I buy a lot of last year Demos & trade a lot with a Stereo Club
Goal: Full range detail with good transparency, sweet mid/highs due to the 2 electrostatic panels, & a tight clear bottom end due to the 6 ten inch woofers.
Limits: The Martin Logan SL3 speakers are an electrostatic panel hybrid which can limit the musical soundstage to either a small to mid-size sweet spot depending on the room acoustics. I have opened up the soundstage by placing 2 subs at the corner postions of the listening room. During listening sections, I toe-in the speakers a few inches to focus on the detail of the music, but if I walk around the house or out in the yard, I turn the speakers parallel with the back south wall to fill the house with music.
Room: 18.2 ft W x 16 ft L x (8 to 20 ft) H
Main speakers placed 4 ft away from south standard 8 ft tall wall facing north to 20 ft tall stairway. Concrete floor with full carpet
Music: Broadway, Classical, Film Scores, Folk, Jazz, Rock, Opera, & World. In other words: almost everything but bubble gum, extreme pop, ultra negative, or rap
20 bit, remote, balance/RCA analog out, coaxial/toslink digital out 35 lbs
Pioneer Elite PDR-19RW
CD recorder
Yamaha TX-400u AM-FM Tuner
presets, remote capable
Rega Planar 3
belt, 33 & 45 speed with RB-300 arm Cardas wire from cartridge to RCA termial
Extreme Phono None Felt Mat
special friction, non-static phono mat
Grado Ref Sonata
nude elliptical diamond cartridge
Aragon 47k
AC-DC Phono Stage
Audio Research LS-16
vacuum tube stereo line 20 lbs
Aragon Palladium mkII
pair, balance in mono blocks rated at 400 watts into 8 ohms (5Hz-20kHz) 80 lbs ea
Martin Logan SL3
pair, 2 way 1 x 4 ft electrostatic panel hybrid with 10 inch woofer at 89 dB 130 lbs ea
N H T Sub Two
pair, Sunfire 500 watt powered, 2-10in woofers
Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway MkII
pair, balance 1 meter Sony XA7ES CD player to Audio Research LS16 pre-amp pair, balance 2 meters Audio Research LS16 pre-amp to 2 Aragon Palladium mono blocks
Harmonic Technology Precision-Link
pair, RCA 1 meter Yamaha TX-400U AM/FM tuner to Audio Research LS16 pre-amp
Harmonic Technology Truth-Link
4 pairs, RCA 1 meter all remaining analog inputs & outputs
Harmonic Technology Crystal Silver phono cable
pair, RCA 1 meter Rega Planar 3 turntable to Aragon 47K phono pre-amp
AudioPrism Waveguide
passive/inductive, opposing magnetic for interconnects or power cords
Synergistic Research Resolution Reference .5 AS
pair, 6 ft for upper 1 x 4 electrostatic panels
Synergistic Research Signature 10 Active Shield
pair, 6 ft for bottom 10 inch woofers
MMF Music Hall Cable Elevators Plus
uplift Synergistic Research speaker cables from off the floor & away from the power cords
Synergistic Research Reference Master Coupler
1 meter power cord from Richard Gray 400s to Audio Research LS16 pre-amp
Synergistic Research Master Coupler
six, 1 to 2 metered power cords from 3 wall sockets to 2 Aragon Palladium mono blocks, 2 NHT Sub Two Subs, & to Richard Gray Richard Gray 400s to PS Audio Juice Bar
Bought a 2nd AudioPrism WAVEGUIDE & placed both on the power cords of the Martin Logan SL3 speakers. In the near future I plan to buy 2 Synergistic Research active shield power cords to use on the Martin Logan SL3 speakers & place the AudioPrism WAVEGUIDE on the balance interconnects from the pre-amp to amp. That way any interference will be cleaned up before being ampfied. Debating on rather buying a 2nd Richard Gray 400s for the other side of the stereo or go for a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet to power the Synergistic Research active shield power cords.
System edited: Move the main Martin Logan SL3 speakers from 3 ft 3 inches to 4 ft away from the back wall to increase soundstage & to place the Synergistic Research speaker cables with the Music Hall Cable Elevators Plus away from any power cords
I just received the above items & here is the first report:
I thought that the AudioPrism WAVEGUIDE came as a pair, but it was single. Therefore I wont use it on my power cords to the Martin Logan SL3 speakers, but on the Sony XA7es CD player. This is because the Sony XA7es CD player power cord can't be removed. The center hole for whatever gets put in the middle of the AudioPrism WAVEGUIDE is too large for the normal power cord of the Sony XA7es & too small for the Synergistic Research power cords. My first reaction is: too few with too little adjustments for too much money.
The Extreme Phono NONE FELT MAT/STANDARD is very interesting. I removed the normal felt mat & palce the Extreme Phono NONE FELT MAT/STANDARD in it's place. The new mat holds the LP in place while playing & I has to turn off & stop the record player before taking the LP off. A little slower starting & stopping normal LP playing but I think that extra friction & less static makes up for it.
I placed the 2 MMF Music Hall CABLE ELEVATORS PLUS on each speaker cable & used the enclosed rubber bands to hold the cables down. I haven't experimented enough to hear any difference in the sound, but at least the speaker cables are away from the power cords.
I just bought 2 AudioPrism WAVEGUIDE to go on my power cords with the Martin Logan SL3 speakers, 1 Extreme Phono NONE FELT MAT/STANDARD to go on my Rega Planar 3 turntable, & 8 MMF Music Hall CABLE ELEVATORS PLUS to uplift my Synergistic Research speaker cables from off the floor. This is going to be my 1st expriment with tweats. Any buddy have any experiences?
CD Player: cheap 2nd generation Sony to late 1980ish Sony es to Sony CDP-XA7es Record Player: mid 1970ish Phillips with $25 cartridge to Rega Planar 3 with Grado Ref Sonata cartridge Taping: mid 1970ish Technics cassette to Yamaha cassette to Pioneer Elite PDR-19RW Pre-amp: mid price Yamaha to Audio Research LS9 to Audio Research LS16 Amp: mid price Yamaha stereo to Aragon 8008BB dual mono to Aragon Palladium mono blocks Speakers: Polk SDS-2a to Martin Logan SL3 Subs: Roger Sounds lab passive to NHT Sub Two mono to NHT Sub Two stereo Interconnects: Monster Cable 400's to Harmonic Technology Precision-Link to Harmonic Technology Truth-Link Phono Cable: Rega standard to Cardas Cross to Harmonic Technology Crystal Silver Power Supply: Monster Cable HTS-800 to HTS-2000 to HTS-5000 to Richard Gray 400s & PS Audio Juice Bar.
