Martin-Logan as alternative to Magnepan 1.6's


I was in a dealer's showroom today and explained to him what I was trying to do: build a new system that is 90% as good as it gets for placement in a little bit of an ackward room. I had pretty much settled on the Magneplanar 1.6's with an amp "with enough power to run an arc welder". My dealer suggested I consider the Martin-Logan Mosaic or Clarity speakers. Used, I would even consider the Aeon's.

The advantages of the Martin-Logans are a) easier to set up, b) they could be adequately powered by a good hybrid integrated amp ($1500 to $2000 range), and c) their good sound could be appreciated at low volumes better, i.e. if one was hosting a dinner party.

The Martin-Logan Clarity's are about $2600 vs $1750 for the Maggies (plus Mye stands, etc.). How much different are these two speakers? If one of my goals is to produce the feeling of a large open space in which an orchestra or jazz quartet is playing, (with excellent tube electronics and adequate interconnects/speaker cables) will I be able to accomplish this with the M-L Clarity's? Will I be at least 90% there, as compared to what I could do with box speakers (Theil 2.6's would come to mind)?

I expect there are committed fans of each speaker
delsfan

Showing 1 response by meta

I completely agree with Rooze. With ML integration of woofers is problematic and their sound (at lower frequencies where woofer kicks-in) is room dependent. Few years ago I helped a friend of mine with purchase and a set-up of Magnepans 1.6 and their sound was incredible (If you go with Magnepans, please consider good quality sub-woofer).
I am personally a proud owner of Martin Logan CLS and use 2 separate sub-woofers to avoid problems with integration.