Varun
Member
Member Name:Varun R
Location:Champaign, IL
ML Model:SL3
Year Purchased:2010
Mods/Changes:Weights, tilted to 90 deg.
Associated Electronics:
Amp: Marsh Sound Design MSD-A400S
Preamp: Marsh Sound Design MSD-P2000B
DAC: Cambridge Audio DacMagic Azur
Source: M-Audio Audiophile 192 digital output
Power conditioning: Monster Power Pro 2500
Cables: Best buy(YES Best buy) Monster HP something or the others biwired, screw-type banana jack ends(can you tell I'm not a cable guy?)
Room Treatment:
GIK 244's behind speakers(hidden behind curtain)
GIK Tri-traps at front corners
RPG Abffusors at 1st reflection
Comments/Stories:
I am the third owner of these SL3's model #'s SEGA132 and SEGA133(I get a kick out of that!) so they're about 15 years old now. They have the original panels, and still sound awesome but I have no way of knowing if they've degraded. I guess I'll replace them when something huge goes wrong.
I am coming from Focal JM_Labs Electra 926's(mine), and from B&W Nautilus 802's(dad's), and honestly the SL3's don't deserve to be called speakers. They should be called magic creation devices. I have heard many speakers, but I have never heard speakers that can create a soundstage wider than the speakers themselves. Coupled with the amazing depth of soundstage and the smooth, buttery sound, these speakers just blow me away. Currently my soundstage covers the entire width of my room, at an angle of about 160 degrees relative to me.
I think I have the speakers dialed in pretty well, but having owned them a few days, I will continue to meddle over the next weeks and months. Right now I have them 4 feet away from the back walls and 39 inches from the sides. Speakers are about 53 inches apart and I sit 8'10'' away. I've got 15 pound dumbells on them and have them tilted to 90 degrees. Still getting some vibration(second story apartment), so hopefully spikes will cure that. I have them toed in about 2.3ish inches using the flashlight test. I find that they're a bit too bright toes out any less(and I can't stand bright sound, even slight brightness gives me a headache). My room dimensions are 22L x 13W x 8H. If you have any comments to make regarding position please chime in!
I guess my system is not a normal audiophile system. I'm an electronic musician and do a lot of recording so the room doubles as my studio. Thus my source is a PC. I had a lot of noise problems using onboard sound cards(asus xonar included) so I decided to go to an outboard dac and couldn't be happier. I rip my cd's to flac with the bit-perfect Exact Audio Copy, so my playback is on par with the best cd players out there.
Incidentally, my room treatment came in a day after I picked up the speakers and oh man what a difference they make. The lows tightened up, the mids became much clearer, but the biggest difference was that the sounds coming from outside the speakers(right of the right speaker, left of the left speaker) became much louder and easier to localize. Before the sounds were muted and position was indistinct, but now the sounds are almost as clear as sounds coming from within the speaker sep. distance.
Here are the pics:
Location:Champaign, IL
ML Model:SL3
Year Purchased:2010
Mods/Changes:Weights, tilted to 90 deg.
Associated Electronics:
Amp: Marsh Sound Design MSD-A400S
Preamp: Marsh Sound Design MSD-P2000B
DAC: Cambridge Audio DacMagic Azur
Source: M-Audio Audiophile 192 digital output
Power conditioning: Monster Power Pro 2500
Cables: Best buy(YES Best buy) Monster HP something or the others biwired, screw-type banana jack ends(can you tell I'm not a cable guy?)
Room Treatment:
GIK 244's behind speakers(hidden behind curtain)
GIK Tri-traps at front corners
RPG Abffusors at 1st reflection
Comments/Stories:
I am the third owner of these SL3's model #'s SEGA132 and SEGA133(I get a kick out of that!) so they're about 15 years old now. They have the original panels, and still sound awesome but I have no way of knowing if they've degraded. I guess I'll replace them when something huge goes wrong.
I am coming from Focal JM_Labs Electra 926's(mine), and from B&W Nautilus 802's(dad's), and honestly the SL3's don't deserve to be called speakers. They should be called magic creation devices. I have heard many speakers, but I have never heard speakers that can create a soundstage wider than the speakers themselves. Coupled with the amazing depth of soundstage and the smooth, buttery sound, these speakers just blow me away. Currently my soundstage covers the entire width of my room, at an angle of about 160 degrees relative to me.
I think I have the speakers dialed in pretty well, but having owned them a few days, I will continue to meddle over the next weeks and months. Right now I have them 4 feet away from the back walls and 39 inches from the sides. Speakers are about 53 inches apart and I sit 8'10'' away. I've got 15 pound dumbells on them and have them tilted to 90 degrees. Still getting some vibration(second story apartment), so hopefully spikes will cure that. I have them toed in about 2.3ish inches using the flashlight test. I find that they're a bit too bright toes out any less(and I can't stand bright sound, even slight brightness gives me a headache). My room dimensions are 22L x 13W x 8H. If you have any comments to make regarding position please chime in!
I guess my system is not a normal audiophile system. I'm an electronic musician and do a lot of recording so the room doubles as my studio. Thus my source is a PC. I had a lot of noise problems using onboard sound cards(asus xonar included) so I decided to go to an outboard dac and couldn't be happier. I rip my cd's to flac with the bit-perfect Exact Audio Copy, so my playback is on par with the best cd players out there.
Incidentally, my room treatment came in a day after I picked up the speakers and oh man what a difference they make. The lows tightened up, the mids became much clearer, but the biggest difference was that the sounds coming from outside the speakers(right of the right speaker, left of the left speaker) became much louder and easier to localize. Before the sounds were muted and position was indistinct, but now the sounds are almost as clear as sounds coming from within the speaker sep. distance.
Here are the pics:
Attachments
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