How are the Clarity vs Mosaic?

[Joey_V]

Powered by a Rotel RB1070, how are the Clarity vs Mosaic? Are they a considerable upgrade from the Mosaic?

The reason I ask is not that I am dissatisfied with the Mosaic.. I am thrilled by them... but because I am given the option of buying the Clarity for $1600.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Joey

 

[Reverb2009]

I cant speaker for the Rotel because I have never heard one, but the clarity’s are very nice speakers. There sweet spot is a little narrow but you do get the NAC driver (natural ambient compensation) that will help if you don’t find it distracting. I would defiantly say they are a step up from the Mosaics; you get a taste of electrostatic magic with ATF technology, now step up and get the real thing.

Go for’um let us know what you think.

 

[roberto]

I cant speaker for the Rotel because I have never heard one, but the clarity’s are very nice speakers. There sweet spot is a little narrow but you do get the NAC driver (natural ambient compensation) that will help if you don’t find it distracting. I would defiantly say they are a step up from the Mosaics; you get a taste of electrostatic magic with ATF technology, now step up and get the real thing.

Go for’um let us know what you think.

Hola...the Claritys are better than the Mosaic, IMHO.
They are faster and cleaner. Also they are electrostatic and the Mosac are not. But Mosaic tech. is very close. It depends a lot of the kind of electronics that you are going to use to drive them...I think that you will love them as you do to your Mosaics...yes, they are one step ahead of your Mosaics, but they will demant to you much better electronics...they will show them to you!...happy listening and trust your ears!
Roberto.

 

[Spike]

Danger! Beware of slippery slope!!

The reason I ask is not that I am dissatisfied with the Mosaic.. I am thrilled by them... but because I am given the option of buying the Clarity for $1600.

That sounds way too familiar! Let's see where I heard that line from... "It's not that I'm dissatisfied with my Porsche, but I am given a chance of scoring a...Ferrari for cheap!" Hahaha.
Back to the MLs, the Clarity's electrostatic panels are much better than the "advanced thin-film" implementation of the Mosaic. I'd also add "midrange magic" in addition to Roberto's "faster & cleaner" description. This "magic" comes from having only 1 panel handling everything from 450hz up to 20khz, whereas the Mosaic is a 3-way implementation with crossover frequencies at 450hz & 3200hz, smack in the middle of the vocal range. Basically, with the Claritys, there is no crossover electronics nor overlapping frequencies to smear the midrange. The drawback is that the 'stats panels is quite revealing and you'll come to realize that you'll want to get more out of the stats by...upgrading the upstream electronics, starting with amplifiers. And that's where the vicious cycle starts: new MLs to better electronics to...BIGGER MLs to (even) better electronics... Hmm, that upgraditis sounds familiar. Oh yeah, that was MY experience with the ML ReQuests. Ouch!

Spike

 

[Muad'Dib]

Personally I'd wait til you can swing for a bigger upgrade. I've never heard the clarities, but other Logan's with larger panels can be had for just a couple hundred bucks more on Audiogon. Seems like a reasonable philosophy to me

-D

 

[Joey_V]

I get mixed reviews regarding the Clarity vs Mosaic. Some say they prefer the Mosaic and some say they prefer the Clarity.

I guess I will have to bring my Rotel and GS1 preamp to Tweeter and audition the Clarity myself. I dont like auditioning the Clarity or any ML on receiver power since they are insufficient in providing the needed current.

The cool thing about the Clarity is that the panels are tall enough that they would easily go over my computer desk for nearfield listening. The Mosaics need some sort of a 4-6 inch platform... I havent found one yet. Maybe a Marble block or something.

Joey

 

[DTB300]

I guess I will have to bring my Rotel and GS1 preamp to Tweeter and audition the Clarity myself.

Tweeter has a 30 day full money back return policy. Why don't you just bring them home to audition instead of having to dismantle and lug your equipment there?

Dan

 

[Reverb2009]

Tweeter has a 30 day full money back return policy. Why don't you just bring them home to audition instead of having to dismantle and lug your equipment there?

Dan

Tweeter also has a one-year upgrade policy. If you get the Clarity’s or what ever now you have a year from the purchase date to upgrade. They will give you the full price you paid to put towards another pair of speakers like say the Vantage or Summit.

 

[Joey_V]

Tweeter also has a one-year upgrade policy. If you get the Clarity’s or what ever now you have a year from the purchase date to upgrade. They will give you the full price you paid to put towards another pair of speakers like say the Vantage or Summit.

Only problem is that the Claritys that I would buy wouldnt be from Tweeter but from audiogon.

I could probably lug my equipment to Tweeter - seeing that they dont have any more Mosaics - but it would be odd if I said at the end of the audition.. here you can have your Mosaics back. They would be angry to say the least.

I think I'll drag my Rotel and GS-1 to Tweeter and see what the Claritys can do with my setup. I'll bring the same demo cd that I always use, too.

I'll have to somehow justify spending an extra $500. Lets see how well this battle goes between my audio-innerself and my bankbook.

 

[Joey_V]

Tweeter has a 30 day full money back return policy. Why don't you just bring them home to audition instead of having to dismantle and lug your equipment there?

Dan

I could do that too.. probably the best idea but also the most hassle since I would have to find a way to sneak the Claritys in and not having my parents notice. Even at 23, they still give me beef about my spending habits. I dont blame them though.. sometimes I think I'm crazy.

If it were schooltime and I were back at my apartment, it would be no problem... alas, it's summer and I'm home with the 'rents.

 

[Reverb2009]

I could do that too.. probably the best idea but also the most hassle since I would have to find a way to sneak the Claritys in and not having my parents notice. Even at 23, they still give me beef about my spending habits. I dont blame them though.. sometimes I think I'm crazy.

If it were schooltime and I were back at my apartment, it would be no problem... alas, it's summer and I'm home with the 'rents.

Welcome to the club. Mine found out how much I have in my system and went threw the roof. If I try and change something it has to be with out them knowing about it or I get the lecture, your system is great leave it alone.

 

[MarkNewbie]

Welcome to the club. Mine found out how much I have in my system and went threw the roof. If I try and change something it has to be with out them knowing about it or I get the lecture, your system is great leave it alone.

It is much, much worse when your older and giving that lecture to YOURSELF!

 

[taylode]

Except "self" doesn't usually listen very well!

Dennis

 

[Neshamah]

I have to admit that I've heard the Clarity's only at the showroom -- my Mosaics are here in my home, with my equipment, my interconnects, my speaker cables, etc. At this point, I much prefer my Mosaics.

Now, I know everyone is going to say that "a bird in the hand . . . " and so on, but I'm being totally honest here. I happen to like the ATF transducer, coupled with the aluminum woofers on BOTH the Mosaics and the Fresco -- the sound is so much better than any pure "cone" speaker can produce -- there's NO DOUBT they are Martin Logans.

All I'm trying to say is that some of us (me ? ) are completely sold on the Mosaics, and aren't planning on upgrading anytime soon. Now, I will be upgrading my DVD player, my subwoofers (I want a Depth), and I want to get a HDTV DVR for my satellite, instead of the one I have now.

I hope I haven't come off as sounding "strident" or anything. I just happen to love my Mosaics and am not ready to part with them anytime soon.

Peace,

Neshamah (Steve)

 

[MarkNewbie]

Except "self" doesn't usually listen very well!

Dennis

Good Point!

I hope I haven't come off as sounding "strident" or anything. I just happen to love my Mosaics and am not ready to part with them anytime soon.

As long as your happy, what else matters Steve? Enjoy them!

 

[risabet]

I auditioned both. . .

and bought the Clarity's. Believe me, I would have loved to prefer the Mosaics but the Clarity's smoked them. For $1600 I'd seriously consider buying another pr. and storing them for the rear channel in the future surround system.

 

[Spike]

System synergy?

I have to admit that I've heard the Clarity's only at the showroom -- my Mosaics are here in my home, with my equipment, my interconnects, my speaker cables, etc. At this point, I much prefer my Mosaics.

I wonder how much of the Clarity's "flaws" were due to improper set-up by the showroom. In my experiences over the last 12 years of countless auditioning of Logans, there were only about 3 proper set-ups that brought out the best of the entire system as a whole. The Logans are very intolerant of any flaws in the upstream electronics as well as being very finicky about positioning and they will put these flaws on-stage for everyone to take notice. The problem here is that we fault the Logans (being the messenger in this case) and not the source of the problem, which is improper synergy of the entire system.
The point here is that one needs to consider the entire system as a whole and not just one component in a system setting. For example, my electronic system is optimized for my ReQuests and it may very well be the case that another set of great speakers heard at the showroom will sound terrible in my system due to the fact that the synergy is broken. Not too many showroom will go that extra mile to get the entire system set up properly for an audition.

Just my 2 cents...

Spike

 

[Daryl Zero]

At $1600, it is an easy choice. The Claritys are better. I didn't think they were $1,000 better but at about the same price, not much of a debate.

 

[Joey_V]

At $1600, it is an easy choice. The Claritys are better. I didn't think they were $1,000 better but at about the same price, not much of a debate.

There's still debate since I got my Mosaics for only 1096$.

I'm going to try and demo the Claritys tomorrow and see if I can justify the price difference.

 

[Joey_V]

I went to Tweeter today and I brought my Mosaics and my Rotel/GS-1 combo to properly compare with the Claritys. I tried to get the positioning right and spaced equally for both speakers.

Observations:
- Clarity definitely had a little more air than the Mosaics, sounded slightly laidback in comparison to the Mosaics, and had quite a wide soundstage (about the same as the Mosaics).
- Vocals were very good on both and midrange were very balanced and uncompressed on the two also. Bass was very very similar on the two.
- Claritys, being electrostats, had no problem with where my ears were located vertically... meaning that if I had these for my computer setup, it wouldnt matter how high my chair has me sitting since the soundstage would be on level with my ears (and not too low as I am experiencing with my Mosaics at my PC sitting position).

In the end, I felt that the Claritys had slightly more air between instruments and is easier with the vertical positioning of my ears at sitting position. However, I felt that the Mosaics edged them, in my opinion, in terms of what I call PRAT. It just had more emotion to it. Mosaics have better impact and better musicality relative to the Clarity. The Clarity, I felt, didnt involve me as much as the Mosaics did. I dont know what was missing. Details were oozing out, but something was missing I thought.

I switched to the Aeons and whatever I was missing was immediately found. There was emotion in the notes... I now understand why some feel that the Mosaics lie between the Clarity and the Aeons.

These were all my impressions and is my opinion. I'm sure system synergy plays a role in this somewhere so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

I'm sure someone finds the otherway true... that the Clarity is more musical than the Mosaics. We all have different ears. Both are very good speakers and have characteristics going for both of them that appeal to different buyers.

I will keep my Mosaics... I just need to raise it in height a few inches for nearfield PC listening. I'll go look for some kind of granite or rock platforms at my hardware store (home depot/lowes).