Neolith Purchase Order Has Been Placed

[timm]

Can I send you the bill Tim?

Hahaha!! Only if you got a screaming deal!!

 

[GaryG]

Joey. Graphite or red violin???

Joey: I see a pair of red violin Strads on Gon for $23,750 located just a few miles from my LA. location. I can check them out and you can send Tim the bill. :ROFL:

Gary

 

[timm]

Joey: I see a pair of red violin Strads on Gon for $23,750 located just a few miles from my LA. location. I can check them out and you can send Tim the bill. :ROFL:

Gary

Lol!! Hey thanks Gary!! Hmmm. That price is kind of like leaving a tip for the guy that delivered the neoliths isn't it?? .

 

[Joey_V]

Joey: I see a pair of red violin Strads on Gon for $23,750 located just a few miles from my LA. location. I can check them out and you can send Tim the bill. :ROFL:

Gary

Gary -

Way ahead of you buddy, but I like the idea of sending Tim the bill..... ROFL!!!

Yeah, that pair is from Europe, I don't deal with out of the country Strads... no local mainland support.

There are technically 4 total strads on the market. 2 on audiogon and 2 off. That's what I know so far. Out of the 4, there is 1 potential candidate... and yes..

... tim is getting the bill. :devil::devil:

 

[timm]

Gary -

Way ahead of you buddy, but I like the idea of sending Tim the bill..... ROFL!!!

Yeah, that pair is from Europe, I don't deal with out of the country Strads... no local mainland support.

There are technically 4 total strads on the market. 2 on audiogon and 2 off. That's what I know so far. Out of the 4, there is 1 potential candidate... and yes..

... tim is getting the bill. :devil::devil:

hmmm... my wife handles the bills.... Could I bury 13.5 in this bill somehow and get two room dividers delivered to my house too??

 

[GaryG]

Back to the amps for the Neolith's.

Tomorrow and Sunday I will be running through some passive bi-amp scenarios. I believe several of the combinations may be promising. I called Mark at Reno Hifi and discussed the XA-160.5's on sound quality but coming up a little short on power. I asked about getting a pair of X-1000.5's in for home trial. He said that he liked the X-600.8 much better for SQ and they are less money. Mark has always been a straight shooter, so I had him send me a pair of X-600.8's for a 30 day home trial. They will arrive next week.

I checked out the VTL Siegfried Series II's but it was in their store on Wilson Audio Alexia's and a DCS Vivaldi stack. The system sounded great but I agree with Hocky in that you can't really tell much with that many variables changed. They are still on my short list. This weekend I will also start putting my MCS back together. I have been waiting to get my four 30 amp dedicated power connections and they will be completed tomorrow.

Gary

 

[RonR]

Dear Gary,

I strongly endorse the big VTLs!

I have used VTL MB-750s on my Prodigys for over 15 years. I am considering the Neoliths and I would use the MB-750s on the Neoliths.

Feel free to email me if you would like further observations. Good luck in your search!

 

[GaryG]

I have used VTL MB-750s on my Prodigys for over 15 years. I am considering the Neoliths and I would use the MB-750s on the Neoliths.

How much maintenance (ie tube replacement) have you had over your 15 years. I have had Prodigy's for 13 years. Currently I use them as my rears in a 7.1 MCS. While I was waiting for the Neolith's I sent the High Pass to ML in Kansas to check the electronics. Everything tested fine. I had new caps put in and they came back with a noticeably improved SQ. I enjoy the Prodigy's but as you might expect the Neoliths are a vast improvement.

Base on your strong recommendation I will make sure I give the VTL's a proper audition.

Gary

 

[RonR]

Dear Gary,

I have replaced the tubes two or three times over the years. One time a tube blew and melted one of the fuse holders. Luke had the fuse holder replaced with a more robust component.

I used to live in Manhattan. I take comfort in knowing that I now live in LA -- an easy drive away from VTL.

The auto-biasing and monitoring circuits of the the Siegfrieds should eliminate any worry, and obviate any issues, such as the one I had with the (traditionally designed) MB-750s.

In the "that's what makes horse-racing" category, as components of all kinds, including both tube and solid-state amplifiers, have been designed and re-designed over the years to be more "neutral," with greater extension at the frequency extremes, I have been concerned with whether the new VTLs would be too strong for me in the high frequencies. (I do not care for anything which sounds to me to be the slightest bit edgy or hyper-detailed or "analytical" or "clinical," so I am happy with a slightly soft top end.)

 

[GaryG]

I finally got to the passive bi-amping. First I put the MC1.2KW's on the bass and the 28B-SST^2's on the panels and then reversed the amps. The results were great I mean really great. I really liked both combinations but if forced to pick one I would say Bryston's on bass gave the best bass with punch, snap and resolve. With the MC1.2KW's giving the panel a smoother sound. Some of the pieces I sampled include:

Jennifer Warnes "Way Down Deep" from "The Hunter",
Nojima Plays Liszt (great piano with my favorite Liszt piece "La Campanella" being played brilliantly).
Drakes "I Started From the Bottom" The album that shut both of these amps down individually. They did not shut down here but I did not push too hard.
Keb Mo "reflections"
Phil Collins "Live at Montreux" for the 10 minute drum intro
"CASH" , Patriia Barber "Modern Cool", Christian McBride "Gettin to it"" and more.

I have the Pass Labs X-600.8's arriving on Tuesday and the VTL's TBD.

Gary

 

[Peter Soderberg]

Hello Gary,
just watching the saga. glad you are exploring the limits of our big one. One question i may have asked before is have you tried the 8 ohm taps on the macs? i have often found them the best sounding in may cases.

 

[GaryG]

Hello Gary,
just watching the saga. glad you are exploring the limits of our big one. One question i may have asked before is have you tried the 8 ohm taps on the macs? i have often found them the best sounding in may cases.

Hello Pete,

When Mike brought the speakers he recommended the 8 ohm tap. I tried the 2 ohm and 4 ohm just to see the results but other than that I have left them on 8 ohm. A few minutes ago I put an ohm meter on the panels (taps) and got a reading of 6.0. The sound I'm getting now that I have bi-amped is just fantastic. The bass is rich and "feels great" I just finished the disc "Super Bass 2" with Ray Brown, John Clayton and Christian McBride. I played bass only, panels only and then combined. The Neolith's just flat out delivered. I'm currently listening to the Robbie Williams album "Swings Both Ways" which I bought after watching the Abbey Road link provided by Justin earlier in this thread. The orchestra is well layered, vocals clean and the entire sound stage is in balance. If a critic says the Neolth's are bass deficient maybe their air is too thick. Tell them to come out here to dry air Vegas. There is nothing deficient with my bass.

I will be in Los Angeles on the 29th 30th and 31st. I will try to make it to the Newport S.H.O.W. (probably Friday or Saturday)

Gary

 

[User211]

I was looking at various videos I have posted on YouTube a while ago, many from Munich last year. The one with the most hits is the Martin Logan Neolith which has over 15,000. There must be quite a bit of interest out there!

Anyway Gary, bi-amping experiments sound like they are very much worthwhile. VTL on the panels and Bryston on the bass might be killer. Rich of this forum did something similar, albeit with lesser kit and loved it.

 

[Peter Soderberg]

Hello Gary,
Good on the 8. I have found that in most of my shows, but when i did one with Mike on the Neolith we verified again that the non intuitive 8 ohm tap sounded best overall. Many go to 4 based on specs so i hope to get the word out to experiment and trust your ears.
I will be there for the first 2 days of the show, have to go to San Antonio for a week for a meeting.

 

[bonzo]

Here is another Neolith review

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?14722-Martin-Logan-Neolith/page7&p=319897#post319897

 

[slowGEEZR]

Gary, I thought I'd let you know that a friend of mine is using two pairs of Siegfried's on his speakers and it is the best system I've ever heard in someone's home. Although, being a satisfied Pass Labs owner myself, I bet the Pass X-600.8's will be terrific, also!

 

[GaryG]

These Speakers Don't Need No Stinkin' Subs​

The above qoute was attributed to an important member of the Neolith design team. The team member was rumored to have burst into a room and shouted "These speakers don't need no stinkin' subs" after he had read Mark Henninger's comments on AVS forum. Each time I recount this story it becomes more colorful in my imagination. Over the past week I have tested both sides of this debate. I added two Velodyne DD-18+ subs. One for each Neolith



On the left is the Pass Labs X-600.8 and on the right is one of the DD-18+'s.

First I tested and listened to the Neolith's alone. Using OmniMic v2 (sine sweep) I looked for the frequency where the bass dipped below -3dB. From the primary listening position this occurred around 20.5 Hz (I'm sure the OmniMic isn't accurate to one tenth of a Hz but it was somewhere around 20 to 21 Hz). So my in-house measurements showed slightly better than ML's stated 23 Hz. Over the next several post (as time permits) I will discuss several different scenario's that I performed and my impressions.

Gary

 

[RonR]

Very interesting Gary! I look forward to reading more about your experiments with subwoofers!

 

[GaryG]

Just got the word, They are bringing a pair of VTL Siegfried II's to my place next Wednesday. These will be equipped with the KT88 tubes. Unfortunately I have some construction going on in the house but will work it out somehow.

Gary

 

[GaryG]

I put all of the amps on wheels as seen in the picture. Too much work switching during this test phase without wheels. Regarding the Pass Labs X-600.8, Mark at Reno HiFi highly recommended these. I agree with Mark. These are the best amps I have ever had. The power is great with more than needed at all frequencies. Strongest bass with great mids and highs. Somewhere between the Brystons and the 1.2KW's for sweetness. Now the real fun will be comparing these to the VTL's next week.

Gary