System #280 (Aeon i)

[grubbleDave]

1. Member Name: David Kwan

2. Location: San Francisco, CA, USA

3. ML Model(s): ML Aeon i

4. Year Purchased: December 2008

5. Mods/Changes: No mods

6. Associated Electronics:

• Cary Audio Rocket 88 tube amp
• Mac Mini Single Core running iTunes
• Red Wine Audio USB Select DAC
• Acoustic Zen Satori Speaker Cable
• Sony DVP-999ES DVD Player
• Transparent Audio Power Conditioner (on all gear except the amp)

7. Comments and/or stories about your Martin Logan experience:
This system has me enjoying audio all over again as I'm hearing different things, tweaking more (I've been fairly out of the fray for almost a year) and getting back into a hobby I love. The Aeons continue to astound with its clarity over traditional box/cone speakers and in a non-fatiguing way.

 

[TomDac]

Welcome aboard, Dave.. Nice lookin' system you have there!!

 

[Zlogan]

Welcome aboard. love the Aeon I'z, I have and truly enjoy a pair my self. Did the Aeon's come with the black trim or did you have them painted?

 

[amey01]

Welcome - !!

 

[grubbleDave]

Zlogan, thanks!

They came with black trim. I've been eyeing the mahogany red trim though that is on ML's webstore. $350/set is a little pricey but...I love mahogany red (thinking Totem speakers with the deep mahogany red finish). :drool:

And nice system on your end too, specially with the Pass amps driving them...EACH ONE OF THEM!!! :eek1: Tres cool. I hope you've unstacked them by now. They are definitely heaters!

 

[Zlogan]

Zlogan, thanks!

They came with black trim. I've been eyeing the mahogany red trim though that is on ML's webstore. $350/set is a little pricey but...I love mahogany red (thinking Totem speakers with the deep mahogany red finish). :drool:

And nice system on your end too, specially with the Pass amps driving them...EACH ONE OF THEM!!! :eek1: Tres cool. I hope you've unstacked them by now. They are definitely heaters!

Thanks, yes they are unstacked, I will have to post recent Pics of the new set up.. That red trim does look enticing..

 

[amey01]

How do you use the Mac Mini in your system?

 

[twich54]

Dave, welcome, another nice HT set-up in the fold !

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Hello Dave, I really like your setup. That rack looks really good along with those lovely Aeon i's. I used to own a pair and they are excellent speakers. Enjoy!!!:music:

Glen

 

[grubbleDave]

How do you use the Mac Mini in your system?

I run iTunes and rip my CDs to Apple Lossless, although I've been ripping them to AIFFs lately (based on reading Gordon Rankin's website). I run that through a Red Wine Audio USB Select, which is a battery-powered unit that takes a USB input and outputs a S/PDIF signal, although he modified it to have a set of analog outputs as well.

Right now this is connected directly to my tube amp, with the volume being controlled by the Mac Mini remote. I have heard that this may be lopping off the bits to adjust volume levels so I may be losing resolution at less than full volume.

I just acquired a Lavry DA10 DAC and haven't hooked this up yet but will be playing with a mini Toslink-to-Toslink cable directly connected to the Lavry first. I may do USB from Mac Mini to the RWA USB Select then S/PDIF to the Lavry to see how that sounds.

Are you also running Mac Mini? I know my solution right now is a little low-tech but I'm getting there after abandoning my digital rig a little while ago.

 

[grubbleDave]

Dave, welcome, another nice HT set-up in the fold !

Thanks twich & Glen. I wish I could justify getting rid of the huge CRT TV that's sitting on top of the rack now but it belongs to my roommate and the longer I don't have to spend a dime on a TV, the more $$$ I can put into the audio system and software for it. :music:

No HT though, it's just 2 channel only but kicks butt on movies through Mac Mini instead of going through the TV speakers.

 

[amey01]

I run iTunes and rip my CDs to Apple Lossless, although I've been ripping them to AIFFs lately (based on reading Gordon Rankin's website). I run that through a Red Wine Audio USB Select, which is a battery-powered unit that takes a USB input and outputs a S/PDIF signal, although he modified it to have a set of analog outputs as well.

Right now this is connected directly to my tube amp, with the volume being controlled by the Mac Mini remote. I have heard that this may be lopping off the bits to adjust volume levels so I may be losing resolution at less than full volume.

I just acquired a Lavry DA10 DAC and haven't hooked this up yet but will be playing with a mini Toslink-to-Toslink cable directly connected to the Lavry first. I may do USB from Mac Mini to the RWA USB Select then S/PDIF to the Lavry to see how that sounds.

Are you also running Mac Mini? I know my solution right now is a little low-tech but I'm getting there after abandoning my digital rig a little while ago.

No - I don't run a Mac Mini - I do however run a Squeezebox. I was just interested in how you used the computer and how it was connected, etc.

My main problem with the Mac Mini is that you have to have your TV turned on to use it - something I don't want to do when I'm listening to music. On the other hand, I like the possibilities for video/movies (which you're not exploiting, right?)

 

[grubbleDave]

My main problem with the Mac Mini is that you have to have your TV turned on to use it - something I don't want to do when I'm listening to music. On the other hand, I like the possibilities for video/movies (which you're not exploiting, right?)

I've got the Mini connected to the TV and definitely use it as a DVD player and to view some downloaded videos from time to time. But yes, you're right in that it is somewhat of a pain to have to turn the TV on to operate the Mini. Sometimes I turn it off once I launch the iTunes, turn the TV off and use my iPhone with the Remote app to cycle through my library. The other solution was to run something like VNC and remote connect into the Mac Mini (headless solution is what they call it) via my laptop and remote control it from the laptop.

A tablet with VNC connecting to the Mini would be cool. I just don't like the lag and delay in VNC sometimes (I've tried this last year and dumped it when I upgraded from Tiger to Leopard) so I'm also looking for a more elegant solution...

 

[amey01]

I've got the Mini connected to the TV and definitely use it as a DVD player and to view some downloaded videos from time to time. But yes, you're right in that it is somewhat of a pain to have to turn the TV on to operate the Mini. Sometimes I turn it off once I launch the iTunes, turn the TV off and use my iPhone with the Remote app to cycle through my library. The other solution was to run something like VNC and remote connect into the Mac Mini (headless solution is what they call it) via my laptop and remote control it from the laptop.

A tablet with VNC connecting to the Mini would be cool. I just don't like the lag and delay in VNC sometimes (I've tried this last year and dumped it when I upgraded from Tiger to Leopard) so I'm also looking for a more elegant solution...

Can you run a VNC client on the iPhone? I wouldn't want a laptop flickering and hard disk whirring in my face either!

VNC should be fine on a reasonable network though - I run headless on my Squeezebox server too and have no issues at all.

Still - cool setup.

 

[grubbleDave]

Can you run a VNC client on the iPhone? I wouldn't want a laptop flickering and hard disk whirring in my face either!

VNC should be fine on a reasonable network though - I run headless on my Squeezebox server too and have no issues at all.

Still - cool setup.

amey, sorry for replying after a long time. I actually found a really nice solution by running one of those cheap Netbooks (like $250 for one) with a TightVNC (it's a Windows OS) to connect remotely with the Mac Mini. They are super quiet and meant to run very little software on it except a browser, where disk space isn't really necessary. Works really well. I've also used my MacBook Pro to control it via Remote Desktop (which is an Apple software that costs a little bit of $$ but luckily it was needed for work ). This works equally as well.

When I'm done selecting the few albums I want on my playlist, I just set it and forget it. The Mac Mini remote (which came with my Mini) allows me to pause, fast forward/backward my music.

And I'll even shut down the Mac Mini with the Netbook (main "remote") or MacBook Pro (work laptop).

Hopefully this gives you an idea of how I control my music library.