System #192 (Ascent i)

[sebrof2000]

1. Member Name: Mike
2. Location: Austin, TX USA
3. ML Model(s): Ascent i
4. Year Purchased: 2007
5. Mods/Changes: Custom stained the wood rails to match my custom stained rack.
6. Associated Electronics:
Primare CD21 CD Player
Jolida JD1000A integrated amplifier
Project Debut III Turntable with Ortofon OM10 cartridge and Speedbox 2
DIY Phono preamplifier utilizing 1 6SL7 tube per channel
7. 12' x 13' x 9' dedicated room treated as best I can.
Simple but satisfying 2 channel system. The Ascents provide detail and imaging in spades, yet they're very musically enjoyable. This system does all types of music well, but shines on acoustic, jazz and vocals.
Enjoy,
Mike

 

[TomDac]

Welcome aboard!

 

[tonyc]

Nice system, Mike! And of course a guy who lives in Austin just has to have a nice guitar, too!

 

[yogibear]

Hello! Nice looking system. I notice that you have a lot of damping on the rear wall. I've found with MLs that it's best to start with no damping and then slowly add them back in one at a time. I used to own Maggie 3.6. Those required more rear wall damping that my Vantages. With the Vantages I had to remove all the damping material.

 

[sebrof2000]

Hello! Nice looking system. I notice that you have a lot of damping on the rear wall. I've found with MLs that it's best to start with no damping and then slowly add them back in one at a time. I used to own Maggie 3.6. Those required more rear wall damping that my Vantages. With the Vantages I had to remove all the damping material.

Hello Yogibear.

With the Maggies, without the treatments you see in the picture the highs were a bit harsh and echoed. But I took your suggestion and removed all of the damping from the front wall behind the speakers (against my better judgement, I might add). This really opened up the highs and mids very nicely - Big improvement. Actually, I'm pretty darned shocked at what I'm hearing. I don't think I'll add any back, not any time soon anyway.

Thanks for the suggestion. There's more of a difference between Maggies and Logans than I first thought. This forum's been great, and I've only been hangin' around for a week. You guys are a big help.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Joey_V]

:welcome: Mike! Nice to see your system posted here... looks great! Keep tweaking and raising the performance bar!

Joey

 

[philox]

sebrof2000, I use to have the Krell 300i Integrated amp to run some NHT VT-2 in my back up stereo system. When I exchanged the Integrated amp to run my SL3's the sound was rather dry. Have you ever compared your Krell 400xi Integrated Amp to the 300i? Have you ever tried using a tubed amp to match the smoothness of your Jolida JD100A Vacuum Tube CD Player or is the Jolida JD100A Vacuum Tube CD Player so smooth that the Krell matches well?

 

[Pcar928fan]

Mike,

If I have not said welcome yet then welcome! Great to have another Austin person with us!

Like the Paul. I am a guitar player too. I play at church every Sunday for the contemporary service... Good times! I have Abyss guitars...check them out if you are really into it: www.abyssguitars.com

I have the LE (Limited Edition) models: Ascension, Crucifixion, and The Last Supper... They are UNREAL!

Hope we can have an Austin get together at my house sometime this summer! Oh, I am up in the Cedar Park area off Parmer Lane.

 

[sebrof2000]

sebrof2000, I use to have the Krell 300i Integrated amp to run some NHT VT-2 in my back up stereo system. When I exchanged the Integrated amp to run my SL3's the sound was rather dry. Have you ever compared your Krell 400xi Integrated Amp to the 300i? Have you ever tried using a tubed amp to match the smoothness of your Jolida JD100A Vacuum Tube CD Player or is the Jolida JD100A Vacuum Tube CD Player so smooth that the Krell matches well?

Philox,
With the Ascents, I've only had it paired w/ the Jolida and the 400xi so far. I don't find the sound dry at all. I've read that the 300i is a very different amplifier than either the 300il or the 400xi.
I have a Quicksilver vacuum tube linestage (two 12AU7s) and a SS Sunfire amp (325/650 wpc 8/4 ohms) in the closet that I plan to check out with the Ascents. With the Maggies I used to own, the Krell was an improvement over the Quickie/Sunfire. I also tried the Quickie pre and the Krell amp section, and I to me the Krell pre section sounded better.
I had planned to A/B the 2 combos with the Ascents this weekend and sell the one I like less.
Mike

 

[philox]

sebrof2000, which Maggie's did you have before? Did you do a comparsion before you sold them (or whatever you did with them)? I use to have the SL3 and the bass was rather weak. Now that I have the Odysseys I have more of a balance sound. I once heard the top of the line Maggies with some Audio Research mono blocks and the sound was so balanced that I was looking for a sub, only to be informed that with a good pair of mono blocks the Maggies have a great bass. I was thinking since you had the acoustics with the Maggies and the Martin's sound better without, maybe the same thing is true with the other front gear you have...keep us informed and nice to have you aboard.

 

[sebrof2000]

sebrof2000, which Maggie's did you have before? Did you do a comparsion before you sold them (or whatever you did with them)? I use to have the SL3 and the bass was rather weak. Now that I have the Odysseys I have more of a balance sound. I once heard the top of the line Maggies with some Audio Research mono blocks and the sound was so balanced that I was looking for a sub, only to be informed that with a good pair of mono blocks the Maggies have a great bass. I was thinking since you had the acoustics with the Maggies and the Martin's sound better without, maybe the same thing is true with the other front gear you have...keep us informed and nice to have you aboard.

Philox - I have the Maggie 1.6s (middle of the range, approximately 5'6" tall for those unfamiliar). I still have them, but will sell soon. I did not do a comparison before I bought; one of the drawbacks of buying used. I do like the Ascents a lot though, so no regrets.
I tried my Quicksilver Tube Linestage / Sunfire Stereo II combo on the Ascents and have been listening for the last several days. I think I like it better than the Krell 400xi, but still need to do some more listening. I did like the Krell over the Quickie/Sunfire with the Maggies, so it's a bit of a surprise to me that they sound better than the Krell with the Ascents. The Sunfire really takes control of the panel.

 

[SteveInNC]

Now that you've removed the treatments from your front wall, you might want to experiment with adding them to the back wall. I run Ascent Is in a similar configuration. My rear wall is about six feet from my seating position, which is about eight feet from the speakers, so rear damping helps.

As far as amps, I'm running a Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated. It is designed to handle the lower impedance loads that MLs present at higher frequencies, and as I recall, offers 70 amp peak-to-peak current handling, which helps manage that load also. This is most noticable in how high frequencies get reproduced. A/B-ing with my former amp, the A5 reproduced things like piccolos, snares, and cymbals musically, where previously they were more like white noise. Mid-range cleaned up some also.

I use dual Depths for bass reinforcement. My system alternates between home theater and two-channel music, and I listen to a mix ranging from Depeche Mode, Portishead, and other electronica to acoustic jazz and female vocals, and old-school like Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

 

[philox]

sebrof2000, that doesn't surprise me that your pervious amp may sounded better than the Krell. I believe in subjective hearing, everyone's ears are different. Krell has always sounded dry to me but then again to other ears Krell reveals more detail. A few weeks ago I visited another members system with anti-cables connected to a pair of semi-tubed amp and was surprised on the detail and speed but when we put on my speaker cables the sound warmed up and the sound stage was better but some of the detail and speed was lost. The sound was never dry with either hook up. I believe it was the semi tubed amps that gave the present sound through-out. I have yet to find that magic balance between these extremes.

Maybe for jazz listen to your Quicksilver Tube Linestage / Sunfire Stereo II combo :band: and for rock-n-roll listen with your Krell :guitarman:

Another thought, what type of speaker cables do you have? Maybe you can balance out the Krell with a smoother cable?