What to do...

[Girlleo]

I re-modeled my condo, and put to gether a nice system with Mosaics for the fronts, Vignettes for the center and rear, and a Denon sub I already had. It sounded GREAT!

When I sold the Condo, I got full price, including all of the HD equipment, matrix switch, Bedroom, office and kitchen. (money well spent).

Now I have to re-build it. (DARN!) The living room is a bit smaller than the one in the condo. The house was built in 1953 with Lathe and plaster. In a subsequent re-model the walls were drywalled over the plaster, and insulation put in the attic and under the floors. The house is very tight, and even though it has wood floors, pretty sound "dead". You can't hear people moving around in other parts of the house, and the double pane windows keep outside sound to ZERO...

I am thinking Clarity's for the fronts, but am concerned that they may be a bit much for the room. The whole house is only 1350 square feet...
The Montage would be an alternative, but I don't really want to "step down" from the Mosaics. Is it worth the extra $1,200 to get the Clarity's?

I am thinking Vignette again for the center and rears, and haven't really decided on a sub yet. The guys at Magnolia have suggested a higher end Klipsch sub....

The cool part of the whole system is my knowledge of networking, I have wired the house with six cat6 pulls (2 shielded) to each room in the house and have installed a Matrix switch for component video, digital audio distribution, and high speed network throughout...

Feedback would be apreciated!

Deb:bowdown:

 

[SteveInNC]

The house is very tight, and even though it has wood floors, pretty sound "dead". You can't hear people moving around in other parts of the house, and the double pane windows keep outside sound to ZERO...

It was unclear from your description, but there is a difference between a "quiet" room and a "dead" room. The former doesn't allow sound in or out, while the latter tends to absorb echos. The classic off-the-cuff test of the deadness of a room is to stand in the middle and clap your hands once, then see if you get a quick reverb echo (aka "slap echo"). A degree of livelyness is usually considered a good thing, but for AV purposes, I prefer a pretty dead room. Note, despite my preference, my current room is live as hell, with drywall and laminate floors, and a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace. Unfortunately, it's my living room too, so I can't do as much as I would with a dedicated room. I'm working on some Auralex absorbers to kill the primary reflections.

I am thinking Clarity's for the fronts, but am concerned that they may be a bit much for the room. The whole house is only 1350 square feet...
The Montage would be an alternative, but I don't really want to "step down" from the Mosaics. Is it worth the extra $1,200 to get the Clarity's?

Well of course it's worth it

To me, the distinction in moving up to an electrostatic panel would be a big positive step over the Montage. As far as the Clarities being too big, I have Ascent "i"s in a 15x16x8 room and they are fine. I sit about eight feet away, and they're about three feet from the wall (system #99). I've never really understood the whole "too big for the room" argument beyond the esthetic issues. If the speaker is well-designed, it should work in most reasonable spaces. My whole house is about 1600 sqft and 1.5 stories, so my downstairs is roughly the same footprint as your house. I don't think that size should be a problem.

 

[attyonline]

If you move up to the Clarity, get a better center. The Vignette is a nice surround speaker but only a minimum for a center. There are good deals on audiogon and ebay for Cinema i speakers now and that model is worlds better center than the Vignette.

 

[Joey_V]

Mosaics vs Clarity is a loaded question... some like one moreso than the other.

If I were you, I would wait for the new Source speakers to come out before investing in a new set of mains.

Joey

 

[Charliemike]

To me the difference in ESL v. ATF is night and day.

I won't ever go back to anything for my mains but ESLs.

 

[renpar61]

Mosaics vs Clarity is a loaded question... some like one moreso than the other.

If I were you, I would wait for the new Source speakers to come out before investing in a new set of mains.

Joey

I think the Montages would be without a doubt a step back from the Mosaics, which I believe you can't get anymore. I was looking at Montages and Clarity and spent several hours listening to both, mostly at Magnolia. I kind of went back and forth between the two and finally decided on the Clarity. I am very happy I did. In the beginning I was leaning towards the Montages because I found them to be better suitable for HT, at a lower price. After doing more music listening also at a higher end store (better equipment), I fell in love with the Clarity and now I started to listen to music more than I ever did in the past 10 years. I absolutely love them.:music:
For the center, I got the new Fresco i. Probably a little overpriced, but definitely a good center. I was tempted by the Cinema, but the Mrs. :devil: would have complained about hanging that huge thing on the wall...

 

[Caerus]

I would go with the Claritys for the mains, Fresco i or better a used or new Fresco for the center and Montages for the rear surrounds. The Montages are the same price as the Vignettes and you don't need an expensive stand or wall mount them. I have this same setup except Vantages as mains and a Depth i. I like it.

Brad

 

[Steve]

if you decide to go with the Claritys (which I would recommend, being a happy Clarity owner myself), check out audiogon. With the new model coming out soon, there are some killer deals on used and new in box Claritys right now.

 

[Joey_V]

Wait... just wait for it.... waiiiit....

Waitt.....

Fast forward 3 months later.... now!!!

LOL!

If I were you, I'd call ML corporate and get the lowdown on when the Source and Purity are distributing. We heard them at the MEET and I thought they were good enough to quit this whole audio gig with, if that means anything.



Joey