Not Happy With 15As

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TiBoneFramer

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Just yesterday I took the day off to help my local audio salesman deliver the 15As. To his benefit, he delivered them one at a time in the back of his SUV, and we moved these beasts into the basement. Now, I need to reconfigure somethings, and with a preplanned movie night coming up, I accepted that, while I can have them from now, they will nit be set up to the end of the month.

Ok, happier with than without.

Ok, since I'm home, let me unbox them. The box needs to go.

Ok, the white foam too.

Ok, let me just take a look....



Ok, let me just test them.
So I did. I put the, 5' apart center the center, in the middle of the room. I don't have speaker cable long enough...him...I'll use some 12awg romax. Now what am I going to play on them? I'm a HOME THEATER ONLY guy, but let me slap on a song or two. From my computer, no good DAC or anything, just a noisy laptop.

That was last night. I stayed up WAY too late, got up WAY too early. And, with basically no hours on them, and a garbage support setup....I can conclude I AM. NOT. HAPPY.

I am ecstatic!!!

Problem is...I think I'm being sucked into being a 2ch guy. NO!!!!! This is addicting.....
 
I too was amazed at the sound right out of the box!

But.

There will be some sounds which won't be at their best until well over a hundred hours of spirited listening levels.

It's nice to hear from another satisfied customer! Enjoy!
 
If you want to enjoy 2-channel music especially using computer as your source, buy a DAC. Even a reasonably priced one like an SMSL M400 sounds absolutely amazing.
 
I too was amazed at the sound right out of the box!

But.

There will be some sounds which won't be at their best until well over a hundred hours of spirited listening levels.

It's nice to hear from another satisfied customer! Enjoy!
Honestly I think the entire Masterpiece series is amazing. ML really outdid themselves with this lineup. BUT I recently listened to the new Motion XT F100s and F200s and WOW....they sound phenomenal.
 
Different strokes, I guess. I myself can't imagine being a "home theater only guy" and dropping that kind of money on speakers. But then, since music is one of my greatest passions in life, I can't imagine being a home theater only guy in any case. But I'm happy to see you sucked down the rabbit hole. Maybe you'll discover the joy of music in your own way.

You didn't just plug your noisy laptop directly from the headphone jack to your a/v receiver, did you? Any a/v receiver or proc made in the last 20 years or so can extract digital audio from HDMI (unless the laptop is too old for HDMI). But a decent external DAC will work wonders. I suggest doing that upgrade *before* the 12 gauge Romex speaker cables. That won't make as much difference as many people claim.
 
Different strokes, I guess. I myself can't imagine being a "home theater only guy" and dropping that kind of money on speakers. But then, since music is one of my greatest passions in life, I can't imagine being a home theater only guy in any case. But I'm happy to see you sucked down the rabbit hole. Maybe you'll discover the joy of music in your own way.

You didn't just plug your noisy laptop directly from the headphone jack to your a/v receiver, did you? Any a/v receiver or proc made in the last 20 years or so can extract digital audio from HDMI (unless the laptop is too old for HDMI). But a decent external DAC will work wonders. I suggest doing that upgrade *before* the 12 gauge Romex speaker cables. That won't make as much difference as many people claim.
I went from using a Sonos to stream and my Marantz receiver's DAC, to using the Lumin D2. WOW what a difference!
 
I love the 15A’s. After a couple hundred hours of good listening volumes I can say they get way better. Enjoy!
 
I have excellent results using a small, lightweight plastic clamp that fit onto WBT terminals
at about half way around (12 and 6, or 3 and 9 o'clock). This also works well on the
terminals on my amplifier.

I use Silversmith Fidelium cables on Expression ESL 13a.

Tighter, more focused sound, with good extension, both top and bottom. No negatives.
Costs a very few dollars.
 
Honestly I think the entire Masterpiece series is amazing. ML really outdid themselves with this lineup. BUT I recently listened to the new Motion XT F100s and F200s and WOW....they sound phenomenal.
@ejspain no way they are better than masterpiece series.Or do you disagree? I want to grab 2 pairs of F200s for surrounds and rears
 
@ejspain no way they are better than masterpiece series.Or do you disagree? I want to grab 2 pairs of F200s for surrounds and rears
I wouldn't say better...I mean I absolutely love my 11As BUT at that price I'd say they blow away MANY traditional style speakers. That folded motion tweeter is amazing...it gives them that stat sound in the high end the way no other speakers can. Dipping down to 27-31hz respectively, the F200/F100 are without a doubt a high-end, full range, front stage and IMO using them as surrounds is kind of a waste since they'll only be responsible for the small stuff above 80hz. BUT...always a BUT...my famous words are...if it shakes your leg make it happen. The only real limits in this hobby (for some) are space and money. If you're blessed with an unlimited supply of both, do your thang.
 
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I wouldn't say better...I mean I absolutely love my 11As BUT at that price I'd say they blow away MANY traditional style speakers. That folded motion tweeter is amazing...it gives them that stat sound in the high end the way no other speakers can. Dipping down to 27-31hz respectively, the F200/F100 are without a doubt a high-end, full range, front stage and IMO using them as surrounds is kind of a waste since they'll only be responsible for the small stuff above 80hz. BUT...always a BUT...my famous words are...if it shakes your leg make it happen. The only real limits in this hobby (for some) are space and money. If you're blessed with an unlimited supply of both, do your thang.
Thanks man. Sadly I feel those are still 40hz speakers at best. 13s or 15s are some of the only real full range speakers IMO. But YOU heard them so I trust ya man. I think they'll fit in great in my set up! Let me know when we can chat over zoom and calibrate your system!
 
Just yesterday I took the day off to help my local audio salesman deliver the 15As. To his benefit, he delivered them one at a time in the back of his SUV, and we moved these beasts into the basement. Now, I need to reconfigure somethings, and with a preplanned movie night coming up, I accepted that, while I can have them from now, they will nit be set up to the end of the month.

Ok, happier with than without.

Ok, since I'm home, let me unbox them. The box needs to go.

Ok, the white foam too.

Ok, let me just take a look....



Ok, let me just test them.
So I did. I put the, 5' apart center the center, in the middle of the room. I don't have speaker cable long enough...him...I'll use some 12awg romax. Now what am I going to play on them? I'm a HOME THEATER ONLY guy, but let me slap on a song or two. From my computer, no good DAC or anything, just a noisy laptop.

That was last night. I stayed up WAY too late, got up WAY too early. And, with basically no hours on them, and a garbage support setup....I can conclude I AM. NOT. HAPPY.

I am ecstatic!!!

Problem is...I think I'm being sucked into being a 2ch guy. NO!!!!! This is addicting.....
The 15As are a GAME CHANGER...they will undoubtedly change your mind about becoming 2 channel music lover. I have 2 - 1100X but listen to my 11As full range (no subs) and they are magical. Feed them high amps, 300W+ @ 2-4ohms and they will raise the hair on your arms.
 
The 15As are a GAME CHANGER...they will undoubtedly change your mind about becoming 2 channel music lover. I have 2 - 1100X but listen to my 11As full range (no subs) and they are magical. Feed them high amps, 300W+ @ 2-4ohms and they will raise the hair on your arms.
You need 2 BF 210s with custom filters. You'll see...
 
Thanks man. Sadly I feel those are still 40hz speakers at best. 13s or 15s are some of the only real full range speakers IMO. But YOU heard them so I trust ya man. I think they'll fit in great in my set up! Let me know when we can chat over zoom and calibrate your systure anytime...always lo
Sure thing...happy to chat/zoom anytime. Always looking to learn something new and meet new folk crazy about high end audio
 
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