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I GIVE UP

Need practical advice from practical people, My Martin Logan SL3's are "tear your head off bright". I originally had a parasound line preamp, 2 parasound 125 wpc amps in a horizontal biamp configuration. I was told to try wiring the amps either mono or vertical biamp, try different interconnects, try different speaker cables, and try a different preamp. Well, I spent quite a bit of money and sonically, believe me when I say, there was absolutely no differnce at all. I'm certain, no ear could hear even the slightest differences. I'm not getting into the brands of cables I tried, i'm convinced solving real problems with cables is just BS. I went from the parasound pre to an EAD encore. I have been able to fix the problem, and make my system sound absolutely amazing. The problem is my wife cant deal with the blankets draped over the Martin Logans in our living room. Please help and give real advice. I'm considering giving up on ESL's, however there are many sonic advantages, that I really like about them. Please dont even bother with any ideas about positioning them, they have been everywhere except in the basement.

Thanks, Steve
sfrounds
larryken
537 posts
 
I have owned SL3' since 1996 and first concentrated on making the room acoustics right....solid reflecting wall behind the speakers and a mildly absorbing back wall...with these speakers the amp is everything....I use a BAT VK500 solid state which puts out 475 watts at 4 ohms...the nominal impedance of these speakers....these are true high end speakers and any mediocre source components or amp will be revealed for what they are....I found the speakers set up not that challenging and never experienced the bright sound you described...it's tough to make a diagnosis without seeing the room and hearing your gear....good luck...these speakers are proven winners
Regards
jcaudio's avatar
jcaudio
237 posts
 
Martin Logans sound good with fairly large tube amps. Low impedance at 20 khz requires the amps have some guts. We have never heard them sound right with solid state. Try that
slmccaul
17 posts
 
I agree with Larryken. I owned ML Quests for several years and the room acoustics and electronics were critical. I could even tell differences by changing cables. I would recommend a high quality solid state amp like a Pass, BAT, ARC or Plinius. I had matched up the Quests with an ARC 100.2, Plinius SA-100 and a Pass Aleph Os and they all sounded terrific. I have heard ML Quests with a CJ MV-55 and Premier 11a and both of them sounded great also, just not as deep bass as the solid state amps. Be sure your preamp and DAC's are high quality also. A shrill CD Player or DAC will drive you crazy with these speakers also. You can get great sound out of these speakers. Be patient.
thomasheisig
568 posts
 
Well, when you give up, bye and have a good time.

When not,then you should realize that powering Logans is really difficult and ALWAYS expensive when the sound should have something to do with music.

That Logans are nearly undrivable is no secret. Hybrids. Always timing problems.

The only Logan system I know which really sings, is the one from my best friend.

He uses 2 Model 8 from Jeff Rowland, one amp per speaker.

Good luck
yipean
42 posts
 
Trust your ears. I understand that a lot of people like MLs, but if they are too bright for you (as they are for me) and you've tried different positioning, cables, amps, etc., I'd move on from the MLs.
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