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Pocket Martin Logans? (1 Viewer)

Matt Jesty

Second Unit
Joined
May 15, 2002
Messages
390
I have been amazed with these speakers as well and ,as much as we would wish it otherwise, Sattelite speaker systems are a large segment of the market and I will always be looking to see who can conquer some of the audio downside of these types of speakers.....If everyone could talk their wives into just stepping up into a bookshelf size speaker ,it would be a better world...Hey, a guy can dream can't he......
 

ted_mpower

Auditioning
Joined
Jul 9, 2002
Messages
7
A note about Gallo DUE' placement:
I've had the Due's for a few months now and have discovered that they sound very average when mounted to the wall or on a bookshelf. I was very disappointed, esp after I heard how good they sounded initally.
I was about to give up on making them sound good and sell them until I tried placing them on top of a tower speaker 1-2 feet away from the wall, and wow! it sounded like a different speaker. the soundstage was huge, and all the tactile details and the midrange that was missing was there now.
I suspect that Gallo knows this as well, as they've recently come out with special stands for the Due, however they sell at a ridiculous $150, each! BUT, Sanus model EFS-Sats stands fit perfectly with the due with no modification
btw, you can find them for $400/each on ebay or www.ihav.net
i'm quite interested in those omnisats, but am curious how precise the stereo image is.. that while direct/reflecting thing reminds me of bose
 

John_Charles

Agent
Joined
Dec 10, 2001
Messages
32
Round 3

The third and perhaps final installment of this trek finds me back at East Hamilton Radio for yet another go-around with the Omnisats and the Aerius. I’ll spare you the details of the sales drone that tried to assimilate me into its idea of an otherwise worthless meal ticket when I walked into the “high-end room”. Nah wait a minute, it’s the holiday season and I can’t resist…

No sooner had I crossed the threshold into said room when… You know what its like when you get one of those cold drafty precognitive feelings shootin’ through you right before some sales leach/altered-life-form tries to cling-on to yo’ bank account and drain it for all they think they’re soon to be worth? Putting you in utter disregard in the process?? Yep-heh, sure as (in the Irish) ‘SHITE’, still sporting the sprayed-on leisure suit polish courtesy of the Herb Tarlic School of Sales and Mental Circumcision, arrives my Sales Unit (read: tool).

SU: (with a great deal of bravado and condescending smugness) “May I (um), help you?”

Me: ([having seen this “approach” too many times] don’t you think you’ll need to graduate from a whole host of regulated 12-step programs, before offering any assistance to those outside your current and considerable afflictions?) “Sure, I’d like to compare the Aerius’s with the Omnisats please.”

SU: (still very smug) “Excuse me. You, what?”

Me: (already tired of his lack of manors - dude, I don’t have tiiiiiiiiime to get ahold of the CDC or Mayo Clinic to see if there IS an excuse…) “I would like to audition the aforementioned two speakers please, in this room.”

SU: “You’ve got to be kidding. Isn’t that kind of a strange comparison?”

Me: (ssstehhhhhdeee…… Strange is that Darwin never accounted for certain de-evolutionary strains in the species and the sterling examples we now see of it in the 21st Century. Strange is the very fact that particular sperm from your father brought forth such a concrete case for sterilization. STRANGE is that the “king of pop” is even allowed to HAVE CHILDREN. S-T-R-A-N-G-E is that I can’t find my usual and very kewl sales person, that you are wasting my time AND JUST BROW-BEAT A WOULD-BE PAYING CUSTOMER!). “No, not at all. I started this comparison here about a month ago and am now back in the country on business and would like to finish it.”

SU: “Um, have you ever purchased, anything, from us?”

Me: (MUH-THUH-F*#&^@!) “Why yes, an AVM20, and version 2 upgrade board”

SU: “From who?”

Me: (figuring the possible thrust-to-weight ratio generated if I faced him/it toward space, held a lit match near the end that was really talking, and made constructive use of the inordinate amount of gas this idiot was full of. Hell, it’d be neat just to see if he’d clear the roof!) I told him the person’s name…

SU: (pausing) “Sure, we can do it.” (staring at me)

Me: (wondering what Twilight Zone episode I was in) “Okay.”

SU: (still staring)

Me: “Can you do it or not?”

SU: “Yes, of course.”

Me: (pondering if the previous SU in Michigan called ahead) “Then do it.”

On our way to the room wherein resided the Omni’s, I find the person I usually deal with and motion him to take over when he gets the chance. The SU and I proceed to take the Omnisats back to the ML Room and set ‘em up, and as great albeit subtle communication would have it; the Sales Unit received a page over the in-house intercom and excused itself from the room. Thankfully Jason L. (the kewl one) took over and helped me for the rest of my visit, during which I asked: “What, was THAT?”

JL: “That was ‘so-and-so’ and he’s kiiiinda new; like two months…”

Me: He’s a total tool…

JL: “Well just make sure the next time you come in - you ask for me, or if I’m not here - one of the managers to help you out.”

Me: “Nohhhhhh problem…”

After we connected the Omni’s, Jason left me to my devises for quite awhile. I used the listening material from the first and second rounds along with a Neal Schon (guitarist from Journey) release for keying-in on drum transients and characterization. Later when he and another sales person (who also happens to be a drummer) came in room, I relay to them my disdain over not having brought one of my usual drum pieces (Eric Clapton – 24 Nights) for just such an occasion.

No sooner had I said that when the drummer went out to his ride and brought back an X-SUH-LENT compilation of toonz from Illegal Aliens. He whooped the CD into the pioneer multi-disc player (the ’37 was gone) found a track he was looking for, and cranked-up the system a few notches. Whewwww… okay, um, the drummer in this group was WAY-off-the-hook! To say he was both technically accomplished and extremely musical is to say that Marilyn Monroe was just another pretty face (etc.) in the crowd.

Matter of fact, this disc made extremely short work of both the Omnis AND (I presume) the interaction between the Pioneer receiver and the Martin Logans. For while the Omnis were still impressively dynamic (given the barrage), they were showing more of their weaknesses. This is NOT to say that they’ve been reduced to just another “lifestyle” transducer, oh no; it IS to say that the track we were listening to along with certain from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” brought forth starkly the Omni’s limitations. For it was in the lower midrange (on that rig, in that room, on that day) that they pretty much wet themselves. Mind you, in this price range (well any that I’m familiar with) they are extremely open thanks to the omni design, throw a wide and deep soundstage, and are pretty good from the mid-midrange on up. But they just can’t relay the truth of a French horn or many aspects of a drum kit…

Seeing my disappointment over not having found all I desired in my quest for “Pocket Martin Logans”, Jason asked if I heard the ‘50’s, which are the next step-up in Mirage’s new Omni Series. I relayed: “why jinkies, no, I haven’t.” Upon that cue he then proceeds to grab a pair avec stands from another room that had just arrived earlier that day and fired-‘em up - sans grills at my request.

Verrrrry interesting comparison; because fresh outta the box with maybe a few store minutes on 'em, they were already doing things the Omnisats can’t. Firstly they are far more efficient and secondly, they are better balanced, but still very up-front with a certain amount of congestion in the lower midrange in this stage of their break-in curve. But what they were reproducing in that area was much more natural than their little brothers; and what’s also interesting to note is that the ‘50’s are cheaper than the ‘sats…

Alas in the area of aesthetics Mirage took a diver here, for I wish they would’ve stayed with the Omnisat motif (angled ellipse with a “caged” midrange and tweeter for greater clarity) albeit larger and in wood; instead of the angled resonant box they now have complete with acousta-blanket-cum-grill and (I think) plastic port ring. As an aside, I did listen briefly with the grills on, and it wasn’t pretty…

If the ‘50’s break-in the way I hope they will, they will be a must audition for those looking for excellence on the cheap. The rub may be through the trade-off between:
Scenario A: superior sonics sans grills and having to look at them when the house lights come up.
Scenario B: grills on, comparatively lower fidelity than Scenario A yet better looks with the house lights on.

Happy Holidays.
 

Herb Kane

Screenwriter
Joined
May 7, 2001
Messages
1,342
John:

As a fellow Martin Logan owner/lover, fellow drummer (OK, hack) and Hamiltonian, I read your entire review with great interest. Although, I had no real interest in the sat reviews specifically, there are merely two points I would like to offer;

1. There should be a municipal bylaw in place that ensures East Hamilton Radio will play the theme music for the Twilight Zone at all times since everytime I walk in there, I too feel like I'm about to be greeted by Rod Serling -- and given his circumstances, I'm quite confident he'd do a better job at serving me.

2. Unequivocally, Chaps does indeed have the finest wings in the city.

Great reviews, great read.

Herb.
 

John_Charles

Agent
Joined
Dec 10, 2001
Messages
32
Herb.

What a very kewl series of parallels (or for you drummers – paradiddles), wow, thanks for chiming in! As to your points:

1.LMAO! Oooohhhhhhyyyyyyyeahhhhh! Except for Jason L. (the one I usually deal with), and one of the managers who helped me get my AVM20 upgrade board; most of ‘em are SHTRAIGHT outta one of Rod’s more disturbed storyboards, even the owner seems like a goofball.

2.Without a doubt! I do quite a bit of work in St. Catharines (and will be out there in a few weeks actually), and seeing that Gibby’s in St. Cats is apparently staffed by those shaking some sort of dependency (not to mention budging little on very high prices), EHR (when dealing with J.L.) and Chaps is always a needed respite!
 

Herb Kane

Screenwriter
Joined
May 7, 2001
Messages
1,342
John:

When you're in the area, you might consider crossing the Skyway Bridge into Burlington. There, you'll find Fairview HiFi (a ML dealer, which by the way is where I purchased all my speakers). Nice little shop and staffed by people who do know their stuff. It is located at Fairview and Brant.

And while you're in Burlington, there are also two other Chaps located there. One on Plains Rd and the other on Fairview St. Fairview HiFi is close to being located in the middle of either Chaps Restaurant. You'll find the atmosphere there a tad more pleasing and without the "I've just been released from detox", look from it's patrons. It's a Hamilton thing. You know, something in the air!?!?

Herb.
 

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