Time to Upgrade?

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Been the happy owner of Sequel IIs for the past 16 years and have thought about upgrading over the past couple years. My lust choice would be the Prodigy, but that's more than I want to spend and think they may be too big for effective placement in my listening room. The following are what I see as my choices and my thoughts regarding each. Any input would be appreciated.

Request - The Sequel's bigger brother.

Monolith III - The Quest's bigger brother, however with an external crossover do they require bi-amping?

Ascent/Ascent i - Feeling this would be more a lateral move than an upgrade when compared with my other options.

Odyssey - Prodigy's little brother.
 
Tough choices, for sure. I am thinking if the Prodigy is too big for your listening room, the Monoliths are even more so. Of the speakers you mention, I would think only the Prodigy or the Odyssey is going to be a really noticeable step up from your Sequel IIs. Although you say the Prodigy is out of your price range, if you average the cost over the fifteen or twenty year lifespan of the speaker then they are really dirt cheap (just a few hundred a year). Let me know if you need any more help rationalizing this purchase. :D
 
Heck - if you think the Prodigy is too big then the Monolith or ReQuest? I guess you're decision's made - the Odyssey.

I agree with Rich - I don't think the Ascent will be too much of a step up from the Sequel II.
 
How about a pair of late SL3s?

They would be cheaper than any of the other options and should be in a serviceable state to keep running for another 10 years
 
Regarding fitting the Prodigy into my room, it's the depth of the woofer cabinet that is of concern. The Sequel's (panel) are 40" from the rear wall and that's as close as I want the speakers to be to the listening position. Also the difference in cost between the Prodigy and Odyssey can fund other wants, e.g. a Berning ZH-270.
 
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My first ML upgrade was from Sequel 2s to Ascent Is. Believe me, there is a difference! The woofer integrates with the panel much more seemlessly than with the Sequel. I also found that the upper mid-range of the Ascents were better sounding than on the Sequel. I think you should audition a pair in your own room before you make a snap decision.
 
Regarding fitting the Prodigy into my room, it's the depth of the woofer cabinet that is of concern. The Sequel's (panel) are 40" from the rear wall and that's as close as I want the speakers to be to the listening position. Also the difference in cost between the Prodigy and Odyssey can fund other wants, e.g. a Berning ZH-270.

If the depth of the woofer cabinet is your concern, then it is not an issue. The Prodigy only measures 28" in depth, so you could actually have the panels even closer to the rear wall than you have your sequels. If you are concerned about rear wave reflection, simply put some acoustic panels on the wall behind each speaker. If it is the price difference that is of concern, then I understand you may want to go for the Odyssey or the Ascent.
 
For some undefinable reason have no interest in ML's latest offerings. Just a gut feeling, might be indigestion.
 
Let me know if you need any more help rationalizing this purchase. :D

Am a pretty good rationalizer, part of the human condition I think.

However could use an interest free loan with no payback schedule to finance a Prodigy purchase.
 
However could use an interest free loan with no payback schedule to finance a Prodigy purchase.

I said: "rationalizing," not: "financing." I will be glad to help you spend your money with opinions and moral support. Beyond that, you are on your own. :p
 
I don't care what you go with but consider this ! Big panels like bigger rooms. The Acent or the AcentI are good speakers. The Odyssey's is good too. I like the face forward design. Esthetically and sonically.
 
For some undefinable reason have no interest in ML's latest offerings. Just a gut feeling, might be indigestion.

IMHO, very unfortunate that you are pre disposed to dismiss the new models.

This observation is based on previously owning the CLS2A's, the Aerius, and the SL3's and now a very happy owner of the Summits.

GG
 
IMHO, very unfortunate that you are pre disposed to dismiss the new models.

Agree with Gordon on this. I own the Ascents and I love the Prodigys. They are both fine speakers. But for someone looking for great, coherent sound in a speaker with a smaller footprint, it is hard to beat the new models. In particular the Vantage gives great sound in a reasonable size and cost package. I love my Summits and wouldn't trade them on any other model. The Prodigy is a great speaker but really requires a large room to sound its best and even then it is just not as coherent as the Summit in my opinion.
 
Okay guys, let's see if I'm getting it straight. I narrowed my choices to four and asked for input. Based on your input I'm thinking Odyssey, but wait. The new Vantage is better than the Odyssey, although the Summit is where it's at. I'm now thinking there may be a third and even better path.

Word is that upgrading the caps will improve the sound of my Sequel IIs or any speakers their age. In addition, I've always wanted to try transmission lines. On the third path I would find a pair of TLs and do the Sequel II cap upgrade to hear what the results actually are. Speaker-wise this would keep me occupied for a few years and then I can obtain a pair of depreciated (haven't paid retail for audio since 1980) Summits or Vantages if I want the most bang for the buck.

I'm so confused and my head hurts - I love this hobby.
 
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You are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. All of the recommendations that have been made are good suggestions. All of your original ideas were good ideas to consider. No one has said the Vantage is "better" than the Odyssey. It is different and excels at certain things. It is smaller. But there are plenty of people who would prefer the Odyssey over the Vantage. And plenty of people prefer the Prodigy over the Summit. But for you to make that decision out of hand based on a "gut feeling" without auditioning the Vantage and the Summit would just be foolish.

The problem, as I see it, is that you want a cut-and-dried solution handed to you on a silver platter without too much work on your part. You want a better speaker, but you don't want to spend a bunch of money on it and you don't want to audition a bunch of speakers.

We can only make suggestions based on our experience. But none of that matters in the real world. If you don't manage to get out and demo some of these different speakers so you know what you are getting into and what the sound and size differences are between the Ascent and Odyssey and Prodigy and Vantage and Summit, then nothing we can say is going to help you. It is a crap shoot. You ask ten different people on this forum what their favorite Martin Logan speaker is and you will get half a dozen answers or more.

Ultimately you have to decide what you like the best and what will work best in your room and that is going to be difficult to do if you can't arrange to audition at least some of these speakers and compare them to what you have now. I am no expert in upgrading caps, but I doubt that will give you near as much of a performance boost as going to a newer speaker model.

The beauty of buying on the used market is that they will hold their value well. So if you buy Odysseys or Ascents now and decide you want to upgrade to Summits or Vantages in a couple of years, you won't lose much reselling them. Or you could end up with a speaker that you are completely happy with for the next fifteen or twenty years.
 
You are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. All of the recommendations that have been made are good suggestions. All of your original ideas were good ideas to consider. No one has said the Vantage is "better" than the Odyssey. It is different and excels at certain things. It is smaller. But there are plenty of people who would prefer the Odyssey over the Vantage. And plenty of people prefer the Prodigy over the Summit. But for you to make that decision out of hand based on a "gut feeling" without auditioning the Vantage and the Summit would just be foolish.

The problem, as I see it, is that you want a cut-and-dried solution handed to you on a silver platter without too much work on your part. You want a better speaker, but you don't want to spend a bunch of money on it and you don't want to audition a bunch of speakers.

We can only make suggestions based on our experience. But none of that matters in the real world. If you don't manage to get out and demo some of these different speakers so you know what you are getting into and what the sound and size differences are between the Ascent and Odyssey and Prodigy and Vantage and Summit, then nothing we can say is going to help you. It is a crap shoot. You ask ten different people on this forum what their favorite Martin Logan speaker is and you will get half a dozen answers or more.

Ultimately you have to decide what you like the best and what will work best in your room and that is going to be difficult to do if you can't arrange to audition at least some of these speakers and compare them to what you have now. I am no expert in upgrading caps, but I doubt that will give you near as much of a performance boost as going to a newer speaker model.

The beauty of buying on the used market is that they will hold their value well. So if you buy Odysseys or Ascents now and decide you want to upgrade to Summits or Vantages in a couple of years, you won't lose much reselling them. Or you could end up with a speaker that you are completely happy with for the next fifteen or twenty years.

:bowdown: Thank you for the lecture. You assume much though.
 
:bowdown: Thank you for the lecture. You assume much though.

Sorry if it came across like a lecture. You are right -- I am assuming a lot. But you are asking for input and not giving us much information to work with. If you really want some advice regarding your speaker choices, you could start by giving us some background, like:

- What size is your room? Where is your seating and speaker placement in relation to front, back and side walls?

- What is your absolute min. and max. speaker budget?

- What is it about your current models that you are unhappy with? In other words, what do you hope to achieve with an upgrade?

- What components will you be using with these speakers?

- Have you heard any of the speakers you are considering? Have you heard any of the newer models?

- Can you figure out ways to audition some of the models you are considering if you haven't heard them?

We are more than happy to help with advice on this forum, but we can only work with what you give us. Ultimately, as I said, it is up to you to decide what will work best for your needs in your room.
 
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