuances leading up to strange modulations/key changes in a late Mozart symphony. Unreal counterpoint in some Josquin and Ockeghem motets and masses. Etc, etc, etc. Piano recordings sound, simply put, spectacular. I hear the dampers hit the strings when pedals are lifted. Jazz recordings are given a true soundstage and slam… yadda yadda… lugano put it well, can’t remember the words exactly, something about ML owners being more particularly music owners. Wow. Listening to Starker and Sebok right now. I can “see” Starker sitting in front of the piano…
The one thing I think of upgrading now are the electronics. Although, honestly and seriously, the refurbed NAD t163 and t973 seem to be perfectly adequate for me. If I moved up, I’d go to the Masters series most likely. However, I think Im going to sit out for future hdmi 1.3 pre/pros after all the debugging of the so-called hdcp algorithms.
Well, kcl, I tried to cancel the sub order the following morning after our conversation on this topic. They wouldn’t do so. They say I will be very happy with it, which I am sure will be the case, but hey, its just money. I got a great deal, and I bet I could sell it right off for the price I paid, but I will just keep it I think. It’s a JL F113. Fantastic sub. I have heard from one source that stereo mode on the NAD will automatically kick out the sub. Im not sure that this is necessarily a good thing, as the fidelity of the JL is simply astounding. We will see, it will arrive in another week.
The fresco-i looks and sounds fantastic. I love that the dimensions are perfect for me. Height: It fits perfectly in front of the tv w/o blocking display. Depth: still fits on top of the stand/cabinet. Width: doesn’t block the tv’s speakers or remote sensor. Piano black matches the tv stand. Best possible scenario in terms of getting it to ear level. Not being in the cabinet allows it to disperse more freely without glass directly above the speaker, etc. It really is very well voice matched. I do not have to worry about the dipolar reflections from a Stage to the glass/metal tv stand, although I am giving up some slam for sure. I have only briefly played with the on-wall or free-standing settings of the speaker, and so far I prefer the latter, even if it up against the tv. Although, the Stage is undoubtedly the best match, I still immediately noticed the sibilance typical of a metal tweeter. If ML makes a center without one (just ‘stat for upper register), then I’d be really, really interested. Anyways, more money, hah! Well, these are my early impressions/feelings. Otherwise I got some perfectly adequate (for me) “blemished” PSB bookshelves for the surrounds and rears (I don’t see any blemishes). X-over'd the fresco at 80hz, left the surrounds as "large". Some tall stands for them. Dealer threw in some Tara Labs Helix 8 speaker wire at a very good price.
Long post, sorry. A few small q’s for the regulars:
1) Will I be satisfied with the electronics for a good stretch of time, as I am hoping?
2) Suggestions to get the rake similar? How much margin of height difference can the ML spikes give? Or how about jtwrace’s spikes?
3) How do people like my speaker wires? Never auditioned speaker wire, buying rather blindly here.
4) I think I will need a new CD transport someday in the near future. I am using a Denon dvd-1730. It would be nice to have sacd/dvda playback as well, particularly dvd-a. (After all I think I will use the 7.1 inputs for a future hi-def dvd player, whenever that may be). My dealer recommends the tubed Jolida player. Suggestions?
Well, my odyssey has nearly ended. :music: Still have to pick up the rear speakers and stands. I am now a proud owner. Wow! No looking back now. This is what my ML manual says:
“Thank you- to you the MartinLogan owner
for loving what we do,
and
for making it possible for us to do what we love”
Appreciation all around…
Ps. Oh sorry, I don’t have a digital camera!
All in all, extreeeemly happy. :banana: However, I do now realize how I’ve been spoiled with my innumerable visits to showrooms this year, with perfectly symmetrical rooms and incredibly expensive amplification, transports, cabling, even DAC’s. I am very impressed with the fantastic bass response and fidelity, something I was not necessarily expecting. A very big departure from the Vantages I now realize.
I am starting to rediscover my entire cd collection. This will take a long time as I have many recordings (well, a subjective statement, but its true in comparison to my friends). I am hearing all kinds of things. Itzhak Perlman’s sausage fingers articulating on the fingerboard of his violin. The friction of the horse hair of the bow on the string. Dynamic stresses and nuances leading up to strange modulations/key changes in a late Mozart symphony. Unreal counterpoint in some Josquin and Ockeghem motets and masses. Etc, etc, etc. Piano recordings sound, simply put, spectacular. I hear the dampers hit the strings when pedals are lifted. Jazz recordings are given a true soundstage and slam… yadda yadda… lugano put it well, can’t remember the words exactly, something about ML owners being more particularly music owners. Wow. Listening to Starker and Sebok right now. I can “see” Starker sitting in front of the piano…
The one thing I think of upgrading now are the electronics. Although, honestly and seriously, the refurbed NAD t163 and t973 seem to be perfectly adequate for me. If I moved up, I’d go to the Masters series most likely. However, I think Im going to sit out for future hdmi 1.3 pre/pros after all the debugging of the so-called hdcp algorithms.
Well, kcl, I tried to cancel the sub order the following morning after our conversation on this topic. They wouldn’t do so. They say I will be very happy with it, which I am sure will be the case, but hey, its just money.
I got a great deal, and I bet I could sell it right off for the price I paid, but I will just keep it I think. It’s a JL F113. Fantastic sub. I have heard from one source that stereo mode on the NAD will automatically kick out the sub. Im not sure that this is necessarily a good thing, as the fidelity of the JL is simply astounding. We will see, it will arrive in another week.The fresco-i looks and sounds fantastic. I love that the dimensions are perfect for me. Height: It fits perfectly in front of the tv w/o blocking display. Depth: still fits on top of the stand/cabinet. Width: doesn’t block the tv’s speakers or remote sensor. Piano black matches the tv stand. Best possible scenario in terms of getting it to ear level. Not being in the cabinet allows it to disperse more freely without glass directly above the speaker, etc. It really is very well voice matched. I do not have to worry about the dipolar reflections from a Stage to the glass/metal tv stand, although I am giving up some slam for sure. I have only briefly played with the on-wall or free-standing settings of the speaker, and so far I prefer the latter, even if it up against the tv. Although, the Stage is undoubtedly the best match, I still immediately noticed the sibilance typical of a metal tweeter. If ML makes a center without one (just ‘stat for upper register), then I’d be really, really interested. Anyways, more money, hah! Well, these are my early impressions/feelings. Otherwise I got some perfectly adequate (for me) “blemished” PSB bookshelves for the surrounds and rears (I don’t see any blemishes). X-over'd the fresco at 80hz, left the surrounds as "large". Some tall stands for them. Dealer threw in some Tara Labs Helix 8 speaker wire at a very good price.
Long post, sorry. A few small q’s for the regulars:
1) Will I be satisfied with the electronics for a good stretch of time, as I am hoping?
2) Suggestions to get the rake similar? How much margin of height difference can the ML spikes give? Or how about jtwrace’s spikes?
3) How do people like my speaker wires? Never auditioned speaker wire, buying rather blindly here.
4) I think I will need a new CD transport someday in the near future. I am using a Denon dvd-1730. It would be nice to have sacd/dvda playback as well, particularly dvd-a. (After all I think I will use the 7.1 inputs for a future hi-def dvd player, whenever that may be). My dealer recommends the tubed Jolida player. Suggestions?
Well, my odyssey has nearly ended. :music: Still have to pick up the rear speakers and stands. I am now a proud owner. Wow! No looking back now. This is what my ML manual says:
“Thank you- to you the MartinLogan owner
for loving what we do,
and
for making it possible for us to do what we love”
Appreciation all around…
Ps. Oh sorry, I don’t have a digital camera!
