Can Impression 11A or Montis handle Rock well?

[jtucker]

I used to have a REL sub when I owned Magneplans. I was quite happy with the REL performance. Next up where the Infinity IRS Gammas, no sub needed for those, so I sold the REL. Probably should have held on to it for future use.
I did some extensive testing over the weekend with classic rock and the Montis. I was able to go quite a bit loader than I thought. However the sound quality diminished slightly at extreme high levels. Not sure exactly what. No distortion, but maybe a collapsing of the sound stage. Quite possibly it was a room artifact rather than the speakers themselves. At any rate they sounded much better with the volume backed of just a tad (still very loud, much louder than I would normally ever play except for this type of testing). Just an update I thought I would post.

 

[BigDDesign]

I used to have a REL sub when I owned Magneplans. I was quite happy with the REL performance. Next up where the Infinity IRS Gammas, no sub needed for those, so I sold the REL. Probably should have held on to it for future use.
I did some extensive testing over the weekend with classic rock and the Montis. I was able to go quite a bit loader than I thought. However the sound quality diminished slightly at extreme high levels. Not sure exactly what. No distortion, but maybe a collapsing of the sound stage. Quite possibly it was a room artifact rather than the speakers themselves. At any rate they sounded much better with the volume backed of just a tad (still very loud, much louder than I would normally ever play except for this type of testing). Just an update I thought I would post.

I bought "The Best of Nickelback Vol.I" the other day and was kind of disappointed at the performance coming out of the Martin Logans. I didn't have high expectations in the first place because that kind of music is not why I have Martin Logans in my Livingroom. I tend to listen to less edgy music in the easy chair. I only had MP3 files of Nickelback and wanted to see what the Martins would do with better source material. It sounds good, but the foundation of the tracks are missing that drive that makes me want to blast Nickelback in one of my cars with aftermarket stereo. That's where that type of music shows the fire inside of rock and roll. Love my Logans with country stars like Jamey Johnson, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson etc. Like tracks with piano, acoustic guitar, violin and all the other instruments in a revealing way that the Logans do oh so well. When you're sitting in front of a good system listening in your livingroom your taste in music becomes different than when up and about. IMO. Have a nice day.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

I have a few Nickelback disks that I ripped as FLAC's and they were recorded well.
I just played a few songs and they have the signature raspy sharp edge to his voice and the recordings jump off the speakers.

I started with Savin' Me and Figured You Out

I don't know if the " best of " was mastered differently but "The Long Road" and "Silver Side Up" albums both sound great on my system!

 

[BigDDesign]

@RCHeliguy
I'm not saying it doesn't sound good. Just I have heard that material sound more like it was intended on other speakers. I wouldn't trade my Logans for any other speaker. Just love 'em. Glad you're enjoying the tracks more than I am. The new Cold Play song "Hypnotised" off of Tidal sounds incredible. Don't know if any has heard that yet. Really good with our speakers.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

@RCHeliguy
I'm not saying it doesn't sound good. Just I have heard that material sound more like it was intended on other speakers. I wouldn't trade my Logans for any other speaker. Just love 'em. Glad you're enjoying the tracks more than I am. The new Cold Play song "Hypnotised" off of Tidal sounds incredible. Don't know if any has heard that yet. Really good with our speakers.

I'm sure that some music does sound better on certain speakers than others and I don't expect that ML's have the best sound for everything out there.

I threw a few tracks on real quick, because your experience didn't match what I remembered, but that doesn't prove anything.

 

[Rich]

ML's sometimes don't sound as good for rock because, in part, they are too revealing and there are a lot of rock albums that are poorly mastered. Also, ML's don't have the same "bite" that cone drivers often have. But I play a lot of rock (turned up loud) on my Summits and have never found them lacking, although I have found the mastering on a few CDs to be lacking. If all you listened to was loud rock, then another speaker may be a better choice. But for a variety of music, it's hard to beat Martin Logan.

 

[Gordon Gray]

However the sound quality diminished slightly at extreme high levels. Not sure exactly what. No distortion, but maybe a collapsing of the sound stage. Quite possibly it was a room artifact rather than the speakers themselves. At any rate they sounded much better with the volume backed of just a tad (still very loud, much louder than I would normally ever play except for this type of testing). Just an update I thought I would post.

Room overload. Room treatments can address this but do you really want to go there?

 

[Gordon Gray]

I have just ESLs, but my opinion is if you like to blast rock, don't buy Martin Logan. Conventional Tower speakers will produce a more rewarding experience, and most of the rock tracks will sound good. Conventional speakers can mask the crappy recordings quite well. And the dynamic power of dynamic drivers are much better suited for rock at ear splitting levels.

Excuse me. Can you say that again? I didn't quite hear what you said.

 

[Northy]

I hear that the 210 is amazing. Haven't heard it yet. I live pretty far away now from audio salons now since the move to Florida. Would love to hear them with some of the ML panels.

Got one REL refurbished for $1,400 instead of $2,100. The other REL was bought in need of repair. Got it working somehow, not sure how. Paid $378 for it. Lucky win there. So a total of $1,778 for 2 REL S3s. These are the good REL S3s not the new REL S3 SHO models. I have been happy as a clam since I got everything setup and working. And that was just recently. It's the stereo separation of the two subs I got right this week, and took off the subwoofer grills. What an improvement all over the soundfield. Nice to meet you Northy.

It is good knowing you too. Boy, those are great bargains which makes the enjoyment of your gear even better knowing you paid so little to get so much. I hope you will have an opportunity to hear the Balanced subs soon.

 

[jtucker]

Room overload. Room treatments can address this but do you really want to go there?

Quite possibly "room overload". Not likely to get into room treatments though. I should add that my room is probably very much on the "bright" side. Hardwood floors, bare walls, brick fireplace, no drapes, no pictures, etc. I am very much into the "minimalist" look.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Similar to mine. In all probability, that's what is going on.

I also do not like the aesthetics of room treatment. Maybe because its my living room.

Hopefully you have an area rug between you and the speakers.

 

[Mike in NJ]

Picked up my Impression 11a's about a month ago.. Have to say I am very happy with them. In fact at this point, I am going to say that it is the best sound I have had in my room so far... And yes they can do rock!!