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Lance V. Unregistered guest | Is it me or do these speakers have the smallest sweet spot of any that you have heard? Don't get me wrong, they sound great when sitting down. The thing is when you stand up, or move a little to the left or right, the sound drops off more than any speaker that I can remember in recent memory. Is this how they are meant to be? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 683 Registered: Feb-05 | the sweet spot is like a vice if they are set up with too great a toe in. if you have them set up so you are listening to the inner third of the panel, the sweet spot is wide enough for a good 3 or 4 people to listen to. and DUH.... when you stand up the treble energy drops off... that is the nature of an electrostatic speaker, or ANY panel type speaker for that matter. They are known to beam the highs, which I myself like... no interactions with the surroundings. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | This was my first time hearing electrostatic speakers so excuse my ignorance. Having said that I have never noticed this to the same extreme when listening to Maggies. Would I be correct in assuming that you own a pair of ML's, Gavin? If so which model, and what amp and cd player do you have them paired with? What type of music do you listen to? I will assume that they sound great with well recorded music, but what about not so good recorded cds? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 684 Registered: Feb-05 | actually I own a pair of maggies, and used to own a pair of ML. I apologise for my snapping about the directivity of the speakers. Personally I feel that the maggies are even worse than the ML in that reguard. Before I start to reccomend combos, what size room are you planning on using them in? Do you plan on just using them for music? What type(s) of music do you enjoy? this will give me a general idea of what to reccomend. I have a pretty broad understanding of ML products. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | I was just curious as to what you ran yours with and how you liked the setup. If purchased, I would probably use my NAD 320BEE or 370. I mainly listen to vocals and acoustic jazz. Placement would be in one of two medium-sized rooms. Reggae, Pop, and R&B also make an occasional visit. Vinyl also creeps into play. Are the ML's harder to place than the Maggies? How would you compare the Aeon and/or Clarity to the Maggie 12 or 1.6? |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | One more thought. Is it me or does the Clarity model sound smoother that the more expensive Aeon? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 694 Registered: Feb-05 | YES YES YES!!!! your taste in music is almost the same as mine! Take a look in the thread that has the title complaining about some of the people in the subwoofer thread. I can't think of it off the top of my head. If your taste in music is similar to mine (very eclectic, with great jazz vocals thrown in), I would reccomend the Clarity HANDS DOWN in a medium sized room!!!! The intergration is MUCH smoother to my ears, and simply sounds better. Had I not bought the maggies, I would have bought the clarity. ML really aren't THAT difficult to place, and the 370 will do fine to drive them. However, I would also reccomend taking a listen to the maggies as well, as some people take to them better. I like both of the desings. |
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Silver Member Username: Timn8terSeattle, WA USA Post Number: 789 Registered: Dec-03 | Anytime you have a large radiating surface like planars, electrostats and/or line arrays you'll experience directivity and the designers of such things know this. A common description is that with a large radiating surface you create a "cylindrical" sound field. That's an oversimplification but an easy way to describe the effect. At on-axis points there is constructive interference and the SPL increases by 6db relative to a point source. At points off-axis destructive interference occurs resulting in lower SPL. The combination of constructive and destructive interference results in directivity. When taken into consideration this effect can be very beneficial for certain applications. Line arrays are very popular for sound reinforcement in large venues for this very reason. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | Gavin, Are there any situations where you would recommend the Aeon over the Clarity? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 695 Registered: Feb-05 | how tall are you? even the aeon isnt tall enough to give you a decent amount of treble if you stand up, but there are some peope that are, in fact, too tall for the clarity when seated. I myself am 6'1 However, my gf's father, who is 6'7, would be too tall for the panel on the clarity. |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 696 Registered: Feb-05 | I would also reccomend the aeons in a "medium medium sized to larger medium sized" vs the clarities in a "smaller medium sized to medium medium sided" room. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | 13x23 Medium or Large? LOL! |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 715 Registered: Feb-05 | the clarity will work great in that room! |
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Pat McD Unregistered guest | How do the ML's hold up when busier music is run through them such as: Madonna'a new dance-oriented release Stanley Clarke Mahavishnu Robert Randolph Weather Report Tower of Power etc. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | I think that I will have to revisit the Maggies while the ML sound is fresh in my head just to be on the safe side. Side note: I wouldn't pay $4,000.00 for them, but the Focals that Tweeter carries sound pretty good to these ears also. |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 732 Registered: Feb-05 | I am a HUGE madonna fan, and have everything of hers from Confessions on a Dancefloor, Ray of Light, American Life, on back, and the ML can CRANK it out if you ask it to! just run "Die another Day" through a pair of ML! The bass transients in that song will KILL many lesser speakers. The ML keep on going without hiccups. I also love TOP as well, and think they are great with them as well. side note: I think they are worth $4000 and then some. ML makes speakers that top the $100,000 price barrier, so $4000 for a pair of their speakers is next to nothing. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | Not sure if we are speaking of the same $4,000.00 speakers. The ones I was referring to are the Focal Profile 918's, which were included in my Clarity/Aeon standoff. |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 757 Registered: Feb-05 | the clarity are $2700 and the Aeon are $3300 the ones that are $4000 are the Ascents, which have a 4 foot panel, which is about a foot wide, with a 10 inch woofer beneath it. this is the ascent: http://www.martinlogan.com/ascent_i_speaker.html the ascent is an absolutly STUNNING speaker that has blown me away every time I have heard it. If this is the speaker you are referring to. I would try to talk the dealer down, as it too is being discontinued. |
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Lance V. Unregistered guest | Just to update: My original speaker pairings were between the ML Clarity and Aeon. We threw in the $4,000.00/pair Focal Profile 918's just for the heck of it. All sounded good, with the Focal's being eliminated mainly for the price and the decision to be made between the Clarity and the Aeon. Before pulling the trigger on a deal, I decided to give the Vandersteen 2ce, Maggie 12, and Maggie 1.6 a thorough listen. My wife and I both thought the Vandersteen's were lifeless. What amp would make these come to life? We then went to the Maggie 12's, which were very nice, but a little light in the bass. The maggie 1.6's were IT! Sold! Great detail without the listener fatigue! Don't need a sub because the bass is very quick and more than adequate. I now wish to upgrade my 3-year old Pioneer cd changer. I was considering the following: azur 540C azur 640C & NAD C542 NAD C521BEE Will a cd player upgrade make that much of a difference? If so, would one of the above 4 be recommended? Any others? Are there any reputable online dealers that may offer specials or deals on one of these? Looking for bang for buck-LOL! |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 760 Registered: Feb-05 | aren't those maggies GREAT!!!! thought you might like them! enjoy.... you have a fantastic speaker that will give years of listening pleasure. and with maggies, ANYTHING upstream will make a huge difference, they are just as fast as the ML. |
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Silver Member Username: JonmoonPost Number: 230 Registered: Dec-03 | Aeons are going to be replaced soon by the Vistas which, like the Clarity, is more dynamic. |