Agreed have music recorded ~In~ your room can really tell you a story about your system including hearing it while its being recorded!

good for you :)

Lawrence
Musical Arts

lharasim October 26, 2012 18:36

thanks Lawrence,

barge in anytime, by all means.

i love live music, and appreciate what live music over FM is capable of sounding like. a good friend is the music director/conductor/composer of a local Chamber Orchestra and i've sponsored performances of theirs (thru the company i manage) from time to time for 15 years, and advertise in his program. i don't get to as much live music as i would like to, but agree it's important as part of one's musical path.

my aim is maybe to record some live music in my room from time to time if i can. i have a number of RTR decks including a couple vintage Ampex's; a 350-2 and 351-2 both with tubed mic pre's. my conductor friend also has a jazz guitar band that we have talked about doing that with.

mikelavigne October 26, 2012 12:44

Just got word the bass towers of the MM7's will ship tomorrow and i'll have them on Tuesday. :)

mikelavigne October 26, 2012 02:26

sorry to barge in here mike...Here in the chicagoland area we have probably the best classical station in the country WFMT 98.7...I get a daily dose ..they have plenty of live and pre-recored in there studio music + pipedreams on sunday!! right now they are doing tribute to Sir georg Solti

excellent live feeds that i sometimes attend...IMO its important to hear live music on a regular basis to keep you going in the right direction...unless you just like hifi and are not trying to bring the live musical event to your home...

Lawrence
Musical Arts

lharasim October 25, 2012 06:28

Mike, that radio content is available on the web along with commentary, blogs,
and the like so you can participate (if you want to) in what you liked/didn't like
what you heard. it may not sound that great magnified over your big rig, but
you should check it out, especially if you're looking for new music. i heard Nielson #4 the other day (last thursday 10/17) and i thought it was really great. they feature top performers and orchestras, string quartets, etc. and feature
concerts from Europe, Tanglewood music festival, the Proms in England, the list goes on and on. i don't want to harp on this too much, but there is so much music i haven't been exposed to that i might potentially love, i have to tell people about it. plus yes, i give the local classical radio station a yearly contribution in the hopes they will stay on the air- you wouldn't believe that a city the size of Miami can't come up with more than 20,000 or so patrons.
i should also warn you that before you get your bass cabinets to do some push-ups and sit-ups (and keep a bottle of tylenol handy just in case). -since you seem to enjoy this hobby "so much"...! just kidding....

french_fries October 25, 2012 05:01

hi Sarah,

great to hear from you! i hope you are enjoying your fine system(s). and i fondly remember my Marantz SA-1, it was a great sounding player.

the bass towers will be set up to the outside of the main towers. to give you an idea of how it will look, the main towers are 15 inches wide, the bass towers are 18 inches wide. there will be from 5 inches to 12 inches between them. there is 5 feet between the main towers and the wall, so there is plenty of room. here is a rendering of the MM7's in that configuration.

any time you are in the Seattle area you would be welcome to visit for a listen, i hope you dcan do it sometime.

mikelavigne October 25, 2012 00:18

hi David,

thanks. and i'm sure your system sounds great! it's not a contest but a pathway we are all on....each a bit different. we are all enjoying the music as we see fit, enjoy sharing that enjoyment, the talk about gear, and our experiences. hopefully we make a few friends along the way amd make our lives better.

a little competition happens, it's unavoidable....boys with their toys. but it's a sideline to the rest of it....or should be.

my 'family' (my wife and grown children) understand and respect my desire to explore the possibilities of music reproduction. they understand the joy and friendships it's brought me, and the years it's delayed my retirement. they respect that it's a balance to the obligations i've always fulfilled. i'm lucky to have such support.

my 'paradigm in my head' that i'm searching for is really nothing more complicated than wanting a music reproduction system that gets out of the way of the music to the highest degree possible, and to have plenty of music recordings in thier purest forms on hand to listen to. maybe also to have a comfortable room and setting where i can enjoy this and share it with like minded people.

this is the same vision i've had for years, and one that is not that unusual in this hobby.

we likely share this vision to some degree, and i also have a Home Theatre and multiple other media rooms in the house and barn.....including a whole house B&O system. but unlike you, when not in my 2-channel room, i don't have music playing around the house myself, although my wife does have it on in background quite often. of couse, i'm in my 2-channel room many hours a day. everyone's personal culture is a bit different.

i respect your love of the live broadcasts over the radio. and i know that live FM broadcasts can have absolutely amazing fidelity since they approach a live mic feed. unfortunately; i have a 4000 foot ridge between my home and the radio towers around Seattle (likely not a problem for you in Florida) so my mountain living does eliminate FM broadcasts.

i don't especially enjoy the logistical and physical efforts to move around and set up large speakers. but i am energized by the anticipation of what these speakers can do (as are my friends) so it does not seem like any imposition at all. i'm looking forward to the opportunity to unpack and set up the bass towers. i wish it was tonight!!!

and while things are now more complicated than my Wollensak reel to reel tape recorder i had 45 years ago in High School, i think it is worth it to me.

i'm having fun!

best regards,

mikelavigne October 25, 2012 00:08

Mike, I've not checked in in a long time but have been following this latest iteration of what was always a superb system. Where on earth will you be setting up your bass towers? Beside or behind the main towers? Back off against the curved wall? And how will they be amped? It seems like your whole view will be speakers once you're done. You have an enormous room but I still have trouble picturing how all this equipment will fit in it. You and I used to have a SACD player in common (the Marantz SA-1) but now all we have in common are the ceramic cable isolators you're using behind your speakers! Would love to hear your system sometime.
Enjoy this new set-up and thanks so much for the pictures.
--Sarah (lone female audiophile on this site?)

sc53 October 23, 2012 20:53

Hey Michael, i wish you lots of enjoyable hours relaxing listening to music in your "retreat". what does your family think about your ongoing efforts to find "the sound"? - i imagine you have a paradigm in your head about what you would
ultimately like to hear when you listen to music. i wonder a lot what that is and where you got it from. i got it from playing in the band in school and college. before i started in on chemistry and zoology...
for me i have a "stereo" in every room of my house except the bathrooms pretty much. a mid-fi set, Tivoli radio with Tivoli sub's, a boombox, and a pair of
sonus fabers in a second bedroom with a levinson integrated. to be totally honest i LOVE to listen to PERFORMANCE TODAY on public radio in the evenings on the Tivoli set while relaxing in bed. they have contemporary as well as every other genre of classical music, much of which was recorded before a live audience. i go to their web site later sometimes to get the exact name of a piece so i can add it to my collection. and the radio sounds really good, i should be totally ashamed to admit this, but the reality is i listen to a lot of other radio shows, too: Jazz with Bob Parlocha late at night, Pipedreams (organ music of ALL genre's), and so on. the big stuff in the living room is great,
but i don't HAVE to listen to only the most pristine form of music available in the house. i guess i am a real oddball for sure.
BTW, the VR9's with the new subwoofer amplifiers are noticeably better in the low bass area- tighter, deeper, cleaner. this also allows the midbass and lower midrange to come out of hiding a bit more as well. the new midrange driver sounds like the old midrange driver- which is good considering A. i liked the original driver very much and B. it's not "broken in yet" , so it might
get somewhat better (hopefully a whole lot better, eh?). who knows? I am just relieved to have them back and set-up where they were before- not that easy since they weigh considerably more with the new stiffer/heavier cabinets.
you may "love" getting a bunch of crates and having delicate equipment being hauled all over the place with a ton of packing material to be surgically removed, etc etc. I OTOH do not cherish this part of being an "audiophool".
my 1st set of components- a Fisher receiver, speakers, and garrard turntable- cost under $400 and i set it up myself. nowadays the CRATE for one of the speakers costs more than that. i am becoming incredibly nostalgic for a simpler time.
but yes, shit yes, my system does sound really REALLY good. just not (damn!) as good as yours.... all the best on your quest! D.

french_fries October 23, 2012 18:35

Ron,

i forgot to mention that i expect to have the dart 458's in 3 to 5 weeks.

mikelavigne October 22, 2012 16:23

Ron,

5 months ago i ordered the darTZeel NHB-458 monoblocks.

i love the sound of my current amplifiers, the dart NHB-108 stereo, but i decided to get the monoblocks. 2 years ago i had the 458's in my room for a month and fell in love.

the new MM7 speakers are quite efficient aty 96db, 6 ohm. but there are things the monoblocks do which are unique to them. i'm excited about putting these speakers and the 458's together.

so while i'm sure that almost any amp can handle the MM7's, i'm already locked and loaded in my direction.

mikelavigne October 22, 2012 15:56

Mike - will your amplification requirements change with these new speakers and if so what would you suspect would be some of your potential choices?

rgd October 22, 2012 14:36

Great pictures.
Thanks Mike.
With the bass towers.....this will be indeed be a sight?

halcro October 22, 2012 05:36

current listening distance 'ear to tweeter' is 116".

tweeter to tweeter currently is 110".

my ears are about 19 feet into a 29 foot long room. the room is fairly large; 21' wide, 29' long, 11' high.

this is a very temporary set-up as i only have the main towers, bass towers will arrive in the next 10 days, at which time many things might change.

mikelavigne October 22, 2012 02:09

What is your listening distance.

pcosta October 22, 2012 01:56

i finally had some time to take some better pictures of the MM7 main towers in room;

room view 1

room view 2

room view 3

single main tower

side view

close up 1

close up 2

mikelavigne October 22, 2012 01:32

Paulo,

nice system! congrats.

based on your reference, i seriously considered the Vicoustic panels....so thank you.

i considered the Wavewood for my rear wall and door area which right now has no treatment. i need a product that is less than 2 and 1/2" deep since it will be mounted on my door which must open wide and the door stop allows for a depth of 2 and 1/2". the Wavewood is close enough. the other product i'm considering is the RPG Futterfree which will also work.

i also seriously considered relacing my RPG Skylines with the Vicoustic Multifusor Wood 64 since i love the look. but i decided the wood would end up being too absorbtive and change the tonality. the Skylines are refective mostly and do little absorbing; so they are neutral sounding.

anyway; i agree on the Vicoustic products as great choices and they will be ones i will continue to consider. i may end up with the Wavewood on my door area.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 18:32

Fred,

the Rockport was gone by the time i got the Anna this past February. however; i did use the A90, which should behave approx the same as the Anna in terms of compliance, on the Rockport without issue.

btw; we have determined that 1.97 grams seems about right for the Anna.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 18:19

David,

the 'celebratory' bottle of scotch is 'The MacPhail's' Collection 'Speyside Single Malt' 30 year old from Glenroths Distillery.

i agree that the Q7's being a single tower may work better in some rooms logistically than MM7's. however; i suspect many Q7 owners will add subs; which will then equal the floor space of the MM7's. the MM7's are much taller and heavier which could also enter into the equation for some.

plus; no doubt that amplifier choices for the MM7's are much wider compared to the Q7. and that is ignoring any performance perspectives, only logisitics.

enjoy your new flat screen. i always get my son to come over and do installs and set-ups on stuff. i can do it but it takes me forever to do what he can do in minutes. i guess he got his brains from his mom.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 18:15

Mark,

i did charge my camera batteries prior to delivery of the main towers, thanks for the heads up. i also charged up the batteries for my power screwdrivers. :)

i do always appreciate having help with remembering things.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 18:05

Mark,

thanks.

i'm holding off on the celebratory scotch until the bass towers are set up. :)

i hope you enjoyed the trip to Legacy.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 18:02

Bill,

there is a latch system where an arm rotates and locks onto a latch firmly. this latch system is designed to attach one wall to another so it is designed to pull very heavy objects together and attach them firmly. the speakers come with an 18" long thick heavy allen wrench which fits thru a fitting to rotate the arm and lock it in.

the system works well. my MM3's had the exact same system and i owned them for over 5 years with zero issues.

the great thing is that each section is a completely finished unit so each driver gets exactly the environment that is ideal.

that 'blue thing' as far as i can tell is a reflection from the window. i did not see anything else that it could have been. sorry for my sucky photography. Jonathan Tinn, who sold me the MM7's, insisted i take pictures as i went along, but i did not stop and take the time to make sure they were decent. you can see the results. :)

even though i saw them in March at the designers home in San Diego, having these 84" tall speakers in room was startling. the great thing is the elegance of the look and the build quality. they look 'right' and 'organic'. i love the way they look. i expect that the bass towers, at 86" tall and wider and more massive might really hit me.

the dart monoblocks are still 3-6 weeks away. this week i might get a more definite delivery time for them.

stay tuned.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 17:58

thanks Teck, can't wait to get your impressions.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 17:44

Jason,

thanks. and agree that those crates are bomb proof at protecting big heavy things. the only thing is that my 61 year old body is still feeling the effects of all that work. and next week it will 8 crates (instead of 'only' 6) to unpack and then 8 sections to assemble. i wonder how long that will take to recover from. i'm sure the adrenline will kick in pretty strong.

no pain, no gain.

the last day of listening has been very rewarding for me even with the restrictions of not having the bass towers yet.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 17:42

Mike,

yes, Xmas, Fathers Day, and my Birthday for many years have all come early. :)

see you soon.

mikelavigne October 21, 2012 17:37