Where are all the CLX, 15a or Neolith users?

MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum

Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GW1800

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
425
Reaction score
61
Location
WI
I've been on this forum for a few years and there is something that has been bothering me for a bit.

1. There seems to be a lot of discussion on past models - some decades ago - modifying etc. Nothing wrong with that but at times seems to be the bulk of the conversation. Although I have never heard these myself is it a cost thing that they keep coming up or are they infact better then a CLX, 15a or Neolith. I have my doubts but not sure.

2. I can only remember a couple of comments on the forum about CLX's - Brad, Tim maybe others but not many and can't remember that last 15a or Neolith that commented or shared his system in pictures. There are dozens if not a few hundred of them out there but for some reason they are not participating on this site. I think their comments could be interesting but at this point unknown. They could very well have dedicated rooms, some exotic hardware etc. that could be real interesting to explore.

3. The discussion here seems to stop at the 13a or Summit X range and rarely above.
 
I've been on this forum for a few years and there is something that has been bothering me for a bit.

1. There seems to be a lot of discussion on past models - some decades ago - modifying etc. Nothing wrong with that but at times seems to be the bulk of the conversation. Although I have never heard these myself is it a cost thing that they keep coming up or are they infact better then a CLX, 15a or Neolith. I have my doubts but not sure .

I think it’s a cost thing. I doubt most people can afford to purchase the top end models to which you refer. I know I can’t. If I could afford it, I would buy the CLX in a heartbeat, but not having it I would not be able to add anything to the discussion.
 
It is a cost / age thing. Most discussing older models are because they have recently bought used, or their 15+ year-old speakers are developing issues.

Anyone paying full-boat retail for a CLX or a 15a have the advantage of the dealer delivering, helping with setup and only a phone call / email away from profesional advice. Few will think of searching the Internet for an owners club. Those that do, like yourself, are probably a minority. And as price points continue to go up, there is even greater expectation of dealer involvement.

But all ESL speaker owners could stand to learn more about correct setup and using room treatments to maximize the performance of these fabulous speakers. I wish more people paid attention to that aspect of it. It's evolved over the 13 years of this forum, and I finally am seeing more system pics and setup descriptions with useful acoustic treatments.
 
I think it is a legacy thing. Look at all our join dates - you're the only one who has not been 10 years yet.

Anyone new to ML (ie, owning a newer model) will be looking to social media to discuss their hobby.

I note there is plenty of discussion on the models you mention on Facebook/Insta.
 
I think it is a legacy thing. Look at all our join dates - you're the only one who has not been 10 years yet.

Anyone new to ML (ie, owning a newer model) will be looking to social media to discuss their hobby.

I note there is plenty of discussion on the models you mention on Facebook/Insta.

Yep! Only us old F*RTS still use Forums!
 
Yeah, another old-geek here as well, I started on BBSs and rec.audio.* with a 1200 baud Hayes modem and a copy of Crosstalk.
And Compuserve had some really good audio forums as well, Bob Stuart of Meridian would hang out there and discuss topics like DAC's, Jitter and active speakers.

I hate social media as a platform for discussing these types of hobbies, there is next to no temporal persistence there, discoverability is horrible. And everyone seems more intent on narcissistic posts of pics of their setup, than useful discussion of performance and how to improve it.
Also, kind of hard to have detailed discussion or responses when folks won't read more than the preview shows and FB randomly suppresses responses in a thread

A forum like this has a well defined taxonomy (structured into sections by topic) therefore is easy to get to what you want to in short order and there is an effective search function. Threads usually have clear titles and the 'What's new' button on the top-left of the navigation bar shows one the latest posts.

Half of my posts on the MartinLogan Owners Facebook page include links back to this forum for actual content.
 
Last edited:
Haha - rec.audio.high-end [it was awesome, wasn't it?]

I started on BBSs (with a 2400 baud modem)!!


Technically when I was in college we had email and access to the newsgroups before the internet was made public. It may have still been ARPANET at that point.

I think I started Internet access at home in 1995 with a 28800 and later a 56Kb modem and for me it was rec.sport.waterski and later on a microsoft subforum for MS CRM Development.

However I once used a 300 Baud modem to connect to a Data General computer and I have used 2400 and 9600 baud modems as well.

I've even used a Teletype at a community college while I was in HS. In HS we had WANG computers with 8" floppy disks. They used a card reader to take attendance.

I barely missed programming with punch cards.


So are we almost ready to talk about how we used to walk 8 miles to school up hill both ways :)
 
A forum like this has a well defined taxonomy (structured into sections by topic) therefore is easy to get to what you want to in short order and there is an effective search function. Threads usually have clear titles and the 'What's new' button on the top-left of the navigation bar shows one the latest posts.

Half of my posts on the MartinLogan Owners Facebook page include links back to this forum for actual content.


I used to spend a lot of time on an extremely well organized RC Helicopter Forum, but now more of the content is moving to FB and social media where it is scattered in the wind.

I agree that a nicely organized forum or even a well indexed newsgroup could work very well.
 
I hate social media as a platform for discussing these types of hobbies, there is next to no temporal persistence there, discoverability is horrible. And everyone seems more intent on narcissistic posts of pics of their setup, than useful discussion of performance and how to improve it.
Also, kind of hard to have detailed discussion or responses when folks won't read more than the preview shows and FB randomly suppresses responses in a thread

I agree Jon. But it's more of a intrinsic shift I'm afraid. I'd say a good proportion of people on the social media audio groups don't even own a computer. They flick through this stuff on their phone.

And another good proportion who do own a computer would use it only for work, and wouldn't dream of turning it on in the evenings to kick back and do something light-hearted like browse an audio hobby.

This alone, makes engaging and in-depth conversation hard.

What can you do easily with a phone? Take photos and press the "share" button of course.

Typing technical prose is much harder.

And it's only becoming more-so. More digitally advanced economies like China are already shifting to IM-like apps for most things. WeChat in Asia can be used for virtually all payments, mapping, etc. You barely need to use another app for anything.
 
Last edited:
I've been on this forum for a few years and there is something that has been bothering me for a bit.

1. There seems to be a lot of discussion on past models - some decades ago - modifying etc. Nothing wrong with that but at times seems to be the bulk of the conversation. Although I have never heard these myself is it a cost thing that they keep coming up or are they infact better then a CLX, 15a or Neolith. I have my doubts but not sure.

2. I can only remember a couple of comments on the forum about CLX's - Brad, Tim maybe others but not many and can't remember that last 15a or Neolith that commented or shared his system in pictures. There are dozens if not a few hundred of them out there but for some reason they are not participating on this site. I think their comments could be interesting but at this point unknown. They could very well have dedicated rooms, some exotic hardware etc. that could be real interesting to explore.

3. The discussion here seems to stop at the 13a or Summit X range and rarely above.

I haven't stopped by on this forum for some time. I think it's been a couple of years. I've been spending most of my spare time over on the AVS Forums. Mostly in the Trinnov Altitude forum or the multichannel music forum. I have the Neoliths in Ferrari Red as my mains in a 48 speaker, 31 channel Dolby Atmos system. The center is my own custom constructed from 4 ML Theater's crossover through the Trinnov. The surrounds are CLX Anniversaries. The rear surrounds are 15a's. The subs consist of 8 DD18 Velodynes using the bass management from the Trinnov. There are 12 ML Axis, 12 ML Vanquish, and 6 ML Edge's. To go with all of these speakers I have the Sony VW5000ES laser projector. This whole mix was professionally calibrated by Curt Hoyt (Curt_Trinnov) on the AVS Forums.

Why haven't I been over here for a couple of years? No particular reason just haven't. And I know the above looks like bragging and it is and if you don't like it bite your "lib" (pun intended).

Gary (GaryArthur on AVS)
 
I haven't stopped by on this forum for some time. I think it's been a couple of years. I've been spending most of my spare time over on the AVS Forums. Mostly in the Trinnov Altitude forum or the multichannel music forum. I have the Neoliths in Ferrari Red as my mains in a 48 speaker, 31 channel Dolby Atmos system. The center is my own custom constructed from 4 ML Theater's crossover through the Trinnov. The surrounds are CLX Anniversaries. The rear surrounds are 15a's. The subs consist of 8 DD18 Velodynes using the bass management from the Trinnov. There are 12 ML Axis, 12 ML Vanquish, and 6 ML Edge's. To go with all of these speakers I have the Sony VW5000ES laser projector. This whole mix was professionally calibrated by Curt Hoyt (Curt_Trinnov) on the AVS Forums.

Why haven't I been over here for a couple of years? No particular reason just haven't. And I know the above looks like bragging and it is and if you don't like it bite your "lib" (pun intended).

Gary (GaryArthur on AVS)

Beautiful!! I would like pics!!!:) so.....how's it sound? Lol
 
I agree Jon. But it's more of an intrinsic shift I'm afraid. I'd say a good proportion of people on the social media audio groups don't even own a computer. They flick through this stuff on their phone.
...

Amey, good point. The device used to browse/interact with the information source will affect the choice and manner of platform and posts. Much easier to peruse the ML Owners FB page on an iPhone, than this forum (unless using TapTalk, but even then). And I NEVER browse or participate in AVS or this forum on a mobile or tablet. Most frequently it's on a 17" laptop with 4K IPS display and a backlit keyboard while drinking coffee every morning.

But that mobile-first approach to information is indeed affecting (negatively) people's ability to express complex thoughts and discuss technical details.

I don't expect web forums to die off like the BBSs did, as it's the same medium and tech used for everything else, so hopefully, we can keep this going long-enough for the younger crowd to realize what they are missing and come to participate.

Also, the vBulletin platform is continually evolving, the 'what's new' news feed is a familiar activity stream flow that might get folks to at least browse that daily/weekly.
Maybe sharing more links to here on the FB page will help raise awareness and participation.
 
I haven't stopped by on this forum for some time. I think it's been a couple of years. ..

Why haven't I been over here for a couple of years? No particular reason just haven't. ...

Gary, totally awesome system, the Altitude is my dream pre-pro, and my rig is only at a lowly 18 channels now in a 5.4.4 config, so I have some catching up to do ;-)

But to the topic, what would have gotten you to come over more frequently?
Discussion of your particular models of speakers?

Complex multichannel HT? You know I'm always ready for in-depth discussions regarding that ;)

Or just lack of habit visiting yet one more site?
 
Ok, so Michael wants some discussion regarding CLX's, etc. Here's my contribution, a pic of a CLX system done right ! notice the fundamentally correct speaker placement. When you're spending big bucks on audio gear correct placement is key !

IMG_0012.jpg
 
Gary, totally awesome system, the Altitude is my dream pre-pro, and my rig is only at a lowly 18 channels now in a 5.4.4 config, so I have some catching up to do ;-)

But to the topic, what would have gotten you to come over more frequently?
Discussion of your particular models of speakers?

Complex multichannel HT? You know I'm always ready for in-depth discussions regarding that ;)

Or just lack of habit visiting yet one more site?

Jonathon,

It was mostly a lack of habit visiting the site when I became extreme busy with a touch of spending my time in the AVS Trinnov Forum
(a new and powerful toy for me). By the way you deserve a shout out as your posts over the years have help move me toward my Audio Nirvana in the multichannel universe.

Gary
 
I haven't stopped by on this forum for some time. I think it's been a couple of years. I've been spending most of my spare time over on the AVS Forums. Mostly in the Trinnov Altitude forum or the multichannel music forum. I have the Neoliths in Ferrari Red as my mains in a 48 speaker, 31 channel Dolby Atmos system. The center is my own custom constructed from 4 ML Theater's crossover through the Trinnov. The surrounds are CLX Anniversaries. The rear surrounds are 15a's. The subs consist of 8 DD18 Velodynes using the bass management from the Trinnov. There are 12 ML Axis, 12 ML Vanquish, and 6 ML Edge's. To go with all of these speakers I have the Sony VW5000ES laser projector. This whole mix was professionally calibrated by Curt Hoyt (Curt_Trinnov) on the AVS Forums.
Hi Gary, long time no see! You must be the most reticent of posters, as I can't recall the last time you posted in the Trinnov thread. Have to say, your system is insane. Which home is it in?

I hope all is well and it would be nice to get together, again, whenever you're in town.

Ken
 
Hi Gary, long time no see! You must be the most reticent of posters, as I can't recall the last time you posted in the Trinnov thread. Have to say, your system is insane. Which home is it in?

I hope all is well and it would be nice to get together, again, whenever you're in town.

Ken

Ken,

You are correct I don't post in the trinnov thread too often a couple days ago however I did post some comments on a new Dolby Atmos release of the Beethoven symphonies. It lit up 18 channels. This system is in Vegas. Curt has been there as he calibrated it. If you ever make it to Vegas I would love to have you over. I have been spending much of my time in L.A. as the aerospace business is red hot. Yes let's do get together.

Gary
 
I have the 15a. They are great, well rounded. Yes, pricey. I got a 500$ US discount from Sanders for being on this site. I am System #538.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top