Martin Logan Traffic

M

mod

Junior Audioholic
Today I auditioned Monitors (gold and silver), Polk, and Klipsch in-wall fronts. The Monitors were up to $1500 and I didn't care for the sound at all. The Polks were good and the Klipsch R5800W's sounded fantastic to me ($760pr). I was shown the Martin Logan Traffic M's ($800pr) but they hadn't installed them yet in their sound room. I'll be going back to audition those because they said the Martin Logans blow everything else they have away. Do any of you have any experience with these?

With the Logans they say to use the same speaker for the center also. I assume the same could be done with the Klipsch since they didn't have an in-wall center. They showed me the bookshelf centers and they are huge.

Any advice regarding the Klipsch or the Martin Logans?
 
itschris

itschris

Moderator
Both speakers you're talking about, Klipsch and Logans have very characteristic sounds. I'm not familiar with the newer Klipsch, but other models in the past that I've had a chance to listen to always seemed to fatigue me after a short while. Martin Logans are some of the finest speakers out there. Again, I'm not familiar with the lower end or newer models, but the ones I've heard in the past have always sounded fantastic though they are highly sensitive to setup and they typically require a good amount of space away from the back wall in my experience.

There's some ML guys here who I'm sure will chime in. In the end, trust your ears. Try moving them around when you audition to see how they react to placement and try to use that as a tool when thinking about your own personal application. If for instance they sound terrible when sorda stuck near a corner and your only option in you setup is a corner setup, that'll help you make decisions. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
jcPanny

jcPanny

Audioholic Ninja
ML speakers

I associate ML with their large electrostic floorstanding speakers. Some have woofers for the lower frequencies. Your budget would only cover their entry level models. The Klipsch reference sereies with horn tweeter will definately have a different sound than electostatic speakers.

At other local dealers, also look for Paradigm, Energy, PSB, and other options in your budget. The Paradigm Studio 20's should be in your price range.
 
bandphan

bandphan

Banned
Wow, not sure what was going through my mind at the time. ML "Ticket" series, not Traffic. Whew! Thanks for catching that one.
A slightly better than average in wall speaker, if you want nice performance move up to the "voyage", then you get the planar/hybrid mix that provides good response in to the high 30's;)
 
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