Bohlender compared to ML

[rynopr]

Has anyone heard a Bohlender and Graebner 520i compared to any ML?

 

[Reverb2009]

Hi there Rynopr,

Whats up?

I see your selling all your Mrtin Logan's, Were you unhappy with your system?

 

[rynopr]

Well,

I can tell you my source was crap. I believe that was one of my biggest problems. I need low volume resolution and detail--8 month old twins & 3 year old. I wasn't getting and wasn't going to get that with my B&K 507 AVR as a pre/pro.
I know I wasn't using a high end pre and amp, but I couldn't believe we still had a hard time distinguishing dialog from the center I don't think that should have still been an issue even at the price range of my equipment.
Also, the narrow sweet spot was starting to bother me. For music, I can understand, but not for movies.
If the Vignette would have been available at the time I was putting my system together, I probably wouldn't have spent so much for the rears and spent more up front on seperates.
I am basically going to start from scratch, and didn't want to completely loose all of my money before all the new lines come out. I felt now was the time to unload.
We are planning to move a few hours north in about a year, and figured I wouldn't lug all the existing equipment with us if I am going to get new anyway.
If I go with ML again which I probably will, I will shoot for the Vantage. There is no way the Ascenti was going to pass inspection even if I had wanted it. I think the Vantage will do the trick as far as size and performance for wife factor.

I think this about sums it up.

 

[Reverb2009]

Well I am sorry to here that you were unhappy, I agree that the B&K was not the right choice for you. I had a B&K 125.5 amp for a wile and loved its bass performance but hated its mid range (very digital sounding). As for the hard to hear Theater “i”, I blame that on the crappy low voltage power supply (I hate that damn thing). I felt that same as you did about my theater (non “i”) center channel, the soundstage was shallow, and hard to hear the dialog sounded thin, it was like the woofers over powered the panel. When I changed my power cord out, all that when away, the integration between the woofers and panel became much more seamless, but for you theater “i” guys you are stuck with that POS power supply so changing out the power cord is not an option.

If you do go for the vantage I think you will be more then happy, I finally got to listen to a pair of vantage at my local tweeter this past weekend, and loved them! I found their soundstage to be just as wide as my ascents, and had a sound that that was very close to the summit, they were amazing. I could say without a doubt I could sell my ascents and go for the vantages and not miss the larger panels. The Xstat technology is the real deal.

 

[rynopr]

My audiophile buddy and I went to Sound Advice(Tweeter) tonight. We listened to the Vantages powered by the Krell integrated amp and Krell SACD player. I'm not crazy about Krell. The bass seemed improved over my current, but it wasn't as much as I thought it would be. Soundstage was improved over my current as well. The guy didn't know what the dial on the back was for. Is it a crossover or volume for the bass? I didn't mess with it. You would think they would know. Especially, since it is there best speaker in the store. We listened to a $4000 pair of Focals. Pleasant at first, but them wore on me very quickly--absolutely no bass and light as a feather. In the same room with the same receiver, we listened to their high end Polk at $2500 and then finally the Clarity. I feel the Clarity was the best of the 3, but I may be partial.
I went to another HIFI across the street and listened to the B&W 803D powered by some 1200 watt Mccintosh mono amps and $10000 or 15 preamp and CD player combined. That seemed worth listening to. However, for the money not worth it in my opion. They have had Paradigm Signature 8s and they said they couldn't compare to the B&Ws.
I have already seen used Summits for $6-7000. I'm willing to bet with some decent gear you could best the B&W/MccIntosh combo at a fraction of the price.

I'd like to hear what Bohlender and Graebner 520is sound like. I would also like to hear the new high end Mirage's that are coming out. I'm interested in a German company called Elac and my friend continues to push VMPS.

Who knows?

 

[Reverb2009]

That knob on the back of the vantage is for tuning the bass to your room. Turning the knob will adjust the bass at the 35Hz range by +/- 10db.

I have heard Elac and was very impressed by there speakers, only thing I noticed was for me the transition from woofer too ribbon tweeter was very apparent.

 

[lugano]

I'm interested in a German company called Elac and my friend continues to push VMPS.

Rynopr, you might also consider another german company which maintains itself at place 1 in all the german reviews, when it comes to Home theater: Teufel loudspeakers. Their THX systems are really very good. (www.teufel.de) The website is only in german, but you can use Altavista's web page translation. They only sell direct.

 

[rynopr]

I notice that transition with all speakers now. As good as my friends VMPS are, I notice that transition. Being use to my MLs it bugs me, I don't care for it. The MLs are so seamless. I'm glad you said that about Elacs. It gives me one less option. That dispersion tweeter on the Mirage is probably too gimicky too. I like the idea of it though.
Honestly, I was having a harder time picking it out with the B&Ws I heard last night.

 

[rynopr]

Joe,

You have a D1--right? I didn't realize, but the dealer with the B&W was an Anthem dealer. He tried to tell me that the sound of the D2 was better than that of the D1. I am very skeptical. Do you buy that? I didn't think there was anything different on the sound end.

 

[TomDac]

Still nobody with Bohlender experience? I'm interested to hear some feedback because they look interesting.

 

[Reverb2009]

I notice that transition with all speakers now. As good as my friends VMPS are, I notice that transition. Being use to my MLs it bugs me, I don't care for it. The MLs are so seamless. I'm glad you said that about Elacs. It gives me one less option. That dispersion tweeter on the Mirage is probably too gimicky too. I like the idea of it though.
Honestly, I was having a harder time picking it out with the B&Ws I heard last night.

What I mean is the two (woofer, ribbon) sounded the same, it’s just that the midrange woofer was more unfocused then the ribbon was. I could tell when the ribbon kicked in because the image would snap in between the two speakers. If some one was talking normally it would be unfocused and laid back but if the person screamed it would snap the image dead center. A very cool effect but I don’t know if I would want to live with it.

Joe,

You have a D1--right? I didn't realize, but the dealer with the B&W was an Anthem dealer. He tried to tell me that the sound of the D2 was better than that of the D1. I am very skeptical. Do you buy that? I didn't think there was anything different on the sound end.

Yes that’s correct I have a Statement D1.

Your dealer is smoking crack. The audio portion of the D2 is the same as the D1, its unchanged. What the D2 adds is 4 HDMI (in) ports and one out, with a video scalier using the Gennum chip. This is the same chip used in the $4500 Crystallio II video processor for far less of a price. The D2 does have HDCP on the HDMI ports so you are ready for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray if you’re thinking about upgrading to one of the new formats. The D2 can’t process the new Dolby true/DTS-HD audio formats but if you buy a player with the decoding chips you can send out a PCM audio single over HDMI to the D2 for playback, if your TV is a 720p TV the D2’s scalier can down convert the 1080 single to 720 and output it to your TV’s native resolution.

Its an all in one wonder box, is what it is.


Also
Rumor has it there will be an upgrade for the D1/D2 that adds auto room EQ.

 

[attyonline]

If the dealer is smoking crack, you're likely to get some great deals if your timing is right and you have cash.

 

[rynopr]

I was able to audition B&Gs Radia 520i--MSRP $4000. They were being run by arcam equipment. They sounded really good. You have to run a sub with 'em, or your bottom is almost non existent. They are definitely not a full range speaker--no surprise. They were rich sounding. There was some sort of break up on the high notes that I didn't care for--amp issue? I'm not sure what was causing it, or if it was abnormal? I think they are a little more laid back than MLs. I think you are somewhat closer to the stage with ML. I think the panel was smoother on the Vantage than all the "ribbons" on the BGs.