Need opinion - Martin Logan Motion 40 or Motion 60XT?

[chapelhaudio]

Hey, folks...I could use some input here. The short of what I'm looking for comments on is:

• Does anybody have the Motion 40, and are you happy with it?
• Has anybody listened to the Motion 60XT and what was your experience?
• Has anybody had the chance to directly compare the Motion 60XT to the Motion 40 with your ears? Was there a marked difference or improvement with the 60XT? Is the 60XT worth the additional price and footprint?

For now, the system is for music and home theatre, but I prioritize music quality when making decisions.

I am building up my sound system as budget allows and I as find good deals . I'm trying not to sacrifice quality for immediate satisfaction, so it's taking a few years.

I decided to go with the MartinLogan Motion series and will be sticking with that.

I have one Motion 40 currently, but before I buy its "mate", if wonder if I should sell it and opt for the Motion 60XT's instead? I would need to convince myself and my better looking female half that the 60XT's sound experience is worth the additional money and real estate it will occupy in our (not-giant) home.

Here's what I have so far...

• 2 x Motion 35XT bookshelves
• 1 x MartinLogan Motion 40
• 1x Dynamo 1000 subwoofer

The next purchases on my list are:

• 1 x Motion 40 (to match the one I have)
  • OR sell the existing Motion 40 and buy 2 x Motion 60XT's
  • Current used/refurb prices are about $700 per Motion 40, and $1000 per Motion 60XT.
• Center channel (the Motion 40 is temporarily serving as a center)

When all is said and done, the 35XT's will become rear speakers (currently they are front L/R).

Thanks in advance for any personal experiences you can share!

 

[Mikado463]

simply .........if your budget will allow......60XT. I've listened to both and feel the difference merits the extra $$

For the record I've owned various Logan products (electrostatics) over the years and feel the Motion series represents a great bargin in dynamic / cone design.

 

[jcparks]

Honestly if you have one Motion 40 already, why go through the Drama of trying to sell that one to get the bigger Motion 60xt? In reality the extra low end headroom you get from the bigger motion 60 can be handled by the sub woofer anyway.

 

[Mikado463]

jc makes a good point, but I'd still like to have the 60's !

 

[chapelhaudio]

Thanks for the feedback...Mikado, what was the difference you noticed?

I bought the Motion 40 on Craigslist for about $500 basically brand new. I am pretty sure I could get most/all of that back but as JC said there is always some hassle, and it's extra money.

I don't plan to buy main speakers for a looooong time once this set-up is done, thus the deliberation before I go all-in. Thanks again y'all!

 

[Mikado463]

Bottom end, bottom end. But as jc said, if you can integrate properly with your sub you can be fine. The question is, done properly. A lot of folks ask too much from their subs, your Dynamo is capable depending on your room.

Another thought would be to go with another '40' and add an additional sub ..........

 

[76GTFan]

Don't forget the XT has 30% more dispersion with the larger ribbon tweeter. I have found the difference to be worth it. Listen to your 35's and 40 to see if you like the difference enough to upgrade to the 60's.

 

[Mikado463]

Don't forget the XT has 30% more dispersion with the larger ribbon tweeter. I have found the difference to be worth it. Listen to your 35's and 40 to see if you like the difference enough to upgrade to the 60's.

another good point, again the Motion series as a whole is a diamond in the rough IMO.

 

[2channel lover]

I've spent roughly an hr demoing both speakers...the 40 is a cleaner sounding speaker from the mid bass thru the tweeter section...both are what I would consider slightly warm speakers, similar to my B&Ws. The 60 clearly goes lower, larger sound stage, and are more apt to fill larger but the midbass/low mid region sounds a little muddy to me...not as defined as the smaller speaker.

If you're going to be adding a sub, I like the 40 better, but I see the argument for the 60, especially if rock, and you like it up there 85+ db, or generally play your music loudish and have a larger room. More than anything I think you can get more speaker in the price range of the 60s. You can spend $2k better than the 40s as well but they are more competitive for OEM speakers.