What would you most like to see in the next generation of MLs?

FISH_MAN said:

to all of you who like the speakers bigger and taller do you listen standing up? when i sit down and listen to my spires my head is about directly in the middle of the panel i think that is perfect my freind has a pair of request and they shoot above your head.I think the size panels they use are great mine belt ot more than enough super smooth and powerfull sound.

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Nah, BIG panels and high chairs any day!

Seriously, though, I take your point and yes, you do need a highish chair for the bigger models, or alternatively you just bop around until you drop!

The reason for wanting big panels is the huge soundstage they present. And lets face it, when you go to a gig, the soundstage IS HUGE. Bigger, alas, than Summits or Spires can portay... which isn't to say they aren't AMAZING speakers.

the point of diminishing returns

:rocker:I think for all but the largest room sizes the spire or summit fit the bill I have been to many concerts and heard many unplugged jams no matter how big your panel is speakers are just a reproduction of reality all be it a very nice one. you just can not compare live to two channel stereo But hey they still make the statement e2 and now the clx for those that are still not satisfied right.what do you think of a remote for sound volume for the purity I believe that is the fully powered speaker?

Most loudspeakers of all shapes and sizes (even the tall ribbons/stats/line arrays) have enough vertical dispersion so that you don't have to be that far away from them so adjusting your own (ear) height to the speaker's acoustical "center" is no longer necessary.

You can be sitting practically on the floor (or on the ceiling?), 25 feet from a Soundlab or any ML without missing anything. It's just that most residential listening spaces don't allow even a 20 foot separation, much less something more generous.

FISH_MAN said:

:rocker:what do you think of a remote for sound volume for the purity I believe that is the fully powered speaker?

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In England, the Purity is marketed with the Krell KID (or Wadia equiv) and iPod in mind. The Krell has a remote volume control... so it's not necessary. Otherwise, a remote controlled preamp or CD output level does the job, I suppose.

I am sure they would have thought about it, and rejected it. You'd have to ask them why... but it seems like a plausible option and a very useful one for some.

nsgarch said:

You can be sitting practically on the floor (or on the ceiling?), 25 feet from a Soundlab or any ML without missing anything. It's just that most residential listening spaces don't allow even a 20 foot separation, much less something more generous.

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Distance is key, agreed. In my last house, I'd be maybe 10 ft away from my Ascents, sitting in a beanbag. When the beans got to compressed, I'd be sitting way too low with a big loss in HF, clarity etc...

The same ear height at the other end of the room, 30 ft away, and there would be no such issue. But is that because of vertical dispersion, or the fact that at 30ft the sound has bounced off an awful lot of room surface before it hits my ears? I'd wager the later.

Solution? Put some more beans in the bag!

Just thought of another possibilty for a future ML(s) - ditch the curvelinear aspect of the drivers as per http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdf3VA06iSA.

OK, so I didn't think of it, and I will never hear this guy's speakers, but there is no doubt the curvelinear approach chucks the sound "all over the place", as he says.

OK OK OK... TOP SUGGESTION.

ARE YOU LISTENING MARTIN LOGAN? Probably not, but maybe...

A panel output checker that tells you when panel output is down, and you need replacements.

The amount of people who are running MLs bought 2nd hand, who aren't aware what there speakers are capable of because the panels are worn out, is probably pretty high judging by these forums. Todays 2nd hand unimpressed user is NOT tomorrow's brand new buyer.

Not sure how it would be implemented, though. How do you ensure SPL output for a given input level when you can't be sure what the input level actually is? Tough one and a good problem!

User211 said:

OK OK OK... TOP SUGGESTION.

ARE YOU LISTENING MARTIN LOGAN? Probably not, but maybe...

A panel output checker that tells you when panel output is down, and you need replacements...

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Now, that is a slick idea! Not sure how they'd do it, but I'm sure it's possible. It would even generate more replacement panel sales for them!

Easy to do ! Just use white noise and a Rat Shack meter! They should be within 1 db of each other !

sleepysurf said:

Now, that is a slick idea! Not sure how they'd do it, but I'm sure it's possible. It would even generate more replacement panel sales for them!

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Could get prickly when it was telling people they need their panels replaced just before warranty expiry........

C.A.P said:

Easy to do ! Just use white noise and a Rat Shack meter! They should be within 1 db of each other !

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What if both panels are down, but have remained within 1dB of each other? You'd have to benchmark off the woofer is my guess. Frequency response would also have to be benchmarked as it is the highs that usually go first.

I have never seen both go equally If they did who cares , turn it up a notch :rocker: However its never that easy. CLS have no woofer to judge off. The highs are the first thing to start to go. You will need to know your speakers sound.

What I do is take a measurement with the spl meter with white noise. Your goal is 75 DB. Note your volume position if you have a number dial. When in doubt go back and re check at that vol level and see if you are hitting 75 db with white noise ! This is done on both channels separately. Chances are when you start to lose a db or 2 its the high end that suffers and its noticeable. 3db is a LOT . Also I have ran tone sweeps with individual pink noise tones and recorded them on paper to see where the panel is loosing SPL. Test tones,white and pink noise are a valuable tools along with a Radio Shack SPL meter.

C.A.P said:

I have never seen both go equally If they did who cares , turn it up a notch

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Alright for you CLS owners, but for the rest of us, the woofer would then drown out the panel creating gross imbalance.

Even with the CLS, the high frequencies go first and you'll end up with completely unlistenable response.., even if the panels are identical dB.

Amey01 & CAP - you guys have raised pretty much all the issues I was thinking of - as I said - it is a difficult thing to do well using one solution for all models.

At the prices the US guys pay for replacement panels, they must be sold at pretty much cost price, so I doubt replacement sales is a money spinner for ML. But customer satisfaction always will be

Then again equipping a speaker with a built-in "it's broken" detector - is that easy to market? It pretty much says it's going to wear out up front. However, on balance I think in the long run it IS the better of two evils.