MartinLogan Neolith Electrostatic Loudspeaker Review

gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
MartinLogan Neolith Loudspeaker Review



We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time with the new $80k+/pair Neolith Electrostatic Speakers from MartinLogan. Do the 6ft, nearly 400lb Electrostatic Neoliths deserved to be mentioned in the ranks of the best-of-the-best or did they not live up to expectations?

Read our MartinLogan Neolith Review to find out.
 
ratso

ratso

Full Audioholic
had a pair of vantages once. got rid of them for two reasons: they would start to protest when pushed extremely hard (not a big deal) and i found them to be on the bright side which got fatiguing during long listening sessions (much bigger deal). however still to this day, i have yet to find any speakers that come close to doing right what they did right. imaging and transparency was off the charts. playing gimmicky hard panning songs (the kind you listen to on headphones like yello's "the eye") would actually make me dizzy listening to it.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Wow, never seen that type of bass configuration for the woofer, but then I am not usually shopping $80K speakers either :) Nice touch.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
everything about these speakers and associated equipments smells of pure audiophoolery
While electrostat do indeed produce magnificent sound (flat panels are limited to very narrow sweet spot) but 80k for speakers seems just a bit unreasonable for most buys considering, forget about you could buy a whole house and even not in Detroit, here just a few of luxury cars 80k buys you:
1) Maserati Ghibli S Q4 (aka AWD) 2016 - over 400 hp and torques


2) Jaguar F-type Conv S AWD


3) Telsa Model S 75D 2016


4) Infiniti Q70L AWD 5.6 (fully loaded is about 78k)



5) Bonus option - if you the type to ask - does this include the massage? Then Merc S550 2016 is for you, only for 92k (or so) - and yes - it does include massage option (probably not at base price)
 
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S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I have had the chance to hear these speakers, and they do sound very good. As for the asking price, these aren't made for the lower income 98% of the population (which is why they don't hold my interest as much as speakers whose experience can be shared among a wider group). They are made for people who already own the above cars, or more likely, much nicer cars. But many of these companies have a flagship speaker like these not because they expect lots of orders or profit, but for visibility for the company, ie marketing for their lower lines, like the KEF Muon or the B&W Nautilus.
 
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slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I have had the chance to hear these speakers, and they do sound very good. As for the asking price, these aren't made for the lower 98% of the population (which is why they don't hold my interest as much as speakers whose experience can be shared among a wider group). They are made for people who already own the above cars, or more likely, much nicer cars. But many of these companies have a flagship speaker like these not because they expect lots of orders or profit, but for visibility for the company, ie marketing for their lower lines, like the KEF Muon or the B&W Nautilus.
Agreed, these speakers indeed sound amazing! In particular, I was amazed at the bass in a very large room.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
After the initial talk about how these speakers were part of a project to develop new technology to trickle down into the M-L products of the future I was hoping for discussion of what these developments were.
Are these the same as the $26k (?IIRC?) M-L electrostatics I've heard but with a bigger film surface (and bigger bass module)? The ones I heard had an exceptional bass section. I think ML decided they needed to respond with authority on the issue of electrostatics having poor bass. They did so many things better than other speakers, but the one issue I had was the presence of stuff like smacking of lips at 3' away while the voice was 12' away. I wonder if the Neolith project figured out a solution for that.
I know the Magnolia Design Center by the Perimeter Mall in Atlanta had a pair of these about 6 weeks ago.

Gene,
I'll give you $10,000 for those old speakers you've been using so you can get them out of your way and make room for Neoliths!
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Gene,
I'll give you $10,000 for those old speakers you've been using so you can get them out of your way and make room for Neoliths!
No thanks. I take my Status 8T's to the grave with me ;)
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
everything about these speakers and associated equipments smells of pure audiophoolery
While electrostat do indeed produce magnificent sound (flat panels are limited to very narrow sweet spot) but 80k for speakers seems just a bit unreasonable for most buys considering, forget about you could buy a whole house and even not in Detroit, here just a few of luxury cars 80k buys you:
1) Maserati Ghibli S Q4 (aka AWD) 2016 - over 400 hp and torques


2) Jaguar F-type Conv S AWD


3) Telsa Model S 75D 2016


4) Infiniti Q70L AWD 5.6 (fully loaded is about 78k)



5) Bonus option - if you the type to ask - does this include the massage? Then Merc S550 2016 is for you, only for 92k (or so) - and yes - it does include massage option (probably not at base price)
The Neoliths are NOT flatpanel. They are curved for improved off-axis response for a wider listening area. I moved around the chair and room and didn't find that "beaming" effect you often get with regular flat panel ESLs.

Are they expensive? Hell yes. Are they worth it? Depends on how badly you really want/like them and how much free disposable income you have. $80k/pair is nothing for someone that lives in a $20 Million dollar home and owns a Yacht.
 
H

Hocky

Full Audioholic
After the initial talk about how these speakers were part of a project to develop new technology to trickle down into the M-L products of the future I was hoping for discussion of what these developments were.
Are these the same as the $26k (?IIRC?) M-L electrostatics I've heard but with a bigger film surface (and bigger bass module)? The ones I heard had an exceptional bass section. I think ML decided they needed to respond with authority on the issue of electrostatics having poor bass. They did so many things better than other speakers, but the one issue I had was the presence of stuff like smacking of lips at 3' away while the voice was 12' away. I wonder if the Neolith project figured out a solution for that.
I know the Magnolia Design Center by the Perimeter Mall in Atlanta had a pair of these about 6 weeks ago.

Gene,
I'll give you $10,000 for those old speakers you've been using so you can get them out of your way and make room for Neoliths!
MLs have had exceptional bass for a long time. My Summits and Summit X combos both have no problem playing into the 20s loudly in a big room and the original summit came out like 10 years ago. Perpetuated myths from non-hybrid deployments.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
The Neoliths are NOT flatpanel. They are curved for improved off-axis response for a wider listening area. I moved around the chair and room and didn't find that "beaming" effect you often get with regular flat panel ESLs.

Are they expensive? Hell yes. Are they worth it? Depends on how badly you really want/like them and how much free disposable income you have. $80k/pair is nothing for someone that lives in a $20 Million dollar home and owns a Yacht.
I think I was pretty clear then I referred to flat electrostat panels make narrow soundfield, I assumed that it was pretty clear I wasn't referring to these Neolith as they are obviously shaped differently to address that problem.
As for spending money on speakers and associated equipment, my opinion is, even I had multi-millions in bank, I'd still rather buy SS8's which are TEN times cheapers and IMHO they represent best sounding speakers I ever heard compared to even 100k Wilsons and 25k B&W 80x diamonds. Paying 80k for speakers ,again imo, is a pure vanity.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I think I was pretty clear then I referred to flat electrostat panels make narrow soundfield, I assumed that it was pretty clear I wasn't referring to these Neolith as they are obviously shaped differently to address that problem.
As for spending money on speakers and associated equipment, my opinion is, even I had multi-millions in bank, I'd still rather buy SS8's which are TEN times cheapers and IMHO they represent best sounding speakers I ever heard compared to even 100k Wilsons and 25k B&W 80x diamonds. Paying 80k for speakers ,again imo, is a pure vanity.
I could argue that paying for the SS8s are pure vanity as well. You can get very high resolution and very linear speakers for less than $9k a pair.
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
I think I was pretty clear then I referred to flat electrostat panels make narrow soundfield, I assumed that it was pretty clear I wasn't referring to these Neolith as they are obviously shaped differently to address that problem.
As for spending money on speakers and associated equipment, my opinion is, even I had multi-millions in bank, I'd still rather buy SS8's which are TEN times cheapers and IMHO they represent best sounding speakers I ever heard compared to even 100k Wilsons and 25k B&W 80x diamonds. Paying 80k for speakers ,again imo, is a pure vanity.
I agree with you and I don't. Sure, some people with money will see an $80 speaker as a status symbol for themselves, others will say "holy crap these sound amazing. I can afford them so I bought them."
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I agree with you and I don't. Sure, some people with money will see an $80 speaker as a status symbol for themselves, others will say "holy crap these sound amazing. I can afford them so I bought them."
A bit relevant is a good article here: http://archimago.blogspot.com/2018/06/musings-why-do-people-equate-high-end.html
80k speakers could definitely be seen as Class C and be used as you've mentioned as a status symbol.
Then again I know for a fact that not all rich people carry about buying & having a status symbol items
 
mattlach

mattlach

Junior Audioholic
These are WAY out of my price range by - like - 1-2 orders of magnitude, but still neat tech.

I enjoyed reading about it as I was mostly unfamiliar with electrostatic speakers.

Would be cool if you could just buy the electrostatic tops and instead rely on subwoofers for the lower frequencies.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
These are WAY out of my price range by - like - 1-2 orders of magnitude, but still neat tech.

I enjoyed reading about it as I was mostly unfamiliar with electrostatic speakers.

Would be cool if you could just buy the electrostatic tops and instead rely on subwoofers for the lower frequencies.
I think that would just kill the whole speaker and the whole intent with the design.

I was incredibly impressed with the bass authority on 2 of these in a very large room!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
These are WAY out of my price range by - like - 1-2 orders of magnitude, but still neat tech.

I enjoyed reading about it as I was mostly unfamiliar with electrostatic speakers.

Would be cool if you could just buy the electrostatic tops and instead rely on subwoofers for the lower frequencies.
I would encourage you to keep an eye on your local Craigslist and check out the Magnolia room if your BestBuy has one.
I have not heard the Neolith which I suspect to be an amazing experience, but if you are into audio, you owe it to yourself to have a listen to an electrostatic speaker. Even the less expensive models offer a unique and amazing sound character.
You will notice I am not saying "better" - rather, I would say their sound is somehow substantially different, without being wrong!
You may decide they are better (many do). For me, I consider them in the same ballpark as my better traditional speakers, but love having them because they bring a new/different "dimension" when listening to my music!

Also, DIY electrostats do exist for anyone wanting to embark on an interesting project:
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/diy-hybrid-electrostats.75328/

This same guy's system as presented in the Pros and Joes Systems Gallery:
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/jazzmans-carver-esl-2-channel-system.76340/
 
GrimSurfer

GrimSurfer

Senior Audioholic
I understand that there may be entertainment value in reviewing, and reading reviews of, $80k speakers and $100k supporting electronics but an audiophile is less likely to buy a set of these than they are to offer both kidneys on Craigslist for free.

If ML is trying to impress audiophiles, may I suggest a more realistic value proposition. Otherwise, keep 'em red, hike the price, and feature them beside a Maserati Merak to attract the Sonny Crocketts of the world.
 
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