I will share my system with you guys.

Here is the link to my website My Home Theater .

I am seriously thinking about adding a tube amp to power the panels of my Martin Logans. Right now I am bi-amping the front three speakers.

If Outlaw had their 7100 available when I put this system together I would have done that instead of two Parasound amps. Although I really like having the front 3 bi-amped.

Please let me know what you think.

I also finally got my Pronto working like I have always wanted it too! That is not on the web site, I need to put that up there.

Jeff

[This message has been edited by Jeff Aguilar (edited September 16, 2004).]

Jeff,

Nice looking system you have there! You have excellent gear, but I'm concerned about the mismatching of speakers for mains and center. Both ML and Energy make excellent speakers, and I respect them both quite a lot, but do they sound similar to each other? If not, you may be doing your system quite an injustice.

Take care,

Jeff (the other one)

Jeff,

I too was very concerned about how they would match up. Of course I already had the Energy speakers when I upgraded to the Martin Logan speakers. One would think that a planer speaker and a tweeter center channel would not go well together.

I was very surprised to find out how well they actually sound together! I have no dought that the ML cinema or theater would sound much better, but for now I am totally impressed.

I guess I was not totally suprised when listened to my setup for the first time with the ML's. I have a friend who turned me onto ML and he had the Connesuer setup from Energy. He had a pair of SL3's matched up with the AC300 center and it really sounded good together! He had a home theater meet and had several people come over and they too were very concerned about that very same point. After the demo, everyone said that they were surprised as to how well the center channel blended with the main speakers.

I am not living in a dream, I know that a full ML setup would sound different than what I am running now. But as far as it sounds now, I am quite pleased. I don't have this terrible desire to go out and replace the rest of my Veritas speakers.

Thanks for the comments,

Jeff Aguilar

Looks like a great system. I’ve listened to a number of Martin Logan speakers, and I haven’t found any of them that I didn’t like. I always had a question as to whether the Outlaw 755, and M-200 would be able to provide enough power for the Martin Logan’s. I received the e-mail below from Martin Logan when I asked for a product recommendation. I can’t afford them, but.

Dear Clark:

Thank you for your inquiry and for your support of our fine products. When
using the Ascent i's as your main speakers, I would recommend using the Theater
i center channel and the Descent subwoofer. Your side and rear channel
decisions really depend on your environment. If you can accommodate floor
standing speakers for your sides and rears, I would suggest using the Aeon i's
or the Clarity's or a combination of the two. If you would rather wall mount, I
would suggest the Script i's. I hope that this information helps and please
contact us if you have any more questions.

Thanks Again,

Brian Bailey
Inside Sales/Customer Service
Martin Logan Ltd.



[This message has been edited by Oil Can (edited October 06, 2003).]

Clark, or Oil Can,

I am powering my Martin Logans with an 85 watt per channel amp and it does a great job! I do have them bi-amped, but I have never noticed them stessed or strained when I turn them up.

The tube amps I have been looking at are only rated at 40 to 50 watts per channel and should have NO problem pushing the Martin Logan speakers.

Oh, and of course the Inside Sales/Customer Service guy would recommend all ML stuff. He is true to his company. What works best is to go out and listen and make your own descision.

Jeff Aguilar

I have since upgrades to a integrated tube amp. It is a Cayin TA-30, EL34 based integrated tube amp.

What a wonderful upgrade! The Outlaw/Parasound combo was great for home theater and 2 channel music, but adding this tube amp for just the 2 channel stereo listening makes a big difference. The soundstage widened and deepened, and the harshness on the highs and mids smoothened out.

Here are some pics.

Cayin Amp

Insides

From the picture you can see the lack of circuit boards and everything is hand soldered with silver. Truely a great amp for the money.

Jeff

Jeff:

How is the tube amp integrated with the rest of your components? In other words, what is connected to and from it and what about the low end signals? I am contemplating on adding a tube gear to my 950 and 7100 for music listening.

Thanks.

Spiker,

I have been following your other thread in the 950 forum.

To connect two amplifiers to one set of speakers you need Niles DPS-1 switcher . This will allow you to hook up two different amps to one set of speakers.

I also have my subwoofer being powered by my tube amp. I was afraid that with only 35 watts a channel, the bass would not be enough. Several people who bought the amp I bought said that the bass was really full, but since I have some VERY demanding speakers, I decided to spend the extra $30 and get a subwoofer out put on the tube amp. I am also using a switcher for that duty. I just bought one of those radio shack, $12 ones.

When I am listening to 2 channel music, I just push the A button on BOTH switchers. I am really glad that I invested in the tube amp.

I have the optical connections coming from my DVD player (Denon 1600) and my Sony Mega changer going to my Outlaw and I have the analog outputs going strait into my tube amp.

The only shortcoming I found, actually there are two, is one; To use my cd mega changer for the zone 2 out of my outlaw, I had to place two splitters, one on the left channel and one on the right channel, so that I have an analog set going to my Outlaw and one to my tube amp. I did this so I could listen to music out of the zone two, which goes throughout my entire house.

The second shortcoming is the fact that my tube amp cannot be controlled by a remote. All of my equipment is in another room. Actually, it really does not bother me, but some people may not like that they have to get up to turn the music up or down. I can control what song I am listening too, just not the volume.

Hope that helps,

If you do decide to get a tube integrated amp, I know that you will be happy. The Outlaw does a great job with 2 channel, but the tube amp does it just thant much better.

Jeff

Jeff:
Thank you for the info. What’s intriguing about tube gear is that they can be tweaked by changing tubes.
I do not have as big of a place as you do so those two shortcomings are not likely to be issues for me. Speaking of your place, nice looking living room window you’ve got there.

I have upgraded my system once again.

Now I have a tube based cd player, the ShengYa CD-S10

A tube based preamp for stereo playback, the TAD-150

A replacement for the Parasound amps, a Atlantic Technologies A-2000. I got this instead of the Outlaw because I got it at such a great price. I believe it is very similar to the Outlaw one.

My Outlaw 950 still sounds fantastic and is running really strong.

Jeff Aguilar
My Home Theater