MartinLogan 4th Gen Motion XT Series BIG Performance Enhancements!

[AcuDefTechGuy]

100 Towers arrived yesterday with the 100 center, out of roughly 25 towers I have had including higher priced Revels, Golden Ear Triton 1Rs and many others I have hit my endgame, normally takes a month of working with placement and readings to decide if I like them better than my previous speakers, plopped these down in the normal spots ran X32, did the usual 6db house curve and WOW, these immediately sounded better than anything I have ever owned. Can't wait to work with them for a month to really dial them in. I was done at 6PM last night and watched 4 movies I have seen many times just to hear the new magic, rare to stay up till 4AM but it was just WOW, I wonder how this movie or FLAC file will sound, repeat, so addictive I'm going cold turkey at 2 AM tonight to sleep. One day is a bit early to tell but I think I am done. Endgame for me. (Comming from Arendals which are damn fine speakers but these are next level.)

Well, now you might be thinking, “Hmm, what about those XT F200 towers?”.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

A question I have is why don't we see much love for electrostatics?

I friend of mine used to have an Audiophile store here in town -one of the last of the ma and pops. He carried the ML's. I always loved the way they sounded. Same when I was on business trips and would stop in stores that carried Magnepans.

The ones I listened to were way out of my price range. However, ML and Maggy make some electrostatics that appear reasonably priced.

Their flagship is still electrostatic - $120K/pair vs $5500/pair on the F200 towers.

Kind of tells us ML is still mostly electrostatic at heart.

 

[Bobby Bass]

100 Towers arrived yesterday with the 100 center, out of roughly 25 towers I have had including higher priced Revels, Golden Ear Triton 1Rs and many others I have hit my endgame, normally takes a month of working with placement and readings to decide if I like them better than my previous speakers, plopped these down in the normal spots ran X32, did the usual 6db house curve and WOW, these immediately sounded better than anything I have ever owned. Can't wait to work with them for a month to really dial them in. I was done at 6PM last night and watched 4 movies I have seen many times just to hear the new magic, rare to stay up till 4AM but it was just WOW, I wonder how this movie or FLAC file will sound, repeat, so addictive I'm going cold turkey at 2 AM tonight to sleep. One day is a bit early to tell but I think I am done. Endgame for me. (Comming from Arendals which are damn fine speakers but these are next level.)

Thanks for sharing. Curious Which Arendals did you have? Please tell me after you get some sleep lol

 

[mtrot]

100 Towers arrived yesterday with the 100 center, out of roughly 25 towers I have had including higher priced Revels, Golden Ear Triton 1Rs and many others I have hit my endgame, normally takes a month of working with placement and readings to decide if I like them better than my previous speakers, plopped these down in the normal spots ran X32, did the usual 6db house curve and WOW, these immediately sounded better than anything I have ever owned. Can't wait to work with them for a month to really dial them in. I was done at 6PM last night and watched 4 movies I have seen many times just to hear the new magic, rare to stay up till 4AM but it was just WOW, I wonder how this movie or FLAC file will sound, repeat, so addictive I'm going cold turkey at 2 AM tonight to sleep. One day is a bit early to tell but I think I am done. Endgame for me. (Comming from Arendals which are damn fine speakers but these are next level.)

Thanks for the report. It sounds like the F100/F200 might be the ticket for me, to replace my Sonus Faber Lumina V's, which just don't seem to have the power and dynamics I want for movies and music with brass, drums, etc.

 

[DigitalDawn]

I really like the new Motion models. Nice dynamics and detail.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Bonscott]

Well, now you might be thinking, “Hmm, what about those XT F200 towers?”.

Have you compared the ML F100 with the F200 towers?

 

[Laika]

Well, now you might be thinking, “Hmm, what about those XT F200 towers?”.

LOL, Yes I was, Small room, made that mistake before, processing becomes very complicated due to small room, bg woofers and massive room gain but will always wonder I expect.

 

[Laika]

Had or have, though I expect to blow them out at half price if I can get music equalized on the MLs. (this is not a add, will donate and post add if t works out)

HAD
2 1723 THX TOWERS

HAVE
4 1723 THX S TOWERS
2 1723 THX Monitors
2 1723 THX Monitor Stands (Factory, disconnected)
1 1723 THX S Center
1 1723 THX Center
2 1723 THX Surrounds

Thanks for sharing. Curious Which Arendals did you have? Please tell me after you get some sleep lol

 

[Bonscott]

LOL, Yes I was, Small room, made that mistake before, processing becomes very complicated due to small room, bg woofers and massive room gain but will always wonder I expect.

Processing becomes complicated? Do you mean when you are using room correction the bigger speakers make it more difficult to get the levels right?

 

[Laika2]

Processing becomes complicated? Do you mean when you are using room correction the bigger speakers make it more difficult to get the levels right?

Sort of, way too much bass, by the time I tone it down with filters the woofers don't flex much, sounds good but not as good as slightly smaller woofers acting faster and flexing harder. Small room issues, been through it twice, last was the step-down from the Arendal full towers to the THX Towers. Very little filtering needed and much more slam and punch.

THE ROOM IS THE ISSUE, others, if you have a medium to large room all the above does not apply.

For what it's worth my room is 10x21.5 with 7 foot ceilings and my front is the narrow 10 foot size due too blocked doorways if I rotated the room

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Have you compared the ML F100 with the F200 towers?

Yes. Main difference is the F200 has more bass and dynamics if you play loud.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Had or have, though I expect to blow them out at half price if I can get music equalized on the MLs. (this is not a add, will donate and post add if t works out)

HAD
2 1723 THX TOWERS

HAVE
4 1723 THX S TOWERS
2 1723 THX Monitors
2 1723 THX Monitor Stands (Factory, disconnected)
1 1723 THX S Center
1 1723 THX Center
2 1723 THX Surrounds

Wow Thanks for sharing. Going from the two 1723 to more S towers and monitors etc. is interesting. I went from a pair of S towers to 1723 towers but I only have a 2 channel setup.

 

[Danzilla31]

Sort of, way too much bass, by the time I tone it down with filters the woofers don't flex much, sounds good but not as good as slightly smaller woofers acting faster and flexing harder. Small room issues, been through it twice, last was the step-down from the Arendal full towers to the THX Towers. Very little filtering needed and much more slam and punch.

THE ROOM IS THE ISSUE, others, if you have a medium to large room all the above does not apply.

For what it's worth my room is 10x21.5 with 7 foot ceilings and my front is the narrow 10 foot size due too blocked doorways if I rotated the room

I had the same issue in my bedroom. Just to small for some of the big towers I've been auditioning. It's not just the excess bass from the room gain and dealing with lots of early reflections. Soundstaging and Imaging is harder to figure out as you don't have much room to breath or move things around. Towers definitely need some room to work.

But I like great dynamics and good volume levels with low distortion So I've had to get creative and go a different route.

In the process of starting to flip the towers now

 

[coilman01]

I auditioned the F200 and found them favorable for my future home theater project. My dilemma is whether to get the esl x whether than the f200's. the cost is negligible . Heard both at Best Buy , not the best room to be in. Any thoughts on this . Will be pairing with 2 SB 3000 subs.

 

[Danzilla31]

I auditioned the F200 and found them favorable for my future home theater project. My dilemma is whether to get the esl x whether than the f200's. the cost is negligible . Heard both at Best Buy , not the best room to be in. Any thoughts on this . Will be pairing with 2 SB 3000 subs.

Those are 2 completely different speakers with completely different design concepts. The only safe way to know for sure is to audition both in your room and see which speaker design sounds best in your room

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I auditioned the F200 and found them favorable for my future home theater project. My dilemma is whether to get the esl x whether than the f200's. the cost is negligible . Heard both at Best Buy , not the best room to be in. Any thoughts on this . Will be pairing with 2 SB 3000 subs.

Which one sounded better?

Both can sound good. But I bet the F200 will be favorable to a wider range of people in terms of performance and aesthetics.

 

[mtrot]

To those with listening experience with the F200/100 -- what was your impression of the bass quality? I've heard them four times at different audio stores. In all cases, I was blown away by the sheer power and clarity of the mids and highs. It seems they can produce tremendous high transients like cymbals, yet without harshness.

But something just seemed a bit odd or "off" in the bass. I don't quite know how to explain it, other than there might have been a lack of palpability and definition of things like kick drum attacks. With my SF Lumina V's, I can hear and feel the initial transient when the drum is struck, like I can sense the skin of the drum moving.

I'm very interested in the F200/100, but would like to hear more feedback on the bass.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

To those with listening experience with the F200/100 -- what was your impression of the bass quality? I've heard them four times at different audio stores. In all cases, I was blown away by the sheer power and clarity of the mids and highs. It seems they can produce tremendous high transients like cymbals, yet without harshness.

But something just seemed a bit odd or "off" in the bass. I don't quite know how to explain it, other than there might have been a lack of palpability and definition of things like kick drum attacks. With my SF Lumina V's, I can hear and feel the initial transient when the drum is struck, like I can sense the skin of the drum moving.

I'm very interested in the F200/100, but would like to hear more feedback on the bass.

SF Lumina V = 6.5” Paper Woofers x 2 = 66 SI Surface Area, 11x15x41 = 6,800 CI cabinet.

ML F200 = 8” Aluminum Woofers x 3 = 150 SI Surface Area, 14x17x50.5 = 12,000 CI Cabinet

Kick Drums 50-90Hz

So the F200 should have a lot better bass output theoretically based on drivers and cabinets.

Can’t believe the SF that retails $3K/pair use paper cones, instead of aluminum.

Of course, neither one can compete with good subwoofers or towers with dual 10” or 12” woofers.

 

[mtrot]

SF Lumina V = 6.5” Paper Woofers x 2 = 66 SI Surface Area, 11x15x41 = 6,800 CI cabinet.

ML F200 = 8” Aluminum Woofers x 3 = 150 SI Surface Area, 14x17x50.5 = 12,000 CI Cabinet

Kick Drums 50-90Hz

So the F200 should have a lot better bass output theoretically based on drivers and cabinets.

Can’t believe the SF that retails $3K/pair use paper cones, instead of aluminum.

Of course, neither one can compete with good subwoofers or towers with dual 10” or 12” woofers.

Thanks, I understand all of that. I was soliciting impressions of the bass quality, not so much output, from people with listening experience with the F100/200.

 

[Laika2]

Movies 100, 200s
Mixed Movies and music 100s, 200
Mostly music ESs

Room size matters of course, 200s would be too much for my small room, I am processing for home theater to bring bass down below 60, way down.

Large rooms 200s

To those with listening experience with the F200/100 -- what was your impression of the bass quality? I've heard them four times at different audio stores. In all cases, I was blown away by the sheer power and clarity of the mids and highs. It seems they can produce tremendous high transients like cymbals, yet without harshness.

But something just seemed a bit odd or "off" in the bass. I don't quite know how to explain it, other than there might have been a lack of palpability and definition of things like kick drum attacks. With my SF Lumina V's, I can hear and feel the initial transient when the drum is struck, like I can sense the skin of the drum moving.

I'm very interested in the F200/100, but would like to hear more feedback on the bass.