Breaking in time

[audiogeek1007]

I just wanted to share my experience with my Martin Logan Vantages. I had been using Infinity Intermezzos 4.1 and sold them off to make room for my new Vantages.

Ive had the Vantages for three weeks now. The honest truth is that I have been very dissappointed with the sound. I have been playing with the positioning, spacing, and toeing in. These are the hardest speakers I have ever had to dial in. The slightest move left or right as well as the rake and distance from the wall can make huge differences. I live alone so it has been a constant get up ...nudge here.. sit down...nope thats worse...get up nudge there...sit down...nope..get back up...stand up...sit down...fight...fight...fight. It is not the easiest thing to invite a friend over for an exciting night or speaker movement and critical listening..."Dude you didnt have any plans tonite... you want to come over and move my speakers for me an inch at a time? Oh you have to give your Grandma a sponge bath...I understand. Oh you have to rearrange your sock drawer...I understand. The dodgeball championship is on ESPN 8 The Ocho. Yep cant miss that one."

To complicate the matters I live in a High Rise apartment building and have not been able to play my speakers at loud volumes for extended periods of time to break them in...though when I first got them I did bribe my neighbors on both sides that from 8am til 7pm that there will be music coming from my apartment...It is amazing what you can accomplish with a $100 bottle of Merlot to prevent eviction.

Now before you all start acusing me of being a Divo and having an "OVERTURE" Let me tell you what happened today when i got home.

The last 48 hours straight I have been playing the Crystal Method's "Vegas" to try to loosen up the pannel as the speakers have sounded tighter than a...well use your imagination.

I got home from work and put in my evaluation song..."What a fabulous room...Are all these your guitars" You know what...one of My turns came on. It was there...the three dimensional sound, the openess, the detail, and a smile from ear to ear. Now of course I let the CD keep playing until I was comfortably numb.

I then put in Evanescence "My Immortal" her voice..that piano it was alive, it was real.

I finished up with the White Stripes..."I just dont know what to do with myself" If you own this disc listen to Meg's cymbal it just floats in the air and you can hear every ripple of the decay from it.

Three weeks for break in. What has been your experience with the new pannels? How hard has it been to position them?

I am still tweaking them to squeeze every last drop of detail out of them.

Just thought I would share my experience.

I will post pictures tomorrow as I left my camera at work.

Jeff

Martin Logan Vantage
Infinity Intermezzo 3.5c
Infinity Intermezzo 2.6
NAD M15
NAD M25
Denon DVD2900 (to be replaced by MAC MVP861 if it doesn't sell)
Monster HTPS7000SS
Monster AVS2000SS
Monster M1000 interconnects
Monster M2.4 speaker cables

 

[TomDac]

hey Jeff,

Not sure about panel break-in, but getting them positioned correctly can be tedious, but well worth the effort.

You know they're dialed in when they totally disappear and you can't tell where the music is coming from.

I love that!!

Good luck and welcome aboard.

Tom.

 

[Tiberium]

audiogeek1007 do you have any room treatments?

 

[Reverb2009]

The new speakers are very hard to position, but well worth it in the end. My experience on brake in times has been they start sounding good at around 100 hours of playtime and sound there best after about 300 hours. Acoustic treatment will make a world of difference, Martin Logan ESL speaker interact with their environment, so adding some diffusion panels on the wall behind the panels should tighten up the sound considerably.

 

[twich54]

Jeff, Tom and Joe are correct. patience, patience and more patience. Having owned Maggie's for twenty years prior I had already graduated from "di-pole speaker placement 101", so my sweet spot set-up was rather easy, and yes as Joe says somewhere between 100-300 hrs you will get the ahhhhhhhhhh
feeling !!!

 

[edwinr]

Jeff, you need to give the Vantages MUCH more break in time before you start the final tweaks. It's only just now - after a couple of weeks of playing lots of music that my ML's are starting to lossen up. The problem is, that if you're trying to tweak for ultimate sound now, you just finish that 'final' positioning, then the sound changes slightly as the Vantages break in further. The result? You need another reposition. It's like a dog chasing it's tail...

 

[Robin]

Patience has paid off...

Jeff,


Sounds like you are a true ML speaker owner now. You survived your trial by fire and your ears are now grateful. It is the ML secret initiation we never tell anyone about... Well, you came through in fine style. Now that we are your sisters and brothers now... OK so now it's time for you to learn the secret hand shake and then take blood oath. Just kidding...
Welcome to the ML Club!

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Jeff,
What a great name. LOL

I agree with all the advice and the only I would add since I too live alone and have not sufficiently bribed my dog to help move speakers when I needed it, was to take measurements. I measure the "angle" from the inside edge of the panel to the rear wall and the same for the outside edge and wrote it down. This helped when I needed to move an inch or so and "dial-in" the sweet spot either way and it will not drive you nuts.

Jeff

 

[roberto]

Jeff,
What a great name. LOL

I agree with all the advice and the only I would add since I too live alone and have not sufficiently bribed my dog to help move speakers when I needed it, was to take measurements. I measure the "angle" from the inside edge of the panel to the rear wall and the same for the outside edge and wrote it down. This helped when I needed to move an inch or so and "dial-in" the sweet spot either way and it will not drive you nuts.

Jeff

Hola to both Jeffs. We all are in the same boat. What I used to mark my speaker´s position, masking tape on the floor, and wrote at it the type of music that sounded best at that particular position. When I needed to go back, was easier because I had the exact position that I had before. Sometimes, as I recall, one inch made a difference. Then I realized that in any position the sound was not bad, only different, me with the stage. Then I choosed where I wanted to be seated and that was it. I stop to move them around and started to enjoy the musicians and the super great scenario that I got. IMHO, Martin Logan is one of the few speakers that offers you this. It is scenario...you can get the best seat always. But even at the best seat, you never have all. Think about this. The most important is that with ML, we get the right size of the instruments and the right tonal balance. Strings and winds are very natural, and the voices are...mmmmm...delicious, they truly breathe...and warm. The cello is robust at the lows and mellow all the instrument. ML is very different than your Infinities, very. The transparency of all music, and the performance of the musican in front of you is almost live performance. Listen to a piano solo, or just a classical guitar...yes, my dear friends, I do love ML sound!...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[Joey_V]

Worst thing about Logans... positioning and getting it correct and symmetrical. Each nudge is enough to drive you and me mad with regards to imaging and focus.

I just moved to a new place and I finally have some breathing room.... my Summits are in the living room and I have gotten an improvement in overall sound just by pure positioning alterations (from my old setup in a dormroom).

All I can say is that play with it but make sure to have tape with you to mark the floor and some measuring tape to make sure the speakers are equidistant from each other, you, and the wall.

It takes me about a week to get it right... but the rewards are worth it.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Patience needed

For what its worth, I've had my Summits for about 7 months now with lots of playing time on them. My sense is that they finally FULLY broke in about a month or so ago.

GG

 

[jfm]

Congratulations on your new speakers!

I am still tweaking them to squeeze every last drop of detail out of them.

Not to worry - that particular activity never ends...
So, repeat after me: "I'm going to enjoy the process."

 

[Transparent]

Congratulations on your new speakers!



Not to worry - that particular activity never ends...
So, repeat after me: "I'm going to enjoy the process."

I'm going to enjoy the process
I'm going to enjoy the process
I'm going to enjoy the process
I'm going to enjoy the process
I'm going to enjoy the process
I am going to enjoy the process
I am going to enjoy the process
I am going to enjoy the process
I am going to ...sleep....