System #159 (CLS)

[zbub]

1. Member Name: York Yu

2. Location: Taipei, Taiwan

3. ML Model(s): CLS I, Depth

4. Year Purchased: CLS -- 1988, Depth -- 2006

5. Mods/Changes: Replaced a few resistors in the power supply. Tempted to replace the speaker terminals.

6. Associated Electronics:

Analog front end -- Linn LP12/Lingo/Ekos/Clearaudio Insider Reference Wood
Digital front end -- APL Philips SACD1000
Preamp -- Hovland HP100 MC with a few NOS tubes
Amp -- Jeff Rowland 501
Power distribution -- Nordost Thor
Cables -- Nordost, NBS, Goldmund, Cardas, Hovland, Luminous Audio
Other accessories -- Symposium shelf, Black Diamond Racing, SoundCare SuperSpikes

7. Comments and/or stories about your Martin Logan experience:

Been an owner of the original CLS since 1988 and love every minute I played music through them. With many equipment upgrades over the past 20 years these are still my favorites. When I moved from the US to Taiwan some years back I had to store these away due to space limitations and listened to a pair of Avalons instead. Sometime ago I finally got my own dedicated listening room and gladly brought the CLS's back from storage, replaced the panels, and as soon as they started to sing, I was in heaven again. Not that the Avalons don't sound nice in my system, but to my ears there's something about the original CLS that's extremely appealing.

I've toyed the idea of replacing these with Avalon Eidolon/Diamonds, Watt/Puppy 7, Verity Parsifal, and MBL 101E, but considering the cost of the above speakers versus the "possible" gain compared to the CLS/Depth combo, I'd rather spend the money on software. No joke. I think the CLS's are that good.

Comments welcome of course!

8. An image of your system.

 

[Kruppy]

Nice clean look.....

Very nice.

How do you like your Rowlands? I love the look of his/their designs, unfortunately I've never had a chance to audition any of the JRDG equipment.

 

[Cherian]

Hello,

You have a very beautiful and clean looking system. I see you are from Taipei. One of my favorite and most visited cities. As a mater of fact I will be there again January 18th and 19th. I always look forward to visiting Taipei because I love going in and an out of all the very high end HiFi electronic shops.

 

[Joey_V]

Awesome CLS-based system! Love the Rowlands and the Hovland pre you got going there.

Joey :welcome:

 

[twich54]

York Yu, Beautifull set-up !! I trust you're more than happy with the ClearAudio / Linn marriage ??

 

[lugano]

Great setup...

... but if might get even better if you switch the 2 CLS'es - AFAIK the wider vertical part of the panel must be towards the outside, not as it is now

 

[zbub]

Hi there,

I originally bought the Rowland 501's to replace Rowland 2/BPS 2 for the Avalons (great synergy there no doubt). When I hook up the CLS's again I was skeptical at first because I didn't know whether the 501's can handle the harsh impedence load. First thing I noticed with the combo was that the CLS's are really inefficient; thankfully the 501's has adjustable gain, and after switching to a higher gain setting (32dB) it was the first time I felt I was able to drive the speakers properly. Before moving to Taiwan I was using a 200W Melos tube amp for the CLS (another good combo) but it was no contest this time, the tiny Rowland monoblocks sounded perfectly with the CLS.

Personally I really liked the 501's. And the icing on the cake to me is how light and small they are.

 

[zbub]

Hi, too bad I will be traveling in the US when you visit Taipei this time. Be sure to let me know again when you are visiting.

 

[zbub]

Hi Lugano, the 2 vertical parts of the panel on CLS 1 are equal in size. The difference in the picture is due to the slight toe-in of the setup.

 

[MiTT]

What a beautifully setup and well chosen system - one of the nicest on the forum in my opinion! Love the framed RCA & Mercury album covers on the back wall. You must have many hours of happy listening. always good to have another vinyl junkie in our midst. Welcome!

 

[Kaliar]

Beautiful setup indeed ! I love your room and equipment, all in good taste !

Happy listening !

 

[Robin]

Awesome CLS / Depth Musical System...

York,

Welcome to the ML Club!
Beautiful system...:cheers: I love your listening environment it seems very relaxing. I couldn't help be notice your room treatments, did you hear a marked improvement, which room sonic treatment produced the most positive results for your listening room?

Amazingly beautiful CLS system.

It is good to have you here.

 

[zbub]

Hi Twitch 54,

The Linn/Clearaudio is no doubt a dream. The Insider Wood replaced a Helikon, and even though I slightly prefer the bass and three-dimensionality of Helikon to Insider Wood, but Insider Wood sounded much quicker and open. By comparison Helikon sounded too polite and reserved. Bottom line – very happy with the combo right now and probably will not think about another cartridge for a couple of years at least, or until I have a chance to acquire Lyra Olympos….


Hi MiTT,

Thank you for your kind words. The “record cover wall” is also a personal favorite of my listening room. You are looking at the “RCA wall” as you indicated, and when moods strike I also have “Mercury wall” and “Blue Note wall.” Ha ha.


Hi Kaliar,

Noticed you are also using Hovland! Loved the detailed sound of their equipment while not sounding overly dry. Have you done any tube rolling on the HP200? For me I’ve tried several NOS 12AX7’s on the line stage (including 3 generations of Telefunken) but still finding the stock Sovtek 12AX7LP to offer a more balanced sound. The only tubes that I have replaced were the phono section’s 12AT7 with a white label Valvo 6201 and the line section’s 12AT7 with a Telefunken ECC801S. I’ve also tried both pinched waist and non-pinched waist blue label Valvo 6201 but found them both overly thick in the bass in my room, but the pinched waist blue label is an awesome sounding tube and if it weren’t for my room I would have used it no doubt. All these tubes should be worth a shot depending on your room acoustics.

 

[zbub]

Hi Robin,

I tried 7 room acoustic products in my room, and the only ones that worked for me were the Corner Busters and the tube traps you see beside the CLS. These were made by a German company and marketed in Taiwan under "G+H" name. I can't find more info on the Net, but if you've seen the inside pictures of Berlin Phil Hall, you will notice a bunch of tube traps hanging down from the ceiling, and those would be what I have in my room, also hanging down in the light fixture. These seem to work better than other tube trap products I tried in my room. However, good as they may be, they didn't work when I put them in the rear corners or anywhere along the rear wall. I was going to give up until I tried them beside the CLS's and they broaden the soundstage and clean up the bass at the same time.

 

[Kaliar]

Hi Kaliar,

Noticed you are also using Hovland! Loved the detailed sound of their equipment while not sounding overly dry. Have you done any tube rolling on the HP200? For me I’ve tried several NOS 12AX7’s on the line stage (including 3 generations of Telefunken) but still finding the stock Sovtek 12AX7LP to offer a more balanced sound. The only tubes that I have replaced were the phono section’s 12AT7 with a white label Valvo 6201 and the line section’s 12AT7 with a Telefunken ECC801S. I’ve also tried both pinched waist and non-pinched waist blue label Valvo 6201 but found them both overly thick in the bass in my room, but the pinched waist blue label is an awesome sounding tube and if it weren’t for my room I would have used it no doubt. All these tubes should be worth a shot depending on your room acoustics.

Hi zbub,

No, I have not done any tube rolling so far, being quite happy with the stock tubes. In fact, one of the reasons I've chosen the HP-200 is that it is not supposed to require NOS tubes to sound its best ! Still, thanks for the recommendation, i'll keep the info available when the time comes to replace the tubes.

I've of course noticed that you have the Nordost THOR ! I sure love mine !

Happy listening !

 

[Robin]

Hanging Tube Traps.... What A Wonderful Idea!

Hi Robin,

I tried 7 room acoustic products in my room, and the only ones that worked for me were the Corner Busters and the tube traps you see beside the CLS. These were made by a German company and marketed in Taiwan under "G+H" name. I can't find more info on the Net, but if you've seen the inside pictures of Berlin Phil Hall, you will notice a bunch of tube traps hanging down from the ceiling, and those would be what I have in my room, also hanging down in the light fixture. These seem to work better than other tube trap products I tried in my room. However, good as they may be, they didn't work when I put them in the rear corners or anywhere along the rear wall. I was going to give up until I tried them beside the CLS's and they broaden the soundstage and clean up the bass at the same time.

York,

All the tube traps I have ever seem are on floor stands with the exception of your tube traps... Your tube traps are very innovative as well as unque, if I do say so my self...

You know, this to be a very interesting, yet rarely applied concept ~ of hanging audio gear from the ceiling... Great idea though..., both in form and function...

I will have to think about this and consider this application in my HT system.

Your system is truly inspirationally awesome. I am happy it is here, saved in our member systems here at the ML Club.

 

[zbub]

Hanging tube traps from the ceiling

Hi Robin, yes I totally agree with you. When I heard and learned more about this product the more I thought the concept made sense. The biggest drawback is that one needs to experienment with the final location and height of the trap, and whomever thought of using a light fixture as the mean to move the traps around was also quite clever. After confirming the location I could have hang the traps from the ceiling (and the traps came with the necessary hooks and adjustable wire) but I thought they look mightly fine the way they are with the light fixture.

 

[nsgarch]

I've toyed the idea of replacing these with Avalon Eidolon/Diamonds, Watt/Puppy 7, Verity Parsifal, and MBL 101E, but considering the cost of the above speakers versus the "possible" gain compared to the CLS/Depth combo, I'd rather spend the money on software. No joke. I think the CLS's are that good.

I couldn't say it any better myself! Check out my system, we've a similar history.

Neil

 

[Joey_V]

Bub,

How do you like the Hovland HP100? I was about to pounce on that guy a few months back...

Anyway, great system from top to bottom!!

Joey

 

[jjqiv]

I've toyed the idea of replacing these with Avalon Eidolon/Diamonds, Watt/Puppy 7, Verity Parsifal, and MBL 101E, but considering the cost of the above speakers versus the "possible" gain compared to the CLS/Depth combo, I'd rather spend the money on software. No joke. I think the CLS's are that good.

I was seriously enteraining upgrading to some Avalon's to replace my SL3's. Came across some CLS's for cheap. Avalon's aren't in the cards for now.