Please be patient with me, not sure how much of this I can type tonight. Here it is 3:45 am 12-26-08 and at 11:50 PM on christams day I had to say what could be the last goodbye and words of Love to my mother. I sit here hoping she awakens in the next few hours but the odds are stacked against us. She has been in the hospital 8 times since July 28th, 2008. I have been a member of this site for awhile now and have placed a few threads and responded to some. I have never put my system in members are for many reasons. I am a poor man, with taste for the finer things that life offers and giving those finer things to others. I am 46 years old at this time and to be brutually honest i have never made more than $36k in any year that I have worked. I have been a hard worker and started working at age 14 when my step father died and 6 years later my mom was told she had Multiple Scelerosis and and could no longer walk. Needless to say my life have been spent at her side caring for her as her health issues became worse.
My mom always loved music and passed that on to me. I always made sure she had audio gear to have the music she desired and like me she always wished for better sounding audio. Thru the years I put together a nice system for her on my modest budget, picked up Klipsch rf-3 for the fronts, Rc-3 for the center and Rs-3 for the sides with and RSW-12 sub. We feed this with a nice pioneer elite reciever, and top of the line pioneer laser disc player and of brand cd player and tape player. I had bought other stuff in the past, sweet 2 channel audio with seperate yamaha amp and pre-amp going to Ohm 4 speakers. Well I bought all the klipsch stuff in 2000 and when I became permantently diabled in 2005 live got tough. In sept 2006 we lost our home, went partners with a friend on a house and he sold it out from uneder us in August 2007. No money left, so to speak, we move to Arkansas. pack up all the audio, mom made me pack that first. She said the furnature can stay behing but bring the stereo and cds. We had 700 albums but lost those during the first move.
So we get her to Arkansas, because we could live on our two incomes fairly nicely unlike california. Well on 2-5-08 our new home was hit by a tornado that went thru our town her in Arkansas, we survived but the house was hit hard and her beloved audio equipment paid the price for the whole in the roof. Seems water and audio equipment just dont get along, go figure. Thus begins my quest for audio nirvana. I looked at my mom and said we need to be happy and life could take us tomorrow so why not have what we desire. So like any audio nut that has an addictive personality I went shopping. I went in to my reserve account and started my quest. Picked up a new Denon avr-3808ci and a denon dvd-3930ci and fired up the klipsch. Well the sub took a dump. So I was reading reviews and knew I wanted a musical sub and everything said Martin logan Depth i. Well my nearest audio dealer with anything better than Pioneer Elite and klispch speakers was a mere 140 miles away. Well being disabaled and having to stop to walk around every 30 miles want going to work. So I looked on the Gon and found a used Depth I. Got that baby and oh was it tight and fast. Blended so well you didnt even know it was there. Well my good fortuune continued. I know had a 70 pound paper weight after 1 week. After 10 minutes of use it would right light. I called Martin Logan for help, talked to Mark Hurla and since the guy I bought it from worked at an authorized ML dealer he sent me the new amp I needed. So I get the new amp and everything is great. Mopm is watching Sarh Brightman live, life is good. Then the 80 buzz with nothing on, The sub has an internal short. Mark say ship us the sub, well while they have it I decide to suck it up and take a Car ride. My addictive mind is working, any company that treats a preson that didnt even buy the product new deserves my time. So I went to the bank and took out $4k and headed to Missouri. I walked in to best buy like a fool and listened to the Souces and I wwill have to say, they sucked. Not ML fault it was best buy. So I then drove to an Authorized ML dealer and walked into a room with claritys playing and my mouth hit the floor. I sat in that room for 45 minutes. I told him that I heard the sources but it was at Best buy and sound was awful. He told me no problem go get lunch and ill have the sources here i this room to to an a to b test. He said wait till you here them. This was ealry May. I left that dealer with a pair of sources and motif center and was going to use the rs-3 as sides. A few days later I get the sub back and hook everything up and before the 100 hour break in the sub shorts out. So this time ML sends me a brand new one and I call my ML dealer and say I am returning the Sources and motif, order me a pair of Vistas.
I get a friend to drive me to Missouri to get the Vistas and my mom sits at home waiting on UPS to bring the new sub with my neighbor. Get the Vistas home, hook it up to the denon avr3808ci and the dvd3930ci and put in an SACD copy of Sarah Brightman La Luna. My mom looks at me and smiles, and says its like she is sitting between the 2 speakers singing to just me. She tears up and I realize why. Back in 2005, I fullfilled 2 of her wishes, see Josh Groban Live and Most important Sarah Brightman. I got the Brightma tickets from PBS whcih included a special meet and great and front a special seats in a cut out area of the stage. Seeing her tears and hearing her comment sent me on a quest to make things even better. We watch a bunch of concert dvds also, so upgrade begins. I dump the rest of the Klispsch peakers, the denon 3930 dvd and denon avr3808ci to a friend and pick up a Nad M25 amp, Nad t175 pre-amp, NAd M5 Sacd player and a Lexicon Rt-20 dvd player. Figure this is a good place to start. I get a deal on a Motif from a dealer friend in Georgia. and find a used set of Script i's. So now we have 5.1 in our front room.
All this is done by june 15th and life is great, mom is happy and listening to music and life couldnt be better. She never asked me what i spent, but she did ask my friend. My friend said to her its not about the cost its about what this means to you. Now comes july and mom cant get out of bed, and you can see she is crushed and cant get out of bed. I tell her Ill put the audio in your room she says no, and I can see something sint right. So her I go, I sit in the front room alone listening to swing kids sound track and start shopping. I buy a pair of Aeon I's and dont tell her and I order a Jolida jd-100rc tube Int. Both arrive in a week and I take the Nad M5 cd/sacd and put that all in her bedroom for her. The look on her face said it all. She asked for cd after cd. No other speaker I have ever bought, be it Klipsch, Ohm, Acoustic Research, infinity warmed her heart as much as Ml did. She always said i cant belive that only 2 speakers are going and yet thats all that was in that room. She kept satring at the Tv looking for a center speaker. She kept saying the music just floats and dances in the room. Well at the End of July she was to begin the 8 trips in and out of the hospital.
During this time, I bought a hospital bed, wheel chair and other stuff. I also made her room surround also. I used the Jolida tube to power the Aeon i's and moved my Motif to her bed room. Picked up a pair of demo frescos from my dealer and a a sub. Used a Harman Kardon avr-325 to power the center and sides. Moved my hd-dvd player to her room and picked up a new denon dvd-2930ci for dvd-audio and sacd. I also picked up a lifting recliner for the front room and bought a New Stage and aanother set of script I's found an authorized dealer with a set of demos. So now the main room has the Vistas, stage, depthi and a pair of script i, cant run 7.1 since her lift recliner would interfere with placement. Her room complete and front room working good, she returns home. Ocober was hell, took my mom back to the hospital on October 8th her blood pressure was 215 over 130 and other issues. that night the Nad t-175 pre-amp died as if to protest mom leaving again. On Sunday morning October 12th at 9am my cell rings I see its my father calling i dont answer right away. I check my voice mail it its his niegbor using his cell. My father had a major stroke and was heading to the hospital paralyzed on the left side. I rush to the hospitalto see both my parents. They both were there unit November 13th, only difference being my mom came home once in that moth and went back. I ended up replacing the Nad pre-amp with a Marantz av8003. Love it for the price. wanted and anthem d2 but money is gone. I lost all my incone while both my parents were in the hospital. For no reason my income just stopped. I had to hire a lawyer to represent me with Social security and workmans comp. So basically I have no income since October 5th, and this started the fire sale of my loved audio gear. This hurt my mom so much, broke her heart. She looked at me and said dont you dare sell my Aeon I's, they are to beauthiful to sell.
Well I have managed to keep the front room intact and yes her room still has the Aeon I's. But sadly power by the Harman Kardon avr-325 with the M5 cd/sacd player for the source. I use the multi-channel in to get thhe best sound and be dirct from source since the Nad dac is better.
This brings me to my point. On christmas eve i laid in my moms hospital bed in her bedroom and put on Sarah Brighmans La Luna sacd. Yes it was played in 2 channel theu the aeon i's. I was Listing to the second track when it happened. I moved in the bed and something fanastic happened. We are all use to hearing the vocals floating dead center between the front speakers. But right then in my position the audio and vocals were coming from behind me. My position in th bed had her vovals soundling like she was sitting right above me on the headboard of the bed and nstruments all coming from the back wall. It wasd the most amazing thing. Why do i love Martin Logan, foget the sound, forget the wonderful design, that is a well know fact. I love martin Logans because in a world were tomorrow may never come, my last night with mom at home was spent watching her cry as she listened to her favorite artist coming out of what she considers to be the best speakers she has ever had or heard. Its not the model or the cost but how Martin logan affect each of its listeners. If I had to sell all my Martin Logan stuff right now I would be crushed, but yet so very thanksful for what they have brought to my life and especially my moms. I have decided I will never sell the AeonI's, no matter what. I have no children, no wife, my life has been a caregiver and even when my mom passes my care giving will be to my father.
I have decided to give my MOMs Aeon i's to a friend, whom I have never met but has been a true friend since the tornado hit our home back on2-5-08. Upon her passing i will personally deliver these to him and set the up for his enjoyment no strings attched. I know he will enjoy them as much as my mom did. I just have one christmas wish, that my mom awakens so I can talk to her one last time.
Thanks for letting me vent, I know I didnt cover much of my feelings about martin Logans, but for me there is no finer company around. They take care of their clients, treat you with respect no matter what you own. How much do i love my martin Logans, so much so i cover them when I dont use them, I sleep on the floor in the front room at night just to hear them one last time just incase tomorrow never comes. Everyday the astound me, warm my heart and bring tears to my eyes! This last 8 months since my first day with martin Logans in my home has been a dream. So to all you fellow Martin Logan owners, be you Montage owners or CLX owners, savior each day, for you truly own a speaker that few ever have the chance to experience. I think Sarah says it perfectly, This love is a strange Love. I hope everyoneone has a wonderfui holiday.
Sincerely, Michael J Mc Donald
Just want to send my love to my Step Sister jenny who Died 12-28-08 of Brain cancer, Miss you sis. And to Pooh, who died in my arms on 4-11-05 mom misses you and so do I!
My mom always loved music and passed that on to me. I always made sure she had audio gear to have the music she desired and like me she always wished for better sounding audio. Thru the years I put together a nice system for her on my modest budget, picked up Klipsch rf-3 for the fronts, Rc-3 for the center and Rs-3 for the sides with and RSW-12 sub. We feed this with a nice pioneer elite reciever, and top of the line pioneer laser disc player and of brand cd player and tape player. I had bought other stuff in the past, sweet 2 channel audio with seperate yamaha amp and pre-amp going to Ohm 4 speakers. Well I bought all the klipsch stuff in 2000 and when I became permantently diabled in 2005 live got tough. In sept 2006 we lost our home, went partners with a friend on a house and he sold it out from uneder us in August 2007. No money left, so to speak, we move to Arkansas. pack up all the audio, mom made me pack that first. She said the furnature can stay behing but bring the stereo and cds. We had 700 albums but lost those during the first move.
So we get her to Arkansas, because we could live on our two incomes fairly nicely unlike california. Well on 2-5-08 our new home was hit by a tornado that went thru our town her in Arkansas, we survived but the house was hit hard and her beloved audio equipment paid the price for the whole in the roof. Seems water and audio equipment just dont get along, go figure. Thus begins my quest for audio nirvana. I looked at my mom and said we need to be happy and life could take us tomorrow so why not have what we desire. So like any audio nut that has an addictive personality I went shopping. I went in to my reserve account and started my quest. Picked up a new Denon avr-3808ci and a denon dvd-3930ci and fired up the klipsch. Well the sub took a dump. So I was reading reviews and knew I wanted a musical sub and everything said Martin logan Depth i. Well my nearest audio dealer with anything better than Pioneer Elite and klispch speakers was a mere 140 miles away. Well being disabaled and having to stop to walk around every 30 miles want going to work. So I looked on the Gon and found a used Depth I. Got that baby and oh was it tight and fast. Blended so well you didnt even know it was there. Well my good fortuune continued. I know had a 70 pound paper weight after 1 week. After 10 minutes of use it would right light. I called Martin Logan for help, talked to Mark Hurla and since the guy I bought it from worked at an authorized ML dealer he sent me the new amp I needed. So I get the new amp and everything is great. Mopm is watching Sarh Brightman live, life is good. Then the 80 buzz with nothing on, The sub has an internal short. Mark say ship us the sub, well while they have it I decide to suck it up and take a Car ride. My addictive mind is working, any company that treats a preson that didnt even buy the product new deserves my time. So I went to the bank and took out $4k and headed to Missouri. I walked in to best buy like a fool and listened to the Souces and I wwill have to say, they sucked. Not ML fault it was best buy. So I then drove to an Authorized ML dealer and walked into a room with claritys playing and my mouth hit the floor. I sat in that room for 45 minutes. I told him that I heard the sources but it was at Best buy and sound was awful. He told me no problem go get lunch and ill have the sources here i this room to to an a to b test. He said wait till you here them. This was ealry May. I left that dealer with a pair of sources and motif center and was going to use the rs-3 as sides. A few days later I get the sub back and hook everything up and before the 100 hour break in the sub shorts out. So this time ML sends me a brand new one and I call my ML dealer and say I am returning the Sources and motif, order me a pair of Vistas.
I get a friend to drive me to Missouri to get the Vistas and my mom sits at home waiting on UPS to bring the new sub with my neighbor. Get the Vistas home, hook it up to the denon avr3808ci and the dvd3930ci and put in an SACD copy of Sarah Brightman La Luna. My mom looks at me and smiles, and says its like she is sitting between the 2 speakers singing to just me. She tears up and I realize why. Back in 2005, I fullfilled 2 of her wishes, see Josh Groban Live and Most important Sarah Brightman. I got the Brightma tickets from PBS whcih included a special meet and great and front a special seats in a cut out area of the stage. Seeing her tears and hearing her comment sent me on a quest to make things even better. We watch a bunch of concert dvds also, so upgrade begins. I dump the rest of the Klispsch peakers, the denon 3930 dvd and denon avr3808ci to a friend and pick up a Nad M25 amp, Nad t175 pre-amp, NAd M5 Sacd player and a Lexicon Rt-20 dvd player. Figure this is a good place to start. I get a deal on a Motif from a dealer friend in Georgia. and find a used set of Script i's. So now we have 5.1 in our front room.
All this is done by june 15th and life is great, mom is happy and listening to music and life couldnt be better. She never asked me what i spent, but she did ask my friend. My friend said to her its not about the cost its about what this means to you. Now comes july and mom cant get out of bed, and you can see she is crushed and cant get out of bed. I tell her Ill put the audio in your room she says no, and I can see something sint right. So her I go, I sit in the front room alone listening to swing kids sound track and start shopping. I buy a pair of Aeon I's and dont tell her and I order a Jolida jd-100rc tube Int. Both arrive in a week and I take the Nad M5 cd/sacd and put that all in her bedroom for her. The look on her face said it all. She asked for cd after cd. No other speaker I have ever bought, be it Klipsch, Ohm, Acoustic Research, infinity warmed her heart as much as Ml did. She always said i cant belive that only 2 speakers are going and yet thats all that was in that room. She kept satring at the Tv looking for a center speaker. She kept saying the music just floats and dances in the room. Well at the End of July she was to begin the 8 trips in and out of the hospital.
During this time, I bought a hospital bed, wheel chair and other stuff. I also made her room surround also. I used the Jolida tube to power the Aeon i's and moved my Motif to her bed room. Picked up a pair of demo frescos from my dealer and a a sub. Used a Harman Kardon avr-325 to power the center and sides. Moved my hd-dvd player to her room and picked up a new denon dvd-2930ci for dvd-audio and sacd. I also picked up a lifting recliner for the front room and bought a New Stage and aanother set of script I's found an authorized dealer with a set of demos. So now the main room has the Vistas, stage, depthi and a pair of script i, cant run 7.1 since her lift recliner would interfere with placement. Her room complete and front room working good, she returns home. Ocober was hell, took my mom back to the hospital on October 8th her blood pressure was 215 over 130 and other issues. that night the Nad t-175 pre-amp died as if to protest mom leaving again. On Sunday morning October 12th at 9am my cell rings I see its my father calling i dont answer right away. I check my voice mail it its his niegbor using his cell. My father had a major stroke and was heading to the hospital paralyzed on the left side. I rush to the hospitalto see both my parents. They both were there unit November 13th, only difference being my mom came home once in that moth and went back. I ended up replacing the Nad pre-amp with a Marantz av8003. Love it for the price. wanted and anthem d2 but money is gone. I lost all my incone while both my parents were in the hospital. For no reason my income just stopped. I had to hire a lawyer to represent me with Social security and workmans comp. So basically I have no income since October 5th, and this started the fire sale of my loved audio gear. This hurt my mom so much, broke her heart. She looked at me and said dont you dare sell my Aeon I's, they are to beauthiful to sell.
Well I have managed to keep the front room intact and yes her room still has the Aeon I's. But sadly power by the Harman Kardon avr-325 with the M5 cd/sacd player for the source. I use the multi-channel in to get thhe best sound and be dirct from source since the Nad dac is better.
This brings me to my point. On christmas eve i laid in my moms hospital bed in her bedroom and put on Sarah Brighmans La Luna sacd. Yes it was played in 2 channel theu the aeon i's. I was Listing to the second track when it happened. I moved in the bed and something fanastic happened. We are all use to hearing the vocals floating dead center between the front speakers. But right then in my position the audio and vocals were coming from behind me. My position in th bed had her vovals soundling like she was sitting right above me on the headboard of the bed and nstruments all coming from the back wall. It wasd the most amazing thing. Why do i love Martin Logan, foget the sound, forget the wonderful design, that is a well know fact. I love martin Logans because in a world were tomorrow may never come, my last night with mom at home was spent watching her cry as she listened to her favorite artist coming out of what she considers to be the best speakers she has ever had or heard. Its not the model or the cost but how Martin logan affect each of its listeners. If I had to sell all my Martin Logan stuff right now I would be crushed, but yet so very thanksful for what they have brought to my life and especially my moms. I have decided I will never sell the AeonI's, no matter what. I have no children, no wife, my life has been a caregiver and even when my mom passes my care giving will be to my father.
I have decided to give my MOMs Aeon i's to a friend, whom I have never met but has been a true friend since the tornado hit our home back on2-5-08. Upon her passing i will personally deliver these to him and set the up for his enjoyment no strings attched. I know he will enjoy them as much as my mom did. I just have one christmas wish, that my mom awakens so I can talk to her one last time.
Thanks for letting me vent, I know I didnt cover much of my feelings about martin Logans, but for me there is no finer company around. They take care of their clients, treat you with respect no matter what you own. How much do i love my martin Logans, so much so i cover them when I dont use them, I sleep on the floor in the front room at night just to hear them one last time just incase tomorrow never comes. Everyday the astound me, warm my heart and bring tears to my eyes! This last 8 months since my first day with martin Logans in my home has been a dream. So to all you fellow Martin Logan owners, be you Montage owners or CLX owners, savior each day, for you truly own a speaker that few ever have the chance to experience. I think Sarah says it perfectly, This love is a strange Love. I hope everyoneone has a wonderfui holiday.
Sincerely, Michael J Mc Donald
Just want to send my love to my Step Sister jenny who Died 12-28-08 of Brain cancer, Miss you sis. And to Pooh, who died in my arms on 4-11-05 mom misses you and so do I!
