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D400 >> Montis
#1
The latest upgrade to my system (and i believe the last one for a long while to come) was concluded today.

Martin Logan Electromotion ESL upgraded to Montis

You can check the latest update for my system here.

Initial impression ... house rumbling Smile

This is a bass beast, and actually there was no doubt on this front. The concern, however, was weather the D400 will be able to drive the Montis at high frequencies when the impedance drops to as low as 0.56 ohms? And I have to say now that any shred of doubt I may have had has just evaporated!

The D400 just drives the Montis with ease and i played the most familiar tracks to my ears and boy i do hear things for the very first time especially on the high notes! of course on the low frequencies everything moves and rumbles to the extent that i had to dial down the bass control to -3db.

The output impedance of the D400 (0.001 ohm) is very low to give a damping factor of 560% when driving the Montis at its lowest load impedance of 0.56 ohm.

Mind you this is a brand new pair not even broken in, so i would expect things to get only better from here.

The D400 power, grip, abyssal low noise paired with the ML Montis transparency, atmosphere and seamless transition form low frequencies to the mids and highs makes this a perfect match (at least to me Wink)

[Image: ed1fb0d63eac0a4b9c6a8e0224438bd7.jpg]
Aurender X100L / Transrotor Crescendo TT / Denon DCD1520 / Macbook Pro >> D400 >> Martin Logan Montis
amabrok's system - Latest update (May 2015, Page 11, Post #109)

Dubai, UAE
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#2
(03-Dec-2014, 13:36)amabrok Wrote: The latest upgrade to my system (and i believe the last one for a long while to come) was concluded today.

Martin Logan Electromotion ESL upgraded to Montis

You can check the latest update for my system here.

Initial impression ... house rumbling Smile

This is a bass beast, and actually there was no doubt on this front. The concern, however, was weather the D400 will be able to drive the Montis at high frequencies when the impedance drops to as low as 0.56 ohms? And I have to say now that any shred of doubt I may have had has just evaporated!

The D400 just drives the Montis with ease and i played the most familiar tracks to my ears and boy i do hear things for the very first time especially on the high notes! of course on the low frequencies everything moves and rumbles to the extent that i had to dial down the bass control to -3db.

The output impedance of the D400 (0.001 ohm) is very low to give a damping factor of 560% when driving the Montis at its lowest load impedance of 0.56 ohm.

Mind you this is a brand new pair not even broken in, so i would expect things to get only better from here.

The D400 power, grip, abyssal low noise paired with the ML Montis transparency, atmosphere and seamless transition form low frequencies to the mids and highs makes this a perfect match (at least to me Wink)

[Image: ed1fb0d63eac0a4b9c6a8e0224438bd7.jpg]

Congrats! Sounds fantastic!

Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research

220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD

UK
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#3
(03-Dec-2014, 13:41)GuillaumeB Wrote: Congrats! Sounds fantastic!

Guillaume

Thanks Smile

part of the pleasure i enjoy now i owe to the forum and the collective support of its members ... thanks to all !
Aurender X100L / Transrotor Crescendo TT / Denon DCD1520 / Macbook Pro >> D400 >> Martin Logan Montis
amabrok's system - Latest update (May 2015, Page 11, Post #109)

Dubai, UAE
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#4
I'm really pleased to hear that the 400 + Montis combination is working for you.

I currently have a 200 slave on home demo and have been trialling the same combo as you. It really is just about all the hi-fi one could ever want.

What you say about the integration of the Montis's bass driver is absolutely right. The view among ML owners seems to be that this is the best integrated speaker ML have ever made. When I auditioned the Theos, the integration of the woofer worried me; with the Montis I don't notice it.

I tend to agree with you that the 400 has enough power to produce a smooth top end with the Montis. I'm still in experimenting mode though, and will be checking out one or two more amps, not that I think any of them will be much better than the D400.

Matt

Sonos Connect (W4S) > DSpeaker Antimode 2.0 > Sanders Magtech > Martin Logan Montis
Sonos Connect (W4S) > Devialet 200 > Vivid V1.5
Silver Phantoms (just the two)
London
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#5
@matt and Amabrok. I wondered what size rooms you are using your Montis in? For various reasons my system is currently in my study which is about 4.5m x 3.5m and guess this is probably too small to do the Montis justice?

Thanks.
IMac macOS 10.15.3 (no link to Devialet Sad ) / MacBook Pro Retina OS X 10.14.4 / Linn LP12 / Devialet 200 Wilson Benesch Discovery. 
Qobuz Desktop Latest Version / Audirvana 3.2.18 / Audirvana Remote / iTunes 12.9 / AIR 3.0.4 / Wi-Fi / FW 8.1.0 / SAM 50%
Cambridge, UK (Updated 27th February, 2020)
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#6
(03-Dec-2014, 17:57)PhilP Wrote: @matt and Amabrok. I wondered what size rooms you are using your Montis in? For various reasons my system is currently in my study which is about 4.5m x 3.5m and guess this is probably too small to do the Montis justice?

Thanks.

Hi PhilP

I guess you are right. This seems to be too small for the Montis

I have mine in the corner of a big living room which is L shaped and roughly about 9.5x8.5 meters and I have an asymmetrical ceiling as well which helps with the acoustics a bit and still I had to dial down the bass control on the back of the Montis as I felt the whole place rumbles

I believe they trend to shine and radiate better in bigger rooms however the bass control back dial really helps to control for smaller rooms
Aurender X100L / Transrotor Crescendo TT / Denon DCD1520 / Macbook Pro >> D400 >> Martin Logan Montis
amabrok's system - Latest update (May 2015, Page 11, Post #109)

Dubai, UAE
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#7
amabrok... congrats on the Montis.

PhilP... I have the same problem as you i.e. my room is more or less the same size as yours + very low ceiling... The ML Ethos that I have really work well in my room. Bass is fantastic, an order of magnitude better than the ML Aerius i that I had previously.

Both... try the track Closing Scene from Pendulum by Eberhard Weber for some great bass!

Tony
Chord Blu > D200 > Martin Logan Ethos : Saddleworth, England
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#8
(04-Dec-2014, 16:28)Tony Wrote: amabrok... congrats on the Montis.

PhilP... I have the same problem as you i.e. my room is more or less the same size as yours + very low ceiling... The ML Ethos that I have really work well in my room. Bass is fantastic, an order of magnitude better than the ML Aerius i that I had previously.

Both... try the track Closing Scene from Pendulum by Eberhard Weber for some great bass!

Tony

Ok, great! I will try the Weber this evening. Thanks. Philip

I just remembered that I sat-in on someone else's demo when they were listening to the Ethos and I was really impressed with the clarity and openness of the sound. They also tried some good PMC speakers which sounded very boxy and coloured in comparison. How do the Ethos perform with rock music and electronica?
IMac macOS 10.15.3 (no link to Devialet Sad ) / MacBook Pro Retina OS X 10.14.4 / Linn LP12 / Devialet 200 Wilson Benesch Discovery. 
Qobuz Desktop Latest Version / Audirvana 3.2.18 / Audirvana Remote / iTunes 12.9 / AIR 3.0.4 / Wi-Fi / FW 8.1.0 / SAM 50%
Cambridge, UK (Updated 27th February, 2020)
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#9
Not really into electronica but rock e.g. Clapton, Sting etc is great also Jazz such as John McLaughlin, Pat Methany etc. Just out of interest I auditioned Wilson Benesch Vectors at the same time as the Ethos and while I thought they were great (build and sound quality) speakers there just wasn't the same bass response as the Ethos.
Chord Blu > D200 > Martin Logan Ethos : Saddleworth, England
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#10
(04-Dec-2014, 17:23)Tony Wrote: Not really into electronica but rock e.g. Clapton, Sting etc is great also Jazz such as John McLaughlin, Pat Methany etc. Just out of interest I auditioned Wilson Benesch Vectors at the same time as the Ethos and while I thought they were great (build and sound quality) speakers there just wasn't the same bass response as the Ethos.

Ok, that's interesting, thanks.

I really like Wilson Benesch speakers because they have a very open and neutral mid-range a bit like electrostatics but you're right that the designers have gone for tight, well-damped bass with smaller speakers rather than extended bass. That's where the Torus infrasonic (sic) generator comes in. It sounds fantastic but unfortunately my room is too small for that really...

EDIT:

I was rather hoping that a SAM profile might be developed for my speakers to extend the bass a bit but this seems unlikely.

Specs:
ML Ethos : 34Hz - 24Khz, +- 3dB
ML Montis : 29Hz - 23KHz, +- 3dB

WB Vector : 36Hz - 30KHz, +- 2dB
WB Discovery :45Hz - 24KHz, +- 2dB

WB Torus : 10 - 150 Hz, -6dB at 18Hz
IMac macOS 10.15.3 (no link to Devialet Sad ) / MacBook Pro Retina OS X 10.14.4 / Linn LP12 / Devialet 200 Wilson Benesch Discovery. 
Qobuz Desktop Latest Version / Audirvana 3.2.18 / Audirvana Remote / iTunes 12.9 / AIR 3.0.4 / Wi-Fi / FW 8.1.0 / SAM 50%
Cambridge, UK (Updated 27th February, 2020)
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