System #149 (Summit, Stage, Script i)

MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum

Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Diamonds

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
Messages
410
Reaction score
0
Location
Tucson, AZ
Here is my system:

Speakers:
L&R Channels: Martin Logan Summits
Center Channel: Martin Logan Stage
Rear Channels: Martin Logan Script I
Subwoofer: James 1200

Amps:
Powering the Summits: Pass Labs X600.5
Powering the Stage and Script Is: Pass Labs X3

Pre's:
For Two Channel: Pass Labs X1
For Surround: McIntosh MX 134

Source:
CD: Musical Fidelity KW DM25 Super System
DVD: Cary DVD 6

Extras:
TV: Pioneer Plasma
Conditioner: Shunyata Hydra 6
Speaker Wire: Acoustic Zen Hologram II
Interconnects: Acoustic Zen Silver Reference
AC Plugs: All Shunyata and Acoustic Zen
2 dedicated 20amp circuits

I think that covers my system. Opinions are welcome. Thanks for looking!



Thanks!
 

Attachments

  • img090.jpg
    img090.jpg
    7.7 KB · Views: 1,784
  • img091.jpg
    img091.jpg
    46.8 KB · Views: 1,792
  • img003.jpg
    img003.jpg
    87.9 KB · Views: 1,583
  • img004.jpg
    img004.jpg
    55.9 KB · Views: 1,561
Last edited:
BINGO!

It just hit me. Now I know why your user name sounds so familiar, and how Joey V knows you. You’re the same Diamonds from Audiogon. It took me a minute to put it together; your system has changed quite a bit since the last time I have looked at it on Audiogon. Last time I saw it you still had the wooden audio stand holding all your gear. It’s looking good, welcome to the club.
 
Last edited:
Diamonds..

Welcome to the MLO forum and glad to see have found us! I followed you on audiogon and you have a great system. I remember looking at your Summit pics before I purchased mine and your system was one of the few that pushed me towards the Summits.

Nice system... super neat and tidy! I hear you are upgrading to the x160 Pass Labs monoblock? Is that true?

Joey
 
Joey_V said:
Diamonds..

Welcome to the MLO forum and glad to see have found us! I followed you on audiogon and you have a great system. I remember looking at your Summit pics before I purchased mine and your system was one of the few that pushed me towards the Summits.

Nice system... super neat and tidy! I hear you are upgrading to the x160 Pass Labs monoblock? Is that true?

Joey

Hey Joey,

I am upgrading to the XA 160s. I think that will take my system to the next level. I will keep you posted on when they come and how they perform.

Thanks!
 
User211 said:
Now that's one tidy set up. Are the source components recessed into a solid brick wall or is it plasterboard?

Have you ever heard MLs driven by tubes? Or do you find you just prefer solid state?

Justin

My system:

http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=2121

It is actualy a guest bedroom closet that I built into. This allows me to get behind everything as well as gets my bulky equipment out of the middle of the room.

Tubes are not my thing anymore. I am stricly a SS guy. Tubes sound wonderful but I don't care for the maintainence and I don't care for their low end.
 
Can the PassLabs XA160’s even handle the Summits? I thought the XA series was designed for speakers with no grater then an 8-ohms load.
 
Last edited:
Diamonds said:
It is actualy a guest bedroom closet that I built into. This allows me to get behind everything as well as gets my bulky equipment out of the middle of the room.

Tubes are not my thing anymore. I am stricly a SS guy. Tubes sound wonderful but I don't care for the maintainence and I don't care for their low end.

Tubes are out of the question for more than two channels, really. However, for the Summit, the bass isn't an issue. Great news for tube lovers who have low end reservations...

Sounds like you have had some bad experiences with tubes. I've been using them since the early 90s - the amps never go wrong but some tubes fail occasionally, but it doesn't happen often. SS always sounds as though it's trying too hard to me... apart from some very good SS designs - they are out there if you look! I understand that your amps use a relatively simple circuit, which probably means they don't sound too convoluted. They are also some of the best looking SS amps ever made if you ask me.

Justin
 
Wonderful Summit HT System...

Diamonds,

:D Welcome to the ML Club!

OK your system Rocks... :D I love your Pass Labs gear. I have been researching a lot about the big Pass Labs Mono-blocks X600.5. Nelson Pass is a wonderful electrical designer from what I've read so far. ;)

So now I know how you know Joey.... :p Thanks Joe.

I just love how you have your electrical equipment in-set into the wall but does your gear receive enough ventilation? Might I inquire as to where are your Pass x250 amplifiers located in your HT room set-up?
 
Zip3kx07 said:
Can the PassLabs XA160’s even handle the Summits? I thought the XA series was designed for speakers with no grater then an 8-ohms load.

The XA160s will not work at a 1ohm load very well but still will work. The only thing with the XA160s is that they limit the power to 160 watts and will not give out anymore power under any circumstances. Nelson Pass does this so all of you power will be class A power. In talking to the people at Pass they see no problem with the XA160s driving my speakers or my room.

I said to one of the guys at Pass Labs and said "well aren't the XA160s laid back" and he responded to say the "the XA 160s are everything but laid back". I think these amps will be a perfect match.

Believe me there are a lot of amps out there for 18000 bucks and this is the one I am choosing.
 
User211 said:
Tubes are out of the question for more than two channels, really. However, for the Summit, the bass isn't an issue. Great news for tube lovers who have low end reservations...

Sounds like you have had some bad experiences with tubes. I've been using them since the early 90s - the amps never go wrong but some tubes fail occasionally, but it doesn't happen often. SS always sounds as though it's trying too hard to me... apart from some very good SS designs - they are out there if you look! I understand that your amps use a relatively simple circuit, which probably means they don't sound too convoluted. They are also some of the best looking SS amps ever made if you ask me.

Justin


Justin I ran tubes for years and believe me I really enjoyed them. But once I got into really high quality solid state my perferece has turned to SS. I believe that tubes can tend to color the sound and I want my music as real as possible.

Don't get me wrong tubes are a great enjoyable sound but they are just not for me. This is just one mans opinion.
 
Robin said:
Diamonds,

:D Welcome to the ML Club!

OK your system Rocks... :D I love your Pass Labs gear. I have been researching a lot about the big Pass Labs Mono-blocks X600.5. Nelson Pass is a wonderful electrical designer from what I've read so far. ;)

So now I know how you know Joey.... :p Thanks Joe.

I just love how you have your electrical equipment in-set into the wall but does your gear receive enough ventilation? Might I inquire as to where are your Pass x250 amplifiers located in your HT room set-up?


Hi Robin,

As far as ventilation goes, all the equipment is getting as much as the manufacturer suggests. Really nothing in the rack really gets to hot. The only piece that runs with any sort of real temperature is the McIntosh and it has two inches on each side. I just built it so I will let you know if anything explodes or melts.

The X250 is sitting on the ground in the closet on an amp stand. It is kind of a shame that I had to put a beautiful piece of equipment like that in place were nobody can see it but it made the most sense. When I receive my XA160s, they will also go into the closet, which will be a double shame.
 
Diamonds said:
Justin I ran tubes for years and believe me I really enjoyed them. But once I got into really high quality solid state my perferece has turned to SS. I believe that tubes can tend to color the sound and I want my music as real as possible.

Don't get me wrong tubes are a great enjoyable sound but they are just not for me. This is just one mans opinion.

To be honest the BEST solution is to run BOTH!!! I think it's great to have a change of flavour every now and then. A simple switch from the best of both worlds is best when your fed up with the faults and virtues of one and wish to switch to a different set of faults and virtues!!! A good SS amp may well be my next purchase... for this reason.

Justin
 
Diamonds said:
The XA160s will not work at a 1ohm load very well but still will work. The only thing with the XA160s is that they limit the power to 160 watts and will not give out anymore power under any circumstances. Nelson Pass does this so all of you power will be class A power. In talking to the people at Pass they see no problem with the XA160s driving my speakers or my room.

I said to one of the guys at Pass Labs and said "well aren't the XA160s laid back" and he responded to say the "the XA 160s are everything but laid back". I think these amps will be a perfect match.

Believe me there are a lot of amps out there for 18000 bucks and this is the one I am choosing.


Congrats on the soon to be XA 160's, they should work wonders with your Summitt's, I agree the amount of time those panels spend at 1 ohm will be insignificant, besides no amplifier I know of is meant to operate at that range. It's a shame you don't put them out in your room between your Summitt's, heck hide your sub somewhere else, the Xa's are much better looking and besides they will get great ventilation, an absolute must !!
 
Diamonds said:
The XA160s will not work at a 1ohm load very well but still will work. The only thing with the XA160s is that they limit the power to 160 watts and will not give out anymore power under any circumstances. Nelson Pass does this so all of you power will be class A power. In talking to the people at Pass they see no problem with the XA160s driving my speakers or my room.

I said to one of the guys at Pass Labs and said "well aren't the XA160s laid back" and he responded to say the "the XA 160s are everything but laid back". I think these amps will be a perfect match.

Believe me there are a lot of amps out there for 18000 bucks and this is the one I am choosing.
Well it sounds like you have done your homework on the XA160’s so I wish you the best of luck with them. Wish I could be there when you swap out the X250.5 for the XA160 so could here the difference. I would be interested in hearing if there is any compression or roll off on the top end. I have been looking at the PassLabs X5 and X150.5, and would love to hear your thoughts of the X series versus the XA when you get the swap done.
 
twich54 said:
Congrats on the soon to be XA 160's, they should work wonders with your Summitt's, I agree the amount of time those panels spend at 1 ohm will be insignificant, besides no amplifier I know of is meant to operate at that range. It's a shame you don't put them out in your room between your Summitt's, heck hide your sub somewhere else, the Xa's are much better looking and besides they will get great ventilation, an absolute must !!
Dave,

Very true most amps are not rated to go down to 1 Ohms, but the reason I brought up the XA is because the XA series is a pure class A amp. The XA160 is 160 watts of power and that’s it DONE! There are no reserves; there is no switching to class B. I would be concerned with clipping, but I think with the XA you would know if you were getting close to clipping and could back off.
 
Zip3kx07 said:
Well it sounds like you have done your homework on the XA160’s so I wish you the best of luck with them. Wish I could be there when you swap out the X250.5 for the XA160 so could here the difference. I would be interested in hearing if there is any compression or roll off on the top end. I have been looking at the PassLabs X5 and X150.5, and would love to hear your thoughts of the X series versus the XA when you get the swap done.


evening "Zip", Anthony Cordesman did a nice wright up on the PassLabs XA160 and X600.5 in the Sept issue of TAS, check it out.
 
User211 said:
To be honest the BEST solution is to run BOTH!!! I think it's great to have a change of flavour every now and then. A simple switch from the best of both worlds is best when your fed up with the faults and virtues of one and wish to switch to a different set of faults and virtues!!! A good SS amp may well be my next purchase... for this reason.

Justin

Justin,

Believe me I have been tempted to buy some tube amps over the last couple of years but I think I will stick with SS for a while. Believe me a pair of Cary or VTLs would be NICE!!!
 
I may be wrong, but it looks like a hard sounding room. Do you have resonance problems?
Ben
 

Latest posts

Back
Top