hifiaudio2
Registered: 12/23/11
Posts: 131
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Posted 01/16
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#1
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Many of you have asked me to share my thoughts on how my new setup with Seaton Catalyst 12 speakers compares with the Martin Logan CLX setup I had previously.
Quick background:
I owned the ML CLX speakers for about a year and a half. I had owned Martin Logan Summit speakers for the previous year and a half. So yes, I am very familiar with the ML sound and like it very much. Extremely detailed, but not at all in your face. The room these were played in was well treated with GIK acoustic products, and the speakers were about 4 feet from the front wall and three feet from the sides.
The Seaton catalysts are installed in quite a different setup. The room was gutted to the studs, double drywalled and green glued, and equipped with all new Quest room treatments. The Catalysts are also installed in a baffle wall.
Why did I get rid of the CLX's in the first place? Because I wanted a true dedicated theater with no speakers being seen, and the largest screen I could buy a afford a projector that would light it up. So no speaker that basically HAS to be out multiple feet from a front wall for its dipole nature to "breathe" would work in this scenario. So I began a search for a top notch home theater speaker that would not let me down when critically listening to 2 channel music.
What I ended up hearing surprised me.
The Catalysts are EVERY BIT as detailed and resolving as the CLX's were. I feel that I miss nothing in detail, and of course as things are turned up, they Catalysts NEVER break up. The CLXs were like having a top notch sports car that handled like a dream and had perfect steering and road feel, until you drove past 105 and things started to get loose and make you feel like it was pushing too far. The Catalysts take those parameters to well beyond what I would be willing to go to.
Imaging and realism is also completely on par, if again not better than, the CLX. I think the point source nature of the coaxial driver comes into play here. There is a tremendous feeling of the singer being in the room on good recordings.
As I believe Audioguy is fond of saying, the Catalysts bring a level of pure FUN to listening that just isn't there with other speakers. I don't know if it is because of their dynamic ability, or something else, but they shine with such a wide variety of music that they just make you want to keep playing something different to feel the touch they add to it.
I feel they are more than a match to my Logans, bringing the same if not MORE detail out of the soundtracks and recordings while not being overly bright or forward, and adding a level of dynamics that the Logans cannot match.
There is ONE thing I miss, and that is the "depth" of the image. This may be due to both the fact that my speakers are in a baffle and that I was used to such huge depth with the dipole Logans. Catalysts set equally far out into a room may bring back the depth I was used to, but I have just had to learn to live with it. That same depth on the Logans probably smeared some of the fine details that could have otherwise been uncovered, anyway, so I accept the tradeoff. The Catalysts, as well as the Submersive F2s, all emit a very faint hiss (high freq for the cats, lower for the subs) that I actually can hear in my room, but that is because it is so quiet... extremely so. With nothing on I can measure 17db. Once a projector is on or music starts obviously I cant hear that anymore.
So all in all, I am a VERY happy Seaton owner. I look forward to getting my last two F2 subs shortly!
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Blackdevil77
Registered: 04/07/12
Posts: 100
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Posted 01/16
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#2
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Nice comparison and very interesting you hear your comparison to such a high caliber audiophile speaker. I'm loving my Cats to. I didn't upgrade from anything near what you had, so I don't miss a damn thing except the desire to upgrade lol. The CLX's were always a speaker I wanted to hear. I can't really afford them, but I just think the idea of electro stats are so cool.
Again, thanks for the review, very good read!
-Mario
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audioguy
Registered: 05/24/09
Posts: 534
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Posted 01/17
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#3
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HiFiAudio2 -- glad to hear you like your Cats.
As to soundstage depth, clearly the majority of the difference is that your Cats have no depth behind them. In my case, I get at least as much depth with my Cats as I did with my Dunlavy's because I have them further into the room. But I also have no doubt that your Martin Logans excelled at soundstage depth.
I, too, have the hiss but I have to put my ear next to the speaker to hear it. Your room must be much quieter than mine.
The Cats are fun aren't they ! Room is looking great and I am sure it sounds fantastic.
Congrats on your new speakers !!
As an aside, I have a friend who has a spectacular system - in fact easily to best 2 channel rig I have ever heard: Magico Q5's with integrated REL subs; all Spectral front end electronics; $77,000 dCS stack, amazing room, etc. His comment to me was that my system (which is basically your system) was 80% to 90% of his (for music). The cost for what we were comparing was 2 Cat 12's with stands, 2 SubMersives and an Integra 80.2 which is about $14,000 total. His is about $150,000. That last 10% to 20% is VERY expensive. He also said that for HT, there was no contest, and that the Cats/SubMersives were far superior (he ended up buying dual SubMersives for his HT).
All that to say is that you really did make a wise choice!
__________________
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first!!
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Mark_Seaton
Moderator
Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 1,499
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Posted 01/21
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#4
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Quote: Originally Posted by hifiaudio2
Many of you have asked me to share my thoughts on how my new setup with Seaton Catalyst 12 speakers compares with the Martin Logan CLX setup I had previously.
<clip>
What I ended up hearing surprised me.
The Catalysts are EVERY BIT as detailed and resolving as the CLX's were. I feel that I miss nothing in detail, and of course as things are turned up, the Catalysts NEVER break up. The CLXs were like having a top notch sports car that handled like a dream and had perfect steering and road feel, until you drove past 105 and things started to get loose and make you feel like it was pushing too far. The Catalysts take those parameters to well beyond what I would be willing to go to.
Imaging and realism is also completely on par, if again not better than, the CLX. I think the point source nature of the coaxial driver comes into play here. There is a tremendous feeling of the singer being in the room on good recordings.
As I believe Audioguy is fond of saying, the Catalysts bring a level of pure FUN to listening that just isn't there with other speakers. I don't know if it is because of their dynamic ability, or something else, but they shine with such a wide variety of music that they just make you want to keep playing something different to feel the touch they add to it.
I feel they are more than a match to my Logans, bringing the same if not MORE detail out of the soundtracks and recordings while not being overly bright or forward, and adding a level of dynamics that the Logans cannot match.
<snip>
So all in all, I am a VERY happy Seaton owner. I look forward to getting my last two F2 subs shortly!
Thank you very much for posting your thoughts and impressions. It is always gratifying to hear customers really enjoying their systems.
More F2's are at the ready when you are. 
__________________
Mark Seaton
Seaton Sound, Inc.
sales@seatonsound.net
773-290-8436
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TheMT1
Registered: 09/18/12
Posts: 4
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Posted 01/22
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#5
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Quote: Originally Posted by Mark_SeatonMore F2's are at the ready when you are.
I'd really like to know when the F4's are going to be ready!  
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Mark_Seaton
Moderator
Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 1,499
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Posted 01/22
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#6
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Quote: Originally Posted by TheMT1Quote: Originally Posted by Mark_SeatonMore F2's are at the ready when you are. I'd really like to know when the F4's are going to be ready!
I won't know where things will fall with pricing until after we have the first cabinet samples, but we will have 1 or 2 of them on display March 8-10th here in Chicago. I'll add more on that in a separate post. 
__________________
Mark Seaton
Seaton Sound, Inc.
sales@seatonsound.net
773-290-8436
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