just began my ML journey, need lots of help

[obie libbey]

I saw a pair of ML speakers for the first time in a pawn shop while visitind in Florida. They are Aerius 1's. Awesome looking speakers. Went online to see what they were all about,(many great reviews), so I went back and bought them. $350 each and they look brand new. From what I can tell a good buy at that price. I plan to add a ML center theater andtwo rear and possibly two wall speakers to this. I need suggestions on what amp s to consider that will do well for both music and theater. Can anyone help and give both new and used suggestions? Also best choices for $1500 at the low end and about $3800 at the high end. I have read that the Aerius 1's will only do their best with amps having certain qualities.("very high damping factor, very stable with low impedence, less than 2 ohms,and capable of high voltage output,etc.)I just realized that I jumped right into my questions. Maybe the introductory page is not the best place for this. I guess I am just excited to learn and get some help Thanks for anything you might be able to offer as advice. Obie Libbey

 

[squasher100]

I saw a pair of ML speakers for the first time in a pawn shop while visitind in Florida. They are Aerius 1's. Awesome looking speakers. Went online to see what they were all about,(many great reviews), so I went back and bought them. $350 each and they look brand new. From what I can tell a good buy at that price. I plan to add a ML center theater andtwo rear and possibly two wall speakers to this. I need suggestions on what amp s to consider that will do well for both music and theater. Can anyone help and give both new and used suggestions? Also best choices for $1500 at the low end and about $3800 at the high end. I have read that the Aerius 1's will only do their best with amps having certain qualities.("very high damping factor, very stable with low impedence, less than 2 ohms,and capable of high voltage output,etc.)I just realized that I jumped right into my questions. Maybe the introductory page is not the best place for this. I guess I am just excited to learn and get some help Thanks for anything you might be able to offer as advice. Obie Libbey

Welcome to the Martin Logan fan club! I used to have a pair of Aerius i speakers and they are an excellent value for the money (especially what you paid for them). Regarding amps, I would look at audiogon or ebay for a nice used Krell amp. Krell amps are built like a tank and sound very nice with MLs. The model would depend on number of channels and how much you want to spend. I have a Krell TAS (theater amplifier standard) amp for my 5 channel home theater set up and it sounds really nice. A lot of other folks here seem to like McIntosh amps. Btw, don't forget to get a good processor for your set up.

Happy hunting!

 

[squasher100]

Here is an ebay link to someone selling a Krell TAS amp:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Krell-Home-Thea...096?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0ad69790

Have no idea of what condition it is, but it gives you a general sense of pricing.

 

[MOON]

A great amp for Martin Logans is a Simaudio MOON W-5 amp.I used this both with my former Aerius i's and now Oddysey's. There is an older and new version of this amp. The newer one is the one to get due to improvements.The newer version says MOON on the front and has silver side handles as pictured in my system photo's.

The older model which you shouldn't get looks the same except it had an oval gold name plate on the front that says celeste and the side handles are black.This amp went for $7300 before being discontined and you can get it at www.audiogon.com for around $2200 to $2400

I have kept this same amp through 3 pre amp changes and 3 cd player changes, that's how much I like it but will evently up grade to Simaudio Evolution mono's.

The W-5 was rated as class A in Stereophile every year and had the little $$ signs beside it signifying that it performed way beyond it's price point. If you go to www.simaudio.com , you can find all sorts of reviews on this amp at their site or just google it.

Currently there is the newest version of this amp on audiogon, it's now called a W 5.3 for an asking price of $2795 and the older version for a firm price of $1795. The older version was class A streophile as well. I would however try to stretch for the new current production model or the one I own.

Hope this helps,
Greg

 

[TomD]

Welcome Obie - nice purchase, i love a bargain.

In addition to Greg's fine advice, i want to give a heads-up to Sunfire. I was in a situation not unlike yourself and needed an amp when i discovered how well received the Sunfire was by members of this forum.

The Sunfire is a high current amp, which is recommended for these speakers, and is not overly priced. It runs cool, which is a feature that i like. However, it is not in the category of a class A amp (needless to say) and may have limitations of which are beyond my limited experience. Just saying, there are much better amps out there but for the money, the Sunfire packs a serious wallop.

You can get them configured for five or seven speakers, great for HT. This also makes for a good bi-amping opportunity, provided the Aerius can be bi-amped.

I like mine. The sound is clear and the voicing distinguished with no harshness. There is ample power regardless of the volume.

Best of luck in your search, and congrats on such a fine purchase.