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Just auditioned Martin Logan ESL vs 60xt

I just left my Best Buy Magnolia HT and did A/B comparisons between these two speakers. I really wanted to walk away shocked at the ESL electrostatics but was left very disappointed.  They were just muddy and boring compared to the 60xts right next to them.  It was as if someone turned off the tweeter too.  I felt like there was almost nothing over 7k hz like cymbals, upper guitar string plucks, etc. 

Now, the 60xts did sound muddy in male vocals down low but they definitely peaked my interest more than the electrostatics. 

Now, if I ONLY owned the ESL's, I'd probably be happy, get used to the sound and think they sound good.  We're all subject to that trickery, but I just thought there should be more..

I was listening to some of my favorite tracks through Tidal, into a Marantz sr7705 receiver.. 

I know the amp/situation wasn't perfect but the sonic characteristics between the two would be unchanged in a more optimal situation.

Anyone else kinda feel this way?
 
dtximages

Showing 3 responses by decooney

decooney
1,906 posts
 
I stumbled on this older thread helping a friend to do a proper evaluation.

It’s great folks here truly recognize you cannot just walk in to a BestBuy Magnolia type store and hear what the Motion or ESL Martin Logan speakers can do with a lame HT receiver through a junk speaker switcher with layers of poor interconnects daisy changed with garbage speaker cabling, bad connectors, and limited source components and expect it to perform correctly. Garbage in, Garbage out, and weak links end-to-end for sure.

They do the best they can with rushed A/B comparisons and lots of surrounding noises going on in a retail chain store. Pull the same speakers out and put them in a worthy setup at home. Much different.

Take the same Motion 40XT, 60XT, and ESLs, hook them up at home with a high quality dedicated 2-ch amplifier (solid state or really good tube system) with some real transformers and nice tubes behind it and experience a very different type of result and musicality from the exact same speakers. There are some very good speakers out there that sound much better in a worthy system at home.
decooney
1,906 posts
 
I’ve tested my Martin Logan Motion 40s from my HT setup on my audio separates including a 100wpc Cary tube amp, a Cary solid state amp, a 10wpc Triode tube amp, then QS monoblock tube amps, and a high powered Outlaw Audio amp, bi-amped. Not muddy at all.  ALL tests sounded MUCH nicer than anything I ever heard at a BestBuy/Magnolia on a receiver there.

Garbage in = garbage out for most good speakers. A demo at home on good 2ch audio gear can make a notable difference.  
decooney
1,906 posts
 
Demoing with lame power / source / amplification at BestBuy-Magnolia stores is extremely limited.

Take the same speakers home and evaluate on a worthy setup and hear a different result.
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