Shangri-La and the CLX

[bobsticks]

I had occasion the other day to make a stop by my favorite audio shoppe and, as it turned out, my timing was most fortuitous. I arrived just in time to join in on the fun after the final uncrating and placement of the new Martin Logan CLX's was complete. Clearly these are much more anticipated that what I knew as in the hour and a half I was there the boys sold a pair and were well on the way to launching another toward a new home.

Similar in size to the CLS, the rectangular flat panel houses an additional cyndrical panel for a bit of an odd appearance. Even without proper burn in time the stats sounded superb and I have no doubt the slight "slappy" characteristic will fade as the mylar breaks in.

There was no time needed to hear that fabulous smoothness across the frequencies and pinpoint imaging. Flanked by enough ampage to make you cry, the room wreaked of audiophile and as the cast of characters changed throughout the afternoon the CLX's demanded the attention of each and all.

I've been waiting for Graham to send me some pics but I would imagine he's a bit busy these days. Here's the room from a few months ago when the big Danes were making the rounds of speak du jour

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Later I peeped a another pair of Logans that, as it turned out, house power amps for both woofers and panels. That's right, you can drive the things straight from a dvd/cdp/BR...which is just what we did...the John Mayer dvd into a Fujistu plasma, lovely. For anyone with a small room or serious WAF issue I'd be hard pressed to find a better combo.

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Another tidbit of info I learned relates to the new line of Rotel gears. Evidently in a push to get some immediate play from CEDIA the new receivers will be upgradeable, and in fact will be elligible for the new Faroudja chip when it goes public early next year. In any case, according to the literature that I read from the company, the receivers will be upgradeable and the pre-pros will not.Food for thought...


Viva la toys

[Rich-n-Texas]

It's not likely in my lifetime that I'll ever walk into an "audio shoppe", let alone one with that kind of equipment so thanks for the pics. That's an amazing room in the top picture and I imagine there's several $100K worth of gear in there.

I'll take the B&W's please!

[kexodusc]

Always fun to spend an afternoon at an audio boutique. This one looks like it's taken over a house, instead of a piece of commercial real-estate...nice touch.

[E-Stat]

Nice. I'd like to hear both the new CLX (I remember the original from the 80s) and the new Janszen model as well.

rw

[bobsticks]

Always fun to spend an afternoon at an audio boutique. This one looks like it's taken over a house, instead of a piece of commercial real-estate...nice touch.

It is in a nice old bungalow to which they've done a fair amount of work. They now have portable panels for covering the windows for the true audiophile pickers of nits. It's in a perfect location too, kinda like a suburban Soho of the 80's smack in the middle of the midwest.

(A few weeks ago I toured a house just a couple of blocks away from the store. Being that close to the bar district and the store I figured I'd have problems getting anything done, much less being productive at work.)


Nice. I'd like to hear both the new CLX (I remember the original from the 80s) and the new Janszen model as well.

It's very, very nice. I'm cuttin' out early tomorrow to go hear 'em again. I'm looking forward to hearing the "broken-in" version.

The AS Boys do alot of installs and, of course, delivery is standard. When last I saw Graham he was contemplating pulling the truck around for loading. Moments before a cool Strosek modded Viking Blue Boxster had pulled in and a middle-aged doctor still in scrubs barreled out, obviously eager to hear the new MLs. It was confided that said gent upgrades about every three months. At first I thought, "Must be nice.", but as it turns out the only room that was available for listening in the Plantation-style house purchased at the behest of the little missus was octagonal. Then, ol' boy plops down and proceeds to audition the CLXs with two of the worst recorded Led Zeppelin and PP&M recordings imaginable. I found it a laughable real-life example of how a bad room plus bad source material equals bad sound...no matter how much money you throw at it.

[bobsticks]

That's an amazing room in the top picture and I imagine there's several $100K worth of gear in there.

I'll take the B&W's please!


mmmmmmmmm....

[E-Stat]

It is in a nice old bungalow to which they've done a fair amount of work. They now have portable panels for covering the windows for the true audiophile pickers of nits.
All that exposed glass will affect the sound. There is an interesting situation with my neighbor's house to the west. My "side firing" garage faces that direction which has a large glass sliding door on the lower level and a large window on the upper level. The double Advent system radiates towards that glass at a slight angle about a hundred feet away. If you draw lines of attack (like plotting a pool shot), the result is a reflection back towards my house up the driveway. So, I can very clearly hear music that has been very effectively reflected from all that glass to another point another hundred feet up the driveway. :)


It's very, very nice. I'm cuttin' out early tomorrow to go hear 'em again. I'm looking forward to hearing the "broken-in" version.
I looked at them in depth on the M-L website. It seems that unlike the original CLS, the CLX is an electrostat that covers the full range, but is not a full range electrostat. Like the KLH 9, it uses separate panels for bass and midrange/treble using a conventional crossover. I confess a partiality to true full range designs.


Then, ol' boy plops down and proceeds to audition the CLXs with two of the worst recorded Led Zeppelin and PP&M recordings imaginable.
Uhhh. More money than sense.

rw

[Auricauricle]

Are you suggesting that dollars and sense coexist??