dwcscca,
I see you are from Idaho, one of my most favorite places in the world, other than here in CA. I actually lived there for a few years while going to College. The reason I bring this up is that I normally have a VERY HIGH opinion of Idahoans. Unfortunately your first outburst made me raise my eyebrows a bit, as it was rather uncharacteristic of Idahoans that I know, but I am sure that you were probably just frustrated, and as long as you can take a deep breath and hang on a bit with us, we will do whatever we can to help you out.
The guys on this forum/community have been extraordinarily helpful to me as I consider myself still a beginner and a newbie when it comes to high end audio. I am still learning a lot, thanks to these guys.
There are a few things you need to know, the best way to get results and good answers here on this forum is not to attack, but to humbly ask your questions after thinking about it for a while. I have asked some really stupid questions myself out of pure ignorance of the subject matter, and was brought to an understanding by helpful hints, tips, tricks, whatever, but also by a LOT of listening, experimentation, study etc. That is what it takes when it comes to high end audio, which is exactly what a Martin Logan speaker is. It really does take a lot of high powered and expensive equipment to get the best out of them. They are different, and they are different on purpose.
Now, I took a look at the receiver you mentioned, the Yamaha RX-V450, here is a link to it:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200508&CTID=5000300
It looks like a decent start. I see that it has 90 Watts per channel most likely at 8 ohms, since that is what most companies will report. I have a Marantz receiver, the SR5600. It cost almost $700, and it is probably on the very lowest end of what you really should use with Martin Logans, and I am only using it with the Mosaics, not the Vista's. Understand that the Vista's are getting up there in the line of Martin Logan's higher end, and to run something like that, well let's just say that I would not even attempt to run them with my Marantz without an external amplifier.
Now, obviously you were able to get sound out of them with your receiver, but you did not get the best sound you could get out of them. Let me recommend that you not only ask to take the Vista's home to try, but also an external amp that has more than 90 wpc. Make sure it is high current, and very heavy! Trust me, it makes a difference. I was about to say that you may try using your Yamaha as the pre-amp, but looking at the back of the unit, it doesn't seem to have any pre-outs... So you may want to also bring home a separate pre-amp, or just borrow a much higher quality receiver if you don't want to deal with separates yet. Speaking of which, what is available to you? What store do you shop at? This may help us figure out what you have available to you so we can give you better advice as to what to try out.
It was also already asked, what CD player do you have? How is it hooked up? I don't remember seeing an answer, if you did answer, then I am sorry I missed the reply.
I also see that your cabling was rather un-orthodox if I may say.
You may want to avoid cabling both the front and rear channels to the Vista's if that is what you are doing, I hope I understood that right.
Now, you also mentioned an 8 inch Sony sub. Weeeeelll.....*shrug* I am not sure what to say about that. If you are going to stick with the ML's then I would seriously consider upgrading that at some point. I just finally scrounged up the $$$ to buy the ML Grotto, and again, even though I am working with the lower end ML stuff, wow what a difference this baby has made!
If you work with it, massage it, caress it (so to speak) just the right way, with the right sources, cables, and lots and lots of power, you will hear a difference, and so will your girlfriend, though and no slight intended towards her, I don't often trust my wife's ears when it comes to this hobby (which is what this becomes once your'e hooked! - warning!
) because she could care less. To her, my ML's sound just the same as the Paradigm Titan's I had before this, and the same as the old Sony Boombox we had when we were first married. There are a precious few of our wonderful wives and GF's and SO's that seem to really be able to appreciate it. Tell you what, if you want to talk to someone that is just amazing, talk to Robin on our forum, she will really get you going on some expensive stuff, won't you Robin?
In any case, please just take your time, experiment with it if you are really serious about wanting a pair of Logans. In fact, maybe try starting with one of the lower end speakers in the ML line, you may actually like them better with the gear you have now. Then slowly work up to some larger and better Logans as your fever takes over, and as your budget will permit. These speakers are for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and true audiophiles, they are not for show, though they are fun to show off, and they are not just for general run of the mill listening, they are a serious music lover's speaker.
So think about that first before deciding to go with the ML's or not. If you are willing to go all out and spend lots of dough and make this a hobby, then go ahead with the ML's and enjoy it, we'd be happy to have you. Otherwise, if you are just looking for something to make noise, then well I am sure that there are other speakers out there you may be much happier with. In any case, that's my $0.05 cents worth, (I wrote too much for it to be only $0.02!)
-capT