hello

[russtri]

Hi gang, new to the ML speaker ownership. I found a pair of ML Sequel II's on Ebay for 500.00. Bought them without ever hearing them for the reputation was good. I find the sound to be nice but how many watts does it take to get these honeys up to concert sound. I am currently running 275 watts into 8 ohms into them. My old Boston A-400's kicked out more sound then these do. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks

 

[eknuds01]

:welcome:

Be sure to post some pictures of your set up in the members section of the forum.

As far as watts go...well it ML speakers are really current hungry (the panels anyway). Thus some 'low' power amps might actually sound better and even play louder than some high(er) wattage amps.

For example, I'd much rather take a Plinius amp over any integrated amp at Best Buy or Circuit City. The quality in the Plinny is far superior.

Erik

 

[twich54]

I'd much rather take a Plinius amp over any integrated amp at Best Buy or Circuit City. The quality in the Plinny is far superior.

Erik

K-Mart is having "Blue Light" specials on Plinius tomorrow !!

 

[Rich]

Hi and welcome to the club. As Erik pointed out above, a high current amplifier is more important for electrostatic speakers than a high wattage amplifier. This is because the impedance load to the amplifier drops down below two ohms at the high frequencies with these speakers, which is a difficult load for most amps to drive.

One thing to look for is an amplifier that doubles its wattage with a halving of impedance. In other words an amp that puts out 200 wpc into 8 ohms should be able to put 400 wpc into 4 ohms (and if it is really heavy duty, 800 wpc into 2 ohms!). This is one indicator of a high current amplifier.

What amp are you currently using? Assuming quality amplification, 275 wpc into 8 ohms should be fine to drive your speakers to ear-splitting levels.

Another possibility is that your panels are old and need replacing. Sounds like you got a heck of a deal on them. Do you know the age of the panels and their history of use (humidity, smoke and other factors can shorten the life span of the panels).

Another factor to consider is the possibility of bi-amping (I assume the sequel II's are bi-ampable). This way you can dedicate an amp to woofer duty and free the other amp to just run the panel. Lots of info. on this site, so take your time to read through the old threads.

 

[twich54]

K-Mart is having "Blue Light" specials on Plinius tomorrow !!

I thought Erik would have bit on this but I guess he's laying low !

Anyways, russtri, welcome ! Erik and Rich make good valid points.

Another observation of mine is that some people when coming from dynamic/conventional speakers over to Logans can be somewhat "underwhelmed" initially.

It's someting like the loudness/compression issues going on in the recording industry, whereby one has a pair of relatively effecient speakerrs easily driven by a receiver to loud levels and the mind becomes 'tricked' into equating loudness with overall quality of sound.

Another thing with our Logans is 'set-up', patience and persistence will in the end, yield you with a high degree of musical pleasure !

 

[eknuds01]

K-Mart is having "Blue Light" specials on Plinius tomorrow !!

I wish.

I didn't mean to belittle your amp, Dave if you are implying that Plinius amps are sold at 'lower end' stores such as K-mart. It was just an example comparing a quality, high current design to the mass marketed amps that may not work all that well with our speakers.

 

[twich54]

I wish.

I didn't mean to belittle your amp, Dave if you are implying that Plinius amps are sold at 'lower end' stores such as K-mart. It was just an example comparing a quality, high current design to the mass marketed amps that may not work all that well with our speakers.

Erik....you know better than that ! I was merely "busting your stones" !!

 

[DTB300]

I didn't mean to belittle your amp, Dave if you are implying that Plinius amps are sold at 'lower end' stores such as K-mart.

Since our amp is below that 200 watt rated level, it should probably be sold at K-Mart as it just does not stack up to requirements... :devil: Sure.....

Back to the OP question...You mention the amount of sound kicked out....one has to make sure the loudness is clean loudness and not just loudness. For example, in a shop many years ago with McIntosh speakers with their 500 watt amp (had meters on it). Meters were jumping up right near the 500 watt mark and the system was just rocking big time. After the owner shut it down another person in the room with us asked if it could play any louder as it wasn't really that loud We just started to laugh...

ML speakers are quality over quantity, but they can play fairly loud...just depends on what you define as loud.

 

[Dreamer]

I find the sound to be nice but how many watts does it take to get these honeys up to concert sound. I am currently running 275 watts into 8 ohms into them. My old Boston A-400's kicked out more sound then these do. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks

Welcome to the forum. That is a great deal you got on those Sequels. I have a pair of the original Sequels, and they still are performing wonderfully after all these years...

As far as "concert volumes" I suppose it depends on what you mean by that. If you are talking about a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra, or Diana Krall, any decent amp (and by decent, I mean something that you probably DIDN'T buy at a big chain store) rated for 1-200 WPC into 8ohms should be sufficient.

Remember though, that your Sequels are actually a 4-ohm speaker, and therefore they will present a VERY difficult load to many amps. Pretty much all the "consumer" brands will crap their pants when asked to drive this load to any volume. You need something high-quality and high-current like Sunfire, Plinius, Bryston, Krell, Carver, Monarch, or some such brand to get the best out of your Martin Logans.

If you are talking about getting that sort of ear-ringing slam and punch that you'd experience at a heavy metal rock concert, then maybe you should go back to your Bostons... Electrostatics aren't generally designed to give you that sort of "impress your buddies" bass slam. You CAN get it, with REALLY big amps and maybe the addition of a Subwoofer, but to be honest, if what you want is 120dB+ rock-concert ear-ringing volumes, then I'd suggest saving your money and getting some Cerwin Vegas and a couple of Crown or QSC Amps. The money you save on gear can be put toward getting some really awesome concert t-shirts and a couple cases of Bud for the groupies...

--Richard