Martin Logan Clarity / Prima Luna Prologue One

[reverendp]

Hi,

I'm very new to high end products.
I'm DJ/Producer, i live in paris france, got tons of records, mostly jazz, soul, funk, & Disco, but only listened to them on "regular" systems

I first listened to Martin Logan's at a friend in NY and was amazed by the sound quality.
Few weeks ago, i found a pair of Martin Logan Claritys on ebay, close to my place,
i thought this would be the most beautiful christmas present i could ever dream off.
I went to listen at the sellers place, brought some Marvin Gaye cds.
I loved the sound and purchased the speakers, he had an audio researsh amp, massive mc intosh preamp, expensive cables...

Of course, back home it did not sound that good on my poor hifi amp.

I started to check online for a good amp to start with
I picked the Primaluna Prologue one whitch had amazing reviews for its price. Shop seller told me they would drive my claritys with no problems due to its strong power supply (this still sounds like hebrew to me)
So i bought it, and there is a better sound now.

STILL, i'm a bit disappointed with the sound of snares, they don't impact me, also, the attack on piano notes seems a bit weak.

I don't know much about room placement, i just made sure the logans were far enough from walls, and that my sweet point would be equidistant from speakers.

The sources i use are : Pioneer CDJ 1000 MK3, Technics sl1210 MK2 (Grado Gold cartridge),

they go through a great hand made mixer the DJR400 (here is the link : http://www.electronique-spectacle.com/djr400.htm) this mixer is recognized by world class djs as the best one, even better than UREI 1620

I use cheap modulation cables,
first because of an inextensive budget, 2nd, because i've been reading tons of articles saying the improvement due to very expensive cables was nothing compared to room placement, amps and speakers quality...
Even some double blind tests by "pros" could not tell a big difference between 1000$ and 10$ cables!

I use 7$/meter Monster speaker cables for almost same reasons.

Could you help me out to get the best of my Martil Logans.

I know it should sound better

Is it the amp is to weak?
Is it room placement?
Is it cables ?
Is it i go through the mixer ?
Is it the sources i use?

For the moment i can't invest too much, so this got to be "reasonable" advices

Thanks a lot

PS : If interested you can listen to productions and mixes of my partner & I on http://www.animalhouse.fr

 

[Steve]

are you saying that your Clarity setup does not sound as good as your friend's Clarity setup, or that neither system quite captured the sound you are looking for?

 

[reverendp]

Hi Steve,
i think my set up is the problem.

 

[Tosh]

I suspect you need to get a better CD player and also bypass that mixer altogether. Perhaps the opamps in the mixer can be upgraded.

 

[TomDac]

How are the speakers placed?? positioning is critical.

 

[reverendp]

Thank you Tosh,
i'm gonna try this,

but this is already expensive material i'm using there,
the cdj 1000mk3 is a 1500$ cd player
and the djr mixer cost around 2500$ it is hand crafted by a famous french sound engineer

But considering it's dj aimed products perhaps trying a high end cd player plugged directly in the amp will give me a better sound, i'll let you know.
Any recommendation?

also i was asking myself if i should plug the claritys on the 8ohms or 4ohms exits of the amplifier?
to my ears 4 ohms sound better, but is it psycho accoustics or real, i can't tell
any clue?

So for you guys, the primaluna prologue one shouldn't be the issue right?

 

[reverendp]

Hi Tom,
you can see actual placement of my speakers and my system on those pictures

 

[timm]

i would suspect lots of echo in that room... glass wall / near field / wood floors... I think room treatments... others know more than I about this topic....

 

[as350_b3]

Stay with the 4 ohm connectors if they sound better. A friend of mine has PrimaLuna monoblocks and they are very nice sounding, so I don't think the combination of Clarity and Prologue is really causing the problem. I would try the cheapest fix first - placement. Move them around a little bit at a time and use painters tape on the floor to mark previous positions. Sometimes moving only 1 centimeter or changing the angle by a few degrees can cause significant changes to the sound while sitting in the sweetspot. This process can be time consuming and you should not expect to find the perfect location and orientation within a few minutes. It might also help if you add a carpet in front of the speakers, etc.

 

[Tosh]

It appears from the pics that the Claritys are leaned back too far for that listening height. Try a book under the rear edge and hear what happens?

 

[reverendp]

Thank you very much for your advices
I'm happy this should not be a amp issue !!!!
I'll try to add a carpet soon, and i'll work on placement,
i need to bring a friend to do so, cause going back and forth from sweet to point to speakers makes it difficult.
About the book thing, i told myself the same thing, but it seems that all logans are built this way so i don't know
Anyway, that's easy to try and cost nothing
I'll try this tomorrow morning, it's too late here for a good listening volume
Thanx again.