System #158 (Sequel)

[Dreamer]

1. Member Name: Richard C.

2. Location: Washington, NC
3. ML Model(s): Mains: Sequels (original)
Center: Logos
Rears: Scenarios

4. Year Purchased: 1993 (Sequels), 2007 (Logos, Scenarios)

5. Mods/Changes: Hospital-grade power cords for three front speakers, RA Research Labs cones under Carver pre, Oppo & DAC; Isopod ceramic cones under Carver amps and Krell pre; 30lb. isolation blocks under amps on OrgeonDV 2.15" cones, custom-made isolation self under turntable; 5lb custom-made mass-dampers on top of all solid state components; 20lb mass dampers on electronics boxes of Sequels, OregonDV 1.5" cones under Sequels.

6. Associated Electronics: Krell KAV-300i (as preamp), Carver C-4000t preamp (as phono pre), Pair of Carver Silver 7t monoblocks, 2 Carver M-500t amps (One driving Logos, RT channel only, one currently out of commission), Benchmark DAC1-USB, OPPO DV-981HD 1080p Universal DVD/CD Player (used as a CD transport feeding the Benchmark), Sony NS3100es DVD player, Sony STR-DG600 Receiver (using as surround processor), Technics SL-1350 turntable with Sumiko Blue Point cartridge, Velodyne F-1500b Subwoofer; Nordost Solar Wind speaker cables, White Zombie Audio Pure Silver interconnects, Monster Interconnect 400, Nordost Blue Heaven Interconnect, White Zombie Audio pure silver Digital Interconnect (as Coax digital link between Oppo & DAC), Black Mountain Pinnacle Silver interconnects (5m) between pre and monoblocks, AKG K701 Headphones, Toshiba Regza 42LX177 LCD TV

7. Comments and/or stories about your Martin Logan experience: I fell in love with the Martin Logans the first time I heard them in 1991, and finally found a used pair which I bought from a retired (Army) rocket scientist in VA who was driving them with a Spectral amp and a McIntosh Pre and CD player. I've had a lot of different gear over the years, most of which I sold off about 5 years ago when I was unemployed for an extended period (18 months). I kept the Sequels though! Now I'm re-building my system, slowly but surely...

[twich54]

Richard, welcome ! Good to hear your on the road to recovery and rebuilding. Keep your eye on "Joey's" posts for he tends to upgrade on a monthy basis !!! and you be interested in what he 's selling off !!

[Robin]

Richard,

So this is your beautiful system. I like your Sequel's with the new SL3 panels... Your Carver electronic gear Rocks! I noticed two grey round devices on the floor next to your Sequel's, what are those devices for?

Wonderful set-up, Richard...

[Beat_Dominator]

Awesome to see another Sequel system in the forum. Love the gear as well. I'm a big fan of Carver equipment.


Robin: Those are ceramic "cable risers" to keep the cables off of the floor.

[Robin]

Originally Posted by Beat_Dominator

Awesome to see another Sequel system in the forum. Love the gear as well. I'm a big fan of Carver equipment.


Robin: Those are ceramic "cable risers" to keep the cables off of the floor.

Beat_Dominator,

Facsinating..., and interesting as well.

Thanks

[Dreamer]

Robin,

If you'll look in the "tweeks" section, I have a post on the "cable elevators" thread, which has some close-ups, and an explanation.

I'm a notorious cheapskate, and since my father worked for the Bell System, I recognized these latest Overpriced Audiophile Ripoffs for what they really were--old telegraph line insulators. A quick trip to ebay, and I now have more than I can use, for a song! Hey, I didn't say they don't work, only that the current "dealer price" is criminal. :P

PS: those fat braided speaker cables are home-made by me as well...

Shelving is Ikea.

Amps and pre are also perched on trios of cool gloss black ceramic cones made by the now-defunct Canadian company called Isopod. Man, I wish I'd bought more than three sets of them back in the day. Best upgrade I ever made to my system (next to the bag-full of Michael Green Room Tune pillows I got for 80% off at a closeout)...

--Richard

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Paying Retail is Physically Painful For Me...
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[Dreamer]

Originally Posted by Robin

I like your Sequel's with the new SL3 panels...

Hmmm... Wonder when that happened.

I bought them from the original owner in '92 or '93 (before the SL3 came out) and I haven't upgraded or modded them since. I think perhaps you are mistaken about those panels.

Originally Posted by Robin

Your Carver electronic gear Rocks!

Thank you. If you think it looks cool, you ought to HEAR it. Yummy...

Originally Posted by Robin

Wonderful set-up, Richard...

Thanks. Coming from the folks on this august list, that is QUITE a compliment. Please excuse the mess and clutter in my pics--I'm still in te process of moving the gear in and getting it properly set up. Hopefully, in the next month or so, things will be tidy and pretty for pics...

--Richard C.

[Dreamer]

Oh, yeah, one more thing... Compared to most of the other systems I've seen on here, mine is like a Walkman. I'm SOOOOO envious of those folks with the TUBES.

I'm So very humbled by the systems I'm seing on here, and I realise now that the fact that I even OWN a pair of Sequels is either a minor miracle, or a tremendous testament to my good luck and scrounging abilities, considering my meager income (graphic designer and "artsy" printer).

Maybe someday I'll stumble across a deal on an old Silver Seven set and a dusty old pair of Statements.

Ever the Dreamer...

--Richard C.

[wink]

Originally Posted by Dreamer

Maybe someday I'll stumble across a deal on an old Silver Seven set and a dusty old pair of Statements.

--Richard C.

Richard,

I love the Carver equipment. I'm a Carver fan from way back....I still have boxes of old carver stuff in the garage, waiting for my office system to get set up. I'm waiting to get a hold of an M400T to power it.

Anyway, nice system. Definately hold on to that Carver stuff, it never will go bad and will always challenge the sound quality of newer components.


Dan

[Robin]

Originally Posted by Dreamer

Hmmm... Wonder when that happened.

I bought them from the original owner in '92 or '93 (before the SL3 came out) and I haven't upgraded or modded them since. I think perhaps you are mistaken about those panels.

Richard,

Sorry about that I confused your Sequels with another members pair I recently had been discussing. My mistake, please forgive me.

Thank you for the great information regarding the telegraph line insolators. I will difinitely check-out the other thread and will be aquiring some of those soon.

Thanks again...

[Dreamer]

Small update:

I recently got a Martin Logan Logos center speaker, and a new Oppo DV-981HD DVD/Universal CD player. Both sound very nice, but I'm not running th eCenter speaker yet, because I'm still looking for a surround processor I can 1) live with, sound-quality wise, and 2) afford. (I'm looking at used Classe, and Lexicon rigs, mostly, but will probably go with the Classe, because I've heard sso many good things about it, AND it has 5.1 inputs, so I can hook the Oppo up to it directly).

I'm trying to arrange a time to drive down to central VA and pick up a pair of Stylos sometime this month, and then I'll have a fully ML 5-channel system. and I'm trying to nail another Carver M-500t for the center speaker, and either an M-1.0, M-400t, or TFM-15 for the rears.

Probably going to go with a Sunfire subwoofer though. I know some of you folks LOVE the ML subs, but I've heard them, and the only one I think compares with the Sunfire is the Decent, and I just can't afford on of those new.

But honestly, the Sub is WAY down on my "gotta have" list. I've got to get my analogue setup re-tooled. I'm finding that my old Technics SL-1250, although a solid and clean-sounding table, is just not realy up to the task of fronting the Carver/ML system. Still not sure what I want, but it will probably be Clearaudio, Rega, or a used Maplenoll air-bearing rig (if I can find one). Or maybe I'll pull that old QRK broadcast table out of storage and rebild it into a "tweakers nightmare" of some sort...

Anyway, I'll post updated pics soon.

--Richard

[eknuds01]

Well, I got to check out Richard's system today and I knew going in that I would be impressed. We spent a good 5 hours talking and listening to all sorts of music: Diana Krall, Pink Floyd, Marley, Vivaldi, Norah Jones just to name a few.

I brought over a pair old monster interconnects (my cables running from the CD to the amp) and I wanted to do an A/B comparison between those wires and Dreamer's pure silver interconnects. Silver, according to some, is very revealing and I found that on his system, they didn't add or take anything away from the performance. In other words, they are pretty transparent. When the monster cable was connected, we both noticed a heavier (or as Rich says, 'fatter') bottom end.

The cables seem to change the personality of the system. I though Richard's summation was very correct. The silver cables allowed a better sounding mid range and highs but the monster cables seemed to bring out more bass.

Rich probably needs a sub at some point and I think the ML Dynamo would do wonders in his room.

A few weeks ago both Rich and I had the pleasure of listening to Dan's (DTB300) system. Again we listened to the same Diana Krall CD and I was blown away when I heard those tracks on Dan's system. Dreamer's setup is no slouch and the same songs were equally enjoyable.

Richard also has the capability to use a passive preamp and that was sort of neat. He has a homemade preamp that is nothing more than a few wires and switches; no internal circuitry. The interesting thing is that some CDs sounded cleaner compared to a much more expensive Carver preamp!

We also talked about potential upgrades and Rich would like to get some Sunfire gear down the line and maybe a sub by the same company.

At any rate, whether he upgrades tomorrow or 20 years from now, Rich seems to make the most out what he has available-very nice Carver gear, great cables (Nordost speaker and White Zombie interconnects), and a very good sounding Oppo CD player. I believe he'll also need to move the couch back a few feet, but that isn't really possible for aesthetic and practical reasons; aka girlfriend would kill him.

I fully enjoyed my saturday afternoon with Dreamer and I hope I can return the favor soon!

Erik

[Dreamer]

Originally Posted by eknuds01

Well, I got to check out Richard's system today and I knew going in that I would be impressed. We spent a good 5 hours talking and listening to all sorts of music: Diana Krall, Pink Floyd, Marley, Vivaldi, Norah Jones just to name a few.

Yeah, we really ran through a pretty diverse and eclectic list of tunes. It was a REALLY fun afternoon! I don't get much opportunity to really "geek out" with my system. Usually it's just me listening on my own. It was really nice to have another set of ears to listen, and I really appreciated Erik's comments and observations.

Originally Posted by eknuds01

I brought over a pair old monster interconnects (my cables running from the CD to the amp) and I wanted to do an A/B comparison between those wires and Dreamer's pure silver interconnects.

Now, THAT was an interesting comparison. The Monsters (and these were some relatively low-end Monsters) had a much more pronounced (more thump, but not as tight) bass than the Zombies, and the Zombies had MUCH cleaner mids and highs, but the bass was MUCH more laid back (tighter, but not nearly as visceral). It was a very interesting and revealing experiment. My CD player has two sets of stereo outs, so we were able to A/B them with the flick of the source selector on the preamp.

Originally Posted by eknuds01

A few weeks ago both Rich and I had the pleasure of listening to Dan's (DTB300) system. Again we listened to the same Diana Krall CD and I was blown away when I heard those tracks on Dan's system. Dreamer's setup is no slouch and the same songs were equally enjoyable.

That is really a strong compliment to even put my system in the same sentance as Dans. I'm flattered. Sometimes I think my system sounds like crap compared to other people's systems, but Erik told me that I am WAY to hard on myself. I will admit that I am my own worst critic (in many areas of my life), and sometimes I get so wrapped up in the tiny details (that I hear, because I listen to my rig every day) that I lose sight of the "big picture". Compared to people like Dan and "twitch", my system is pretty "entry level", but I'm working on it, and trying to squeeze the most out of what I have. That's what I LOVE about this hobby--we each strive toward the same goals (perfect sound, system synergy.etc) uaing VASTLY different financial, technical, and aural resources.

Originally Posted by eknuds01

Richard also has the capability to use a passive preamp and that was sort of neat. He has a homemade preamp that is nothing more than a few wires and switches; no internal circuitry. The interesting thing is that some CDs sounded cleaner compared to a much more expensive Carver preamp!

I'll post pics of my "GPP" (Ghetto Passive Preamp) sometime this week. I'm sure that some of y'all will look at the pics (especially the internals) and just roll your eyes, but you GOTTA hear this little box. It's surprisingly clean-sounding...

Originally Posted by eknuds01

At any rate, whether he upgrades tomorrow or 20 years from now, Rich seems to make the most out what he has available-very nice Carver gear, great cables (Nordost speaker and White Zombie interconnects), and a very good sounding Oppo CD player.

Hopefully I'll be upgrading VERY soon. I'm looking for a Sunfire Signature 600x2 amp for the mains, and a Sunfire Preamp (TGP-III or TGP--IV). I'm also considering moving up with my speakers to something a little newer (I have a line on a pair of Ascents) and I DEFINITELY need to upgrade my analogue front-end.So much gear, so little money...

Originally Posted by eknuds01

I fully enjoyed my saturday afternoon with Dreamer and I hope I can return the favor soon!

I really enjoyed having Erik over and getting to show off my system to someone who could really appreciate it. Hopefully I can get the amp and pre upgraded in the next few months, and have the whole crew over this summer.

We were talking about this, and we both agree that since there are so many ML folk in the DC metro area, we should make this sort of thing a regular event. I think that what would be ideal would be to have one local member host every month or two, and just rotate the "party" around to everyone's system through they year. It would be a FANTASTIC opportunity to hear other people's gear (and this crowd out here has a pretty wide-ranging set of kit!) and it woul dalso give the hosts the extremely valuable opportunity to get half-a-dozen outside opinions about their setup, and LOTS of valuable input for possible improvements. I think we all could benefit from this sort of thing tremendously...

We've got a GREAT pool of very enthusiastic ML owners out here, and I think our little club has the potential to grow into a very tight-knit group of fellow audiophiles, all helping each other optimize their systems!

Let's get our ESL on, folks!

--Richard

[Dreamer]

I just closed a deal on a new (new to me, anyway) preamp!!!

drumroll.........

ARC LS-25 mkII, silver aluminum face, with DH tubes, an extra set of tubes, original box and manual. And it's local, so I don't have to risk shipping it!

I'm going to pick it up Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully I can have the system all re-configured and dialed in by next weekend. Updated pictures will be posted by the middle of next week.

Plans are already in the works for some of the local ML folks to come over for a listen.

Joey-itis struck me hard about a month ago, but I think it will be in remission for quite a while after this purchase.

--Richard

[Beat_Dominator]

Sweet! I want pictures!!!!

...and listening impressions of course.