Matt's system

[thumb5]

You remembered correctly: that shoot-out is currently taking place. Very interesting. Will report back later today.

Sounds like fun -- looking forward to hearing the outcome.

---

Just read the white paper about the Magtech regulated power supply -- that's really clever!

[Jwg1749]

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Over the last few months I’ve felt a niggling sense of unease, which I’ve been reluctant to face up to squarely. Something was wrong with my main system (ML Montis and D200). There was too much HF energy flying around, and there was a bit of a hole in the lower midrange. I’d become aware of an imbalance in the upper octaves of the human voice and violins in particular; the effect was a bit screechy. Many classical recordings still sounded excellent, but brighter recordings (you know who you are, Naxos!) required the application of the treble controls in the Dev, which, excellent though they are, didn’t really solve the problem.

I was convinced that the individual components must be blameless. They must be. I’d heard the Dev with so many speakers. Audiovector, Dali, Vivid, Harbeth, Sonus faber, PMC, B&W: you name it, I’d heard it driven beautifully by a Dev. As for the MLs, the first time I heard them in a proper demo (as opposed to drive-by hearings at a show) the sound had blown me away: driven by a D200. And once the Montis joined the Dev in my system back in June, I loved the pairing for some time after.

But something had gone wrong; something needed to be fixed.

I tried to persuade myself that some room treatment would solve the problem: some soft furnishings to tame the HF reflections perhaps. Everything was, in any case, on hold until the house move (in mid-October), and even then it would be a couple of months until the living room had the right furniture in it. Keep calm and carry on.

But then there was the spectre of the John Atkinson Stereophile review of the D-Premier, often referenced in discussions of Dev on the interwebs. According to JA, the D-Premier might well have problems dealing with the exceptionally low impedance of ESLs at high frequencies. Even if the Dev didn’t overheat and shut down (there were some reports of this, though the new Dev models’ upgraded PSU solved the shutdown problem), there was still the prospect of the Dev's clipping protection circuits switching in, resulting in a nasty hardness at the top end.

Life is complicated. I have two pairs of speakers (both ex-demo models, so not quite as extravagant as it might seem): the ML Montis and the SF Cremona Auditor Ms. In the new house the SFs would be in my study and the MLs would be downstairs in the big living room. That seemed like a great plan. But what about amps? To cut a long story short, it came down to three options:

1. Montis with D200 and Cremonas with a new amp

2. Montis with D400 and Cremonas with a new amp

3. Montis with a new amp and Cremonas with D200

No. 1 was already eliminated (see above). No. 2 might work but would involve significant extra cost (£5K for the D200 “companion” and the cost of a new amp for the SFs). No. 3 was looking good, but could any amp drive the MLs better? A valve amp was out of the question: the family will use this system, and they can’t be relied on to turn things off!

Enter the Sanders Magtech yesterday, after a long and frustrating wait for the UK Sanders dealer to supply a demo model. I also borrowed a 200 “companion” from the ever-helpful Saj at Audio Venue in Ealing.

I was ready for a shoot-out.

[Jwg1749]

The Sanders Magtech is a Class A/B power amp designed specifically to drive electrostatic speakers. Rumour has it that Martin Logan and Magnepan use the Magtech for their show demos, though they like to keep it hidden in case people find out about Sanders, who manufactures his own excellent ESL speakers!

It has 20 output transformers to supply the voltage that ESLs crave. (The theory behind the design is documented in this unusually informative white paper.) It also has an innovative regulated power supply which means it can produce massive power whilst barely getting warm. It produces 500W/channel into 8 ohms, compared to the D400s 400WPC into 6 ohms. It nearly doubles its power as impedance halves: 900WPC into 4 ohms. It’s a beast.

It looks like one too. No Parisian chic here. Just a solid, boring black box. Slotting the Magtech into my system felt like returning to a bygone era. The manual warns of a switch-on thump from poorly designed preamps: so always switch the preamp on first! And if you want to switch out the preamp/DAC and change over the speaker cables, don’t even think about doing so until at least two minutes after you’ve turned the Magtech off. That electricity sure hangs around a while.

For the shoot-out I ran three set-ups as follows:
1. Sonos Connect (W4S mod) > D400 > ML Montis
2. Sonos Connect (W4S mod) > D400 (pre-outs) > Magtech > ML Montis
3. Sonos Connect (W4S mod) > Audiolab M-DAC (“Toy” mod) > Magtech > ML Montis
In the context of the whole, the difference between Nos 2. and 3. was negligible.

This is all about power, the right kind of power. I expected the Magtech to sound big and a bit crude. Just a bigger version of the Montis sound. How wrong I was!

Hearing ESLs sing properly is a kind of epiphany. (It is nearly Christmas, guys!) The first shock is the delicacy. Devialet owners know all about delicacy. The swift gliding of notes into and out of consciousness; the contrast of sound and silence. Driven by the Magtech, the Montis produce an ethereal sound. Timbres are perfectly defined. Listening to choral works is a revelation: the massed voices resolve into individuals, each identifiable by its different tone and timbre. Instruments become more real, more present. The same trick happens with orchestral music: layer upon layer of sweet and easily distinguishable timbre. And at the same time as the elements are resolved, the music becomes easier to follow. Musical phrases ebb and flow. Again and again I found the word “lyrical” coming to mind. I know some people have been put off MLs by what they experienced as a screechy top end at high volumes: trust me, the top end of the Montis, driven by the Magtech, is liquid honey.

Phrasing also depends on dynamics. Here the Magtech was obviously a couple of notches above the D400. Proper dynamics create bounce and drama. The Magtech makes a great job of quiet and delicate passages, and then a sudden orchestral crescendo hits you in a huge wave. Some people think ESLs don’t do loud. Sorry, they do. Really loud. Crushingly loud. The full 500W. And no audible distortion.

The package is completed by a remarkably vivid three-dimensional soundstage. This was always an acknowledged strength of Martin Logans. Americans do love their soundstage to be tall and deep. Again it’s orchestral music that reveals the genius of the ML line-source sound. (I’ve never really understood the preference some people have for point-source speakers.) The height of the soundstage somehow adds to the sense of depth. Violins and cellos down at the front. Woodwind and brass further back. Timpany right at the rear. Hearing becomes vision. With eyes closed you can see exactly how an orchestra is configured.
Much of this the D400 also does well. And if truth be told, the Dev has an energy and speed that maybe the Magtech doesn’t quite match. Maybe. It’s just that the Magtech has stolen the Dev’s best lines; where you expect the Dev to be supreme – transparency, delicacy, bass oomph – the Magtech is actually better.

I really wasn’t expecting this £3.5K power amp to be so darned good. The past two days have been nothing short of shocking. I’ve been smiling ear to ear. And looking forward to many hours of joy.

Matt

[amabrok]

The Sanders Magtech is a Class A/B power amp designed specifically to drive electrostatic speakers. Rumour has it that Martin Logan and Magnepan use the Magtech for their show demos, though they like to keep it hidden in case people find out about Sanders, who manufactures his own excellent ESL speakers!

It has 20 output transformers to supply the voltage that ESLs crave. (The theory behind the design is documented in this unusually informative white paper.) It also has an innovative regulated power supply which means it can produce massive power whilst barely getting warm. It produces 500W/channel into 8 ohms, compared to the D400s 400WPC into 6 ohms. It nearly doubles its power as impedance halves: 900WPC into 4 ohms. It’s a beast.

It looks like one too. No Parisian chic here. Just a solid, boring black box. Slotting the Magtech into my system felt like returning to a bygone era. The manual warns of a switch-on thump from poorly designed preamps: so always switch the preamp on first! And if you want to switch out the preamp/DAC and change over the speaker cables, don’t even think about doing so until at least two minutes after you’ve turned the Magtech off. That electricity sure hangs around a while.

For the shoot-out I ran three set-ups as follows:
1. Sonos Connect (W4S mod) > D400 > ML Montis
2. Sonos Connect (W4S mod) > D400 (pre-outs) > Magtech > ML Montis
3. Sonos Connect (W4S mod) > Audiolab M-DAC (“Toy” mod) > Magtech > ML Montis
In the context of the whole, the difference between Nos 2. and 3. was negligible.

This is all about power, the right kind of power. I expected the Magtech to sound big and a bit crude. Just a bigger version of the Montis sound. How wrong I was!

Hearing ESLs sing properly is a kind of epiphany. (It is nearly Christmas, guys!) The first shock is the delicacy. Devialet owners know all about delicacy. The swift gliding of notes into and out of consciousness; the contrast of sound and silence. Driven by the Magtech, the Montis produce an ethereal sound. Timbres are perfectly defined. Listening to choral works is a revelation: the massed voices resolve into individuals, each identifiable by its different tone and timbre. Instruments become more real, more present. The same trick happens with orchestral music: layer upon layer of sweet and easily distinguishable timbre. And at the same time as the elements are resolved, the music becomes easier to follow. Musical phrases ebb and flow. Again and again I found the word “lyrical” coming to mind. I know some people have been put off MLs by what they experienced as a screechy top end at high volumes: trust me, the top end of the Montis, driven by the Magtech, is liquid honey.

Phrasing also depends on dynamics. Here the Magtech was obviously a couple of notches above the D400. Proper dynamics create bounce and drama. The Magtech makes a great job of quiet and delicate passages, and then a sudden orchestral crescendo hits you in a huge wave. Some people think ESLs don’t do loud. Sorry, they do. Really loud. Crushingly loud. The full 500W. And no audible distortion.

The package is completed by a remarkably vivid three-dimensional soundstage. This was always an acknowledged strength of Martin Logans. Americans do love their soundstage to be tall and deep. Again it’s orchestral music that reveals the genius of the ML line-source sound. (I’ve never really understood the preference some people have for point-source speakers.) The height of the soundstage somehow adds to the sense of depth. Violins and cellos down at the front. Woodwind and brass further back. Timpany right at the rear. Hearing becomes vision. With eyes closed you can see exactly how an orchestra is configured.
Much of this the D400 also does well. And if truth be told, the Dev has an energy and speed that maybe the Magtech doesn’t quite match. Maybe. It’s just that the Magtech has stolen the Dev’s best lines; where you expect the Dev to be supreme – transparency, delicacy, bass oomph – the Magtech is actually better.

I really wasn’t expecting this £3.5K power amp to be so darned good. The past two days have been nothing short of shocking. I’ve been smiling ear to ear. And looking forward to many hours of joy.

Matt

Oh Matt, what have you done!

Excellent review! To the point it hurts considering that I have just pulled the trigger on the D400 / Montis combo

[thumb5]

Matt -- thanks for the great write-up (as always!). Sounds like your decision is made, and you'll end up with two great-sounding systems. Will you also be using Sonos as the source for the D200/Cremonas?

[Jwg1749]

Oh Matt, what have you done!

Excellent review! To the point it hurts considering that I have just pulled the trigger on the D400 / Montis combo

Thanks, and apologies!

I don't mean to undermine anyone's confidence in their choices. This has been awkward for me too. I've been a Devialet fanboi for over a year now, and I had absolute confidence in the product. I still do, and I'd still recommend it to anyone with electrodynamic speakers. I think the 200 drives my Sonus fabers better than the Magtech does. But for electrostatics, with their very different design and demands, I now don't think Devialet is the best solution I've heard.

Matt -- thanks for the great write-up (as always!). Sounds like your decision is made, and you'll end up with two great-sounding systems. Will you also be using Sonos as the source for the D200/Cremonas?

Thanks, Ian.

Re. the source for the SF+D200 system: I plan to wait and see what Devialet do in the next couple of months. I've been using a PC running JRiver over ethernet, but I gave up when the white noise problem reared its ugly head (so my signature is now well out of date.) I may go back to a PC- or Linux-based system. But it's always great to have Sonos there on the subs' bench.

Matt

[Confused]

Yes, a fascinating summary. I guess it is not surprising that an amp designed for the rather unusual loads of an ESL should perform so well. What does surprise me are the comments re "bass oomph" as the Montis bass driver's have their own amplifier, so what is actually happening here? Maybe a more favourable balance overall? (BTW by "surprise" I am not doubting your findings Matt, by the way. The number of times I've auditioned kit and been "surprised" by the results, is many, certainly a very high percentage.)

Your findings also say a lot about the Audiolab as a DAC. (Although it's what you don't need to write here that is particularly interesting!) I listened to many DAC / pre-amp / amp combinations before settling on a Devialet, with DACs up to about £2000. The only one that I liked as much as the Devialet was the Chord codex streamer. I never tried an Audiolab, probably because it was below price range! It looks like the M-Dac "Toy" mod is a bit of a giant killer! (and quite a nice looking bit of kit too) Were you using the Audiolab as a pre-amp also?

I think it's great when auditions work really well, it's so easy to start with high hopes but end up disappointed. Enjoy!

[Jwg1749]

Yes, a fascinating summary. I guess it is not surprising that an amp designed for the rather unusual loads of an ESL should perform so well. What does surprise me are the comments re "bass oomph" as the Montis bass driver's have their own amplifier, so what is actually happening here? Maybe a more favourable balance overall? (BTW by "surprise" I am not doubting your findings Matt, by the way. The number of times I've auditioned kit and been "surprised" by the results, is many, certainly a very high percentage.)

Your findings also say a lot about the Audiolab as a DAC. (Although it's what you don't need to write here that is particularly interesting!) I listened to many DAC / pre-amp / amp combinations before settling on a Devialet, with DACs up to about £2000. The only one that I liked as much as the Devialet was the Chord codex streamer. I never tried an Audiolab, probably because it was below price range! It looks like the M-Dac "Toy" mod is a bit of a giant killer! (and quite a nice looking bit of kit too) Were you using the Audiolab as a pre-amp also?

I think it's great when auditions work really well, it's so easy to start with high hopes but end up disappointed. Enjoy!

I share your surprise about the bass. I'd heard a similar report from someone on a. n. other hi-fi forum: the Devialet didn't produce much bass weight through ML hybrids. My initial response was sceptical, for precisely the reason you give. Then again, the power amp is still producing a bass output voltage for the Class D amp in the speaker's bass cabinet to work with, so perhaps there's a real effect here.

The modded M-DAC is a decent piece of kit. In the New Year it'll be going back to the Czech Rep for a further upgrade, as follows:

* Dual ES9018 Sabre32 DACs, one dedicated chip per channel for true dual mono operation.
* Brand new discrete Class A analog stage design.
* Redesigned on-board power supply circuitry guaranteeing optimal performance using the stock AC adaptor.
* High Speed USB 2.0 controller for asynchronous USB Audio Class 2.0 with 32 bit resolution and up to 768 kHz sampling rates. Driverless operation under MacOS X and Linux as well as Windows with UAC 1.0 fallback (up to 96 kHz). Optional open-source ASIO driver for Windows to support UAC 2.0 capabilities.
* DSD 64Fs supported via USB as well as S/PDIF with DSD 128Fs and higher available via USB (DoD standard).
* FPGA on board, opening the doors to limitless customization and further improvements delivered via software updates. Ability to bypass all internal processing in the Sabre32 and replace it with custom LakeWest developments down to the noise shaper.
* RAM buffer for memory play without ASRC for S/PDIF sources.
* Asynchronous USB and transport ClockLock interface ASRC free playback or optionally S/PDIF playback with ASRC without memory buffer induced latencies.
* Passive AV bypass unbalanced inputs allowing coexistence of analog preamplifier / surround processor with the DAC’s own digital preamplifier.
* 4W XLR Female on the rear panel for balanced headphone connection.
* Made in EU, each unit tested and qualified personally by JW

As well as (possibly) improving SQ, this will turn the M-DAC into a fully featured audio toolbox, with its own onboard DSP room correction.

Matt

[amabrok]

Thanks, and apologies!

Matt

Hi Matt, no apology is needed, actually your sharing and quality writing/review is much appreciated

I just realised now that your review/audition was on the Magtech and not the ESL, am I correct?

if my understanding is correct, then this would indeed be intriguing, because the Magtech is designed to drive magnetic speakers, contrary to the ESL which is specifically designed to drive electrostatic speakers. and that leaves me wondering, if the Magtech performs this good, then how will the ESL amp or even better, ESL monoblocks do?!

[Jwg1749]

Hi Matt, no apology is needed, actually your sharing and quality writing/review is much appreciated

I just realised now that your review/audition was on the Magtech and not the ESL, am I correct?

if my understanding is correct, then this would indeed be intriguing, because the Magtech is designed to drive magnetic speakers, contrary to the ESL which is specifically designed to drive electrostatic speakers. and that leaves me wondering, if the Magtech performs this good, then how will the ESL amp or even better, ESL monoblocks do?!

Cheers!

Yes, it's the Magtech I have on loan.

It's true that the Magtech is marketed as a power amp for conventional magnetic speakers, but according to the manufacturer the Magtech at 500WPC is really just a more powerful version of the ESL (400WPC): it has all the ESL's capability to drive 'statics: "The Magtech amplifier also uses the same advanced technology that makes the ESL amp able to drive the most difficult loads without performance-degrading, protective circuitry" (from the Sanders website). In other words, the same output design, with 20 transformers, plus a bit of extra current. The Magtech has one other clever trick: its regulated PSU.

As you say, there's a monobloc version of the ESL; there's also a monbobloc version of the Magtech. I'm sure both the ESL and Magtech monoblocs sound amazing with some ML CLX Arts or MG 20.7s in a big room. But the stereo Magtech seems to be more than enough for the Montis in my 27sqm room.

It's also pretty good value for money in the UK at £3500. The US price is $5500. Very often in the UK we don't pay the true exchange rate for goods imported from the US.

If you're interested, it's worth looking at the ML owners' forum, which is where I first found out about the Magtech.

Matt