Martin Logan vs. Everything


I have a pair of Martin Logan 13a. to me they sound incredible. The thing is I also like to spend time at hi-fi shops , whether they be brick and mortar or or online and it seems like those dealers think the Martin Logan are the weak Link in my system…

 

I’ve listened to Speakers twice and even three times the price and they don’t sound any better to me but I do have my room treated and everything is tuned just in my liking. my personal opinion is that Martin Logan has spent years perfecting what they do with the electrostatic speaker, and that it’s just not financially feasible for some of these smaller companies to try and do the same so they have traditional box speakers, which are great, but to me not as great as the Martin Logan .

 

so how wrong am I ? Fight me. 

 

andrewkelley

 

Wow! It’s great to see all this love for the Logans @erik_squires  mentioned dynamics.. I added a pair of rel s/812 a year ago and it definitely took everything to the next level.  @newbee the Logan’s are very particular what you feed them.I basically Taylor’s my whole system around them. They need absolute quiet power.. (I once had a bug zapper bulb in  garage and you could hear it coming through the panels. I now have dedicated lines, and grounding ) they also need lots of watts and love high voltage amps so I use the sanders magtech http://sanderssoundsystems.com/products/amplifiers/magtech-amp

@bigtwin  the sweet spot is very sweet but small I’ll agree. I have been able to broaden it with my room treatments though 

I owned them and even modded the Xovers to better parts ,they don’t have the dynamic impact and imaging is a bit diffuse ,soundstage is though very big 

,sound labs are a much better speaker ,much bigger but has its own section 

for highs,mids,and Bass ,and separate box for transformers they are by far the best electrostatic speaker made , at the time I traded the ML13A for Big Sonus Faber Sarafino speakers which I though much more uniform as a whole ,their new G2 

are much better still but more $$ costly as is theSound labs.. to each their own 

they are still a good speaker ,the ML prefer a powerfull SS amp to sound their best .

I had a pair of ML e-stat's - loved them except three nit-picks:

  1. Small sweet-spot
  2. Demanding current (1.8 ohm)
  3. 'Hybrid' bass was "slow" compared to panels

I replaced them with Linkwitz LX-mini + Linkwitz Phoenix (alt) OB-subs (x2). This resulted in same virtues of e-stats plus; sounds great everywhere in the room (no room treatments), easily driven with pair of Hypex FA-123, and articulate bass that keeps-up. Actually, that open-baffle bass was the biggest surprise - last thing I'd give up. Those little LX-mini's replaced Tekton DI (upgraded), B&W, and ML's. And I know exactly what you mean about ML e-stats - they were the last to go.

Still a big fan of ML and use them in the HT system for center/side/surround/atmos - where GoldenEar Triton One's are the mains there.

So to answer your question... what contenders are there with similar attributes...

Linkwitz LX-mini or LX521.4, Magnepan (never owned, but there is quite a following - likely good reason), Spatial Audio, Pure Audio PrProject, GR-Research, Kii and Dutch&Dutch will all likely provide similar sound attributes.

Gentleman,

I have heard this debate before. Here is my 40 year experience with high end audio. It doesnt matter !!!! A well setup system with a box or a electrostatic, dipole design will sound great. I have heard both sound just phenomenal when setup properly with that synergy which is hard to get sometimes. Do your homework, and enjoy. I currently have Quad S2 a class B, and a brand-new pair of Marzipans LRS+ What my wife calls them, and I am running tube gear. I could not be happier.

  I put off trying Martin Logans for most of my life thinking they were not a real speaker, or a gimmick, I could not have been more wrong. Now I have a pair of Theos in my main HT and they sound amazing. I have not noticed the negatives many have mentioned. They simply sound different from other speakers and I like that. Just utterly clear vocals, huge sound stage, details I have never heard before, and they make my HT come alive . I am pairing these with a Stage center, Dual SVS SB3000's and some Def Tec surrounds.   I thought I would like the Montis more but I was wrong, I guess they were too big for my room or something but I like the way the Theos integrate in my system much more. I am powering these with a Bryston 4B3, so there are no power issues. But you have to remember how highly subjective this is to one's own tastes. 

  I thought there could not be a box speaker that could do what the ML does at a price I could afford and I was wrong about that also. Luckily there was a hi fi shop that would let you take stuff home near me and try stuff out in your own home for 15 days.  I went through 6 pairs and eventually got some used Audio Physic Avanti III. To me they are in a league of their own and simply disappear while throwing up a huge immersive sound stage with every nuance and detail coming through. FWIW, these are not new but were 11k 20 years ago.  These were Michael Fremer's reference speakers for a while and he did a glowing review of them for Sterophile.

  If you have the right space and proper set up, Martin Logan's are hard to beat, IMO.

Note to self : never type anything like this first thing in the morning again.