Help me decide: Martin Logan Motion 60 vs B&W 702 s2

[Slevin19]

Hello,

I needed help in deciding between these two speakers: the Martin Logan Motion 60XTi and B&W 702 s2. Price difference is irrelevant. Decision is mostly for music though I shall also be using them for my home theater set-up.

I shall be running them using a Marantz SR 6014 as pre-amp and Parasound A21 as an amp. I shall have a subwoofer pair as well for the lower frequencies.

Room size: 20x20x9 cubic feet
Listening level: 65-75dB at approx 9 meters away
Music: primarily Jazz / classical


FWIW: I tried auditioning Focal Aria 926 / 936 and did not think much about them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lovinthehd]

What did you think when you auditioned the ML & BWs? How can anyone tell you what you might prefer?

 

[SimplyEpic]

I personally like the sound of the Martin's more but for that size room and the off axis response think the B&W will work better.

I went with the SVS Pinnacles which are much cheaper but love the sound paired with the SVS PB-4000 sub. I listen to quite a mix of music but have listened to Keiko Matsui and Joe Bonnamassa to name a few which might be in your range of suggested listening and love the sound. My room is 25x15x20

 

[shadyJ]

I would go with the MartinLogan speakers between those two choices. The off-axis response of the B&Ws is problematic.

 

[Slevin19]

What did you think when you auditioned the ML & BWs? How can anyone tell you what you might prefer?

I did audition them at Magnolia. Problem is that I did it twice (at two different stores)! Both times using the Marantz SR 6014 as receiver. Hence the request for opinions from fellow members.

First time, the 702s2 blew the 60XTi away. The 60xt sounded thin & the mid-range a bit muddy. Even the Motion 40 sounded better.

At the 2nd store, the 60XTi sounded wonderful and the 702s2 sounded a bit harsh. Am less worried about the general B&W harshness (though I generally prefer a slightly warm sound) as my amp is warm-sounding and I’ll also be using Audyssey for correction.

My guess is that the ML60s are a bit more power-hungry than the 702s2 (which sounded louder as well at the auditions). This is just from looking at the graph of impedance and phase vs frequency for both speakers. Not a problem as the A21 I have might be sufficient to drive either of them.

 

[lovinthehd]

I did audition them at Magnolia. Problem is that I did it twice (at two different stores)! Both times using the Marantz SR 6014 as receiver. Hence the request for opinions from fellow members.

First time, the 702s2 blew the 60XTi away. The 60xt sounded thin & the mid-range a bit muddy. Even the Motion 40 sounded better.

At the 2nd store, the 60XTi sounded wonderful and the 702s2 sounded a bit harsh. Am less worried about the general B&W harshness (though I generally prefer a slightly warm sound) as my amp is warm-sounding and I’ll also be using Audyssey for correction.

My guess is that the ML60s are a bit more power-hungry than the 702s2 (which sounded louder as well at the auditions). This is just from looking at the graph of impedance and phase vs frequency for both speakers. Not a problem as the A21 I have might be sufficient to drive either of them.

Could be the rooms they were auditioned in to an extent. Hard to compare by memory, too....sonic memory isn't all that reliable. They're close in sensitivity altho both tend to spend a fair bit of time below 4 ohms but were they level matched for a comparison at all?

 

[Slevin19]

Could be the rooms they were auditioned in to an extent. Hard to compare by memory, too....sonic memory isn't all that reliable. They're close in sensitivity altho both tend to spend a fair bit of time below 4 ohms but were they level matched for a comparison at all?

Only approximately level matched.

As both are popular auditions at Magnolia showrooms, I’m still hoping that someone else has also done the A/B comparison and want to know how they felt.

 

[ryanosaur]

I think, for the money, B&W is not worth what they offer in the 600 and 700 series. Yes, many think they sound good, even great, but if you look at the reviews with measurements you see a lot of issues in FR and Electrical Behavior.
Personally, I enjoyed my time with the Motion 60XT over the Motion 40, which blew the B&W 600 Series tower I heard out of the water.
Frankly, if you want better sounding speakers, look at Monitor Audio Silver 300 and 500 for Towers! Their bigger Center (Silver 350?) and Standmounts (Silver 100) are supposed to be very good, as well.

 

[Beave]

Martin Logan 60XTi measurements from NRC here

Bowers 702 S2 measurements from Stereophile here

Unfortunately two different measurement techniques, so it's not an exact apples-to-apples comparison. But it's better than nothing.

B&W sensitivity might be a little higher, but not a big difference. Both appear to be modestly difficult loads in terms of impedance. But your Parasound can probably handle either without much problem.

ML appears smoother in the treble. Both appear to have exaggerated midbass, but here it's really hard to compare measurements or to trust the NRC measurements since the ML is rear ported.

My conclusion: There are a lot of better speakers than either of these in this price range. Revel, KEF, Ascend, Monitor Audio Silver 300, Salk all come to mind. I'd probably say the Focal Arias, too, even though you said you were unimpressed.

Note: Just added some edits a couple minutes after posting.

 

[mazersteven]

as my amp is warm-sounding

Good Grief!!!

 

[mazersteven]

Frankly, if you want better sounding speakers, look at Monitor Audio Silver 300 and 500 for Towers! Their bigger Center (Silver 350?) and Standmounts (Silver 100) are supposed to be very good, as well.

I really like Monitor Audio. Solid Speaker

 

[Beave]

Good Grief!!!

I used to own a Parasound HALO amp. It did warm up the room! Maybe that's what he means?!?

 

[Beave]

Frankly, if you want better sounding speakers, look at Monitor Audio Silver 300 and 500 for Towers! Their bigger Center (Silver 350?) and Standmounts (Silver 100) are supposed to be very good, as well.

The Silver 100s beat the Silver 50s in the bass - obviously - but the Silver 50s win everywhere else. Mating an 8" woofer with a 1" dome tweeter, like they do in the Silver 100s, causes a lot of issues in the crossover region.

 

[mazersteven]

I used to own a Parasound HALO amp. It did warm up the room! Maybe that's what he means?!?

O like a Radiator. OK

 

[lovinthehd]

But does it have chocolatey mids?

 

[Beave]

O like a Radiator. OK

View attachment 37913

Yep, that's a picture of the heatsinks, if I remember correctly.

 

[Beave]

But does it have chocolatey mids?

Unfortunately, the heat from the amp melted my chocolatey mids!

 

[ryanosaur]

Unfortunately, the heat from the amp melted my chocolatey mids!

Just pour that over some ice cream for a nice parfait!
(T. Waits)

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello,

I needed help in deciding between these two speakers: the Martin Logan Motion 60XTi and B&W 702 s2. Price difference is irrelevant. Decision is mostly for music though I shall also be using them for my home theater set-up.

I shall be running them using a Marantz SR 6014 as pre-amp and Parasound A21 as an amp. I shall have a subwoofer pair as well for the lower frequencies.

Room size: 20x20x9 cubic feet
Listening level: 65-75dB at approx 9 meters away
Music: primarily Jazz / classical


FWIW: I tried auditioning Focal Aria 926 / 936 and did not think much about them.

Thanks in advance.

I think both are seriously flawed speakers by measurement. I personally would not like any of them. Both bloat the bass and both have HF issues, but different. The ML has a lot of bass ripple but in the end very poor bass extension for a speaker of that price and size.

Speakers are very difficult to choose as there are far more bad ones than good ones. The speaker market is a jungle. What is your budget?

 

[Slevin19]

Budget: anywhere from 2.5k to 5k