Vignette or Fresco Anyone ? Your thoughts are welcomed !

[Wayne]

I am so very ready to go to Tweeter's this week !!!! Everyone has given me thoughts of what to look for ? Maybe I should say listen for. I am also going to do a side by side Montage vs Fresco vs Vignette... as these are the three possibilities for surrounds. I believe it was mentioned earlier the "sweet spot was narrower on the Clarity vs Mosaic, these would be my mains... this is also an issue, to which I will post my findings and thoughts, I still welcome anyone else's input, and again to all my gratitude.

 

[Daryl Zero]

As I have mentioned before, I have both the Montages and the Mosaics so I have compared them. The Mosaic is definitely a step up. I have bought the store demo models and so received deals on them. The Clarity does have a bigger sound stage but wasn't worth the $1000 or so extra I would have had to pay for them (at least to me with a limited budget). The Montage does have an aluminum cone to handle mid range which probably has to break in. It has been mentioned before, that it may sound harsh until broken in. I haven't had that problem. The Montage was the first ML I had heard and was miles ahead of the comparably priced box speakers I was looking at in the price range. It wasn't even close and I knew in about 10 seconds. It just gets better and better up the chain. The Clarity is the only stat I have heard and I really didn't see that it was that big a step over the Mosaic. I really think that Martin Logan got these atf speakers right. They sound really great compared in the price range and they give a good taste of the high end sound. They don't need expensive equipment to run and they are affordable. Adding the Fresco to the home theater system as a center really boosted the sound creating a front atf field with the Montages (and now Mosaics). I now have the Montages in a stereo set up so can listen to them more intimately and they really come through and hold up. My only quandry is on the surrounds as I need in-ceilings and the best ML can do is the Vignette on the ceiling and the thing is not white (whimper).

 

[Wayne]

Daryl.... another question please. You mentioned that the Clarity's weren't worth the extra $1000.00 over the Mosaic's, BUT if the pricing was similar which would you take ? I have seen on Audiogon in the wanted section some offers from Clarity owners to sell with pricing close to the Mosaic's, actually someone recently offered to sell for $1600 I believe. Your thoughts Sir, if you would.

 

[attyonline]

Daryl.... another question please. You mentioned that the Clarity's weren't worth the extra $1000.00 over the Mosaic's, BUT if the pricing was similar which would you take ? I have seen on Audiogon in the wanted section some offers from Clarity owners to sell with pricing close to the Mosaic's, actually someone recently offered to sell for $1600 I believe. Your thoughts Sir, if you would.

I am not Daryl but I will give you my take. ML made its reputation on electrostatic speakers, and they still sound better than the little ribbon drivers. Given size, cost and need for AC hookup, many people might go with the ribbon based speakers, but I would go for the Claritys in a second if I had the money. Electrostats sound better , but you should listen to both and decide for yourself since its your money and your ears you need to deal with.

 

[Daryl Zero]

I did think about that question long and hard before making my mind up about the Mosaics. For me, it was the matter of how deep I was going to get into this hobby. I decided that the Mosaics were about the top of where I was going to go. My thoughts about the Clarity was that I really didn't think they were that much better than the Mosaics. I had also done some research on this site and found that, if you go to the stats, the Aeons or the Ascents would be significantly better than the Clarity. If the Claritys were down in the $1400 range for new and not used (right now I don't know this hobby well enough to be comfortable buying used) and I felt that I could buy the proper equipment and have the ability to plug them in, I probably would choose them over the Mosaics. That's a lot of ifs. In my situation, that wasn't an issue since the Claritys were well over $2,000.

 

[Wayne]

Today was the "BIG" day...... the day I drove 51.3 miles to Tweeter to have my demo. Fresco vs Vignette for center and surround sound duties, and Clarity's vs Mosaic for mains. This was an appointment made several days ago with store management showing me the ropes. I walked in a few minutes early and was told "Room B" or as a sign said mid level equipment. The Clarity's were paired with Mosaic's... I was ready! My DVD's and CD's were given to the asst mgr to handle. First the Mosaic's which had alot more sound than I expected, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall sound. Next the Clarity's... BUT they didn't work right, no mids or highs...and no clue why. After refusing my input I said "you do have them plugged in right?". The asst mgr turned and stated what am I talking about. Then he said yeah yeah right we are missing a cable or something. Well they didn't have it, and then asked if I would consider buying the Mosaic's and maybe turning them in if I was unhappy......DUH !!!!!!!!! Biting my tongue I reminded them of my effort to drive there... and they should have done a test prior to my arrival. Anyway I stated to move on to the Fresco vs Vignette comparison, GUESS WHAT.. the Vignette's were still in the box somewhere so no demo. WHAT A WASTE

 

[Kevin]

Why do you not go to an actual high end electronics store were people know what they are doing and the equipment is set up properly?

 

[DTB300]

Typical Tweeter........they are really a worthless place to buy audio........other than you can "use" them to see what something sounds like with their 30-Day return it policy.

 

[attyonline]

What a nightmare! Two hours driving plus a wasted demo. Hope they make it up to you if you chose to go back

 

[Wayne]

This was my first time ever to Tweeter !... In fact if it was not for the ML club I would not of even heard of them!!!! This first impression wasn't so good to say the least... I may have to use the High end store which is quite close to me, "the one that has a real attitude problem".... unless your buying Prodigy's/ Statements/ etc etc or something in that range.... they don't seem to bother with you........ too bad. I always was under the believe that pennies and nickels add up to be dollars too... "that is how that saying went I think, I hope ! I'm sure a choice C will come....... Thanks for the responses everyone.

 

[pat17]

This is really bad, Wayne, as often the first impression really lasts...

For sure the Clarities were not plugged in to AC. The worst of it is that its power supply is not a specific one - I had a faulty one and the dealer gave me a replacement one coming from another model. It could have been taken from many other models...

I hope you'll be able to have another demo in much better conditions - ML are really worth the value for that. And believe me, each time I want to listen to them I've to drive about 100 miles to reach the only dealer in the country...

 

[Wayne]

Thanks Pat!!!!!!!! I did some more research and there is another dealer , however he carries Fresco's and Mosaic's... but then jumps to Ascents on up the ML line... He mentioned he won't be carrying anything else on the "LOW END". They do say if something comes easy to you you don't appreciate it... what do I mean by that....I think, whatever I buy it will be well worth all this driving and dissapointments for a long time of enjoyment and I will know I bought the right ML's ...... until they make a newer model !!!!!!!

 

[attyonline]

Wayne, still hoping you get to hear and report on the sound of the Vignettes. Checked locally today and still not on display nor likely to be so.

 

[Wayne]

Absolutely !!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to report on the Vignette...and the Mosaic vs Clarity sound ........ I never thought it would be this difficult to do. The dreaded high end store near me "snobby people" is going to get a visit this week to see what they might have to offer, as long as they don't charge admission.

 

[pat17]

Absolutely !!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to report on the Vignette...and the Mosaic vs Clarity sound ........ I never thought it would be this difficult to do.

I had a demo of both the Mosaic and the Clarity. From my point of view, there's no choice to be done. I asked to stop the Mosaic in less than 5 minutes... I came for a demo only, and I came back home with a purchase order for the Claritys...

The dreaded high end store near me "snobby people" is going to get a visit this week to see what they might have to offer, as long as they don't charge admission.

What? They are places where you have to pay to listen to a demo???? Unbelievable...

 

[Wayne]

Thanks Pat.!!!!!!!!! You got me really excited about going to the snob store....Since I have heard Mosaic's and liked them.......... to hear something that in your eyes/ears sounded so much better makes for alot of anticipation.

 

[esquire415]

I'd rather have the Fresco over the Vignette. I believe the Vignette was created to complement an existing Montage setup, say if you want to add a center and surrounds. The Fresco apparently complements an existing Mosaic pair of front speakers. Some people do not want to spend too much on their HT system so I think the Montage/Vignette combination would be a better entry level setup for them (including a Dynamo subwoofer). I have compared the Mosaic and the Clarity and to tell you the truth, I found the Mosaic better sounding. I would place the Mosaic between the Clarity and the Aeon i.

I think I'm going to Magnolia Hi-Fi this weekend

 

[pat17]

Thanks Pat.!!!!!!!!! You got me really excited about going to the snob store....Since I have heard Mosaic's and liked them.......... to hear something that in your eyes/ears sounded so much better makes for alot of anticipation.

Let us know about the result...

 

[Wayne]

Esquire and Pat, Thanks again for your thoughts........ I will be going on Friday and will let you know. By the way Esquire, did the Clarity's sound better in anyway over the Mosaic's , or was it that obvious?

 

[esquire415]

Esquire and Pat, Thanks again for your thoughts........ I will be going on Friday and will let you know. By the way Esquire, did the Clarity's sound better in anyway over the Mosaic's , or was it that obvious?

You're welcome. I can recall that the Clarity lacked the low end that is existent in the Mosaic, it also had a narrower sweet spot. I thought the Clarity is not as full sounding than the Mosaics. The Mosaics having a more balanced frequency range (treble,. mid-range, & bass). It sounded a lot closer to an Aeon i to me.