System #449 (CLX, Descent, Theatre, Script i and Depth)

[Exceltium]

Member Name: Exceltium

Location: Brussels, Belgium

ML Model(s): CLX 25th Anniversary (replacing Ascent's), dual Descent's, Theater, 2 pairs of Script i,'s Depth

Year Purchased: 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2012

Comments and/or stories about your Martin Logan experience:

I'm a happy MartinLogan user since 2003.

I started a stereo system with a pair of Ascent's, then added a Descent (used then on an all Audio Research tube electronics: CD player, pre-amp and stereo amplifier).

When jumping later to Home Cinema, I added 2 pairs of Script i's for Surrounds and Rears, a Theatre centre channel, a second Descent and a Depth.

The pair of Descent's now complement the CLX (formerly the Ascent's) as main L&R channels, and the Depth provides the LFE.

Sources:
- Classé Audio CDT-300 CD-DVD transport
- Cambridge Audio 650 BD Blu-ray player
- Cambridge Audio 650 T tuner
- Apple TV (version 2)
- local TV cable company's HD Digicorder (Motorola)
- Apple MacBook Air running Amarra (formerly Amarra Mini) + Apple Time Capsule 2 TB HDD for music files storage (16/44.1 and 24/48-96 files under AIFF and/or FLAC format)

Pre-amplifier/sound processor:
- Classé Audio SSP-800

Amplifiers:
- Classé Audio CAM-400's (pair of mono-blocks) driving the Ascent's
- Classé Audio CA-5200 for Centre, Surrounds and Rears

Cables:
- Shunyata Research Python power cords for amplifiers, pre/pro and digital sources
- Shunyata Research Black Mamba power cord for the tuner
- Kimber Cable Bifocal XL for main L&R channels
- Supra Cable for all other speakers
- Nordost Valhalla XLR interconnects between pre/pro and CAM-400's
- Transparent USB cable
- Audioquest Chocolate HDMI interconnects for CD-DVD, Blu-ray and Apple TV
- Audioquest King Cobra XLR and/or RCA interconnects for all other cables

Network filters:
- Isotek Titan (x 2) feeding the 2 CAM-400's and the 2 Descent's
- Isotek Nova feeding the pre/pro and the sources
- Isotek Mira feeding the projector
- Isotek Isoplugs for all unused wall sockets in the room

Racks:
- by Classé Audio for Classé Audio gear
- solid and stable teack wood furniture for all non-Classé gear

Video:
- JVC DLA-1 projector
- Panoview Grey Wolf 2 screen (106" diagonal)

Dedicated hi-fi & home cinema room (approx. 5,5m or 18 ft wide by approx. 9,5m or 30 ft long, under the roof) used also as a study and reading room.
Room treatment with sound absorbing polyurethane foam and sound transparent cloth panels behind the main & centre channels and on the ceiling.
Thick carpets on wooden floor.

Very happy with the final result. Makes excellent music. :music:

Picture of the system here below.

I'm thinking more and more of moving up to a pair of CLX for replacing the Ascent's.
But Bowers & Wilkins 800 Diamond's and Wilson Audio Sasha's are also on the list.
CLX would be more coherent with the rest of the system, but 800 Di's & Sasha's play very well too.

Does anybody have experience of blending Descent's (not Descent i's with optional CLX filter) with CLX ?
Low pass filter at 40 Hz is good enough (MartinLogan recommends setting up the sub's filter at 70% of lower frequency of the speakers), even though CLX stop at 56 Hz ?

 

[Northy]

That is a great system. Those Classe audio gear exude pride of ownership.

 

[Wardsweb]

Very nice indeed. That is one fantastic system you have assembled. Now enjoy the fruits of your labor. Listen to music, lots of music.

 

[Exceltium]

That is a great system. Those Classe audio gear exude pride of ownership.

Yes, nice pieces of aluminum ! Good Canadian stuff !

Amp's produce a great, rich sound and are quite reasonably priced compared to other famous brands.

The SSP-800 is very versatile, and you can set up sound parametres in a very detailed and precise way.

I regret that Classé is not (and won't be - I asked them) producing a Blu-ray upgrade of their CD-DVD transport, hence one is obliged to acquire another piece of equipment just for Blu-ray, which makes the CD-DVD transport a bit redundant.
They could quite easily package an excellent Blu-ray, DVD and CD transport mechanism into their standard Delta series chassis, though.

And I dream of Classé partnering with another Canadian company, Magnum Dynalab for packaging nicely their top line tuner into the Classé chassis, in order to have a visually coherent and pleasing system.

Sound (and image) quality is of course the main goal of a hi-fi & home-cinema system, but one has to live with the overall look, also when the system is idle.

 

[Brad225]

Very nice clean looking system. I like the dark gray back ground of the walls with the wood floors. What is the size of your room?

 

[Exceltium]

Very nice clean looking system. I like the dark gray back ground of the walls with the wood floors. What is the size of your room?

Room dimensions are approx. 5,5m (18 ft) wide by approx. 9,5m (30 ft long) by approx. 2,25m (7 ft) high in the central part.

Since it is a room under the roof on the entire width of the house, both ends have a slope, as you can guess from the picture.

 

[Exceltium]

CLX in the house ! They were delivered today :banana:

It's a demo pair of natural aluminum 25th Anniversary CLX from a MartinLogan dealer.

I placed them in front of the Ascent's I had previously, connected them and made some first listenings right out of the box, without fine tuning placement or installing them on spikes, and... waow ! :music:

I'll install them properly during next week-end and post some pictures.
I think that Xmas holidays will be sweet, very sweet.

 

[marck]

Cool. You will love them and notice a significant improvement over the Ascent's.
Marc.

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk 2

 

[JordanD]

I noticed you are using Amara. Care to share your experience with it? I saw their booth at a show last year and it looked like a promising concept but I didn't (and havent spent) too much time researching it yet. I am currently just using airplay for most of my digitally stored stuff.

 

[Exceltium]

I've been using Amarra Mini for about a year, which I found good (necessary even if you don't want to switch constantly between iTunes and Audio Midi Setup for changing the sampling rate; Amarra Mini does it for you) but not so user friendly.

Recently, I downloaded Amarra, which was a free upgrade for Amarra Mini licensees depending on the date of initial purchase.
Dramatic improvement in the interface at first sight; I need more time to discover it further.
I haven't noted change in sound quality, but again I need to spend more time with this new version.

I never compared with other players.

 

[Exceltium]

CLX 25th Anniversary in house

New picture, now with CLX 25th Anniversary replacing the Ascent's:

:music:

And with the screen down:

The electronics and the frames of CLX & screen do not shine as on the picture when watching a video; this is only due to the flash used for taking the picture.
In real life, one see only the image on the screen and the blue LEDs of electronics.

Sorry for the bad quality of the pics; will see how to improve.

 

[MPS]

Nice! :bowdown:

Not only do they look good but sound excellent too. Like your color matching system

 

[Exceltium]

Cool. You will love them and notice a significant improvement over the Ascent's.
Marc.

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk 2

Waow, your system is fabulous ! All Audio Research Reference gear driving MartinLogan's. :bowdown:
I started with ARC too, but entry level at that time. If it wasn't for the versatility of Classé for home theatre, I would probably have stayed with ARC.

How is Ref150 amp with CLX ?

I'm thinking of acquiring their Reference DAC Digital Media Bridge and go through SSP-800 in direct mode, unity gain when listening to HD files.
But I would like to test and listen first to it when installed in my system and see whether the upgrade is really worth the €€€ they ask for it (18.000 € here in Europe, which equals to 23.750 USD !! :devil.

 

[marck]

Thank you for your comments.

I think the Ref150 is an absolutely amazing amplifier. It has plenty of power to drive my Clx's and has never been found wanting. I would go as far as saying that it is the best amplifier I have heard at that price range by a long way.

I am interested to see what CES is going to bring re the front end from ARC.

Happy holidays
M.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[amey01]

Love it. Classé and ML is a great match!

 

[Exceltium]

Thank you. Classé Audio and MartinLogan do match very well indeed.
Although we don't see them associated that often. I see a lot more of McIntosh - ML pairing.
Perhaps because of the tube-like tendency of Mc gear ? I'm not sure. I don't know this brand well enough. For sure it must be excellent.

I'm considering introducing a bit of tube sweetness and aeration into my system by adding the new Reference DAC Digital Media Bridge of Audio Research at some point in time.

 

[patsuh]

I have a pr of clxs with audioresearch electronics but will love to listen with classe stuff specially cam600, listening a system with rockport mira loudspeakers with classe electronics and transparent opus loudspeakers cables makes me jump of my seat, this system was way better than my clxs with arc electronics,

 

[amey01]

Thank you. Classé Audio and MartinLogan do match very well indeed.
Although we don't see them associated that often. I see a lot more of McIntosh - ML pairing.
Perhaps because of the tube-like tendency of Mc gear ? I'm not sure. I don't know this brand well enough. For sure it must be excellent.

I'm considering introducing a bit of tube sweetness and aeration into my system by adding the new Reference DAC Digital Media Bridge of Audio Research at some point in time.

Don't think I see more McIntosh than anything else.

I run a valve preamp for the same reason as you are considering the DAC media bridge.