Martin-Logan quality control on high-end products

[MDP]

That is encouraging. Thank you for your reply!

I received an email from ML yesterday. ML will be demonstrating the Neoliths at T.H.E. Show in Newport in May. I definitely will be attending!

Ron, I can't wait for your thoughts on the Neoliths, I've been waiting for someone to report on these beauties.

 

[RonR]

Dear Mark,

I have owned ML speakers since 1989. I have always hoped that ML would make a bigger version of the Monoliths, or a smaller, four column version of the Statements.

Can the Neoliths be three times as good as CLX Arts with two subwoofers? We shall see (ah, hear).

PS: I personally prefer the ML hybrid systems to the full range panels with external subwoofers. I find the full range panels to be too lean-sounding in the 200 to 400 hz range, and so I like the way the hybrid systems cross over to the cones at a higher frequency than the frequency at which the full range systems cross over to the external subwoofers.

 

[MusicDirector]

Dear MusicDirector,


ML told me that they were not yet sure with which other exhibitors they were going to ally.

We'll see. I just sent an email to the good folks at the Paradigm half to see if they will be there. I don't know though it's been a long time since they did a show and they have never been to the newport one to my knowledge.

 

[MusicDirector]

Dear Mark,

I have owned ML speakers since 1989. I have always hoped that ML would make a bigger version of the Monoliths, or a smaller, four column version of the Statements.

Can the Neoliths be three times as good as CLX Arts with two subwoofers? We shall see (ah, hear).

PS: I personally prefer the ML hybrid systems to the full range panels with external subwoofers. I find the full range panels to be too lean-sounding in the 200 to 400 hz range, and so I like the way the hybrid systems cross over to the cones at a higher frequency than the frequency at which the full range systems cross over to the external subwoofers.

I don't know which model of ML electrostats I heard almost 3 years ago, but I really liked them. I don't have the right room for them though otherwise I would have seriously considered them.

 

[Garth]

I heard the Neoliths at TAVES the room was not great they had them set up with a curtain behind them . I would like to hear them again set up with out the curtain and with different amps they were using Merdian it did not seem to work the day I was there . The speaker looks better in person than in the pics I have seen. The list price in Canada 100,000 thats a big jump over the CLXs with subs .

 

[Mike]

I heard the Neoliths at TAVES the room was not great they had them set up with a curtain behind them . I would like to hear them again set up with out the curtain and with different amps they were using Merdian it did not seem to work the day I was there . The speaker looks better in person than in the pics I have seen. The list price in Canada 100,000 thats a big jump over the CLXs with subs .

Garth - the Neolith's were met with mixed reviews at RMAF too. I've heard them a few times now....just don't know. The first time was with McIntosh in a tiny room at Axpona and it was decent on one song and then not so much the second. At RMAF, they were running their crazy surround/4 channel demo. Hard to tell. Too gimmicky a production.

 

[Odyssey]

Of all the speakers that I have heard in the last several years the one that sticks in my auditory memory is the ML CLX art. Went back several times to hear them before I made my initial speaker purchase. This is the girl that I wish I would have dated longer before I popped the question.

More recently, I've heard the Neo's at several shows and they didn't do it for me the way the CLX's did.

 

[RonR]

I've heard the Neo's at several shows and they didn't do it for me the way the CLX's did.

That is interesting, especially since you like dynamic driver speakers best. Would you please describe with as much specificity and detail as possible why you preferred the CLX Art over the Neolith, and what you did not care for about the Neolith?

 

[Jim Smith]

Of all the speakers that I have heard in the last several years the one that sticks in my auditory memory is the ML CLX art. Went back several times to hear them before I made my initial speaker purchase. This is the girl that I wish I would have dated longer before I popped the question.

More recently, I've heard the Neo's at several shows and they didn't do it for me the way the CLX's did.

The CLX with a pair of Descent i subs is in the top five systems I ever voiced.

 

[Odyssey]

That is interesting, especially since you like dynamic driver speakers best. Would you please describe with as much specificity and detail as possible why you preferred the CLX Art over the Neolith, and what you did not care for about the Neolith?

Not sure that I can give you the precise answer you are looking for. What it boils down to for me is emotional engagement. I found that to be lacking with the Neo's.

I'll confess to a bias: If a product such as the Neo costs a multiple of the CLX I go in with high expectations. If those high expectations are not met then I walk away disappointed. It doesn't matter if the Neo got 70% of the way there or 85% of the way, (not that I'm thinking in those terms when I'm in the listening position) if the expectations are not met or more importantly exceeded then listening chagrin sets in and its on to the next room at the audio show.

Let me take a stab at your question though. I found the CLX to be a window into the music. Extremely revealing and transparent. On one particular piano sonata I was listening to I could hear the pianist engaging the foot pedal damper. I found the Neo a little more muddled and not as high up on that scale of what I remember the CLX's doing well. In short, the Neo's presentation for me was not emotionally engaging. It did not provide a window into the music or set my foot moving up and down.

 

[Jim Smith]

How do you KNOW that either pair were performing at or near their potential?

Not trying to argue, just asking the question that I always ask myself...

 

[RonR]

Thank you, Odyssey.

 

[Odyssey]

How do you KNOW that either pair were performing at or near their potential?

Not trying to argue, just asking the question that I always ask myself...

That's an excellent question. I don't know. However I heard the Neo's under several different show conditions. I went in wanting to like them.

But the reader has to take into account my self-confessed listening/evaluation bias. If I go in with very high expectations and they are not met, my focus turns elsewhere.

 

[Garth]

How do you KNOW that either pair were performing at or near their potential?

Not trying to argue, just asking the question that I always ask myself...

The highs were not there the bass was muddy I have the clxs with decent i subs I am sure in my own mind the 100,000 dollar speaker should be a lot better than what I heard. I am not saying the CLXs are perfect but they have a magic that draws you in. I have added two more Decent I subs 4 in total thou only 3 are working one arrived DOA and is being fixed under warranty as we speak . I have them stacked a poor mans statement system.

Jim if you are ever working in the Toronto Canada area I would be open to having you do some work for me on my system . We met once at a RMAF a few years back read the book and I like your ideas. I am in no rush but my system seems to be what I am going to keep, getting the most out of what I have seems like a solid plan.