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Sonics of Soundlabs

Hello all,

I am contemplating the purchase of a pair of Soundlab M3's, and wonder if some of you guy's (and gals) could help me out a little. They have the newer upgraded transfomers etc. but were manufactured in the late 90's. I am currently using an ARC VT-200 into Martin Logan Prodigy's and love the sound but have always heard great things about the big Soundlabs stats.

For curiousity sake I auditioned a pair of Maggie 3.6's a few weeks ago and they didn't do it for me; there was no bottom end and the dynamics just were not there.......... I thought they did some things well but much preferred the Prodigy's in the end.

I would be buying these speakers used and will not be able to audition fully before purchase. Can anyone tell me how thier sonics compare to my two other "panel" references (the Maggie's and ML's)? Are there any issues (aside from the size) that I should consider when buying a pair of these speakers used? How do the M-3's stack up to the A1's and M1's? Do they match well with the rest of my system..... If I had to find a more powerful amp for instance it would probably be a deal breaker.

Thanks all in advance.

Chris
cmo
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Martin Logan hasn't made a worthwhile speakers since they stopped making the Monolith III. As an old ML owner, there is nothing desirable or competitive about the new line.

If you must go hybrid/ESL then investigate the Innersound Eros III in its active version a very worthy rival to the Sound Labs with a much more Dynamic (punchy) Presentation like your Prodigy's vs. Maggies. The Innersounds compete with Dynamic speakers in their output and maintain the ESL sound and coherency. They are IMO are on a much higher performance level from your Prodigy's despite costing less.

I bring them up based on your input (what you've written) in the discussion, this seems like a it might be a good speaker for you. Too many ifs (from what others have said) in your system to go buy used Sound Labs it seems.
nealhood
199 posts
 
I will agree that the Innersound Eros III's are outstanding speakers. The integration of the woofer and panels is remarkable. And, their transparency and speed are as good as any speaker that I have ever heard. However, I just could not live with it's beaming characteristic and associated small sweet spot. It's too bad the designer didn't go ahead and curve the panels similar to the SL approach. Maybe in their next iteration....
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Let me backup that Neal Has pointed out the one drawback, I should have mentioned. Its a focused setup, not a great deal of lateral movement allowed by the system and its a bit picky to get perfect.

Thanks Neal. I forgot.
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