Martin Logan speakers

I owned the Montis for a while.

You can sum up those speakers by listening to two consecutive Fleetwood Mac songs in Rumours.

The simple acoustic song "Never going back again" sounds as open and transparent as you could ever want.  Simply gorgeous.

By the end of the next track "Don't stop" you'll be ready to put them up for sale here.  They just sound so disjointed and wrong with a driving drum beat and bass line.  And any distorted electric guitar just sounds really dry and flat out wrong.  It's weird.

They SUCK for rock music IMO.

My other gripe is that the cabinets they used on Montis, for a $10k speaker, leave a little to be desired.  The new models seem to have rectified this.

I sold mine and got Focal Sopra 2's.  They sound just as open and effortless in the mids, just as transparent, and their bass driver integration is just worlds better and much more dynamic.  Any ML fanatic who dismisses "cones and domes" simply hasn't heard a really good cone and dome speaker.

Wow.   Great comments.      For those of you who have had bad Martin Logan experiences, I extend my condolences, and my special thanks.   It's always harder to talk about experiences that have not gone as well as they should have.      I admit that I am reconsidering my Martin Logan experiment...

So i have the Summit X. They are not allrounder and sound best on Classic and on music with natural sounding and not amplified instruments. Problem is, Summit/Montis Monolith.... show every detail on the recording. Sometimes to much. On Metal and Funky music stuff you don´t want to hear detail but more the pure groove and punch imo.

A Powerful amplification is essential to the ML Panel. The Bass cabinett ist active on the summit but the Panel´s Resistive resistance need best strong power.
I have a GRUENSCH CSE II  power amplifier which is said one of the best to do the job. I also use a Lyngdorf TDAI Digital amp using for room correction specially for older ML, i had the Request ML for years.
The Gruensch fix the "moving instrument" problem others and smaller amp´s cant solve even if they sound good on first impression.

I currently own Montis powered by Pass Labs INT-150  I agree with the comments that they do sound best with classical/jazz/acoustic.  However in my listening room they are more than adequate for rock at any reasonable volume.  If you are an extreme bass freak, they probably won't cut it for you.  As far as bass to panel integration, in my opinion the models with powered woofer with DSP are where ML finally got it right.  Maybe not absolute perfection, but very, very close.  Anyway on to your specific question about Vistas.  These were the entry level with the narrower 9" panel and 8" bass reflex.  Similar to the Theos when I was looking.  I found the bass to be not adequate at all on that model.  For me at least a subwoofer would have been a must have.

Thought I’d chime in here.

Yes, you’ll find Martin Logan speakers - at least their higher end stuff - to be well regarded.

I’ve wanted a pair of ML’s since hearing the CLS in the 1980’s and didn’t get around to it until about two summers ago when I bought a pre-owned system consisting of the reQuest (gen2), Bryston 4ST and then traded from my old Mac C28 to a Krell KRC3 preamp. Even as a used system with near-vintage equipment, the performance is hard to beat until you get to the 'next level' of strata in high-end systems.

As noted above, the characteristics of ANY type of ESL will be quite different than a voice coil design, though some speakers (like the Dahlquist DQ10s that they replaced) simulate it fairly well. However, simulate isn’t duplicate. The response rate of a low mass mylar surface comes through in surprising ways. Yes, they can have a tiny sweet spot if not in the right room or placed incorrectly. However, when run in tandem with a good subwoofer, I don’t necessarily agree with them not being suitable for rock, though not at higher listening levels. If you’re running a mosh pit, you might want a cone driver for its... uh... ’durability’ for that purpose. ;-)

I’m not familiar with that AR amp, but if you have a chance, why not give them a try? Since you don’t define what ’outrageously expensive’ means, why not ’roll the dice’ and grab a pre-owned 4BST for under $900-ish.

Hope this helps!