System #502 (Purity)

[hoshy]

Hi all,

1. Member Name: Ashley (male )

2. Location: Munich, Germany

3. ML Model(s): Purity

4. Year Purchased: 2014 - model year unknown, 2nd hand purchase (1000eur which felt like a bargin)

5. Mods/Changes: Nothing... yet

6. Associated Electronics:

Audio chain:

SSD NAS (FLAC) -> Ethernet -> Sonos -> SPDIF -> Cambridge Audio DACMagic+ -> unbalanced analog -> internal Purity amp.

Additional chains PS3, Apple TV, Chromecase, TV all route analog via the TV to the Sonos Connect analog input.

I'm mostly interested in quality audio from FLAC source, TV and other sources I don't care about that much.

I am thinking to add centre and rear channels however, likely Sonos kit again as my audiophile tendencies are music rather than home theatre.

I do also have a quite geeky Raspberry Pi project integrated to the system - I connected the rPi via HDMI to the TV and used an open source library to set the rPi as an audio receiver which allows the TV to pass through the remote control buttons for volume and mute via HDMI to the rPi which then (hacked up libcec and sonos controller python code) controls the sonos - it just saves me having to grab phone/ipad/laptop to play with volume when general tv viewing. I also like that the sonos can autoswitch to the tv input, and the Chromecast can power up the tv when casting beings (it's externally powered), along with this I run 2 wifi networks, one that is permanantly VPN'd to the UK so I can just whip out the phone and start watching home country tv and everything just works - quick easy, and surprisingly reliable - great for a cosy feeling with the ladies - nothing worse than fiddling with equipment in the presence of a date!!!

7. Comments and/or stories about your Martin Logan experience:

Bought them because I've longed for electrostatics since being a child (Quad ESL63s at family friend's house, plus the concept is very geekily appealing). Am interested to hear opinions on the Purity generally any what would be the next step up in ML range considering the room is 3 meters by 6 meters, hard floor, hard walls - not ideal.

Overall after some 8 months ownership, I'm very happy.

8. An image of your system. (see below on how to include an image into your post)



9. Upgrades/changes/musings

a. DIRAC live digital room correction. Having played with some software implementations (DAC has USB input) I'm been pretty impressed as my room is terrible. Thinking to slip a digital in, digital out mini dsp between the sonos and DAC - it has multiple choices for which correction profile to use that I hope to implement for various non-sweet spot seating positions I use around the apartment (office, dining table, bedroom). Thoughts on this welcome - if you're somebody who hates DRC, don't bother, I'm aware of the pros and cons

b. rugs, and audio dampening behind the speakers - I need to do this anyway - it's just a case of making it look somewhat stylish.

c. 55inch OLED tv - coming soon, because, why not...

d. rear and centre speakers - likely sonos play 1 devices as rear, and not sure on a centre channel yet - needs to be sonos compatible and look good - looking at sonos playbar but that more than just centre

e. toying with upgrading the amp units - they seem to be: http://www.icepower.bang-olufsen.com/en/solutions/theater/ASC_SERIES - the 200ASC - the 300ASC looks to have better distortion characteristic but I don't really need the extra power. input/discussion on this welcome.

f. toying with doubling up on the amps and bi-amping with an active crossover - not looked at this yet - I hope the miniDSP device could be used to implement this in software, otherwise I need to research some other digital space active crossover (unless they're all shitty, then a decent analogue unit) - I don't know a lot about this yet.

g. a decent mid/budget turntable - mostly for aesthetics/cool

h. I saw the amp modules actually have balanced inputs on them (requires mod to add connectors/circuitry), as the DAC has balanced outs I thought this might be a small improvement as although the cable runs aren't long, there's a lot of EM interference from the AC power to ML units, as well as all the other gear crammed in to a small space and cables neatly bundled together for good admin, but likely bad quality.

i. a proper audiophile dac - the DACMagic+ is well respected in it's price range but I feel it's not quite up to par with the rest of the system.

Thanks for viewing.

 

[twich54]

Ashley, Welcome, thanks for putting up your nice system !

 

[Nutshell]

Hi Ashley,
Thanks for posting your system. I am a Purity owner too.
Have you tried to put your speakers a bit more into your room, away from the wall? That will really create a deeper soundstage, with a better bass integration.
Best regards,
Arlen

 

[slowGEEZR]

Nice system and welcome!

 

[hoshy]

thanks for the welcome all.

 

[hoshy]

(In reply to Arlen)

Cool - that's not feasible for a permanent set up sadly as I sit in a 2m equilateral triangle and to bring them forward would encroach on the free space of the room as well as having me sat pretty much on top of them I will definitely try it as an experiment however!

Do you have a system thread up? Would be good to take a look. ( was in Rotterdam for NYE two years ago btw, irish bar and Erasmus bridge, good evening )

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how Madonna's Ray of Light track sounds on your system - I find the bass muddy and overall uninvolving - there are two peaks around 60 and 80KHz which are well inside the speaker's response curve so I assume my room is a bad factor, I'm just not sure how high my expectations should be on a sub-free system (I use the -3db setting incidentally)

 

[Nutshell]

Hi Ashley,
I can't really listen to Madonna for more than a few minutes... But I tried and Ray of Light doesn't have any peaks here. It's a very compressed song, though, and it doesn't sound very nice through Tidal.
I did have a bass problem in the past, but moving my Purity's away from the wall helped a lot. I also use spikes with Harmonix footers. And I have these expensive resonators made by Acoustic Systems, which some people will call voodoo, but they really make the sound better.
If I did it right, my signature will now show my system. But it has to be updated. I still use the Cambridge integrated, my my source is now a Meridian MS600 Sooloos system. And the large tv is gone.

 

[hoshy]

Hi Arlen,

Thanks for giving it a try. I pulled mine out first double, then triple the previous distance from the wall and each increment increased imaging, and rolled off the bottom end. Quite nice as for a few tracks I'd been adding a little top end boost on the EQ (yeah yeah, don't say it!). I'm hoping I can use some very soft rear wall treatment to get them back in to a more aesthetically pleasing position.

Still not happy with the bass in Ray of Light (also not my taste but I track I compare against a friend's B&W system). However, the imaging and top end benefits of the new position came along with a perceived drop in bass which makes the track more listenable.

Thanks again.

Hi Ashley,
I can't really listen to Madonna for more than a few minutes... But I tried and Ray of Light doesn't have any peaks here. It's a very compressed song, though, and it doesn't sound very nice through Tidal.
I did have a bass problem in the past, but moving my Purity's away from the wall helped a lot. I also use spikes with Harmonix footers. And I have these expensive resonators made by Acoustic Systems, which some people will call voodoo, but they really make the sound better.
If I did it right, my signature will now show my system. But it has to be updated. I still use the Cambridge integrated, my my source is now a Meridian MS600 Sooloos system. And the large tv is gone.

 

[amey01]

Welcome. ..