Vista's are a disappointment

[roberto]

Vista is the best bang in my opinion.

Agreed too 100%...happy listening,
Roberto.:musicnote:

 

[holmancv]

If at first you don't succeed ... try and try again.

I have heard unplugged Vistas before and that was not the problem. I'm going to listen to the Vistas, the DefTech and the B&W eight series today. Then I'll come home and listen to Monsieur Buffett while toasting with a "Boat Drink." I have lived in Portland, Oregon for fifty-three years now and except for an enlistment in the Marine Corps I have never left for any appreciative period of time. Long dreary but mild winters are the rule and having a nice home theatre is not a luxury but a necessity. Too bad MD's cannot write an Rx for cash. My winter blues would be significantly mitigated with the calming effect of a nice blue-green glass radiating the name, "McIntosh." Well, just a thought, I'll share my experience later.
Craig Holman.

 

[johnlabadia]

I'm going to listen to the Vistas, the DefTech and the B&W eight series today

I listened to the Vista's and the 804S's today as well... Different stores, different electronics, my music.

Both sounded incredible, undecided at the moment. I'd be curious to see which set you end up with.

Boat drinks all around.

 

[mrmike]

I had a similar experience while listening to Vistas while auditioning a sub. It's not that they sounded bad but I kept thinking my Aeon i's sounded better at home. I wonder how much is lost with those complicated amp and source patchbays that are used at Magnolia. Also my Aeons are fully broken in and set up to my liking. Having said all that I would rather have the Vistas.
Again, check to make sure they are plugged in all the way. More than once I have pulled the plug half way out and the pannel still worked but sounded flat.

 

[Rich]

I have lived in Portland, Oregon for fifty-three years now and except for an enlistment in the Marine Corps I have never left for any appreciative period of time. Long dreary but mild winters are the rule. . .

Craig, I feel your pain. I spent three years in Portland while I attended the Law School at Lewis and Clark College. Awesome city, but the dreary winters can get old real fast. Just head up to Mt. Hood Meadows and get above the clouds. That's where the sun is.

 

[edwinr]

Most of the time the only real way to audition speakers or other hi-fi stuff is in your home. This is not possible in most cases, so there's been heaps of times I've relied on the manufacturer's reputation, crossed my fingers and bought the product. I've only been caught out a couple of times I guess...

 

[twich54]

I'm going to listen to the Vistas, the DefTech and the B&W eight series today. I have lived in Portland, Oregon for fifty-three years now Long dreary but mild winters are the rule and having a nice home theatre is not a luxury but a necessity. Too bad MD's cannot write an Rx for cash. My winter blues would be significantly mitigated with the calming effect of a nice blue-green glass radiating the name, "McIntosh." Well, just a thought, I'll share my experience later.
Craig Holman.

Craig, Winter Blues.....winter tough in Portland ??, Pleaaaaaaaase !! Try Upstate NY....110" of snow in five days !! Portland dosen't see that in five years !!

Back to your speaker dilema, when I was in the purchasing ring a year ago I had narrowed my "short List" to the Vantage's, B&W 803D's, and Totem Wind's. They were all great, but what really sold me on the M/L's was....Piano ! ALLWAYS, when auditioning take a known good piano recording with you for it will present one of the most critical pieces of music to "get right" ! For it's freq range, timbre, pitch, decay, dynamics, etc are trully complex. With that being said the ESL panels of our Logans excell in that arena ! I for one have not heard a speaker close to there price point that comes close.

 

[tonyc]

Craig, Winter Blues.....winter tough in Portland ??, Pleaaaaaaaase !! Try Upstate NY....110" of snow in five days !! Portland dosen't see that in five years !!

Back to your speaker dilema, when I was in the purchasing ring a year ago I had narrowed my "short List" to the Vantage's, B&W 803D's, and Totem Wind's. They were all great, but what really sold me on the M/L's was....Piano ! ALLWAYS, when auditioning take a known good piano recording with you for it will present one of the most critical pieces of music to "get right" ! For it's freq range, timbre, pitch, decay, dynamics, etc are trully complex. With that being said the ESL panels of our Logans excell in that arena ! I for one have not heard a speaker close to there price point that comes close.

I still remember the years I spent in Hanover NH while in training. Snow, snow everywhere and 2 months a year "below zero". I do not miss that!

 

[Peter Hogan]

Just listened to a pair of NEW summits, with $25'000 worth of M. Levinson amplification and XLR Audioquests wiring all around. Source was a $3000 CD player.

I'm trying to find the best ML setup for a friend that knows my system and wants to become a ML owner. And he's got the dough.

My friend and I listened 20 minutes to familiar CD's we brought ourselves.

Compared to my CLS II + sub, they sucked. His words, not mine. Bad placement, bad settings behind, and not broken-in enough. Might be your case, too.

I also have CLS's w/woofers and sub, and I went to listen to the Vantage and Summits at Tweeter, powered with Krell electronics, my feelings were similar. They were obviously not set up correctly (they were about a foot from the rear wall). When I asked the salesman about it, he said the ML rep set them up that way. I pulled them out to about 3 feet from the wall, which did help quite a bit, but I was still left with the feeling that they were still no where near what I listen to every day.

I walked in there expecting to be impressed with the latest and greatest from ML, and walked out of there thinking I'll hang on to my CLS's, thank you.

Peter

 

[Joey_V]

I also have CLS's w/woofers and sub, and I went to listen to the Vantage and Summits at Tweeter, powered with Krell electronics, my feelings were similar. They were obviously not set up correctly (they were about a foot from the rear wall). When I asked the salesman about it, he said the ML rep set them up that way. I pulled them out to about 3 feet from the wall, which did help quite a bit, but I was still left with the feeling that they were still no where near what I listen to every day.

I walked in there expecting to be impressed with the latest and greatest from ML, and walked out of there thinking I'll hang on to my CLS's, thank you.

Peter

Peter,

I wont argue with you, but know that you probably tweaked your CLS and subs far longer than it took you to tweak the Summits in terms of positioning... and we're not even talking about mating proper electronics here either. I'm not surprised by your findings.

 

[amey01]

For the record, I had this problem when I initially heard the Vistas and now I own them and they are the best speaker I have ever owned by a long way.

A few points:

Set up - this is essential - as others have said, they may not have been set up correctly.

Phase - are you sure they weren't connected out of phase?

Amplifier - When I changed amplifiers I was halfway to solving the problem - some amps just don't work with some speakers. It has nothing to do with power - just synergy.

Coupling - sometimes in shops they omit the spikes for ease of movement around the store - this makes a HUGE difference!

Break In - this is also essential for ML.

Good luck, and try to listen to them in your home with your equipment.

 

[holmancv]

Did you ever have a boat-drink in the Alpenstube?