System #152 (Prodigy, Theater, Ascent, Script, Descent)

Hello all I am new to the list and looking forward to participating where I can. Lets see if I can answer some of these questions:

1. James Morrison

2. Austin, TX

3. Prodigy, Ascent, Script, Descent, Theater all in the main room, Aerius i (zone 2), Cinema

4. I started collecting the ML stuff in 5/02 and have just kind of kept at it over the years.

5. The only changes I have performed on my speakers is to take the perforated grill covers on the Cinema and the Scripts and cover them with grill cloth from Martin Logan. It really made them blend better with my Prodigy and Ascent speakers. Shortly after I did mine (I did send a pic to ML btw) ML started making that the standard on the Scripts! LOL! Becuase of the information available on this list, I will replace the Red LED's on my Ascent's for blue ones! YEA! I can't wait to do that...maybe over the holidays! Didn't get the blue LED's done yet, but I DID get the Obsidian (like Piano) Black rails installed!

6. When I bought the Ascent's I also bought a Pioneer Elite VSX-49TX to go with my Elite RPTV. It was pretty good, but this summer I upgrated to all the stuff listed with my signature:

Rotel RSP 1098 (lets me monitor my security cameras while watching TV/DVD's)
Rotel Amps 1090, 1095, 1050 (zone 2)
Rotel RDV 1050 DVD player (looking to upgrade to a 1092 sometime)
Rotel RT 1080 tuner
Rotel phono pre-amp
Rega P2/RB300/Exact
DirecTV HD TiVo
Samsung DVD-R/VCR
Richard Gray Power Compay (Substation, Pole Pig, 400 Pro, 400 Mk II, 400)
Sony XBR2 70"

This new audio gear REALLY woke up the ML speakers!

7. The first ML's that I bought were my Ascent speakers and I used these as front mains and right after I bought them I bought a Cinema on ebay. The Ascents were from Sound Advice 5/02, the Descent came from our local dealer Audio Systems in Austin, TX in July '02. I fell in LOVE with the sound. So, I bought a pair of Aerius i speakers for the left and right rear speakers. After that came the Prodigy and I used them in place of the Ascent, but didn't have room to move the Ascent to the rear position so I kept the Aerius i as the rear stage speakers. Then we moved to a new house and the Aerius i speakers became one of the Zone 2 pair and I bought a Theater as the center channel. I just got the Theater about 3 months ago 9/06.

The room where all this gear lives is really to bright, but it was what we had to do. Eventually I will add a dedicated theater to the house and all this stuff will move out there and we will have better options for tuning the room. The sound is still AMAZING, but not all that it could be...

It is all good! You just can't go wrong w/ ML stuff. In the future, I would love to take a big step up into some MBL stuff, but I will need to win the lottery for that to happen!

My other hobbies are racing and collecting Porsche's, I play guitar at church every Sunday in a praise band, and I am a big fan of general avaition but don't yet have my pilots license or an airplane (I do have a hanger however).

You can see me at my home page: http://home.austin.rr.com/jemorrison

The bottom picture is the new gear set up. Just finished the change out yesterday 3/9/07. Big Video and cabinet upgrade. All the audtio gear stayed the same. Also note that the speakers are now Piano black instead of the black oak! JUST LOVE IT!

Welcome aboard James!! great post and really nice system.

Hi James, again, nice set-up ! Don't forget to post a "frontal" shot of your whole set-up !!

Very Nice setup James - welcome to the loony bin. Like Dave said, more picture for us to enjoy are always fun. What kind of music do you listen to?

Always been a Porche fan as well. Never have owned one (yet), but spent many fond years and miles behind the wheel of this TT,,,

Happy Listening,
Tim

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Love to see the pics of all your hot cars! I also find it interesting that many of us also seem to have an affection for Star Wars (I have seen posters and other things in the back grounds of many of the system pics)!

I have posted the front stage pic (It was the first one I tried to do and I thought I got it, but didn't somehow) and I also put the pic of the rack up there too.

Will update when I get a BIG TV sometime next year!

Thanks to all!

Oh, someone asked what kind of music I normally listen to. I really like the Star Wars sound tracks, I am a big fan of Holst "The Planets", and then it is all ROCK AND ROLL after that! I prefer '80's big hair stuff since that is when I grew up, but I do like some of the current pop/rock stuff as well as some of the late 60's early 70's pop. :rocker:

MiTT said:

Very Nice setup James - welcome to the loony bin. Like Dave said, more picture for us to enjoy are always fun. What kind of music do you listen to?

Always been a Porche fan as well. Never have owned one (yet), but spent many fond years and miles behind the wheel of this TT,,,

Happy Listening,
Tim

Click to expand...

Tim love that shot of your car! Where was that taken? Did you go pick it up in Germany and take that pic there or what?

I picked up my '92 Euro 928 GTS in Germany in 2000 and imported it (it is the only 1992 928 GTS in the USA) and while I was there drove it a fair bit...AWESOME stuff!

Picture is of Maroon Bells near Aspen, CO. BEautiful country....been there twice myself....Ill probably make another trip out there in the spring....

Very nice set up, but if you get a larger screen things will have to be moved about, right?

If possible I'd seek to get the main speakers farther from the wall, maybe experiment with the amount of "toe-in" as they look like they are pointing in rather far.

Try the "flash-light" method for proper toe-in angle.

Link:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125

Alternate method:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2431

Welcome Jim!

Very nice system. :rocker:

I see what you mean about getting the glossy piano rails. Nice Pioneer Elite.

Love the car shots guys. Sorry to take up the bandwidth, but I do enjoy it!

That shot of the TT out near Aspen, man that is BEAUTIFUL country! I have climbed (back in my pre-SCI days) in Estes Park, as well as the Zirkle Wilderness area in CO, Philmont, and Pecos wilderness area in NM, and Mount Adams Wilderness area in WA. Love the mountains, just sorry I did not get a chance to go up against McKinley and Everest...oh, well!

As for ML content, I am listening to the inner 1/3rd of the Prodigy from my primary location and can't get much further back so I think they would be toed out to much if I moved them. Also because of space constraints I can't get them further off the wall, which would do wonders I know! When I get to the 73" I will have to set that RPTV on top of a nice stand with PLENTY of room for all the gear...it will go underneath. I would prefer glass front doors but have not seen anything like that. It needs to be three components wide and at least two tall to make it work. Suggestions welcome!

Thanks guys and gals!

Marvelous, Magnificent, Magical All ML System...

James,

Again ~ :welcome:

Your system is great. A dedicated HT is so cool for watching movies. Your system will shine even more, if that's possible... Your web-site is fun to visit as well.

Your black framed - white electric guitar on the wall, I was wondering who that belonged to? It is of special interest to me as I play guitar as well. :guitar:

Excellent Brilliant system, James.

Your Porsche 928 looks fast, I should think that your wife would need protective head wear, when you all go for a drive or road rally in Texas... I would...

Pcar928fan said:

Tim love that shot of your car! Where was that taken? Did you go pick it up in Germany and take that pic there or what?

I picked up my '92 Euro 928 GTS in Germany in 2000 and imported it (it is the only 1992 928 GTS in the USA) and while I was there drove it a fair bit...AWESOME stuff!

Click to expand...

James, Audiophiliac hit it right on the head, it's the Maroon Bells near Aspen. I'm told they are the most photographed mountains in the western hemisphere. Wish I could say I picked up the car in Germany, but no, it was here in Denver. If I ever do go pick something up over there it will be something like your GTS. That sounds very cool indeed!

Robin,

Yea, a dedicated space will allow for tuning the room as well as the gear and so when I can build that dedicated space it will sound REALLY amazing! As you noted it does already sound VERY good, but it will only get better!

The 928's are quite fast cars. Especially when you consider the times in which they were built. They were the flagship model of the Porsche line during their days and were 50% more expensive than the 911's but now as used cars (how I bought them) they are about 10% less expensive! YEA! The silver Euro and the white '94 are both good for almost 180 mph and they are 12 and 14 years old now! AMAZING! They are still super sexy in my view and always turn heads!

The white guitar on the wall is a Fernandez Retrorocket. They did 4 different Star Wars Retro-Rocket models. The Stormtrooper that I have, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Yoda. They were all limited edition but the Yoda and Boba were more limited than the Vader and Stormtrooper guitars. They play well and sound pretty good too.

My pride and joy guitars that I play at church are my Custom Hand built Abyss guitars (www.abyssguitars.com) one of them is called Ascension and the inlay is Christ rising, Crucifixion should be finished this coming summer and is of course Christ on a cross, and the top dog is The Last Supper and the inlay is a rendition of Da Vinci's Last Supper painting. All three of mine are serial number 2 and The Last Supper will take your breath away. Most people at church don't walk up to the stage to look at it, but when ever they do they are BLOWN away by TLS...even Ascension is amazing, but TLS is other worldly! VERY COOL stuff! Go check them out at the website and have Kevin build you one soon! He does a great job and his basic custom (that is an oxymoron isn't it?) is REALLY nice and I think he can do one up for you for about $3000, which for a custom hand built guitar is CHEAP!

Thanks everyone for the kind words and welcome! This indeed a GREAT community!

Robin,

Here are some pics of my Abyss guitars...sorry about the no ML content Tom.

Brilliant!

James,

I can tell you are man with excellent taste. I can see we definitely share a love of many of the same interests...

The Abyss Custom guitars are simply astounding. Amazing quality and craftsmanship. I have never seen such wonderful custom inlays or build quality in a guitars, which Kevin Pederson in doing... The Crucifixion and the Last Supper just blows me away... Absolutely incredible artistry in guitar making. It really looks like these guitars were not just make but lovingly inspired... I don't see how Mr. Pederson can part with the marvelous guitars he creates, they are just so breathtakingly beautiful. You are quite fortunate to own these awesome instruments. And thank you for sharing the web-site info. I had not heard of the Abyss Co. before now. I will definitely be giving Kevin Pederson a call for my next guitar.

People such as your self are the reason why I love being apart of our wonderful little band of brothers and sisters. :band:

I love Prodigys! Congratulations on a great system.

Are you planning to carept the room?

amey01 said:

I love Prodigys! Congratulations on a great system.

Are you planning to carept the room?

Click to expand...

No, I am in a wheelchair and carpet sucks! I will do a theater in the next few years and move all of this (except the TV of course) into that room. It will have carpet and since it is all about sound and vision in that room I will be able to tune things better. In this room it is all good, but it is not the best it could sound. I didn't have any other way to work it out so it is what it is.

I love the Prodigy too! They are super speakers!

Thanks for the kind comment!

James,

For a component rack that's 3 component wide and 2 high. Check out this site:

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/config/flash/

I have one from them, 3 wide and 3 tall. It can be customized to whatever you want, frosted glass doors, drawers, etc. Just build one and see if you like it.

I don't work for them, but a happy customer.

Simon

htsource said:

James,

For a component rack that's 3 component wide and 2 high. Check out this site:

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/config/flash/

I have one from them, 3 wide and 3 tall. It can be customized to whatever you want, frosted glass doors, drawers, etc. Just build one and see if you like it.

I don't work for them, but a happy customer.

Simon

Click to expand...

Thanks Simon, I'll check it out!

Hi James,
You have a really nice system, would love to have a set of Prodigy's myself someday. Super nice speakers. Right now I have the Odyssey's and love them, have them setup in a theater and sure do get it done. What part of Austin are you in? I'm south off of Slaughter. We should get together sometime. Well hope you have a good new years!

Sincerely,
John