Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rpi!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!info-high-audio-request
From: ccicpg!keith@uunet.UU.NET (Keith McIntyre)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: Imagining the imaging - the only solution for me ?
Message-ID: <10380@uwm.edu>
Date: 20 Mar 91 13:48:56 GMT
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In article <10308@uwm.edu>, d87parfo@odalix.ida.liu.se (Par Fornland) writes:
> When I
> got really close, I discovered, the sound wasn't coming from the
> shelf, it came from some strange looking _things_ standing on the
> floor.  "WOW! WHAT'S THAT!?!?" - Martin Logan Seq. II it turned
> out to be.
>   A remarkable experience, had never heard of such a thing ever!
> Sound coming from above the speakers!!! Well, let's move on to my
> question:
> 
>   How can I improve the imaging, what component makes the most
> improvement of the image?  I intend the keep the speakers.  Perhaps
> it is impossible [:-(] to make to sound wider with these speakers,
> even with highest-end components? In that case I'll just have to
> live with it...
> 
> My guess about what makes the greatest diff. is as follows:  1.
> speakers 2. amp.  3. cables between amp. and speakers 4. cables
> between CD-player and amp.  5. CD-player but I'm not at all very
> experienced, so it's only a guess.
> 
> Would someone please help me out? I think the question is of general
> interest!

In several other postings I have put on the net I have mentioned the
imaging/soundstage that I get with my system. It consists of a 6.5 year
old Sony CD player (CDP-111), Quicksilver interconnects, Threshold
s/300 amplifier, MIT Zap Chord speaker wire and the Martin Logan Sequel
IIs that you listened to.

This is a "modest" high end system that performs beyond my wildest 
imagination in terms of soundstage and imaging. Prior to my purchase of
the Sequels, I had an older pair of Magneplanar Tympanis - everything else
was the same. As a result of my experience, I would say the speakers are
the biggest factor. My Threshold amp is next in importance. It requires a
minimum of 12 hours warm up to get the wide, deep, and high soundstage I
hear all the time. My CD player is very modest - equivalent to the Sony
X33ES CD player of today.

The best soundstage I hear is 20 feet high, 50 feet deep and about 70
feet wide. My speakers are 9 feet apart in a room that is 15 by 18 feet.
This is not an exaggeration - this is what is clearly audible by everyone
who has listened to my system. Not every recording has this soundstage,
there are severe limitations in the reproduction chain that are put in
place before that CD goes into my player.

In my opinion, the Sequel IIs are the most underrated speakers on the 
market. Hardly anyone is aware of their capabilities - even the people
who sell them. Soundstage imaging this good adds an incredible amount of
enjoyment to music.

-Keith McIntyre