Interesting thread as I see a pair fairly close to me for sale for 1500 bucks and I was curious as I know they’re more of the older ones
with the first review which of course is now 20 years old using a Krell amp ? Really might work on Harberhs but my experiences, across-the-board with Martin Logan as they like newer, high-powered tubes like Conrad Johnson or VTL for any magic to happen I recently picked up a pair of ML Vantage used for super cheap, but I had to drive all day to get to them and when the guy played it I almost decided against it. But since They were so incredibly inexpensive i grabbed them and I’m glad I did because when I hooked up modern tubes then the magic happened after a lot of placement tweeks etc Well, they just don’t hold a candle to any of the newer stuff they’ve done in terms of being seamless. The Montis is one of my favorite speakers ever made by anybody at any price nuff said
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I know the thread's a little old but I was wondering what amplification you use for the Odyssey's ack. I'm in the process of redoing the crossovers and finding some granite to do the damping mod as well. Thanks for the work put into all those threads, quite impressive results as well. |
Addendum: you may notice that the crossover redo is based on the same Mundorf CFC coil inductors, Supreme capacitors and M-Resist Supreme resistors as the Q7 - long before the Q7 even existed. I went further and replaced the binding posts as well with all-copper Mundorf M6 (a perfect shoo-in). I would recommend these products for just about any speaker. The total cost of all mods, and considering how complex the O's crossover is, is well below $10K in parts, current prices. |
Not sure why this was revived after 10 years... But at any rate, the stock Odysseys are very colored in the entire bass section, and by a very wide margin by today's standards, while also possessing panel colorations due to audible support pillar vibrations. All these issues are also apparent with the Prodigy as well.
Thankfully, all of them can be fixed by modifying the crossover and strengthening the support structures. The results are truly spectacular and worthy of using the best electronics with them.
Here are the relevant mods/threads I authored:
1) Crossover http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?12761-Modifying-the-Odyssey-crossover-my-adventure
2) Structural http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?13791-Taming-resonances-in-the-Odyssey
3) Woofer attenuation http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?7437-Odyssey-mod-woofer-damping
Others have taken the crossover mods to yet higher levels, like Ps68's Spires, with their own structural mods; see http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?9600-Spire-with-External-Crossovers-amp-Electronics.
With these modifications plus a sub, all these speakers approach the Magico Q3 in performance, and clearly outperform the Summit X and CLX (the latter would also benefit from similar mods).
From a tonal balance perspective, see the graph at http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?2740-ack-s-system-end-of-round-1
The bottom line is that these are highly tweakable speakers with spectacular results. |
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With all due respect to all of you,I would like to share
my 12 years experience with my ML quest,to get the most
of ML you have to work hard on them with the right gear,
cables,and placement,i saw that straigthwire was the sp cable,very bright cable cant use it with the logan,especially with Krells,transparent cables are not
matching with the logans either,plus even if you have the
right cabling, the sp placement is one of the most critical
with these type of speakers,I agree maybe this odyssey
are too much for a beginner or even to those who are not
willing to change cables, or gear.LASTLY IF YOU READ
THE REVIEW OF SL3 IN STEREOPHILE WAY BACK YEARS AGO,
THE REVIEWERS WITH THE PRESENCE OF BRUCE BRISSOM OF MIT,
IT DROVE THEM NUTS TO SET THEM RIGHT, THANK GOD GAYLE
SANDERS STOP BY AND THERE YOU GO,THE SPEAKER PERFORMED,
FIGURE OUT THIS THING OUT. IT TOOK ME FIVE YEARS TO GET
MAX OUT OF MY LOGANS.
IMHO |
I have heard generically similar results (over-coloration, poorly integrated bass) from dipolar electrostat hybrids (M-L's and SoundLabs) in the homes of audiophiles, as well as wanna-be audiophiles who seemingly just got taken with the looks. I have not blamed the speakers (or partnering gear) outright for this - rather, I suspect it just shows exactly how difficult it can be to correctly set up this type of speaker in the real world. What troubles me in your case is that you got the M-L's from a dealer, but apparently were unassisted in setting them up. An experienced dealer or company rep should have made sure these were performing optimally in your room for your audition. |
I've owned Odysseys for about 13 mos. The room is approx. 17 x 35 and is a loft the left side of which is open. The front wall is entirely damped with blinds and drapes. There are ASC super trap in the right corner and Sound Planks along the point of first reflection. Each speaker is flanked by two ASC Studio Traps. The amplification is a Mark Levinson 335 and the front end is a Mark Levinson 380S preamp and 390S CD player. The front end is powered by a PS Audio P300 using Lab II cords. The amp uses a Top Gun HCFI cord and everything is plugged into PS Audio Power Ports. The front end is on a dedicated 20 A circuit. My initial experience with these was similar Craigland's (before the acoustic and power treatments). They're unbelievably sensitive to toe in. However, once dialed in and with the room taken care of they throw a hugh, detailed soundstage in which the instruments are very stably and specifically placed. The stage appears to extend in depth beyond the wall. All this with good recordings; Clapton's Unplugged, Rippington's (any). |
Greetings Statman,
Thanks for your follow-up, please allow me to answer your questions.
I have listened to several other electrostats previously, and being from England originally, most of these being Quad's.
My room is not treated to any kind of materials for accoustic purposes. But the demonstration room at the dealer is set up with various accoustic panels to bring the best out of the ML's. I noticed no difference in improvement from the demo room to my home.
Not sure what you mean by, 'What were the dimensions you had the speakers placed at'?, but like I siad in my initial review, having a good size listening room allowed me to place these in a number of positions, namely, in corners, away form corners, close to side walls or rear walls and vice versa. I also tried a number of different distances between each speaker placement.
I am glad that you like the ML's, as it seems a lot of thought has gone into these, and they do look great, only for me, they do not please audibly.
After I auditioned these I purchased a pair of Von Schweikert VR4.5 Silver edition speakers. These are now sold and I have a pair of their new VR 5 HSE speakers.
Funnily enough, I have been so impressed with the Von Schweikerts performance that I am soon to relocate back to the UK and open the first UK dealership for their line.
Check out their web site for full product line info.: www.vonschweikert.com
I also seriously recommend trying to get a listen of their new DB100's, a true 100dB speaker which sounds stunning with valve (Oops sorry,...American translation = Toobs!), amplification. Watch out for the great reviews coming out in the press on these too. |
Craigland, it's funny that you mentioned that they sounded colored? The newer speakers are less colored than the older! Is this the first time you listened to electrostats? Is your room treated with any types of materials? What were the dimensions you had the speakers placed at? Where they away from the walls? Was the rear wall treated to cancel out the rear wave? I know I'm throwing a lot of questions at you but having owned more than one pair of Martin Logans they do require days to set up right, and will reveal tons of detail, I am curious what speakers are you using in your system now? You are partial to box systems right? Thanks for the review, I disagree, but that's what this site is all about. |
