System #183 (SL3)

[JohnA]

Name: John Alan

Location: Kent, England

ML model: SL3

Purchased: Jan 2007

Modifications: None (yet)

Associated electronics:

Source: Rega Planet / Musical Fidelity A34 DAC
Pre-amp: Musical Fidelity A3 CR
Power amp (panels): Musical Fidelity XA-200 monoblocs
Power amp (woofers): Musical Fidelity XA-100

Additional front speakers: Kelly KT2 driven by a pair of Musical Fidelity XA-50 monoblocs (sitting behind the ML panels)

Extra details:
The MLs are mildly towed in, roughly following Jim Powers' method. They are also mildly tilted forwards compared to their 'flat' settings, in absolute terms their front surface still tilts backwards.
The 'support' speakers are towed in slightly more agressively, to bring the soundstage back where it should be.

The rear blinds are a desperate attempt to minimise direct rear reflections from the large pane of glass.

Source components sit on DIY acoustically inert air suspension platforms (piece of MDF on half-inflated inner tubes of childrens bicycles )

CD player is also 'weighed down' by symmetrical chunks of rock - necessary to avoid skipping on very loud passages, due to proximity with the right speaker.

 

[TomDac]

Welcome aboard John. I re-sized your photos.

Tom.

 

[sleepysurf]

Nice setup, but why the 2nd pair of speakers? Are you using them instead of a sub, and if so, how do you manage the crossover to the panels?

 

[Dreamer]

This system much sound great! I love the sound of "Brit-kit". I used to have a Meridian 208 CD player/preamp, and it was one of the nicest sounding CD players I've ever owned.

I'd LOVE to hear an all-brit system driving MLs. I bet your rig sounds very sweet. And the fact that you are using Sequels gives your system an even more special place in my heart (I have original Sequels).

Bravo!

--Richard

 

[JohnA]

Nice setup, but why the 2nd pair of speakers? Are you using them instead of a sub, and if so, how do you manage the crossover to the panels?

The 2nd pair of speakers is definately needed I'm afraid , the MLs sound gutless without them. Empty and void. Jazz and rock comes out soul-less and lacking. I think it's mainly a product of poor room acoustics, because in larger rooms where they can have an extra foot off the rear wall the SL3s do sound more punchy.
They are not crossovered, they run full-range daisy-chained to the other power amps. I tried running them without the tweeters but it sounded unbalanced. Their tweeters are below the level of my ears at the listening position, so they don't mar the beautiful treble of the MLs. Response is flat +/-3db down to 20Hz, despite the ML bass settings being at -3db.

I've also got a 500w self-made sub with 2x12" drivers which doesn't show, neither do the rear surrounds show. These only operate with DVDAs, SACDs and HT material.

 

[JohnA]

...I love the sound of "Brit-kit". I used to have a Meridian 208 CD player/preamp, and it was one of the nicest sounding CD players I've ever owned.

Thank you Richard.
Meridian and Musical Fidelity do have similarities in their sound signature.

I'd LOVE to hear an all-brit system driving MLs. I bet your rig sounds very sweet.

It sounds sweet and it has to, punchy and devasting when the material asks for it.
I recently got the Chesky SACD with their collection of audiophile vocal recordings:rocker:
Martin Logan heaven, mostly voice and acoustic instruments.

On the other side, extravaganzas of Emerson Lake & Palmer or Mahavishnu Orchestra also sound very convincing. I don't want a system that is ideal for one style and hopeless in another.

And the fact that you are using Sequels gives your system an even more special place in my heart (I have original Sequels).

I can't help but smile with the phrase original Sequels he he... :haha1:

This pair of SL3s was made in year 2000, towards the end of their production run I believe. Last of the Mohicans.:cheers:

 

[bahamaman]

Congratulations on a beautiful set-up, John! I have always had a fondness for Musical Fidelity gear, principally based on spending a good deal of time with their X-DACv3. It was one sweet sounding unit!

So, from one relative newb (er, Junior Member) to another - welcome!

 

[JohnA]

Congratulations on a beautiful set-up, John! I have always had a fondness for Musical Fidelity gear, principally based on spending a good deal of time with their X-DACv3.

Thanks
I, too, first came to appreciate Musical Fidelity gear from using a DAC of theirs (X-DAC, still got it!)
Then I got their no-frills X-Pre, then the external PSU, then the small monoblocs, then the avanche had started:haha1:
Even these speakers, the Kelly KT2s were made in the MF factory, I've got two pairs of them. 95db/w, more efficient than most.:cheers:

 

[philox]

JohnA , I used to have a pair of SL3's and I always paired them with a 10 inch fast musical sub...not a HT sub. Maybe 2 subs in stereo mode will fill out the bottom end. I just bought the Odysseys and I had to turn down the volume from the subs as well as the HZ from 70 to 40 because the front 8 inch woofer plays clean jazz while the back 10 inch woofer matches my dual subs.Have you any thoughts of redoing your sub?

 

[JohnA]

..Have you any thoughts of redoing your sub?

It's not a sub issue this one, frequency repsonse is fine. I've made my sub fast and musical on purpose - overpowered, inefficient acoustic suspension. But in this case it can't help fill the hole, because it's over 80Hz.

When the sub phase and gain are *just* right, the problem is diminished a bit, but some still remains. With the extra speakers on the side the problem just goes away.

I suspect that it has more to do with the room acoustics, not a failing of the SL3s. My seating position is almost nearfield, and I have a wall right behind the couch - that certainly doesn't help. There is only so much you can absorb with rags etc. Midbass will reflect anyway.

 

[Robin]

Excellent SL3 System...

John,

Lovely system!

Your listening rooms looks devine as well. Your Music Fidelity gear looks awesome.

The photos of your amazing system look just great....

 

[JohnA]

Thank you Robin.:cheers:

My gear is nowhere near as exotic as some of the other stuff around here, but it does the job

The listening room is not what I'd call 'devine' because it could do with an extra 2-3 meters (the logans need lots of space to 'breathe' and they are pretty marginal in this room).

On the PLUS side, there are rooms all around, and the house is detatched, so I can play as loud as I like (standing waves allowing!) and nothing can be heard outside.:rocker:

So it's twists and roundabouts.

 

[lugano]

Welcome John !

I love to see european ML-based systems... our sacrifice at the ML temple is always bigger ... nice setup !

 

[JohnA]

.. our sacrifice at the ML temple is always bigger ... nice setup !

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, the 'sacrifice' is indeed bigger, due to the Euro-rip-off factor.

Prices are the same as in the US, they just substitute the dollar sign with a pound sign here in the UK. Very convenient. They quote VAT and shipping costs as reasons for effectively doubling the retail price
(apparently Australia is closer to Kansas, judging from ML retail prices over there)

The SL3s were $3200 in the States and £3200 in the UK.
It gets worse - a pair of replacement panels is almost £1000 here. Utter profiteering. Maybe we could arrange for our US brethren to send us panels at US prices (easily one third of the price, even counting shipping costs):devil:

I was lucky and persistent enough to find an excellent used pair from the last ones made, at the price they command second-hand in the US. Otherwise I'd still be looking.

 

[lugano]

They quote VAT and shipping costs as reasons for effectively doubling the retail price

Don't forget the omnipresent excuse of 220V vs. 110V....and the EC approval... everything goes, when it comes down to a single country distributor.

 

[JohnA]

Don't forget the omnipresent excuse of 220V vs. 110V....and the EC approval... everything goes, when it comes down to a single country distributor.

220V huh, the UK has a nominal 240v, so much for EU-wide standards.

The guy I bought the SL3s from had a Krell driving them. He had it shipped from the US to avoid the extortionate UK prices. Guess what? the voltage change could *only* be done by the UK agent, £1300 thank you very much

 

[lugano]

Guess what? the voltage change could *only* be done by the UK agent, £1300 thank you very much

This is Mafia. Much uglier than the real one, because it's not history-based, it's monopoly based.

 

[SugarMedia]

Welcome John,

Nice to see another MF fan out there.

 

[JohnA]

This is Mafia. Much uglier than the real one, because it's not history-based, it's monopoly based.

Well all monopolies lead to such behaviour, that's why governments pretend to be deterring it.
The EU often punishes companies that break the 'segregation' rules though, see the current prosecution of CD-Wow.
Cheaper imports such as from Hong Kong or the US are being outlawed or severely penalised. The customs here in the UK tend to slap silly surcharges and duties on non-EU imports that 'threaten' the exorbitant profit margins of local ripoff merchants.