Martin Logan's need advice!

KrazyMofo24

I went to Magnolia earlier today, and I listened to the Martin Logans Clarity and they sounded GREAT. They only have Denon receievers do you guys think the H/k 335 will match up with the Logans? Are they easier to power than the Lsi towers which is my main concern since, I dont have enough to pay for great speakers and an amp right now. If I buy them I wont be able to buy a good amp until some time next year. The clarity's are $2000/pair the Lsi 15's I can get for $1000. I really would like to know if the H/K receiver will power them, and if you guys prefer the Lsi towers or bookshelfs over them.

Joey_V

The Clarity will be hard to drive with the HK335 receiver as you will need to power the stat panel AND the woofer down low. It is rated a 6ohm speaker, but this doesnt change the fact that electrostats require high current amplification.

The LSi15 will be a difficult load for the HK335 also, especially considering its 4ohm nominal impedance.

This is my suggestion, do what I did. Get the speakers you want now and worry about the amplification next time. You dont want to spread yourself thin at the moment and sacrificing the speaker that you want for a decent amp isnt the way to go IMO. I say, get the best speaker you can afford.. make do with the 335, then upgrade to an amp when you can. This way, you know your system still has potential and this will make for an interesting second audio adventure by the time next year rolls around.

Look at me, do you think I cant do better than the Rotel RB1070 for the ML Vantage? I know I can, but I'm going to cruise along with the 1070 until I get the funds for the 1090 or a Parasound A21.

Ricardo

Have you heard the LSi15's? It seems to me that you are trying to decide between the ML's at $2000 vs. the LSi15's at $1000, plus an amp up to $1000? If that was me, I would go for the 15's with a decent amp.

And..is this for a 2 channel set up or part of a multi channel HT? If multi channel, what are your other speakers?

venomclan

I agree, get the speakers you really want now and add an amp later. The H/K will have a really hard time with whichever speaker you decide on. If you do get the speakers, be careful about your noise levels until you get an amp. Keep it low, otherwise you blow your speaks and fry your H/K at the same time.

Those are 2 completly different sounding speakers. Make sure you do a lot of demos first. The Polks will be more versatile with different music and HT. The electrostats will need a lot of power but can also sound great with the right amp.
Venom

KrazyMofo24

Well I went with my gf today to listen to the Clarity's I saw they were $2700 not $2000 so their out of my budget, and I liked the Mosaic's for $2000/pair. After listening to the lsi 15's at Fry's with my receiver we agreed that the Lsi 15's were the one's to get. I think the Lsi 15's look better than the Mosaics, but not the clarity's I am still debating over Ebony or Cherry. They only have Ebony on display. Even though they 15's require more power, they still sounded better than the 9's with my receiver to me.

KrazyMofo24

The second guy I talked to at Magnolia was better....the first guy said Harman Kardon's were "okay", and Denon's had more features, and more powerful. I also asked him how the Lsi's compare to Definitive, Vienna, and Logans he said that the Lsi's wouldn't be in the same room they would be out with Klispch Synergy series.

SKsolutions

The 15's should sound better down low as they have a passive sub (I use that term loosely). The upper cabinet is essentially a LSi9. I don't like Polk subs, so my route was to get the LSi9 with a powered sub. Drivable on the HK. The 15 in my opinion is not.

As to HK being OK: I would say that is a fair estimation of someone who works with equipment all day long. When in that environment, you tend to loose your ears after with all the noise and competing speakers. You become biased to products that are overly detailed and it's hard to be satisfied with a warm clean sound.
I'm not saying that is the case with the Logans, but in the case of the Denon?

I agree with JoeyV (again it seems), regarding choosing speakers first. It's such a large part of how your system will sound. If you want to warm it up or brighten it up, pick the amp that will give you your preference.
Another thing, quite a few more forward speakers will give me listening fatigue. I have no such problem with the LSi's. . . no inaudible high level noise scraping at the inside of my cranium.

KrazyMofo24

Now I really gotta think about it..gonna go buy it tonight for sure. I am either getting the 15's. I am also thinking about getting the Velodyne DPS-10 and the Lsi9's. Or the Lsi9's and the LsiC I dont know how much better 5.1 is compared to 4.1 in a room.

polkatese

Why not Velo DD-10?

RuSsMaN

I prefer the 9's over the 15's - the top half of the 15 is nothing even close to a 9, short of driver compliment. The magic is in the crossover.

Don't get caught up in the $ aspect of it. If you want the $2700 speakers, GET them. Save up, shop used, etc. Go into this, TRY to disregard price, and pick the speaker that you could happy listening to for the next 10 years. Find some botique shops in your area, and get a proper demo of both speakers.

Cheers,
Russ

Edit - an additional note - if you do pay retail, seriously try to find a local botique/ mom & pop shop. The big brick and mortar guys are doing just fine, if given a choice, try to support your small local dealer and make a statement for Hifi.

KrazyMofo24

I decided to get the 9's and a Velodyne Dps-12 sub. $1150 tax inlcuded I bought at Fry's because I saved $500. The guys at fry's still say I have to have a center channel or i'm missing out so much. I feel I am losing only a little surround effects from my fronts in 4.1 versus a 5.1.

I am going to get the Lsi 15, Lsi C, and LsiFX through Polk accomadations 75% off I just have to wait for shipping. I didn't do it with the 9's because I'm very impatient, it's gonna take me a long time to pay this off. Anyways was getting the DPS-12 over the 10 a good choice? Also is the sub more important the Lsic?

Joey_V

KrazyMofo24 wrote:

I decided to get the 9's and a Velodyne Dps-12 sub. $1150 tax inlcuded I bought at Fry's because I saved $500. The guys at fry's still say I have to have a center channel or i'm missing out so much. I feel I am losing only a little surround effects from my fronts in 4.1 versus a 5.1.

I am going to get the Lsi 15, Lsi C, and LsiFX through Polk accomadations 75% off I just have to wait for shipping. I didn't do it with the 9's because I'm very impatient, it's gonna take me a long time to pay this off. Anyways was getting the DPS-12 over the 10 a good choice? Also is the sub more important the Lsic?

Im confused... you got the 9s but are also getting the 15,C, and the FX? Are you going 7.1?

KrazyMofo24

I can get a discount on the LSi's if I send a form directly to Polk, because I work at Fry's those are my plans for the future. Today I bought the 9's and using my Rti4's as my surrounds, and I bought the DPS-12 over buying the Center channel.

Joey_V

Whats going to happen to the 9s once you get the new stuff?

gregure

Once you get the 15's, you should buy a nice integrated amp and setup a nice two-channel system with your 9's. That would be awesome.

In regards to the Logan speakers, I really don't care for the Clarity. I think it's way too much money for the speaker you get. The Aeon i is a different story. That's a great speaker, but the Clarity is just not enough speaker for that kind of technology. The bass response is pretty crappy too. Honestly, the Lsi 9's would probably afford at least as much bass, if not more, for considerably less money. The Lsi choice is a solid one, especially if you like the sound, and can get them for $75% off. If you really prefer the Clarity, then I suppose it is worth it to you, but Logan is in the middle of an upgrade anyway, continually bettering their models. The Summit and Vantage have taken the place of the Prodigy/Odyssey/Ascent, and are considerably smaller, while supposedly having superior sound dispursion and accuracy, not to mention amplified woofers. I believe this will shortly trickle down to the Aeon/Clarity level.
Lastly, if your only experience with a Clarity is how it sounds on a Denon receiver, then you haven't experienced them at all. They are very good speakers when given the right amplification, but still not really worth the price in my opinion. Magnolia sells Denon/Sony/Pioneer Elite amps because they still have an issue getting the right kind of customer-the ones who recognize that good speakers need good amps and will throw down the cash. Many of their customers can't afford, or choose not to, amps that are higher performers, with loads of current-something you can't even begin to achieve from anything less than $1500. And Denon sounds like **** on lower impedance speakers, even up to the 3806.
Realistically, those Lsi speakers are going to take something like a Rotel or B&K receiver to be run stably and openly, perhaps even a Marantz SR8500 will do it for $1500, let alone a good set of separates for far more, except for maybe Outlaw. But for now, I think great speakers at a killer price ought to be the best road, giving you more to work with on a better amp. Honestly, a great amp makes a huge difference, as do good cables. My Polk Rti 10's sound better run off a B&K than the vastly superior Vienna Acoustic Beethovens (which I so desire) run off a Denon receiver. The B&K has made it a whole lot easier to wait a few years to upgrade to nicer speakers.

Joey_V

Whatever Gregure said about the Clarity, I completely agree. They are asking too much for what the speaker delivers... and I'm an ML guy (check out sig). I wouldnt pay $2700 for the Clarity when the Aeons do so much better for just a wee bit more.

Also, ML is coming out with an Aeon replacement that is a little brother to my Vantage in about a year so keep that in mind all you Aeon potential buyers.

Oh and the Vantage beats the pants off the Ascent i's from my auditions.