My intention was not to debate, just give a friendly advice as there is clearly an issue with the right channel of every recording.
Will follow your suggestion and leave it at that. Carry on...
Introducing My System
- Thread starter Thundersnow
- Start date
My intention was not to debate, just give a friendly advice as there is clearly an issue with the right channel of every recording.
Will follow your suggestion and leave it at that. Carry on...
I really prefer the looks of the Coltrane 3… to the new ones, I wonder if I’m alone in that.
that said, the system overall is phenomenal.
that said, the system overall is phenomenal.
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Thank you, sir. Shape-wise I also preferred the Coltrane 3 (these guys are too tall and slinky, Coltrane 3 just seemed better in terms of proportions) but this is somewhat compensated by me staring at that 2“ diamond
MARTEN MINGUS ORCHESTRA IMPRESSIONS AS THINGS SETTLE:
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So I've finally managed to get to grips with what needed to change for this "new" system to play at close to something I'd describe as optimum as far as the setup.
Changes that were brought on by the purchase of the Marten Mingus Orchestra speakers were as follows:
1.) Marten Isolators (OK, an obvious one once final parking position reached)
2.) Bass level on the speakers themselves set to -2db on each speaker (knob dialed back by two clicks). This further brought on a better overall balance and less smear shifting the focus to the 2" and 0.75" Accuton diamond mid/tweeter. For the current volume of the room, this proved to bring the optimal sound balance across the freq range.
3.) RCA 5862 tubes used instead of the Mullard ECC32. I tried this several times back and forth and RCA 5862 is just a clear winner with the Mingus Orchestra speaker. One could argue that the diamond mid is too revealing or less forgiving. Either way, RCA 5862 sounds damn near perfect. I want the full gain from the Horizon DAC (e.g. 63) but I want it at the optimal gain for the preamp. Mullards had too much gain, while RCA works perfectly in terms of gain. The 2" Accuton does reveal the difference in a fairly substantial fashion. The C3G are out of the equation altogether. Proved too aggressive with this setup, even with the better adapters.
4.) With that said, the preamp is back. I didn't need it any more with the Coltrane 3, in the previous setup. But again, for all its faults, Coltrane 3 is a more forgiving speaker. Not so with Mingus Orchestra. I needed more tubes in there to further humanize any "zing" I heard in the sound.
5.) Rel Reference 31 sub is out. As much as I tried (using PEQ or simple manipulation of gain/xo freq) I just couldn't get the sub to play nicely with the passive radiators of the Orchestra. For one thing, the Orchestra bass is VERY powerful and cleaner than what I'm hearing from the Rel. So first and foremost, there is no need for a sub. But even if you do want just that extra gain at below 30hz, the sub manages to smear the bass to an extent and this impacts the supremely refined and accurate mids of the Accutons.
6.) Finally I ended up settling for the i2s as the go-to connection with my LDMS Minimax streamer. For now I prefer the sound of WASAPI over I2S with a strong suspicion that I may end up using kernel streaming over I2S as my final option with the LDMS to Horizon. The sound is so good right now that I'm seriously contemplating not bringing over my turntable and reel to reel setup to my new place when I move. We'll see about that though.
A few final notes on the Marten Mingus Orchestra after spending some time with the speaker so far. This is in every way a superior sound transducer to the Coltrane 3. Once your ears get used to the concept of a 4-way with the 2" Accuton diamond and passive radiators for the lowest frequencies, it is VERY hard to go back to the more traditional ported 3-way concept of the Coltrane 3.
It's incredible how important this fantastic presence in the mid range is to one's overall perception of music. Coltrane 3 for example sounds smeared, hollow and recessed in comparison (disclaimer: RELATIVELY speaking of course).
Another great advantage is the very obvious lack of any sort of boxiness in the sound. You simply hear the cabinet WAY less than with the Coltrane 3 (again, taking Coltrane 3 as a point of reference since it's my previous speaker). Naturally, I suspect that the rather large Coltrane 3 port was introducing too much delay and putting a lot of stress on the Coltrane 3 cabinet (carbon or no).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I've finally managed to get to grips with what needed to change for this "new" system to play at close to something I'd describe as optimum as far as the setup.
Changes that were brought on by the purchase of the Marten Mingus Orchestra speakers were as follows:
1.) Marten Isolators (OK, an obvious one once final parking position reached)
2.) Bass level on the speakers themselves set to -2db on each speaker (knob dialed back by two clicks). This further brought on a better overall balance and less smear shifting the focus to the 2" and 0.75" Accuton diamond mid/tweeter. For the current volume of the room, this proved to bring the optimal sound balance across the freq range.
3.) RCA 5862 tubes used instead of the Mullard ECC32. I tried this several times back and forth and RCA 5862 is just a clear winner with the Mingus Orchestra speaker. One could argue that the diamond mid is too revealing or less forgiving. Either way, RCA 5862 sounds damn near perfect. I want the full gain from the Horizon DAC (e.g. 63) but I want it at the optimal gain for the preamp. Mullards had too much gain, while RCA works perfectly in terms of gain. The 2" Accuton does reveal the difference in a fairly substantial fashion. The C3G are out of the equation altogether. Proved too aggressive with this setup, even with the better adapters.
4.) With that said, the preamp is back. I didn't need it any more with the Coltrane 3, in the previous setup. But again, for all its faults, Coltrane 3 is a more forgiving speaker. Not so with Mingus Orchestra. I needed more tubes in there to further humanize any "zing" I heard in the sound.
5.) Rel Reference 31 sub is out. As much as I tried (using PEQ or simple manipulation of gain/xo freq) I just couldn't get the sub to play nicely with the passive radiators of the Orchestra. For one thing, the Orchestra bass is VERY powerful and cleaner than what I'm hearing from the Rel. So first and foremost, there is no need for a sub. But even if you do want just that extra gain at below 30hz, the sub manages to smear the bass to an extent and this impacts the supremely refined and accurate mids of the Accutons.
6.) Finally I ended up settling for the i2s as the go-to connection with my LDMS Minimax streamer. For now I prefer the sound of WASAPI over I2S with a strong suspicion that I may end up using kernel streaming over I2S as my final option with the LDMS to Horizon. The sound is so good right now that I'm seriously contemplating not bringing over my turntable and reel to reel setup to my new place when I move. We'll see about that though.
A few final notes on the Marten Mingus Orchestra after spending some time with the speaker so far. This is in every way a superior sound transducer to the Coltrane 3. Once your ears get used to the concept of a 4-way with the 2" Accuton diamond and passive radiators for the lowest frequencies, it is VERY hard to go back to the more traditional ported 3-way concept of the Coltrane 3.
It's incredible how important this fantastic presence in the mid range is to one's overall perception of music. Coltrane 3 for example sounds smeared, hollow and recessed in comparison (disclaimer: RELATIVELY speaking of course).
Another great advantage is the very obvious lack of any sort of boxiness in the sound. You simply hear the cabinet WAY less than with the Coltrane 3 (again, taking Coltrane 3 as a point of reference since it's my previous speaker). Naturally, I suspect that the rather large Coltrane 3 port was introducing too much delay and putting a lot of stress on the Coltrane 3 cabinet (carbon or no).
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Congratulations! These are gorgeous and epic speakers by my favorite brand. I think they sound excellent in your videos.
How many watts are those amps? My Mingus speakers are super thirsty (though they are some models down from yours)…
How many watts are those amps? My Mingus speakers are super thirsty (though they are some models down from yours)…
Thank you, sir! Having spent some time now with the speakers, I can safely say I am getting total control at any volume level with the NAT Magma Evos running in low power mode (approximately 50W per channel). Super happy about this fact, but bear in mind I haven’t tried any other amps with this speaker. So can’t really claim whether the speakers are easy to drive or if NAT is simply doing a great job with them.
They look incredible.. Those giant tubes must be awesome at night. My amps are 1,100 watts, but I think the first 20-50 watts are always the most important, especially in AB amps like mine. I am glad to hear you are getting such grip with those amps. I think the orchestra’s are a bit more sensitive than the quartets I have. Mine are mk1’s, and may be as low as 83. The website says 89 for yours. Not sure how much that makes a difference. Anyway, based on the videos you posted, they sound great. As for isolation, here in Taiwan a lot of audiophiles put these marble tiles underneath speakers (depending on floor/room). They are a local hard black marble and come in 2 or 3 cm versions. The isoacoustics made a HUGE difference on my speakers, then the marble added some as well. I would say 85% isoacoustics and 15% marble (to use a silly arbitrary number)…
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Looks cool as well! Thanks for the tip! I’ll give this a shot. I’ll probably go with something like a 2cm version so as not to mess with the height of the speaker much.
That’s exactly why I choose 2cm. These are so popular here that when you go to a marble shop they ask “for speakers?”
I think you have made some excellent choices. The Horizon is best of best and if I could afford them, I would get the orchestras tomorrow. Marten ftw!
So a small update, the folks at Marten were kind enough to do a little interview with me on the Marten Mingus Orchestra and my hi fi journey in general. Check it out! I made sure to plug the What's Best Forum as well Helps with SEO!
Helps with SEO!
Meeting a Mingus Orchestra owner - Marten
One of the great pleasures of our business is to meet our clients. Two weekends ago, our CEO Jörgen Olofsson met long-time client, Uros at the Hi-Files Show in Belgrade. Uros has been a Marten client for a number of years and is a self-confessed “lifelong music lover”. This year, he upgraded...
www.marten.se
Wonderful interview. Thanks for sharing. Given that you are also a Manu Katche fan, you might enjoy Robbie Robertson's track Fallen Angel that features him and Tony Levin on bass. We were lucky to see him live with Jan Garbarek and he was just extraordinary...as he always is. Perhaps you could post a video of this track but no worries if not possible. Enjoy your wonderful system.
Thank you very much, I am also a huge fan of Garbarek.
BTW, just listened to Fallen Angel -- sounds great!
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Congratulations on the interview! That's great!So a small update, the folks at Marten were kind enough to do a little interview with me on the Marten Mingus Orchestra and my hi fi journey in general. Check it out! I made sure to plug the What's Best Forum as well
Meeting a Mingus Orchestra owner - Marten
One of the great pleasures of our business is to meet our clients. Two weekends ago, our CEO Jörgen Olofsson met long-time client, Uros at the Hi-Files Show in Belgrade. Uros has been a Marten client for a number of years and is a self-confessed “lifelong music lover”. This year, he upgraded...www.marten.se
I enjoyed that interview. Thank you and you have great taste!So a small update, the folks at Marten were kind enough to do a little interview with me on the Marten Mingus Orchestra and my hi fi journey in general. Check it out! I made sure to plug the What's Best Forum as well
Meeting a Mingus Orchestra owner - Marten
One of the great pleasures of our business is to meet our clients. Two weekends ago, our CEO Jörgen Olofsson met long-time client, Uros at the Hi-Files Show in Belgrade. Uros has been a Marten client for a number of years and is a self-confessed “lifelong music lover”. This year, he upgraded...www.marten.se
That is a stunning system you got, congratulations. I heard the Marten Parker bookshelf speaker at a dealer and the sound of Martens seems really exceptional. Thanks for sharing all of it. At that level i wonder how your Martens sound in comparison to the equivalent Tidal speakers. They seem similar in terms of looks and use of Accuton drivers.
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