High End Audio
 

I am thinking of re-newing my audio set up...

Currently I have a
Krell KAV 300cd
Krell KAV 500 power amp
Proton pre-amp
Martin Logan SL3 speakers

I know the weak link here is the pre... but the CD has started giving me problems when hot.. Basically after playing for a couple of hours the player would not read any CDs....
The problem corrects itself if I turn everything off for 40-50mins....

So I was thinking that maybe it's time to get something newer...

5-6 years ago I spent a lot of time reading and researching and I ended up with a set up that I really like... I started by choosing the SL3 and mated them with the Krell power amp....
For the CD player we had several different machines hooked up and eventually decided on the 300cd (over Linn, Copland, Krell 280cd etc).

But now I have no idea of what's out there... Anybody has experience with the new Martin Logan line up?
Which are the good cd players out there?

I'm more mid-fi (at best) than high end, but I never truly loved the Martin Logans. Great soundstage and detail, but I thought they lacked low end. Just to show my tastes, though, I have a set of Klipsch kg4s that I really love, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

In my mid-fi world, my old Rotel CD player seems perfectly adequate.

We need more audio threads here. Especially 2-channel stuff. I'm not much into home theater, but would like to learn more about high end 2 channel set ups.

Mike

Bell is the man for this topic...:D Here's a speaker line he once suggested to me:
http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/global.main

Re: High End Audio
 

Martin Logan makes some of the best speakers out there. They have just introduced the Summit and the Vantage (10k & 5K) - getting rave reviews.

Come join us at the Martin Logan owners site:

http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/

People seem to love their Chinese made Shanling CD/SDCD players. Check out the "members section".

I have an older McIntosh (Pioneer drive platter) with Wadia electronics CD player that is hanging in there. I plan to upgrade my turntable before replacing it - love to spin the vinyl.

I don't know if you want to seperate out or have seperated out your Home Theater from the two channel stereo, I did that and have no regrets. I went all tube last year - loving it.
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/...g_sacd-med.jpg

Dipolar speakers have the possibility of the bass wave being canceled out (when the back wave meets the front wave) as the wave length gets longer and lower. The hybrid speakers of Martin Logan go a long way towards adressing this issue, but room acoustics and treatments are still very important.

The two new hybrid speakers from Martin Logan (Summit and Vantage) have self powered bass drivers - this should quench any bass thrist out there.;)

http://www.hifi.nl/gfx/SUMMIT_290305.jpg

Aaahhh I love the MLs. I agree with the low end (I suppose the newer ones are better there) but the details and soundstage more than make it up for my personal taste...

I just checked Audiogon (great site for classifieds http://www.audiogon.com/)... there is a nice Krell SACD standard for sale.... Anyone had a chance to listen to it?

I have been very happy with my Audio Refinement PRE-2 DSP and and Multi-5 amp. It is a brand made by Yves-Bernard Andre'. I have no experience with their CD player, but I can't imagine that it is bad by any stretch of the word.

http://www.yba.fr/

http://www.audioplusservices.com/

Audio Plus distributes both Audio Refinement and YBA here in the US.

On a lower scale, I have a Marantz CD player that sounds great and has been quite good to me.

If you don't want to go over 10K on a transport or player but want real high end sound, look at Wadia, Meridian and/or Theta.

Having said that, I have a tweaked Sony ES SACD (different power supply, tubes, ...) which IMHO sounds as good as a Theta Data Pro + data linq + Gen V DAC combo a friend owns (and for a fraction of the cost).

Why not get a good reasonably priced transport and a high end DAC?

i'd second the wadia and rotel reccommendations.

i have b&w's running on tubes so i can't really give too much advice about the rest of the components.

It's got to look as sexy as it sounds.;)

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHCDT200
http://www.elusivedisc.com/images/mhcdt200closeup.jpg

Anyone here know where to get a cartridge for my Bang & Olufsen turntable?

I think the similar to P-Mount cartridges are just about imposible to come by - but I could be wrong. There are many different types so know what you are looking for.

I started a search for you here:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/search.mpl?forum=vinyl&searchtext=Bang+%26+Olufsen

Depending what you have, you should be able to get a new one with some on-line effort. Warning some of the threads in the link I gave are three years old - might want to register at the Tube Aslyum and start a new thread. Good luck.

Re: Re: High End Audio
 

I just signed up to the MartinLogan web forum... Very cool...

Re the Home Theater.... yeah I have a separate system for home theater. I originally bought the Proton pre-amp as part of an integrated system... but ended up splitting them....

So the pre is really what I need 1st... as long as I can figure out what is wrong with the Krell CD.

Re: Re: Re: High End Audio
 

I have an Italian GRAAF tube pre-amp which is hard to come by in this country, but if you stumble across one - pick it up.

http://www.graaf.it/welcome_english.htm

My favorite if I had the money would be something from Emotive Audio. I've never heard one, but researched the heck out of it - would fit my taste, maybe not yours.

http://www.emotiveaudio.com/

This one the "Sira":
http://www.emotiveaudio.com/sira-le.htm


http://www.emotiveaudio.com/Sira-L2.jpg

Like I said, it has to look as good as it sounds - you are buying "art" at these prices.:)

I know Graaf... I am Italian... I love them... I could not afford one when I lived there....

Could not agree more with you about the "art" comment... That's why I like the Krell KAV line, with the granite slab facia....

Will check emotive audio...

Unfortunately my "art" pieces have to be hidden these days... little fingers would love to play with papi's toys....

I purchase my WFB ONE used for about $1,000 or 1/3 its original cost. Found it posted on Audiogon buy a local high-end shop who also services it.

http://www.deopera.com/images/graaf_vfbonecover1.gif

I know they make pricier stuff, but are considered a real hi-fi bargain for what you get.

I did have a power fuse blow, but that's been my only problem. The Ferrari black paint is holding up, but I run it without the cover - runs a little hot with it on in my opinion.

I just have some old stereo equipment that I have had for years...it works just fine for me...So I don't know much about any fancy schmancy "High End" stereop equipment...I just have a McIntosh MR 78, Mac C-27 Pre amp, Mac MC 2125 Amp, Thorens TD 165 Turntable, and a pair of JBL L 65 Studio Monitors.

Now I guess I wouldn't mind owning one of Macs Tube Amp say a MC 2102....100 watts a Channel, or even one of their MC 275s...but I would also like an MC500 or MC 1000 to. http://www.roger-russell.com/aboutmc.htm

Dream amp thread:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=1407&highlight=McIntosh

Tabs, several people in the Martin Logan owners forum have recently purchased the MC2102 and love it. Too expensive for me, have to win the lotto or something.

.........and McIntosh is fancy schmancy .:D

They are also an Atlantis equipment rack dealer I see. Not bad stuff, I've been using one of their Reference series racks for the past seven years.

Hi guys. I thought I'd weigh in here. I'm the south-east regional for the co. above. Also an old time audio dog. If I can help with any info . . .

We were across the hall from ML at CES & they were launching some new speaker (although I didn't listen to it accept from the hallway). With HF impedance dips, ML's like an amp with a good power supply. Your Krell works well because it has decent current delivery. Krell does sound rather analytical at times however . . . balance it with a warmer CD player.

BTW we are discontinuing most Atlantis products . . . changing world.

Ian