[Mlfan]

Originally Posted by Karma16

HI All,
First post here. Glad to meet you. I know this is an old thread but maybe I can add something useful.

I have have had nothing but panel speakers since about 1980. These included Acoustat's, Apogee's (really liked), and finally my current Martin Logan CLS IIA's which are my favorite's by far. I purchased them in 1990 and have no plans to change.

My electronics have gone through many changes over the years ranging from Acoustat, Mark Levinson and several generations of Audio Research. I finally settled on ARC's SP-11 Mk 2 preamp, ARC's D250 Mk 2 Servo power amp (250W per channel) and Aesthetix's Rhea all tube phono preamp. CLS's require absolutely first rate amplification.

CLS's are not perfect. As has been stated elsewhere in this thread they are bass shy, can lack dynamic range, and are brutal on amplifiers. But, if these things are fixed, I consider the CLS IIA's to be the best speaker I have heard.

The key to both dynamic range and base response are good sub woofers properly crossed over at the right frequency. Mine are mated with Kinnergetic's SW800 sub's which were specifically designed to work with the CLS IIA's. I have two of them powered by a Mark Levinson NO. 23 amp (400W/chan into the sub's 4 ohm load).

It's my view that the CLS is by far its best with good tube electronics. ARC's stuff is ideal due to their lack of coloration, power delivery, and detail.

All in all, I'm a very happy camper.

Sparky

Hi, Sparky,

Welcome to AA, I am too a CLSiiA all time lover. But gotta deal with their bass shy issue that somehow we must pair them with a fast Sub for lower end fill-in. However we can also take time, inch by inch move around the speakers in order to find out the right spots in the room, where the spots for the speakers placement are so called "Room Coupling" point. As listener is sitting in the sweet spot, he should be able hear (feel) better low end frequency due to room coupling effect. Good to try but pain-staking and time consumption. Once done, there is no need of Subs for the bass.

I am replacing my 25+ yrs panels for the CLSes. With better technology when ML make their new products nowaday, better conductive coating on the myler will be expected as well as the high quality processing on the stators. I am hoping the new one should show its powerful bass end if speaker placement is properly set. More to share once new panels are replaced.