Does anyone here at SH Forum own Martin-Logans speakers

[spotlightkid]

Does anyone on the SH forums own Martin Logan speakers
i am considering buying a pair but i neeed some input on the sound of these speakers when playing vinyl or sacd cd's.

[Sckott]

A Unix guy bent my ear about Martin Logans just today! They're mainly Electrostatic monsters, quite amazing in the ESL class, and very dynamic. I myself own Acoustat 3's.

Just remember that Electrostatic speakers are power thirsty, and many of them need minimum 100 or 200 watts just to make them "come alive". More watts, the better!! Get a honkin' NAD or Hafler that's gonna push large ammounts of whoop *** cleanly and honestly. Tubes CAN be done, but I don't think you wanna know how. Might be more costly and harder to manage.

They should normally bang around 4oHms, and anything less than 150 watts at 4 is going to fizzle out, when you start putting volume behind it.

Again, you need huge ammounts of power amp poundage. Trust me. Then you'll get the dynamics, imaging and great sonic intent that will make you smile.

[spotlightkid]

Sckott-thanks for the response.i have at this time a pair of mono marantz amps 125 watts per.will consider getting more power to push the speakers

[Sckott]

Thanks. I don't want to knock a good pair of cone or high-efficiency speeks, but electrostatics are quite addicting and amazing. I've played rock to jazz to even pop and electronic music on em, and they've never failed to amaze. You just need to feed them juice, and lots of it. Very worth the effort!

Contrast this to my folks who I had to borrow their huge GM truck to bring these home. I'm 32, but they acted like I was building a treehouse or something. "Aww, why do you NEED these things?" they said. They came over about 3 weeks ago to visit, and my dad sat there and couldn't believe it. "Now I understand!" came from his lips. Nice being the sibling and being "right" for once.

I, myself am running a vintage Hafler @ 4ohms throwing about 175 w/per and if I went to a more powerful amp, I'd get more leverage out a' my preamp, and better dynamic range and plumage. My Acoustats were a lucky freebie, but when I get the financial backing, I'm going for maybe a Hafler @ 250w per, or something similar. Gotta shop around for the right sound, and that's like looking for a house or car.

The guy who "gave" them to me said, "You just leave them plugged into the AC, and in about a week, you'll hear them break in with perfect sonics.". I've bought speaker cloth for them, as the white grungyness might not be as charming as charcoal black. My aunt's gonna "seam" them perfectly. Can't wait. they're REALLY odd looking when they're NAKED!

[TommyTunes]

I've owned a pair of ML Aerlius and upgraded to CLS IIz about 18 months ago. Electrostatics have a whole series of drawbacks associated with them, if you're a heavy metal maven they don't play as loud as cones, unless you go for one of the mega-buck ML hybrids the low end is very limited, placement is critical, you need the right room and lastly power qualtity and quantity is vital.
Now that we got all this out of the way, I myself have finally found a speaker that I can live with for many years. If you value transparentcy, speed and imaging, they are the only choice! With the right source material they can place the performers in the room.
When I had the Aerlius I utilized two Conrad Johnsons PV55 bridged. With the CLS's I substituted a Audio Research VT 100 MKIII and find if more than sufficient in my 17 by 15 room.

[spotlightkid]

tommy tunes how much were the ML that you now own?

[Andy]

I have a pair of ML Odyssey speakers and I run 'em with a pair of Bryston 7Bs. I love the sound. If your tastes run heavy to Metallica and stuff like that MLs may not be your best choice.

[Chip Stylus]

I used to hang out in a salon in Smyrna, GA (no longer extant) and their hi-end room featured several pairs of ML's over the years.

I got to hear them in solid state rigs and tubes both, always cd or laserdisk sources as this was pre-dvd and they were not a retro-analog kind of shop.

I noticed on day listening "Amused To Death" that there was a buzzy quality to these pieces, seemed to be at all frequencies but mostly in the 12khz on up range.

Well, every time after that, when I heard ML's in use there, I heard the buzz. Not an overhang, like a ringing tube does, just a kind-of-grain to the presentation.

If you do not have supersonic hearing, the transparency and f-to-b depth of the ML's may astound you, I just couldn't get rid of the buzz.

I ended up buying a used pair of MG-I's from a contact I made in the store.
I upgraded those to MG 1.4's last summer. I do use them with a subwoofer, sometimes. Depends on the material.

At least the Maggies aren't the power hogs that the M. Logans are.

[Andy]

Maggies aren't power hogs?:confused: HHHHMMMMMM

[petzi]

Has anyone here given a thought to DIY electrostatic speakers ? It can be done. There appears to be a DIY ESL "scene" on the ´net.

[Done A Ton]

I owned a pair of Martin Logan Sequel II's for ten years. Great sound, but they do like high watt/high current amplification. Haven't heard their latest models. My wife liked the sound, but hated the looks. I've been using (don't laugh) Optimus Pro LX4 bookshelf speakers for the last few years while I look for a new pair of "real" speakers. These have no bass below 90hz or so, but otherwise are very satisfying. That Linaeum monopole tweeter is amazing. And my wife likes them!

[sgb]

Originally posted by Sckott
A Unix guy bent my ear about Martin Logans just today! They're mainly Electrostatic monsters, quite amazing in the ESL class, and very dynamic. I myself own Acoustat 3's.

Just remember that Electrostatic speakers are power thirsty, and many of them need minimum 100 or 200 watts just to make them "come alive". More watts, the better!! Get a honkin' NAD or Hafler that's gonna push large ammounts of whoop *** cleanly and honestly. Tubes CAN be done, but I don't think you wanna know how. Might be more costly and harder to manage.

They should normally bang around 4oHms, and anything less than 150 watts at 4 is going to fizzle out, when you start putting volume behind it.

Again, you need huge ammounts of power amp poundage. Trust me. Then you'll get the dynamics, imaging and great sonic intent that will make you smile.

You took the words right out of my mouth, Sckott.

A little story for those who are just finding out about ESLs:

Back in the early part of 1985, I just happened to walk in to a friend of mine's audio store here in New Orleans. He had an interesting looking speaker which turned out to be an early version of the Martin Logan - so early, in fact, that there were no serial numbers on them. I asked my friend what these speakers were, and he replied that they were a prototype for an electrostatic speaker that was to be built in Kansas. I asked him then if I could hear them he said "yes," and within moments, he was calling the factory to see if he could sell me the speakers. They were the ORIGINAL CSLs. They replaced a pair of Beveridge ESLs in my system (which had, mistakenly on my part, replaced two pairs of original stacked Quads) in my system.

Just a day or two after I bought these, I telephoned Gayle Sanders and asked him a series of question. Among them was, "What kind of amplification do you recommend?"

In the interest of civility, I will not supply Gayle's answer to this question, but I can tell you that it wasn't tubes, and it didn't supply enough voltage to move these things as they should be.

ELSes are excellent, and perhaps offer a chance to hear music as it should be heard. But Sckott is right, you must be willing to ache and be totally devoted to them - and I'll add that you won't hear them they way they were meant to be heard unless your gobs of power is supplied by some quality tube amplification (IMNSHO).

[rodney sherman]

Originally posted by Don Eaton
I owned a pair of Martin Logan Sequel II's for ten years. Great sound, but they do like high watt/high current amplification. Haven't heard their latest models. My wife liked the sound, but hated the looks. I've been using (don't laugh) Optimus Pro LX4 bookshelf speakers for the last few years while I look for a new pair of "real" speakers. These have no bass below 90hz or so, but otherwise are very satisfying. That Linaeum monopole tweeter is amazing. And my wife likes them! This sounds funny. I use radio shack speakers with linaem tweeters.Thay must be the best value ever in a small speaker.I have 8 pro880xv's on my system along with 2 center channels all with linaem tweeters.:D

[Done A Ton]

Originally posted by rodney sherman
This sounds funny. I use radio shack speakers with linaem tweeters.Thay must be the best value ever in a small speaker.I have 8 pro880xv's on my system along with 2 center channels all with linaem tweeters.:D

It is funny. Replacing $3000 speakers with $100 speakers is a very liberating experience. I find myself listening to the music and not listening to the speakers, and that is a very good thing.

[McIntosh]

I love my ML's, Have had Aerius for about 10 years, and when upgrading to HT moved them to the back and put SL3's up front, Cinema in the center.

Great HT system.

Ask me in a week or two how they sound with vinyl, just hooked up my new Clearaudio TT this weekend and have not got it dialed in quite yet.

In the old days w/just my Carver stack and a B&O TT, the aerius were the best bang for the buck I could find for my ears.

[mazort]

I've owned two pair of Martin Logans, the Aerius and the reQwests. These have both been replaced by newer models.

The Aerius were the smaller ones and they were really good in a smaller room. If I were to have ML's again I would look for the smaller sizes, just because I thought the Aerius had a better integrated sound between the dynamic woofer and the panels.

I'm still an electrostatic man, but now I have Quad ESL-57's, the original. These are more esoteric and finnicky, but they have a whole lot of soul. They're also full-range electrostatics so they are another notch up in top to bottom coherence, which I find it truer to the music in bringing out the harmonic relationships that music is built on, fully intact.

In other respects I succumbed to the beautiful tone of ProAc dynamic speakers, but that's another story.

I forgot who said it but I agree: tone is king.

[McIntosh]

Originally posted by sgb


ELSes are excellent, and perhaps offer a chance to hear music as it should be heard. But Sckott is right, you must be willing to ache and be totally devoted to them - and I'll add that you won't hear them they way they were meant to be heard unless your gobs of power is supplied by some quality tube amplification (IMNSHO).

What tubes push that kind of power?

[Steve Hoffman]

You need 100 watts per channel for the correct dynamic drive.

Some tube units do that with ease, but you have to pay for that kind of tube power.

[McIntosh]

Any brands you recommend looking for? Think I may be ready to give tubes a try after everything I read here.....

[Gary]

With a name like McIntosh, shouldn't you be looking for McIntosh tube stuff? :D

I like my McIntosh MC240 which is 40 watts a side. They were built between 1960 and 1969.

It really depends on your budget, too! And if it's single ended .... etc., etc., etc.

I think you may want to consider starting a new thread with your budget and other considerations in it. Then you may be deluged with advice!

G

[McIntosh]

thanks - I would love to stick w/Mac - What I have is great HT stuff !! Still haven't been able to get the vinyl sound I like out it tho.....

[Sckott]

For those of you who haven't yet tried ELS's, music seems to come from all around, somewhat FROM the direction of the speakers, but dispersed in a very suprising way. Almost like a "ghost" of sound. Depending on the dynamics, the sound will bloom larger and wider than the speakers' obvious size. Listening to even MONO classical music can be an experience. A well-made Jazz record in stereo will leave you paying more attention to the spread, and the depth of how the instruments layer outside, inside, or on top of each other. Many audiophiles LIKE it this way, because the disperse give you this eerie 3D soundstage.

Trying to achieve well balanced and dynamic low end can be tough unless you use HUGE ammounts of watts. I played a sweep tone once, and the ELS's shook the floor in FRONT of them. You coulnd't hear the vibrations coming AT you. Weird.

Now, cone speakers give you the same feeling as the Maxell guy in his easy chair with the martini glass falling down. You get full frontal attack, and the disperse seems to come from a predicatable, powerful direction AT you.

So, when TT says Heavy Metal Heads would rather have cones, he's right.

And with that, speakers ARE just as dynamic in personality. ELS's aren't for everyone. I'm more than pleased with them.

[mazort]

Suggest demo'ing an ARC VT-100 w/ your SL-3's.

TommyTunes is using either a VT-100 or 200 with full range Martin Logans, why don't you check in with him?

There's a pic of his system under "I'll show you mine..."

[TommyTunes]

It's a VT 100 MK III, It has more that enough power for those speakers. I will say that you do need a Tube amp that offers good bass control. I originally had Conrad Johnson amps and felt that the ARC offered better bass performance (along with a more neutral sound).