These Ascent i's were an upgrade from some SL3's, and have all the positive attributes of the SL3, while sounding bigger and better in every way. This pair has the ETC spikes and light cherry rails.
I love these things. I have them mounted up 2 feet so I get the stat panel sound at my sitting position. If I ever get the Ascent i's, I'll move the SL3's to the rear and the Aerius i's somewhere else. Wonderful little speaker.
Works well with the SL-3's, but I'd like to try the Theater i to see what it sounds like.
I think I've tried all the different subs, and the only thing I liked better was the Aerial SW12, but it's $2k more. I'll probably add a second B-15 sometime just for complete overkill, but it's fully adequate with one in a 30x 22 room.
- Sunfire Theater Grand III
I think this thing is way underrated for both Surround and as a two channel preamp. Great sound, Burr Brown Dac's as found in much more expensive pieces, analog pass through, incredible flexibility and (yes) a couple of guilty pleasure gimmicks. But the Sonic Hologram is digital in this one, and it's effect is sometimes stunning. The Perfect Vision gave this one a strong recommendation, but I know there's a lot of snickers because it's Sunfire. I've tried a number of other pre's, and the only one that I'd consider buying over this is the Casablanca. The only thing I wish it had was the potential to set speaker crossovers and other parameters differently for the different sources.
Nice piece with lots of reserves, and mates very well with the "tubey" sounding Sunfire. I characterize it as neutral sounding, and it sure grabs the woofers by the cajones and won't let go.
This used to be my main amp and now does surround and center channel duty. A great bang-for-the-buck piece, with some nice features such as signal sensing turn-on so the Martin Logans aren't always turning on like they would if it was just a 12V trigger. Very neutral sounding.
A non descript changer that works fine as a transport.
- Enlightened Audio Design DSP-7000
I tried quite a few DAC's, including very highly rated in various mags, and found this one to do a great job. Works well with the Denon changer.
Universal DVD, DVD-A and SACD player. Video is better than its audio performance, but I won't be making any more significant investments in DVD-A or SACD until there's a LOT more source material. This unit has had reliability issues too, so I won't get another Pioneer.
- Transparent Super and Ultra
Found thse to be the most neutral in this system. I like to enjoy the system and don't want to obsess over cables, so I tried a few brands and settled on Transparent.
- Transparent Super Bi-wire
Like the interconnects, I found the Transparent to have the most neutral resolution, and thought the Supers were the best value.
- Transparent Plus and Super
I am far less convinced than many others here regarding aftermarket power cables, so I went with Transparent's after my experience with the interconnects and speaker cables, as well as my dealings with the Transparent factory which was truly excellent.
Annoying that this thing reads 120v, 122v, 119v, but it's plugged in to the AVS 2000, that's supposed to give 120v all the time. I emailed Monster and they had a half dozen reasons why it doesn't matter - calibration, variance etc. Geeesh, for a combined $2700 they should say what they mean!
Sometimes my wall voltage is 4 volts off according to this thing, and I have dedicated AC. Wow. seems to work as advertised.
Power conditioner. Because of the distance of the ML's and the TV to the big power conditioner, I plug the speakers and TV into this, then into the AVS 2000. Seems like a better solution than power cord extensions, particularly for the TV. It sits flat up against the TV.
Unbelievable HD picture. Good on DVD and regular cable. Hasn't been calibrated yet. I want to go bigger, but insist that the new tube has to have two DVI or HDMI inputs for cable and HD-DVD. Looks like only Hitachi has that (in the 70 inch DLP set).
Guys, if you haven't tried this stuff you're making a mistake. I see some really nice systems on here with bare walls, and I'm almost crying to send some out. Look, it's cheap - 2 x 4 piece is $20 at Guitar Center, and works like mad. It also comes in multiple colors and shapes - look at their site - www.auralex.com. You can even email them with a picture of your room and they'll work with you. Before you make your next investment in equipment, spend $100 - $200 on this stuff and be prepared to be amazed!
$29 at Guitar Center. Will make a $1,000 difference.
- Salamander 2 x 5 Archetype
Good rack - holds a LOT of heavy stuff and doesn't complain. Very sturdy. Optional casters make moving it around convenient, but it's still a nail biter with all that equipment on it. Infinitely adjustable shelves are great when you change equipment a lot. Also can change arrangement to put shelves side by side - nice system but more than a bit overpriced, and always check your box - Salamander isn't the best at making sure everything is there which is a real pain when you're trying to get it set up, then have to wait a week for a bolt or top cap.
