New Vantage Owner

[Gordon]

I'm stunned, and right out of the box.

I picked them up about 10am today. I was so anxious to set them up, I took a sick day. My wife said, "I knew you were going to do that". Mind you I'm 50 years old and felt like it was Christmas morning! The guys at work said "You got your speakers, you are not sick" Oh, well, the boss is allowed some fun also.

I let them get to room temp and hooked em up. I had a pair of Tributaries for speaker wires and used them it sounded mighty fine. except a little thin on the bottom. Moved them around a bit and it sounded better.

UPS knocked on the door on delivered a set of the Golden Helix wires from Mapleshades which I found here thanks to I believe the other Gordon (Gray).
At first look, they don't look like much. I have to say, I've never been much of a believer in esoteric wires. I have to admit it, I was wrong. I pulled out the Tributaries and put the GH in and the difference was night and day to me. It seemed like 2 completely different speakers. Thanks, Gordon.

I realize that I've got quite a few more hours left to go before they settle in. I know they are not set up correctly either. I actually tried to read all the posts back to 2005 that I thought were important so I can try to keep my repeating questions to minimum.

I always knew I had fairly nice equipment but there was something missing. That something was Martin Logan.

Thanks, Gordon

 

[Rich]

Congratulations. Just wait till you get them broken in. They will sound so much better.

 

[tonepub]

glad you are having fun! The Vantage is a great speaker. If you can leave them playing for a couple of days straight at modest level, you'll be 75% of the way there! When I had the review pair here, they really opened up after three days of constant iPod playback....

 

[Brian_74]

Congrats on the purchase! The bottom end really filled out on mine after about 1 month. As always, we need to see pictures in the member area when you get time

 

[twich54]

Gordon, As the others have said, Congrats ! I know the feeling !

 

[kcl]

Gordon, you're going to love those speakers. Just wait a week or so you you'll be amazed at how good they are getting. You won't have them fully broken in by then, but I've been told that you'll have about 80% of the break-in. (The remaining 20% could take as long as a couple of months.)

By the way, what are you driving these beauties with?

 

[roberto]

Gordon, felicidades!!! To my liking, one of the best ML product regardless of price and date...a super good sounding device! Trust your ears, and listen speakers costing twice or more than the Vantage, and for sure, you will like them most. Happy listening, and regards from Costa Rica,
Roberto.

 

[DTB300]

..... one of the best ML product regardless of price and date....

I would agree to a point...the Vantage is, IMO, the best bang for the buck speaker ML "currently" offers.

 

[Gordon]

I've done and noticed a couple things while breaking these in.

Played around with positioning and I think I'm getting close to where I like it. I've had to move the balance knob just a tick to the left to compensate for a 7 foot opening into the dining room.

Could more positioning practice eliminate the need to enter a biased left situation?

The bass is starting to come in nicely. I'm beginning to believe I'm going to need a sub in the near future. I have noticed some pedals from the organ are only hinted at which I know are there.

A couple cd's I have (Redbooks, big band music) sound a little congested and smeared, but I'm not sure if it is the recording, positioning or the speakers still breaking in.

The lack of a tweeter is just heaven to my ears. I'm sensitive to high brass and the high brass coming through the ML's has allowed me not to wince during certain passages.

I'm following the room treatment thread with interest. My front wall is drywall with nothing on it and the wife has agreed to " a couple" of pieces, if they "look nice".

Would 3 HF mini traps be a good start for the front wall? I'm thinking 1 behind each speaker and 1 in the center horizontally.

Thanks, and have a good weekend! Gordon

 

[Brian_74]

Gordon,
Just another humble piece of advice, if I may. Don't stress too much about speaker positioning until you have them fully broken in. After that, play around with spacing from wall, etc. Same goes for the 35Hz level control--don't worry about it too much until you have those beauties broken in. Also, if you haven't read the thread on the "flashlight" technique, you should check it out. It will tell you how to properly "toe in" your panels to get the best imaging. Might also make a difference with your balance needing to be tweaked to the left. I too, have a wider open area to the left side of my setup, but I haven't seen the need to tweak the balance control. How far apart do you have the speakers and what is the distance to your listening position? What is the distance from the back wall to the front of the panel? This might help us give you more advice on positioning. In the meantime, enjoy!

 

[Rich]

Would 3 HF mini traps be a good start for the front wall? I'm thinking 1 behind each speaker and 1 in the center horizontally.

This is the setup I have, so obviously I think it works great. I fully expect it will cure your need to skew your balance to one side. The rear wave bounces off the back wall and then the side walls and comes back to the listener, adding about 3 db or so to the sound level. Since you are missing part of a side wall, you are missing that reflective db gain on one side, which is why you feel the need to adjust your balance. But in so doing, you are also skewing the balance of the primary front wave, thus throwing off your stereo imaging.

Absorbing the rear wave should help with that issue immensely. Note that you will have to increase your listening volume slightly to get to the same sound level that you are used to listening at. But the increase in clarity, soundstaging and pure sonic holography will be absolutely noticeable.

 

[Gordon]

Actually, I have not touched the 35 Hz knob at all!! Hard to believe, but true.

Another thing I found is after I hooked up the ML's, I had to move my volume control up about 5 clicks to reach the same level as my old speakers. So if I put the traps up, I'll have to go up again. No big deal since my listening level is only about 3.5 watts at this point.

What concerns me is the ML owners guide says to run them them at moderate listening levels of 90 db. 90 db is not moderate to my ears!!

Would that 90 db be at listening position or at 1 meter?

Gordon

 

[twich54]

Gordon, Rich makes a good valid point, in agreement. Also I (and I think most would agree) would look into corner bass trapping, to the point that the wife still allows you to sleep in the same bed !

 

[bsckwan]

Gordon, about your comment on CDs. The Vantage is so revealing that any inferior recordings or digital source will really stands out. One of best recent redbook CD http://www.topmusic.com/agcd3805.htm which I've fed my Vantage sounds so analogue and life like, its so beautiful on the ear.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Thanks for the URL.