Soon to be Ascent i owner... a question for Odyssey/Ascent/Aeon owners...

[asindc]

Hello All,

New to the forum and glad to have found it. I'll be picking up a pair of Ascents this Friday. Ultimately, I will have an all ML 7.1 system, but I'm just replacing the front three and sub for now.

Question about the center speaker: Has anyone had tried both the Cinema and the Theater in their systems, and if so, why did you choose one over the other?

I really would like to hear from anyone who has tried, but especially owners of the above-named speakers because I figure that Prodigy (and Statement!) owners are going with the Theater without hesitation, and owners of the smaller models most likely will be satisfied with the Cinema or Fresco.

My room is 12x20, with only a pocket door entrance on one wall. It is in the basement and is well-insulated. I plan on adding a 300-500 watt per channel amp to my Pio Elite 49TXi soon after I get the Ascents.

Anthony

 

[jon7988]

Yes Anthony, I had the cinema, and now have the theater (not the i version however) Maybe it's just me, my room placement, whatever, but I was not very impressed with the cinema, I thight it was good, but expected more. I felt it could be vauge at times. I thought it did not blend that well with my Asent-i. I always "knew" in not a good way the center was on. I had the opprotunity to hear the theater and was so impressed. I waited, shopped, looked, and got a great hardly used one that was 2 yrs. old. It is literly the best c.c. I have ever heard. It is however very large, not that I care but some might. IMO, the theater smokes the cinema. At least in my set-up it did. The sound stage is so big, and real, if something can be powerful, and discrete it is. I use Aerius-i as the rears powered by a 600~2 2 channel,and a 425~5 channel Sunfire amps. and Paradigm quad-pole surronds. 2 SVS ultra subs for HT. BTW My room is similar at 22x14x8.

 

[roberto]

Hello All,

New to the forum and glad to have found it. I'll be picking up a pair of Ascents this Friday. Ultimately, I will have an all ML 7.1 system, but I'm just replacing the front three and sub for now.

Question about the center speaker: Has anyone had tried both the Cinema and the Theater in their systems, and if so, why did you choose one over the other?

I really would like to hear from anyone who has tried, but especially owners of the above-named speakers because I figure that Prodigy (and Statement!) owners are going with the Theater without hesitation, and owners of the smaller models most likely will be satisfied with the Cinema or Fresco.

My room is 12x20, with only a pocket door entrance on one wall. It is in the basement and is well-insulated. I plan on adding a 300-500 watt per channel amp to my Pio Elite 49TXi soon after I get the Ascents.

Anthony

Hola Anthony. The Theater i is a far better speaker than the Cinema i, to my liking, the Theater i is more precise. I use a Cinema i in my system. This does not mean that the Cinema i is bad. I like it very much and the cost is one grand less...I can buy a lot of DVDs with one grand...lol.
Hope this can help, happy listening and trust your ears!
Roberto.

 

[Reverb2009]

My first Martin Logan was the Cinema center. It was the best speaker I have ever owned up to that point. I have now replaced the Cinema with the Theater and have found it to sound about the same as the theater but on a much larger scale. The theater makes me fell like I have no center at all, its like the sound is coming from mid air.

I liked my Cinema, I love my Theater center.

You can’t go wrong with which ever you chose.

 

[Robin]

The Theater i ... is fantastic!!

Anthony,

Firstly, Welcome to the ML Club!!!! I is good to have you here.

Unfortunatly, I was not able to listen to the Theater i and the Cinema i, in my HT system, but I was able, to listen to both at the Magnolia Hi-Fi store, where I ended up purchasing the, Theater i... The Cinema i, is a good speaker and is a high quality ML speaker, that's for sure. I liked the price too. When I listened the the Cinema i, IMHO, I found, that the sweet spot, was smaller. The sound was beautiful, but the, stage (no pun intended), was not as wide. I think, it's because the Cinema i, has a concave shape, which focuses most, of the beautiful sound, to the center area of the room.

ML's Theater i, has a convex shape, and most of the beautiful sounds, exspand out, at a 30 degree angle, similar to the arch /angle, of my Ascent i speakers. The sound of the Theater i, consiquently is wider, because the electostaic pannel and speakers are bigger, with three central, soft coned tweeters (instead of one, as on the Cinema i). I was thankful, I desided to spend the extra money for this, glorious sounding, center channel speaker. I wanted a large, center channel speaker, primarially because it is so important, in Home Theater, which is what I currently listen to, 80% of the time. The Theater i accomplishes what I demand of a center channel speaker in fine style.

IMHO, I would highly recommend, waiting, if that is an option, as the new ML center channel speaker, the "Stage" is coming soon. The rep.'s, at my Magnolia Hi-Fi, are quit egar to tell me, the Stage, will probably replace the Theater i, as it will be about the same price.

Again, Welcome Anthony, You have come to the right place.

Enjoy

-Robin

 

[asindc]

Yes Anthony, I had the cinema, and now have the theater (not the i version however) Maybe it's just me, my room placement, whatever, but I was not very impressed with the cinema, I thight it was good, but expected more. I felt it could be vauge at times. I thought it did not blend that well with my Asent-i. I always "knew" in not a good way the center was on. I had the opprotunity to hear the theater and was so impressed. I waited, shopped, looked, and got a great hardly used one that was 2 yrs. old. It is literly the best c.c. I have ever heard. It is however very large, not that I care but some might. IMO, the theater smokes the cinema. At least in my set-up it did. The sound stage is so big, and real, if something can be powerful, and discrete it is. I use Aerius-i as the rears powered by a 600~2 2 channel,and a 425~5 channel Sunfire amps. and Paradigm quad-pole surronds. 2 SVS ultra subs for HT. BTW My room is similar at 22x14x8.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Jon, so you discern no timbre differences between the original Theater and the " i " speakers?

 

[asindc]

If not Jon, anyone else?