Electrostatic Speakers

[enob]

Looking to upgrade my 2 Front Speakers with in the next 6 months and from I have been reading Electrostatic speakers have been perfected and widely available via various makers. I am looking to possibly purchasing a pair of Martin Logan's but before I go out to listen to them I wanted to get some opinions on them. Do they really sound that much better than standard speakers are they going to still be around in years? I did a search and did not come up with any other threads on this.
Anyone have an experience or insight?

 

[flyv65]

IIRC, they still draw a lot of power and have a stunningly low WAF. The ones I've heard sound good, but not any better than the really good dynamic speakers I've heard (including my current Spendors); and finally, they just seem fragile (our household is not forgiving of the delicate and tender). Go listen to them and if you like them better than the other you've listened to then buy them.

Bryan...one man's opinion, yada yada yada...

 

[Dan]

The magnepans are very position sensitive and must be well out from the front wall, think at least four feet. They have poor bass response but do well if you get good musical subwoofers to go with them. They are also expensive. I listened to a $4K/pr set of Martin Logans when I was shopping for speakers and they could not come close to either Ariel Acoustics or Vandersteens in the $3500/pair range. The salesman said that Martin Logans do not really shine until you get to the 10K/pr range but I had a firm rule not to listen to anything I couldn't afford. Those are mighty heavy too. If you have the ten grand for speakers, when can I come to hear em?

 

[sjdgpt]

Looking to upgrade my 2 Front Speakers with in the next 6 months and from I have been reading Electrostatic speakers have been perfected and widely available via various makers. I am looking to possibly purchasing a pair of Martin Logan's but before I go out to listen to them I wanted to get some opinions on them. Do they really sound that much better than standard speakers are they going to still be around in years? I did a search and did not come up with any other threads on this.
Anyone have an experience or insight?

I love Martin Logan's. My first experience with Martin Logan's was with the CLS model back in 1987 being powered with this little itty bitty 50wpc Amber Amp...... a moving, almost mystical experience. Martin Logan was not a new company then, and I doubt they are heading down the sewer... there are just too many ML lovers out there. By the way Amber is still around as well (there 7 channel amp is $3800 and is rated for 70wpc - they still don't make big amps, but then why bother, when they make such good amps).


Reference power requirements & room acoutics. Electrostatics, when properly amplified, and NO that does not mean a huge amp, rather the proper amp.... a well controlled amp with a beefy power supply and ample dynamic reserves.... properly positioned in the a large enough room can be the most revealing speakers that you will ever hear. Stuff those speakers in a dinky room the size of my home theater, or try to overpower the speakers with one of those big, cheap, megawatts of power amps, and you will absolutely hate the speakers.


You most likely won't find a lot of threads about ML on this board, or many other boards, as the speakers are not exactly mainstream for the typical home theater user. Not to mention, a good ML setup of speakers for home theater will cost more than my entire home theater.

If you can afford them, got the room for them, and have the amp to handle them, by all means buy the Martin Logan's.... your ears will love you.

By the way WAF is not a problem, just tell her it is either the speakers or her. Wives are replaceable, great speakers are hard to find.

 

[Az B]

By the way WAF is not a problem, just tell her it is either the speakers or her. Wives are replaceable, great speakers are hard to find.

Nice to see someone has retained thier testicles!

I guess I'm lucky. My wife loves our Apogees so much that they've been a part of our living room for 15 years. We listened to the Martin Logans and she was ready to drop $10k on a set for the HT. They sounded great, but I didn't think they sounded $10k better than what I have.

 

[sjdgpt]

Nice to see someone has retained thier testicles!

Nah, I just don't let the WAF problem see my postings. That way, I can always lie and say I have been a good boy.

"Honest, we have always owned that fill in the blank"

 

[jaxvon]

As others have said, you really need to audition the speakers to see what you like. Magnepans aren't really electrostatic, though they are a planar speaker. However, Magnepans are also very inefficient, so they need a hefty amp to drive them (I've heard of people using a pair of Bryston 7BSST's per channel, which is 1800WPC). You may not need that kind of rediculous power, but you can't expect a normal ol' AV Reciever to drive them to their potential. If you don't feel like investing in a Sub, then your only options would be the MG3.6Rs (which I think are around $4500/pr) and the MG20.1s, which run around 10k/pr. The things the make big planar and ESLs special are the facts that they move a LOT of air (because of the sheer surface area) and that they are natural dipole speakers. Lots of people praise the Magnepan soundstage, as they do Martin Logan.

Electrostatic and planar speakers, the good ones, are big. There is no getting around that. It's kind of like having big, sound emitting doors in your room. They also need room to generate a good sound. They cannot be close to walls like normal dynamic speakers. They need a few feet on each side in order to take advantage of their dipole nature.

Good luck with your search. You may find that you like dynamic speakers. However, you may audition the Logans or Magnepans (or both, or others) and fall absolutely in love with their sound.

 

[warnerwh]

An outstanding line of planar speakers are made by VMPS. They won CES best of high end a couple of years ago and then took second. Great value per dollar and a must hear in any price range from 1500 to 12k. These have the speed and immediacy of the electrostatics but also excellent bass. If you care to learn more check out the VMPS forum over at audiocircle.com. The big names like B&W or Thiel etc. have much trouble competing with sound per dollar and the RM 40's for about 5k sound better than anything I've heard including some B&W's that cost 15k I think. Electrostatics also aren't as able to do the high spl thing as well but do sound excellent. The Quad electrostatic has been being praised since i've been in this hobby(30+ years) and are still considered outstanding but really won't do well if you care for more than moderate levels and want true bass power. By all means go listen to the Martin Logans. If you haven't heard what planar and electrostatics can do you owe it to yourself. You'll find the coherence addicting. I listen to planar hybrids(VMPS) and cone speakers usually end up sounding "slow".

 

[annunaki]

Of any 'stats' I've listened to, the Martin Logans were the best. However, I do feel that they do not start approacing or exceeding dynamic loudspeaker performance until one reaches the $10K range (Prodigy). The sound stage is very good, IF, you're in the sweet spot. Which happens to be rather small (usually). I feel that what the 'stats' make up in accuracy is cancelled by what they seem to lack in dynamics. Do not get me wrong, I like accuracy as much as the next guy , but it is all lost if the dynamic feel is not there. I would take a B&W over a Logan any day (any save some money), BUT that is my preference. To me, one could use Nautilus 802's and get Prodigy performance for $2K less. Either way, one would have an EXCELLENT pair of speakers.