Martin Logan CLX ART and other Electrostatics

I would agree Joe. I heard them at 2 shows and they were just awful. It was as though they didn't bother to position them properly and use any acoustic treatment in the room. On top of that it seemed that by playing them painfully loud it would make up for it.
 
joeinid said:
Joe,

Regarding the Neoliths, friends and I heard them at a show several years ago. To be honest, they were not good. Don’t know if it was the room, associated gear (Rogue Audio) or something else but we could not stay. I feel terrible saying that and hope it wasn’t just the speakers.
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It was probably the room or associated gear like you said. I don't have enough room for them anyway. The CLX seems to be a lot of value for the money. This said, I was contacted back by Tom, the Sound Labs dealer you connected me with. Very nice and he emailed me some photos in no time at all. Since I'm not suppose to fly, I'm hoping we can drive out to CA to hear them after COVID. We have friends out there, so it shouldn't be a problem. In the mean time I continue to read about them. The size of the Sound Labs may pose a problem - not sure yet. Time to put tape on the floor.
 
The Sanders were great when I heard them.

I heard an old set of Martin Logan ReQuests driven by ARC with a Wadia front end, it was one of the most human like presentations I've heard, like the singer was right there and you could touch them. More than that, the imaging was spooky.

For female vocals I'd audition Quad and Eminent Technologies as well. Although, I've been told Emminent isn't electrostatic, they sure did sound good driven by Conrad Johnson though.
 
Mr Peabody said:
The Sanders were great when I heard them.

I heard an old set of Martin Logan ReQuests driven by ARC with a Wadia front end, it was one of the most human like presentations I've heard, like the singer was right there and you could touch them. More than that, the imaging was spooky.

For female vocals I'd audition Quad and Eminent Technologies as well. Although, I've been told Emminent isn't electrostatic, they sure did sound good driven by Conrad Johnson though.
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Many thanks, I will research these too.
 
I’ve been listening to my Quad 57s restored by Kent at Electrostatic Solutions and they’re still my favorite speakers, vintage or modern. Drive them with a great tube amp and you’re in midrange heaven. Great for female vocals and acoustic jazz. Not so much for orchestral music.
 
RDSChicago said:
I’ve been listening to my Quad 57s restored by Kent at Electrostatic Solutions and they’re still my favorite speakers, vintage or modern. Drive them with a great tube amp and you’re in midrange heaven. Great for female vocals and acoustic jazz. Not so much for orchestral music.
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Many thanks. I did some reading about these and they rate very well. I did locate some Quad ESL-63 restored by Electrostatic Solutions for $2100. Requires local pick up in VA though...

Set up seems to be most crucial no matter the brand. I'm examining my room a little more.

One of the nice things about Wilson (Alexx) is that you can place them on the wall and they will still sound excellent (they have a front port too). Though I won't be placing any speaker on the wall, 4-5' is about all I can spare.
 
Joe, interesting, your comment on the Wilsons up against a wall. Personally I have never heard any speaker sound 'excellent' that way. IMO a soundstage is always better with a speaker out. As for the 4-5' of space to work with a di-pole you'll be fine although 6' would be ideal !
 
Mikado463 said:
Joe, interesting, your comment on the Wilsons up against a wall. Personally I have never heard any speaker sound 'excellent' that way. IMO a soundstage is always better with a speaker out. As for the 4-5' of space to work with a di-pole you'll be fine although 6' would be ideal !
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My statement on Wilsons against a wall are from (1) seeing it on photos on the Wilson site when I was still on FB; and (2) dealers being questioned about the set-up and responding that the particular set up in question worked well. So, I bow to their expertise in setting up the speakers they sell, etc.

This said, I've never placed speakers on a wall. And I would think they would sound better out from the wall, etc. The only Wilsons I've heard were in a dedicated room and the speakers placed well away from the wall.
 
There are a few members in our audio club who own Martin Logan's. One is a reviewer for a major magazine and at one meeting he had one of the higher models for review. We compared them to his older version. I liked his older model a lot better. Many of us were not impressed.

I do like panel speakers but was not impressed with the new ML's.
 
Randy Myers said:
There are a few members in our audio club who own Martin Logan's. he had one of the higher models for review. We compared them to his older version. I liked his older model a lot better. Many of us were not impressed.
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kinda meaningless without knowing what models you're talking about, the room , associated electronics, etc.

FWIW, I still like my 54 year old Chevy better as well ............
 
They were the Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A. I do not know which older model he has but they were the same size. He uses a Classe amplifier; not sure which model. He uses a Meridian server and a Benchmark DAC.

For whatever it is worth that is all I know. The point was that many of us were not thrilled with the newest models versus the ones that they replaced.

His room is superb, but I cannot give you specifics other than his house hangs off above a huge valley and he had special power installed when building the house to both the electronics location and the amplifiers located between the speakers... that's all I got...
 
Randy Myers said:
They were the Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A. I do not know which older model he has but they were the same size. He uses a Classe amplifier; not sure which model. He uses a Meridian server and a Benchmark DAC.

For whatever it is worth that is all I know. The point was that many of us were not thrilled with the newest models versus the ones that they replaced.

His room is superb, but I cannot give you specifics other than his house hangs off above a huge valley and he had special power installed when building the house to both the electronics location and the amplifiers located between the speakers... that's all I got...
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Though I'm surprised at the findings - Many of us were not impressed - that sounds like an impressive system. More to consider for sure. Thank you.
 
Hey Joe,

Your taste seem to be similar to mine. I have never listened to the Magico's so I cannot give an honest opinion, but I do know they have a great reputation. I recently bought some Magnepan speakers on a whim because of reading a ton of stuff describing the type of boxless sound they have. The model I have is a lower one mainly because of size more so than price. I was hesitant of getting a larger panel because of wife acceptance factor. :)

Although they are a completely different level of speaker, with the Rythmik subwoofers I am quit happy. I also know there are many other very good panel designs. I can certainly see why this type of speaker has a very loyal following. I do not see myself owning anything but panel speakers moving forward. I certainly would encourage you to try and listen and see what you think of panel speakers :)...
 
Randy Myers said:
Hey Joe,

Your taste seem to be similar to mine. I have never listened to the Magico's so I cannot give an honest opinion, but I do know they have a great reputation. I recently bought some Magnepan speakers on a whim because of reading a ton of stuff describing the type of boxless sound they have. The model I have is a lower one mainly because of size more so than price. I was hesitant of getting a larger panel because of wife acceptance factor. :)

Although they are a completely different level of speaker, with the Rythmik subwoofers I am quit happy. I also know there are many other very good panel designs. I can certainly see why this type of speaker has a very loyal following. I do not see myself owning anything but panel speakers moving forward. I certainly would encourage you to try and listen and see what you think of panel speakers :)...
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That's quite a testimony to electrostatics. Magicos are fantastic. And the mids and highs in the M3 will most certainly beat the A3s.

But once you hear an electrostatic it's difficult to unhear one. And when you hear some of your favorite music on one that is properly set up it's beyond description - at least for me. The room though is VERY important and I'm afraid that what I presently have won't work completely for an electrostatic. But we have been talking about moving again - just moved last year - so in that case I will have an audio room.

We already have a real estate agent in FL (long time friend) and we are getting another one in another state. But at this time it is online looking only until after COVID. If we like it enough we can buy without stepping foot in the house. So, we will see.
 
There are a variety of types of Panel speakers. I am certainly not an expert on the subject :)... Not all are electrostatic however; Magnepan (only using them as an example because I own them, not because they are better than the others) are not electrostatic. They attach to your system the same as conventional speakers. The only difference with my Magnepan is that they do not use five-way binding posts like many other speakers (a manufactures choice). That was a bit of a surprise to me actually. However banana plugs work perfectly and there is a little set screw that secures the connection as well as other type of systems.

The point I am making is if you like what you hear from a panel speakers you are not necessarily limited to electrostatic. I do know that panels take some serious fine tuning (not difficult but might take some time playing around with them) to get the best out of them. I am confident that you would be able to get a nice match with a panel in most rooms but it might take a bit more fine tuning. I have noticed on mine that very slight adjustments make noticeable difference. I also found the short section Jim Smith wrote in his book to be very helpful!

I have also found that not all subwoofers work perfect with panels. Panels tend to be extremely fast and many subs are not perfect matches. There are some that work very well. I have seen many manufactures being discussed as being nice matches. I do know the Rythmik's are great matches (their direct servo tech)! Of course there are others.
 
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