MartinLogan XT F100 Floorstanding Speaker Review!

[shadyJ]

Heard those MLs at a demo recently and was very unimpressed. They were playing something from Disturbed and the vocalist had a very deep voice.

There were various times when he would hit a low note and the bass drivers went into full effect shaking the whole room. It was awful. Didn’t sound natural at all. Sounded like something was really off with the crossover points.

I think it had to be a setup issue. It was a very small room and I suspect the speakers were way overloading the space and/or they had something awry with how the electronics were configured.

It’s too bad because I really wanted to hear them as I was considering them as a potential upgrade down the road. Now I have to find a spot to hear them again because I just can’t believe they are that bad based on other reviews.

If the bass was too boomy, that is probably a room mode, not the speakers. Small rooms can generate wild swings in the low-frequency response.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If the bass was too boomy, that is probably a room mode, not the speakers. Small rooms can generate wild swings in the low-frequency response.

That’s one big and unfortunate thing about opinions on the internet. Glad you are correcting this one.

But how many times have we seen someone on the internet saying things like “brand-A sounded terrible” when it wasn’t even the fault of that component, but rather was the fault of the room acoustics or the poor or suboptimal setup?

These speakers sounded horrible and much worse than these other speakers. This AVR or amp sounded horrible…..

Can’t blame them too much because that’s what they actually HEARD and experienced. But people seeking advice need to be aware.

Even when you gave good speakers, the SALIENT thing about any system is the SETUP - acoustics, placement, AVR settings, original source.

 

[NMG]

Agree with all of the above and that’s why I said I wanted to hear them again and that I suspect it was setup issues.

It’s just too bad that they chose to use those particular speakers in that room. If I had to guess I’d say the room was maybe 8x14 and the speakers were setup on the long wall.

It wasn’t boomy so much as what you get when your sub crossover is set way too high and you start hearing voices through it. Definitely something odd with the setup.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Agree with all of the above and that’s why I said I wanted to hear them again and that I suspect it was setup issues.

It’s just too bad that they chose to use those particular speakers in that room. If I had to guess I’d say the room was maybe 8x14 and the speakers were setup on the long wall.

It wasn’t boomy so much as what you get when your sub crossover is set way too high and you start hearing voices through it. Definitely something odd with the setup.

100% understandable.

I've listened to some speakers (at one store) that are very well respected on the forum. Yet, I thought the speakers sounded horrible even though I set to Pure Direct Mode and moved the speakers 24" away from the back wall. But I think the room acoustics was just bad anyway.

That's why they say that if your room acoustics is THAT BAD, nothing's going to save it - not Room EQ, not $1 million speakers and amps.

 

[NMG]

Absolutely agree! Setup is so important.