Bought the M&D Mini+ with omni-harmoinzer, linked with threshold monoblocks, and they sound terrific. You guys are totally right about M&Ds, they do sound special/unique - fast, smooth, clean, detailed, without being harsh. I tried many bookshelfs before the purchase - it seems there is nothing similar to the M&Ds. They also blend with my JL F113 perfectly fine.
After reading this thread, I'm tempted to bi-amp the M&D's with some tube amps for the upper range... any more suggestions? I currently have a very limited budget for tube amps.
and yes, i recently ordered a pair of M&D monitor plus, which should arrive soon... :)
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I know this thread is old, but am wondering, for bi-amping do you use an active crossover ala Marchand/Bryston, or are these set up for using 2 pre-outputs from a single pre-amp to 2 amps and then directly connecting to the 2 input terminals? |
Bill doesn't comment on any products he carries, which is indeed a rare phenomenon on A'gon. He was so blown away by them, I know, that he now carries them! Look on his website. |
Audiofeil,
So did you get to try the M&D speakers, if so, what is your opinion regarding their performance?
Plelko |
other dynamic,'sonically' similar and power hungry designs that generally don't get plugged or talked about on audiogon....it was answering the question..'are there other...?' |
Generic, strong, bi-tower, steel stands from AudioAdvisor (filled with sand to the top) - didn't fancy the the M-D stands. |
I see a Canadian dealer has some demos at great prices on Audiogon, I am using regular run of the mill stands right now. |
I'm going to buy a pair of these things and see what the buzz is all about.
The owners seem extremely satisfied and the price sure is reasonable.
Owners, did you buy the stands? If not, what are you using?
Thanks in advance. |
Springbok, Beautifully put! I am also worried about people thinking you were paid or have a connection to M&D. I bought them based on 6 Moons as well. The way I purchase equipment since I live in Orlando FL and can't find any highend dealers nearby, Is try and read between the lines of the reviewer, and see if he is giving your run of the mill type>> "Highly recommended, sound good with this music etc" and weed out any kind of negatives even suttle ones. 6 Moons reviewers went GAGA over the entire line so far, and more reviews on the way. In fact they have apologized for having so many reviews but if something is that good, why not? Also, more Audio sites are heaping praise on different ones as well. Also, I saw they came out with a Mini version which may be great as point source monitor as well. I to have raved about many speakers including>> Totem, JMLAB, B&W, Merlin, Maggies, Usher, Proacs, Zu, Omega, etc which I have owned. But none have floated my boat as much as these. I would love to hear the Aragons which I heard are real giant killers. ALso, they have the best bass of any monitor I have ever hears. |
BBChem, what you say is true. Both you and 6 Moons tipped me over to try them. They are an absolute revelation. I, too, have owned many speakers, including legendary ones, and, driven well and in the right location, I don't think I've ever heard such vibrancy, energy, and life from any speakers. It is extremely difficult to rave on more, as readers immediately assume one has an agenda to go on at such length. These are truly unique speakers and I thank you for telling me about your experience with the Ruby's before I bought the Maximus. I won't say they are the best speakers I have ever heard - because I don't know how to quantity such a statement - but I will say they are the most uniquely compelling and exciting speakers I have ever heard. Bar none, and I have either owned or heard most of the big hitters, including Kharmas, Duntechs, Wilsons, Proacs, Totems etc etc. Anybody looking for a monitor that sounds like a $20K+ full-range, that has $3K to spend (or half of that for the Rubys), a powerful amp with at least 100 WPC clean power and the room to move them a good few feet from the wall, listen to these. Your hair will stand on end. Count on it. |
Thanks for the info on bi-amping Mark and Daniels. I just emailed asking the the importance on biwiring and Loren (the Mark and Daniel US expert) and he was kind enough to share your post with me. I hope bi-wiring will be give some of that improvement. I have had many sets of speakers. The Mark and Daniels are incredible. They became more incredible when I upgraded some wiring to Dynamic Design (it may have also been the break in time). I use mine for Home Theatre in a relatively small room, which limits them a bit. They replaced Totem Forests, Totems best Signature Center, and Von Schweikert surrounds. I am soooo pleased I changed. I was going to do Rubies x 5 which would have been more than adequate, but I ended up with Horizontal monitors (made to be horizontal, not vertical) for L/R, their center speaker, and Rubies in the rear. I do not need a (or have) a sub woofer and I am very used to having one. I use 95% for Home Theatre and I think the unique crossover points and the low range drivers make these great for music and HT. To me, at first they sounded a tiny bit loose in bass and veiled. I upgraded only my power cord to my power supply and my digital IC and the change was incredible. The bass now sounds like a tight subwoofer with no integration issues and the speakers opened up and imaging improved (also like do to extended break in). My point is that since these are a bit hard to drive, you must not let size fool you. High end power and cables will benefit them greatly.
I also have no clue why we hear so little about them. We will.. After Stephen at Quest for Sound (my primary dealer who has never led me astray) told me about them, I read all I could. I did eventually read a less than complimentary review in stereo mojo, that made little sense given the other reviews. I figure, like everything else, politics, power, and money, along with personal taste will influence reviews and being different will attract attention. Anyway, I trusted Stephen, the stack of positives I read, and my own ears. I am glad I did.
I also have no relationship with Mark and Daniel except I now feel like part of the family. Loren Charles always is kind and responsive. Emails are usually answered same day, often within the hour. Even while at trade shows he has found time to respond. If you have any concerns about buying Mark and Daniel, write those of us who own them and have had them long enough to break them in and/or contact Loren. Then if you have doubts or just want something different, I am sure their are other superb speakers out there.
And my wife LOVES the looks of these.
Ed |
Springbok, you are beginning to sound like me!!! I have been screeming about the smaller Rubys which won the 6Moons Blue Moon award. I bought them and was using them with either a Carver 1,5T or PRoceed Amp 2 both >>> 150WPC soldid state. I then got the brilliant idea of using a TAD-60 tube amp and I absolutely fell in love. I have since bought a pair of Zu Druids and Maggie 1.6s for other rooms. I have to say that IMHO, the Mark and Daniels Rubys are the most life like of any speaker I have ever heard. I prefer them to the Zus and the Maggies. These were my 31st and 32nd pair of speakers. I love them!! Unbeatable in the price range and the most like live music I ever heard!! |
Jaybo, translate what you are talking about. |
elac cl310.2's and cl330.2's |
There's also an article on the M&D Topaz at the Affordable Audio review site. |
Plato, those are excatly the 2 problems. I have mine 8 feet into the room. and can only have this luxury in my "play-room" - wife excluded - but one cannot do this very often (unfortuntaely)and the difference in sound between driving them single-amped with a TAD-60 and the TAD-1000 and Moscode 401 is striking. Those woofers, by design, demand enormous power, but if you can do it, they sound unique. I did try a D-amp - I will e-mail you privately, if you want details. The Moscode won out easily. But different strokes........you may like the Nuforces on them. |
I heard the M&D speakers locally and was very impressed with them. The room was very boomy and the electronics were kind of mid-fi, but nonetheless, I could tell that there was something special about the speakers performance. They are very precise and dynamic and handle power very well.
But I have two problems with them. First, they're unbelieveably inefficient and need high-power to sing, and secondly, they need to be far out into the room, which is not always possible.
I'd like to hear them with my nice tube preamp feeding my NuForce 9SE V2 amps sometime. Perhaps I can arrange an in-home demo with the local distributor. Party on guys! |
I have the AZ Adagios - they are indeed awesome. But very different from the M-D Maximus. They are superb speakers and can image close to the walls - coherent, refined, smooth,musical and realistic, whereas the M-Ds are like the Moscode 401 and the Jadis int amp - bold, outrageous and utterly compelling. When driven properly. I couldn't choose betrween them - they are for different places, uses and amps. |
I was really wanting to look at Mark and Daniel speakers because of all the hype in forums. But then I started to hear about other speakers and kinda shifted my interest to other brands especially after reading a review online at either stereo mojo or stereo times cant remember which. It was written on i think the rubies from m and k. I truely believe they are a good speaker for the money. I recently attended the RMAF in Denver. I heard a lot of speakers i really liked. For the money there were 3 that blew my mind for the $$. And they were ATI, AZ Adagio, and the tiny speaker that were in the Tri room. WoW! If there is anything better out there..i would love to hear it. I was there for only 2 days and there were a few peices of equipment i wanted to listen to but i either ran out of time or over looked where they were located. All in all..an outstanding show. I just wish i had the opportunity to hear the M and K's. |
phil jones' acoustic energy ae1 classic re-issue and the discontinued and legendary ae2 |
Yep, I use MOSFET lows and tube highs and love it as well. I haven't heard of these speakers - I will have to check out the review. Enjoy the music!
Arthur |
