Just purchased my first pair of ML ESL 9’s PLEASE HELP!!!

[School]

Hello everyone and thanks for looking at my thread..

Im currently building my first system and would like some help/advice.

I have been a lifetime music lover and wanted to take the next step in audio equipment coming from a home theater listening background.

I just recently purchased my first pair of ESL 9s and have a few questions about the system I’m planning on building. I know this hobby is expensive so I would like to future proof myself incase I want to get better speakers down the road.

I currently own a Pro Ject 1-Xpression III with a Ortofon Black Cartridge. I’m also currently using Audioquest Earth RCA interconnects.

I just purchased a Audioquest Niagara 1200 line conditioner with a Audioquest Monsoon power cable.

I plan on purchasing is a NAD Master Series M32 for my amp and I’m on the fence about what speakers cables to purchase. It’s between the Audioquest Rocket 88s or Audioquest Robin Hood Zero’s.

I would like some input on the amp and speaker cables. (Good,Bad,Pros,Cons,Recommendations)

Also looking for recommendations on a quality affordable stand.

Thanks you all in advance

 

[ttocs]

Hello, and welcome!

edit: oops. Misread the part where you decided on the amp.

However, I make my speaker cables. I used to spend $$$, and I've tried cables costing $$$$, but decided I like my $$ cables best.

 

[JonFo]

You will like that NAD, the Master Series amps are very good.

As for cables, I just go with good quality such as the Belden 5000 10 Gauge from Blue Jeans Cable: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

I bi-amp all speakers, run multiple subs and have a very big dedicated room, so I have hundreds of feet of the stuff, and it is great. I also use audio measuring tools (I custom engineer my speakers and room) and trust me, the speaker cables are the least of your worries.

Please take any budget you were going to spend on fancy cables and put that towards acoustic treatments, as you'll find orders of magnitude greater improvements on that front.

Spend a few hours perusing our Acoustics and Placement sub-forum http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?73-Room-Acoustics-amp-ML-Placement as that will really help you understand a lot of the challenges and solutions around integrating ESLs into a room.

 

[School]

Hello, and welcome!

edit: oops. Misread the part where you decided on the amp.

However, I make my speaker cables. I used to spend $$$, and I've tried cables costing $$$$, but decided I like my $$ cables best.

Thanks and I’m thinking about the m32 but still open to suggestions. Yeah the cable issue has me going nuts lol

 

[School]

You will like that NAD, the Master Series amps are very good.

As for cables, I just go with good quality such as the Belden 5000 10 Gauge from Blue Jeans Cable: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

I bi-amp all speakers, run multiple subs and have a very big dedicated room, so I have hundreds of feet of the stuff, and it is great. I also use audio measuring tools (I custom engineer my speakers and room) and trust me, the speaker cables are the least of your worries.

Please take any budget you were going to spend on fancy cables and put that towards acoustic treatments, as you'll find orders of magnitude greater improvements on that front.

Spend a few hours perusing our Acoustics and Placement sub-forum http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?73-Room-Acoustics-amp-ML-Placement as that will really help you understand a lot of the challenges and solutions around integrating ESLs into a room.

Is the nad powerful enough to run the esl 9s? Also thanks for the information in regards to acoustic treatments. I’m going to be make shifting my sunroom into a speaker room for the time being until I can get something more dedicated.

 

[ttocs]

Smaller room = lower speaker volume = more amps will work ok. There will still be differences amongst various amps but it'll be more difficult to distinguish at the lower drive levels needed to fill a small room with sound. What size is the room?

Large rooms are where amps will be exposed in their failure to adequately drive your ESL's. When pushed closer to their limits it becomes very easy to hear what's wrong. When a friend brought over two of his mono amps he was shocked at how badly they clipped, and the amps only drive the panels in my 13A's because the woofers are self-powered. So cost is not the issue because his amps cost more than my Krell.

I agree with JonFo, placement and room treatment. Check out the link he posted.

You might want to check this also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Pf0ycbyBM starting at 18 minutes into it. All about speaker placement for imaging. Very intriguing indeed.

 

[School]

Smaller room = lower speaker volume = more amps will work ok. There will still be differences amongst various amps but it'll be more difficult to distinguish at the lower drive levels needed to fill a small room with sound. What size is the room?

Large rooms are where amps will be exposed in their failure to adequately drive your ESL's. When pushed closer to their limits it becomes very easy to hear what's wrong. When a friend brought over two of his mono amps he was shocked at how badly they clipped, and the amps only drive the panels in my 13A's because the woofers are self-powered. So cost is not the issue because his amps cost more than my Krell.

I agree with JonFo, placement and room treatment. Check out the link he posted.

You might want to check this also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Pf0ycbyBM starting at 18 minutes into it. All about speaker placement for imaging. Very intriguing indeed.

Thank you so much for this information. The room is 12x14. Do you recommend a different amp to say future proof myself if I want to upgrade from the esl9s down the road?

 

[ttocs]

Future proofing is a bit complicated since the room is a factor in the "sound" of the system, and predicting the future is just guessing. I suggest you get whatever makes you happy in your chosen room. You may find that as you become accustomed to your system after a while you might notice something you want to change. To that end, I suggest you listen to Steve Martin's dissertation on his experience with hifi audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjjsz14hL48. Amazingly, it's as true today as it was 39 years ago.

I don't know anything about NAD since over thirty years ago and back then I thought they were great. Looking at reviews the M32 seems like a very nice amp.

Being able to try a component in your home is very valuable. You might find that the dealer has a way of loaning you a demo amp to try for a day or so. I know several dealers in my area which do this with varying methods of deposit. I once borrowed a multi-thousand dollar preamp for a weekend from a dealer with only a handshake and a smile (I had purchased from this dealer previously). Some dealers will run your charge card for the total but not post it as long as you come back in time.

 

[School]

Future proofing is a bit complicated since the room is a factor in the "sound" of the system, and predicting the future is just guessing. I suggest you get whatever makes you happy in your chosen room. You may find that as you become accustomed to your system after a while you might notice something you want to change. To that end, I suggest you listen to Steve Martin's dissertation on his experience with hifi audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjjsz14hL48. Amazingly, it's as true today as it was 39 years ago.

I don't know anything about NAD since over thirty years ago and back then I thought they were great. Looking at reviews the M32 seems like a very nice amp.

Being able to try a component in your home is very valuable. You might find that the dealer has a way of loaning you a demo amp to try for a day or so. I know several dealers in my area which do this with varying methods of deposit. I once borrowed a multi-thousand dollar preamp for a weekend from a dealer with only a handshake and a smile (I had purchased from this dealer previously). Some dealers will run your charge card for the total but not post it as long as you come back in time.

I love all the reference material and thank you. The place I’m currently working with hooked me up with the esl 9s for 5300 out the door and offered me the nad for 4000 with the blu OS. It’s a small mom and pop shop that’s been in business for over 40 years.

 

[ttocs]

You may want to consider going to Woodbridge Audio Video in your neck of the woods because they are dealers for ML, NAD, and Krell. If they have the M32 on display as well as the Krell K-300i, you could do a comparison. I have a soft spot for the old 300i (from about ten or eleven years ago) and this new one is said to have a better mid-range, and it's "only" double the cost of the NAD! Sorry, don't mean to spend your money for you. It's really just to have something to compare to.

 

[codesx100]

I actually was just there recently (Woodbridge Audio). They have moons hooked up to the esl 9s I dont recall seeing the Nad there but you should give them a call and see if they can demo it for you. Really nice people there so it shouldnt be an issue.

School, nice to see a fellow SP on these boards

 

[FLT]

I purchased my esl 9's from Woodbridge a few years ago when they first came out. I first powered them with a Parasound A21 and it had plenty of power sounding quite good. I now power them with a Pass X250.8 and this is I feel is a perfect match. The sound is effortless, smooth, detailed and extremely lifelike with much better highs and three dimensionality than the Parasound.

 

[School]

I actually was just there recently (Woodbridge Audio). They have moons hooked up to the esl 9s I dont recall seeing the Nad there but you should give them a call and see if they can demo it for you. Really nice people there so it shouldnt be an issue.

School, nice to see a fellow SP on these boards

I purchased my esl 9's from Woodbridge a few years ago when they first came out. I first powered them with a Parasound A21 and it had plenty of power sounding quite good. I now power them with a Pass X250.8 and this is I feel is a perfect match. The sound is effortless, smooth, detailed and extremely lifelike with much better highs and three dimensionality than the Parasound.

Lets get together and talk audio lol. What do you guys use for component racks

 

[codesx100]

Lets get together and talk audio lol. What do you guys use for component racks

That would be fun. I would like to get a small server rack or something from salamander designs once I move to a larger space, but right now just using a simple tempered glass av stand from Target thats struggling to hold my equipment...

 

[Hear Here]

The NAD M32 is a great amp.

I've been using one for a couple of years. I have Avantgarde Duo speakers that are very sensitive, but I've used the M32 on ML 13As too. Although I didn't get on with the MLs compared even with my earlier 2002-vintage AG Unos, the amp was a good match. I also used Sanders Magtech which is a favourite amp for ESL users, but the NAD is just as good, though less powerful and a lot quieter if you notice noise in low sensitive speakers such as MLs. There's still plenty of power that you can annoy your neighbours with the M32!

If your speakers are bi-wireable, or if using a sub-woofer, you can get the M32 to operate as an active crossover by limiting the main speaker-level output to frequencies above say 100 Hz and select the same frequency to limit the line level output to the subs.

Add the BluOS module and you have a streamer too that offers access to your ripped library, Tidal, Qubuz, internet radio, etc. Brilliant bit of kit.

 

[Hear Here]

As for cables, I just go with good quality such as the Belden 5000 10 Gauge from Blue Jeans Cable: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

I bi-amp all speakers, run multiple subs and have a very big dedicated room, so I have hundreds of feet of the stuff, and it is great.

Well I'm never sure of this approach. If your speaker cable budget is say $400, are you better single-wiring with $400 cables or bi-wiring with 2 x $200 cables? I suspect the former. If money is no problem, then yes, 2 x $400 cables will probably offer a small improvement over 1 x $400 cables.

 

[Rehan Azim Hashmi]

I bought ESL 9 and matching Anthem STR integrated amp.

For ESL panel use 2 m Nordost blue heaven. For Woofer use 6 feet silver sonic T-14.

I am glued to my listening chair for I get super sonics from my system.