Need everyone's input with this scenario

[silver305]

Hi there,
i currently own a pair of electromotions electrostatics and i LOVE LOVE the way they sound. I have them connected to a Bryston power amplifier 9bst which is only rated at 120x5 and they sound amazing to say the least.
Recently, i have SERIOUSLY considered selling my Bryston amplifiers, motif x, jl audio fathom f112, electromotions speakers so i can put enough money together to just go all out and buy a pair of Montis and keep a 2 channel set up for a long time until i have enough funds to buy the rest of the gear again. I figure i'd sell the fathom jl audio sub because the montis have good subs and since i live in a place that has neighbors, i believe the bass in the montis should suffice.
My question is, do you think this would be a smart move? how much improvement in sound are we talking? will i hear better quality at lets say moderate listening levels? i live in a condo so i can't really blast music too too loud, only moderate levels.
I have also tossed the idea of buying a pair of Ethos instead and that way i won't really have to sell most of my gear.
What would you guys do? have any of you gone from electromotions to ethos? to montis? what would you say percentage wise were the improvements? i will be sitting roughly 12 feet away from the speakers.
Any input would be greatly appreciated guys

thank you

 

[Tosh]

Compared against Montis, Ethos is burdened with its too narrow ESL, higher xo point, and passive radiator in the bass.

 

[slowGEEZR]

If you love, love the electro motions, then keep, keep them. Sorry, had to do that. Try to audition Montis and then make the decision. Buying without listening first can lead to dissatisfaction.

 

[amey01]

Making drastic changes (which is what you're talking about doing) is a great way to lead to dissatisfaction. You are left with a system you are not familiar with and synergy goes out the door.

If you love the Electromotions, you're in a great spot. Try upgrading other areas of your system. By all means, chose components with a view to a better pair of MLs one day in the future.

But remember - you've got a system there - not just a pair of speakers. Don't "cut the forest to save a tree" so to speak!

 

[Rich]

I see a couple of problems with your logic. If you love the way your system sounds now, enjoy it for a little while. No need to jump too quickly into the deep end of the pool. Selling equipment results in a huge loss of value. So don't make any rash decisions. I do think you should eventually purchase the best speakers you can afford, but maybe enjoy your electromotions while you save for them. If you want to do an immediate upgrade, probably the most cost effective one you can make right now is to a more powerful amp for the front two channels.

 

[Larry]

I agree with the other posters. And I doubt that a more powerful amp will do much for you at this stage. The electromotion ESLs are pretty efficient. Just like you I sit about 12 feet from my electromotions and I find that a good 100 wpc amp drives them very comfortably. You have excellent speakers and an excellent amp. Relax and enjoy the music!

 

[silver305]

Making drastic changes (which is what you're talking about doing) is a great way to lead to dissatisfaction. You are left with a system you are not familiar with and synergy goes out the door.

If you love the Electromotions, you're in a great spot. Try upgrading other areas of your system. By all means, chose components with a view to a better pair of MLs one day in the future.

But remember - you've got a system there - not just a pair of speakers. Don't "cut the forest to save a tree" so to speak!

I like your quote. I agree with everything you have said. Actually, i am contemplating buying a butler audio 5150 and sell my bryston 9bst to see if it makes quite an improvement in sound. do you know of anyone who has gone to a butler audio?

 

[silver305]

I see a couple of problems with your logic. If you love the way your system sounds now, enjoy it for a little while. No need to jump too quickly into the deep end of the pool. Selling equipment results in a huge loss of value. So don't make any rash decisions. I do think you should eventually purchase the best speakers you can afford, but maybe enjoy your electromotions while you save for them. If you want to do an immediate upgrade, probably the most cost effective one you can make right now is to a more powerful amp for the front two channels.

Interestingly enough, i have been contemplating purchasing a butler audio 5150. i have heard nothing but rave reviews about this amp and how well it mates with the logans. i just feel it could be a good switch to go from the bryston 9bst to a butler hybrid amp. However, i was holding back because i couldnt really make up my mind between selling it all and buying the montis while powering them with the anthem receiver i am using as a preamp until i have more money to buy a real amp or just forget the idea of the montis and use a much better amp to get the most out of the current set up.

 

[silver305]

has anyone here gone from a solid state amplifier to a butler audio hybrid unit? i have done tons of reading and everything leads me to believe the butler audio would give me a level of detail and oomph that the bryston i currently own.
Thoughts?

 

[Rich]

has anyone here gone from a solid state amplifier to a butler audio hybrid unit? i have done tons of reading and everything leads me to believe the butler audio would give me a level of detail and oomph that the bryston i currently own.
Thoughts?

I haven't heard the Butler Audio amps but have heard good things about them. I expect this could give you a nice step up in sound quality, as it will probably be a much more musical amp than the Bryston. Although I would lean toward getting the 2250 for the front two channels and use your Anthem receiver to power the other three channels. That way you have more power for music (which means the amp strains less during difficult passages or when cranking it up) and you still have a good setup for home theater. Then when you save enough money to upgrade your speakers down the road, you will already have an excellent amp capable of doing them justice. Either way, I think the Butler amps will be an improvement over the Bryston for music.

 

[silver305]

I haven't heard the Butler Audio amps but have heard good things about them. I expect this could give you a nice step up in sound quality, as it will probably be a much more musical amp than the Bryston. Although I would lean toward getting the 2250 for the front two channels and use your Anthem receiver to power the other three channels. That way you have more power for music (which means the amp strains less during difficult passages or when cranking it up) and you still have a good setup for home theater. Then when you save enough money to upgrade your speakers down the road, you will already have an excellent amp capable of doing them justice. Either way, I think the Butler amps will be an improvement over the Bryston for music.

I Was told the bass the butler puts out is amazon but what's most captivating is the amount of detail it has.

 

[edwinr]

...so i can put enough money together to just go all out and buy a pair of Montis and keep a 2 channel set up for a long time until i have enough funds to buy the rest of the gear again... My question is, do you think this would be a smart move?

Simple question. Simple answer: Yes!

The Montis speakers are a quantum leap over what you've got. I recently went through the same dilemma. I put all my dollars together, selling my REL subs and all the other stuff and I had enough money to buy a brand new pair of Montis speakers. I was running them with a pair of old tube pro mono blocs which I just sold to buy a new Pathos Classic 1 Mark lll integrated amp. The Montis' sound awesome driven by this little amplifier. Next step is an inexpensive surround sound receiver and I'm going to use my old Bose AM 5 speakers for surround duties just for movies.

But there's nothing wrong with plain old vanilla stereo. Especially when you own one of the very best hi fi speakers in the world.

 

[beanbag]

I think the answer depends on whether you just want to throw down a lot of money now and get a reasonable system which you don't have to mess with, or whether you want something with more flexibility for tuning that will require work but could be even better down the road.

For example, having a separate sub means you can place it wherever in the room to get the best frequency response and least booming.

Having a non-active woofer means you can do fancier stuff like bi amp with custom crossovers and other digital tweaks.

The main difference I noticed with big electrostat panels vs smaller ones is that the big ones can play loudly better, but the smaller ones are easier to set up for good sound.

 

[bonzo]

I wouldn't make such an investment without a home demo. Get the Montis, listen at your listening levels and see if you think it worth it as compared to your old system

 

[InterMechanico]

I wouldn't make such an investment without a home demo. Get the Montis, listen at your listening levels and see if you think it worth it as compared to your old system

It certainly wouldn't hurt to demo the Montis if you're considering it. Hear what you're missing and then decide if that extra bit is worth the money to you. The Montis is a beautiful speaker, and certainly good value in that price range.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Assuming the OP is happy with the way things are, there's no reason to change anything.

I would suggest he clearly identify those areas in which he hears some weakness or deficiency before exploring other options.

GG

 

[silver305]

I'm happy with the electromotions but I was wondering how much better are the theos or ethos or montis?
I spoke to martin logan yesterday and they said the ethos are about a 30% improvement over the electromotions.
I was also told tube amps should be used whenever possible since they are more likely to handle the drop of ohms better than other amps. I told them about the butler audio 5150 which I bought two days ago and should be getting tomorrow and they said it will be a better match for my speakers than my bryston 9bst.
I'm very excited to see what the fuzz is about with hybrid amps and I have a gut feeling the sound will be much improved with this amp. It is rated at 225 watts at 4 ohms but actual measures show 305 watts . The Bryston only puts out 195 watts at 4 ohms so that's over 100 watts extra per channel that I'll be feeding them. I have to believe this will make a significant change in sound .

 

[|Tch0rT|]

The Butler will sound different because it's voiced to sound different. The tube pre amp section will change the sound slightly and Butler likes to put a bump in the FR around 4k from what I remember (not sure if only the car amps did that or if they do the same in the home amps). The power difference isn't as much as you'd think it is. I used to run their car amps back in the day. If their home amps are anything like their car audio cousins it'll be a tank.

 

[amey01]

I'm happy with the electromotions but I was wondering how much better are the theos or ethos or montis?
I spoke to martin logan yesterday and they said the ethos are about a 30% improvement over the electromotions.
I was also told tube amps should be used whenever possible since they are more likely to handle the drop of ohms better than other amps. I told them about the butler audio 5150 which I bought two days ago and should be getting tomorrow and they said it will be a better match for my speakers than my bryston 9bst.
I'm very excited to see what the fuzz is about with hybrid amps and I have a gut feeling the sound will be much improved with this amp. It is rated at 225 watts at 4 ohms but actual measures show 305 watts . The Bryston only puts out 195 watts at 4 ohms so that's over 100 watts extra per channel that I'll be feeding them. I have to believe this will make a significant change in sound .

With the Butler, you're in a much better place to subsequently upgrade to the Montis (or successor) when you're ready. Enjoy! Just don't go replacing stuff until you've let new components settle in! - ie. only after getting the Montis should you decide if you need that sub or not, or if you might want to upgrade it...

 

[Rich]

I'm happy with the electromotions but I was wondering how much better are the theos or ethos or montis?
I spoke to martin logan yesterday and they said the ethos are about a 30% improvement over the electromotions.

Hmmm. 30% improvement for 300% greater cost. Sounds like the electromotions are a steal. Or ML is just flat out wrong about the level of improvement stepping up to the Ethos.

Let us know how it sounds once you have the Butler in the system and burned in.