AudioAficionado.org  

Go Back   AudioAficionado.org > Manufacturers Forums > Martin Logan

Martin Logan Panel Speakers Extraordinare

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-27-2016, 11:38 PM
gadawg gadawg is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Prosper TX
Posts: 847
Default Demo'd Neoliths tonight

After reading about the Neolith's I was excited to see them in person at the Magnolia Design Center in Houston. These things do look impressive ... even more so than I had imagined. They were being fed by a pair of MC1.2KW Macs with the new C1100 preamp. I did some casual listening with the cd's they had there with the 550 CD player also from Mac. What I heard was equally surprising as how they looked ... only in the not so good direction! First, I think the room had some issues and was nowhere near large enough with the speakers 3 feet from the front wall and as usual all the other walls were jammed with speakers.

First the good ... they had a very solid image with good separation between instruments and voices and there were very distinct layers in the presentation. Image height at times was very good. Also, even though the efficiency rating isn't as high as their hybrids, the big Mac's had no issue driving them louder than I wanted to hear.

Then the average ... I thought the bass was ok but didn't have the reach of the Wilson Alexx or even the Alexia. It was very tight and clean bass and not muddy in any way and I never once found myself noticing woofers being mated to the panel .. that was seamless.

Now the bad ... I've never heard a Martin Logan speaker with less depth or presence. After 5 min of listening I had listening fatigue and wasn't driving them all that hard. The thought I kept having was that there was just way too much high frequency energy in the room. I thought the c1100 pre might have warmed things up a bit but the overall presentation was bright and edgy and not emotionally involving at all.

I have to believe that the combo of too small a room, less than optimal setup, and overall room acoustics had to be causing most of the issues I was hearing. Heck, my system is not in the same league as this one but to my ears sounds worlds better. Hopefully at Axpona next year the Neoliths will be there and sounding the way I sure hope they can.

George
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-28-2016, 10:11 PM
Chubba's Avatar
Chubba Chubba is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 502
Default

Was any this broken in ect?
__________________
Some enjoyable gear.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-29-2016, 12:21 AM
gadawg gadawg is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Prosper TX
Posts: 847
Default

The team at the store told me the speakers and the amplifiers had been there for about 6 months and had been played everyday so I'd have to assume that at least the amplifiers and the speakers were broken in. I'm really wondering if the C1100 had been properly run in yet with that being a newer release they weren't really sure how long it had been there. I remember(vaguely at this point) my old Counterpoint SA-5000 sounding rather bright and edgy until it had several hundred hours actually playing music through it ... wonder if anyone else can speak to what a new out of the box C1100 sounds like?
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-29-2016, 08:31 AM
trponhunter trponhunter is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 365
Default

I couldn't imagine a demo at any magnolia qualifies as a real demo... every room I've been in at any of the magnolia's I've been to sucks - in addition, the vast majority of personal there are far from experts. Simply having access to good equipment is only a small part of making good sound.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-29-2016, 08:39 AM
j3brow's Avatar
j3brow j3brow is offline
Member

 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 3,336
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by trponhunter View Post
I couldn't imagine a demo at any magnolia qualifies as a real demo... every room I've been in at any of the magnolia's I've been to sucks - in addition, the vast majority of personal there are far from experts. Simply having access to good equipment is only a small part of making good sound.

+1. Same experience at my Magnolia inside a Best Buy. Room sounds horrible. BW 802D3, MC601s, C52, MCD550 sounds very very average (being polite). It's the set up, room, power etc.
__________________

Preamp: McIntosh C1100T/C1100C, McIntosh MX180
Amp: McIntosh MC611 (2), MC601 (3), MI254
Digital: McIntosh D1100, McIntosh MCT450, Meridian 808v6, Aurender N20, Aurender ACS10, Oppo 203
Analog: McIntosh MT10, Hana Umami Red
Phono preamp: Simaudio Moon 610LP, 820S
Signal cables: WW Gold Eclipse 7 speaker cables; Shunyata Sigma v2 XLR (2); Sigma v1 XLR (2), Transparent Ref XL (MM2) XLR; WW Silver Eclipse 7 (4)
Digital cables: Shunyata Omega USB, Omega Ethernet, Sigma Ethernet; WW Platinum 7 Coax, AES/EBU
Switch: Innuos PhoenixNet
Power: Audioquest Niagara 7000, Audioquest 5000, Audioquest Dragon, Hurricane PC, Shunyata Alpha HC, AQ NRG Edison outlets, (8) 20 amp dedicated lines, 125 amp subpanel
Speakers: Wilson Sasha DAW, Dynaudio Contour 30, Dynaudio Contour 25C
Subs: REL s/812 (6), REL s/510 (3)
Accessories: HRS M3X2 shelf (MT10), Stillpoints Ultra II v2 w/ bases (21), Ultra SS (12), Mini (12), LPi v1
Sound treaments: Artnovion
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-02-2016, 10:47 AM
Formerly YB-2's Avatar
Formerly YB-2 Formerly YB-2 is online now
Retired

 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NJ Shore
Posts: 8,404
Default

Yes. Think McIntosh, et al, are doing themselves a disservice by using Magnolia. My one experience in ours was so ridiculous in the set-up and presentation (to say nothing of lack of knowledge on the part of the sales force) that I've not returned in the years since.
__________________
Glenn...
Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-04-2016, 12:32 PM
Mikado463 Mikado463 is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: SE Pa
Posts: 3,925
Default

Ditto to what Glenn has said, a lot of us have voiced this opinion over on the ML forum as well.

Trust me, when done right, as in Overture's demo in Delaware, those puppies do 'sing' !
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-04-2016, 12:53 PM
cma29's Avatar
cma29 cma29 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Columbia, Missouri, USA
Posts: 4,405
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2 View Post
Yes. Think McIntosh, et al, are doing themselves a disservice by using Magnolia. My one experience in ours was so ridiculous in the set-up and presentation (to say nothing of lack of knowledge on the part of the sales force) that I've not returned in the years since.
I'm surprised to hear that BestBuy would be displaying an $80,000 speaker. Seems out of their league.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-16-2017, 12:01 AM
Timobi Timobi is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Monroe, LA
Posts: 606
Default

Have to agree on Magnolia's room. I love my sales guy tho. Super nice and has really given me some fantastic customer service and deals. But their rooms are awful. Its almost as if you are buying their nice gear hoping it will sound better at your home.

They had some 75K Sonus Fabers out but not the Neoliths at the Dallas Park Lane store.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-16-2017, 10:52 AM
gadawg gadawg is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Prosper TX
Posts: 847
Default

I definitely agree with you on both counts...the guys I deal with are very nice and provide great customer service but the rooms don't do the equipment any favors for sure. I've heard(not confirmed) they pulled the Neoliths out of the store in Houston because they just didn't work there.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Audioaficionado.org tested by Norton Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:45 PM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
©Copyright 2009-2023 AudioAficionado.org.Privately owned, All Rights Reserved.
Audio Aficionado Sponsors
AudioAficionado Subscriber
AudioAficionado Subscriber
Inspire By Dennis Had
Inspire By Dennis Had
Harmonic Resolution Systems
Harmonic Resolution Systems
Wyred4Sound
Wyred4Sound
Dragonfire Acoustics
Dragonfire Acoustics
GIK Acoustics
GIK Acoustics
Esoteric
Esoteric
AC Infinity
AC Infinity
JL Audio
JL Audio
Add Powr
Add Powr
Accuphase - Soulution
Accuphase - Soulution
Audio by E
Audio by E
Canton
Canton
Bryston
Bryston
WireWorld Cables
WireWorld Cables
Stillpoints
Stillpoints
Bricasti Design
Bricasti Design
Furutech
Furutech
Shunyata Research
Shunyata Research
Legend Audio & Video
Legend Audio & Video