MM7's are here

[Rutgar]

Looking absolutely Great Mike! Can't wait to see photos with the bass modules.

Just curious... On your toe-in, what do you have them pointed at? One photo makes it look like you have them pointed directly at the center of the listening chair.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Looking absolutely Great Mike! Can't wait to see photos with the bass modules.

Just curious... On your toe-in, what do you have them pointed at? One photo makes it look like you have them pointed directly at the center of the listening chair.

Bill,

thanks.

the speakers are 110" tweeter to tweeter.

using a laser, the speakers are pointed at a point between the outside of my shoulders and my ears based on 115" ear to tweeter....which is slightly more toed in than i had the MM3's. right now i'm experimenting so i'm moving my chair forward and back although i'm not changing the toe-in so i know it is staying aligned as long as i keep my chair on my longitudenal center line.

since the room is quite large and the speakers and chair are relatively close together for the size of the room the speakers do appear to be aimed straight at the listening position. however; when i am sitting i can see some of the inner side of the speakers.

until the bass towers are in place and i can have the whole system playing i can't really come to any final conclusions on where i'll end up.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Congrats Mike , speakers look fantastic, beautiful finish, when are you getting the mono's ? I'm sure you will have your work cut out for you when you get the bass towers ...

Regards ,

thanks, it will be a labor of love.

the monos are 3-5 weeks away i've been told, but i've been told that for a couple of months.

i do think i'll have them by the end of November.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Wow, Mike. Those speakers look fantastic. I bet they sound just as good. Is that Accuton ceramic drivers in the MM7s? I can't wait to see and read your impressions when the whole speakers are in place as well as the darTZeel NHB-458s. I bet it will exceed any expectations in that room. May I ask what kind of turntable you are using? It looks interesting.

the mid-range drivers are the same Accuton ceramics from the MM3's and the Kharma's. the woofer drivers are a new design, also by Accuton, made of a ceramic matrix. i can tell you that the speed of these speakers must be heard to be believed. and the room seems to love them.....and they have far exceeded my expectations....which is what happens when your reference gets smashed. when you have not ever heard something before, how can it be anticipated?

BTW, I hope I could pick your brain a little bit. I can see from the Durand Tonearm webpage that you have tested the Telos. I am thinking about buying the new Bluelectric Altair cartridge and consider options for tonearm. I am considering the Durand Telos, the Schroeder Reference SQ or the Da Vinci Audio Labs Master Reference VIRTU. Any thoughts, suggestions or advice? At the moment I am leaning towards the Da Vinci Audio Labs.

All the best,
Roysen

the turntable is the Wave Kinetics NVS. and i have the Durand Telos mounted on it with the Ortofon Anna for stereo, and the Durand Talea II with a Miyajima Premium Be mono cartridge for mono.

i've only heard the DaVinci arms at shows, and could not tell you which Da Vinci i last heard. do i think they compete with the Telos? no, but i've not compared them directly. i've had the Schroeder Ref SQ and no, it's not quite in the league with the Durand Talea to my ears, let alone the Telos. the new Schroeder LT is interesting, but again, i do not hear it do what the Telos does but i've not compared it directly to anything.

if the Da Vinci can compete with a Studer A820 playing 1/4" 15ips master dubs then maybe it is competitive with the Telos. that is the level of performance the Telos is at. i've not heard anything even close to it.

as always, YMMV and all that stuff.

you would be welcome to visit and hear the Telos compared to the tape for youself. it would be fun. we have many crazy guys around here.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, allow me to add a (somewhat belated) congrats! I'm looking forward to hearing your wonderful system again, the next time I can find an excuse to visit Seattle!

thanks Rich, i hope you can visit Seattle again soon.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Wow! That's all I can say! What a beautiful room and speakers!

thanks Steve.

Ditto! I can only imagine the sound in there!

thank you!

Mike , i just noticed the thread , finally half of the system arrived , the monster bass towers are still out there ,congratulations thanks for sharing this audio/picture journey.

thanks. in this case, half is pretty good.

Congrats Mike. I'm looking foward to all the chapters of the story. You still have the bass tower chapter and the new amp chapter and the everything is finally broken in chapter. Should be lots of fun and excitement.

yes, this seems to be playing out like a melodrama; not my intention i assure you. although the fun and excitment are fine. i am not good at waiting for things, but when dealing with 'artists' like Herve and Kevin things happen when they happen.

worth the wait? no question. totally!

 

[edorr]

the mid-range drivers are the same Accuton ceramics from the MM3's and the Kharma's. the woofer drivers are a new design, also by Accuton, made of a ceramic matrix. i can tell you that the speed of these speakers must be heard to be believed. and the room seems to love them.....and they have far exceeded my expectations....which is what happens when your reference gets smashed. when you have not ever heard something before, how can it be anticipated?

This is interesting. Do you know of these woofers could be retrofitted into the MM3 woofer cabinets?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

This is interesting. Do you know of these woofers could be retrofitted into the MM3 woofer cabinets?

i'm no speaker designer, but it's not a simple matter to blend a new driver into an existing design. in the MM3 the mid-range driver extends down to under 100hz....and the crossover is designed for that. in the MM7 the same driver only extends down to (i'm guessing here) around 1200hz--1500hz or so, then the woofers take over to down around 30hz to 40 hz. so it's a whole different design with a different crossover and different cabinet. and the mid-range driver is 7" and the woofers are 11".

and the subwoofers in the MM3's are 15". the 11" woofers in the MM7's are not designed to do what those powered subs do in the MM3's.

so no; if you want those 11' woofers you get the MM7's.

but realize that in the MM3 the performance in those frequencies exceed any other choices for that price range to my ears. it's wonderful.

 

[edorr]

i'm no speaker designer, but it's not a simple matter to blend a new driver into an existing design. in the MM3 the mid-range driver extends down to under 100hz....and the crossover is designed for that. in the MM7 the same driver only extends down to (i'm guessing here) around 1200hz--1500hz or so, then the woofers take over to down around 30hz to 40 hz. so it's a whole different design with a different crossover and different cabinet. and the mid-range driver is 7" and the woofers are 11".

and the subwoofers in the MM3's are 15". the 11" woofers in the MM7's are not designed to do what those powered subs do in the MM3's.

so no; if you want those 11' woofers you get the MM7's.

but realize that in the MM3 the performance in those frequencies exceed any other choices for that price range to my ears. it's wonderful.

I got confused. When you were talking about the newly designed woofers, I thought you were talking about the 15" subwoofers and not the 11" woofers. Obviously fitting the 11" drivers into the MM3's cabinets is a non starter. I checked the specs and it appears the sub woofers in the MM3 and MM7 are the same drivers (15" paper). Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I got confused. When you were talking about the newly designed woofers, I thought you were talking about the 15" subwoofers and not the 11" woofers. Obviously fitting the 11" drivers into the MM3's cabinets is a non starter. I checked the specs and it appears the sub woofers in the MM3 and MM7 are the same drivers (15" paper). Thanks for clarifying.

i understand, thanks.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

just got word the bass towers ship tomorrow, i'll have them 'Tuesday afternoon'. reminds me of a song.........

 

[MylesBAstor]

just got word the bass towers ship tomorrow, i'll have them 'Tuesday afternoon'. reminds me of a song.........

Wonderful news!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

oh my god!

 

[MylesBAstor]

That ought to keep you out of trouble and busy for a while Mike!

 

[DEV]

Ya I agree WOW! When do your Dart mono's arive.

 

[audioarcher]

Now your cookin with gas! Looks good. How's it sounding now?

 

[TheAudioAssociation]

Love it! They definitely fit in the beautiful room of yours! Can't wait to hear them live and in person!

 

[Gregadd]

 

[A.wayne]

Wow , serious there Mike , have you tried moving them around yet ? Maybe a bit back and over from the mains...

Regards ,

 

[rockitman]

You must be in heaven...Big congrats again Mike !