Devin threw that in at the end. Have you ever tried bi-wiring? The other characteristic they have is a deeper soundstage compared to the Linn K400 bi-wires and generic 12ga cables I own. Martin Logan Motion 35XT I reviewed MartinLogan’s miniature two-way Motion 15 loudspeaker back in Issue 98 and it was quite the surprise package. I ended up purchasing the entire ML system, Motion 40 fronts, Motion 8 center, Motion … Dear me, George, that's pushing it ð ... first, why are "both wrong" - the possibility that one is right, and the other wrong, is not in the picture? Dispersion is aided by the driver unit’s design which has a drive-stabilizing dust cap on the bass units, a stiffened motor sus… That might just cinch the deal. Martin Logan speakers would definitely rate a look if I were shopping. But that same length of RG-59 will attenuate a 100 MHz signal by more than 10 dB (IIRC)! I sampled several DVDs and the ML wins out every time. The physical characteristics of the wire determine the performance of the cables, not the price. For this review, the spikes were employed to pierce the carpet and make contact with the concrete slab floor. Uh, DC resistance of a speaker is irrelevant and not the same thing as impedance. This cable is 12 Ga, 259 strand, OFC cable and in such short runs, changes the overall impedance of the system by less than a quarter of an Ohm. As far as cable is concerned, itâs like upping the gauge to the wire, but if you are splitting the woofer and tweeter by removing the shorting straps at the speakers and connecting them back together at the amplifier, all you are really doing is moving the place where the woofer and tweeter are joined from the back of the speaker with just a very short, low-resistance strap to a long, higher resistance cable. It can accept audio data via Bluetooth and AirPlay. For proper bi-amp performance you want a small signal crossover BEFORE the amplifiers. If you’re a real movie love, you can’t go wrong with these tower speakers as you will hear the true meaning of clarity. The compressing pleats push air out from between the pleats as that space is eliminated by the compression. ML’s new Motion Series speaker, to be priced at around $3000/pair when it is available in the late summer, is a big brother to the Motion 40 tower. Cable awg: 8.5 I am not a fan of previous ML speakers. Cables that change the sound are designed to suppress some portion of of the audio spectrum and they charge a good amount of money for the privilege. Martin Logan, the company best known for it’s electrostatic speaker designs, is now a subsidiary of Paradigm. As far as cable is concerned, itâs like upping the gauge to the wire, but if you are splitting the woofer and tweeter by removing the shorting straps at the speakers and connecting them back together at the amplifier, all you are really doing is moving the place where the woofer and tweeter are joined from the back of the speaker with just a very short, low-resistance strap to a long, higher resistance cable. My opinion backed by a Masters in EE. Even if you are stuck with the speakerâs built-in crossover, you will still get benefit if, for instance the two amplifiers you are using have vastly different sonic signatures. I have 12ga zip wire, Linn K400 single and biwire runs and Cardas Neutral Reference bi-wires. #7: Martin Logan Motion 60XT. Sign up for a new account in our community. Because it changes with frequency. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Like I said. If you really want the sound of Martin Logan’s electrostats, but want something in a smaller form factor, then look no further, go out and buy a pair of these. Cables that change the sound are designed to suppress some portion of of the audio spectrum and they charge a good amount of money for the privilege.Â. At the bottom of the cabinet is a Helmholtz resonator (a round -in this case- bass-reflex port with an internal pipe connected to it). The 35XTs have more in common with the Motion 15s when it comes to looks. If you have speaker cable that changes the sound of your speakers dramatically, then youâve bought cables that were designed to do so (like those hyper-expensive cables from the likes of MIT, with their in-line boxes which have controls on them). A lot of their success is due to the âemperorâs new clothesâ syndrome coupled with the fact that human aural perception is extremely suggestible. Going up the spectrum the aluminum coned midrange is clean and well balanced. So MartinLogan Motion 40, while being a pricier option, tends to get more favorable ⭐ reviews than the $689 Klipsch RP-8000F, as seen on the chart below. No doubt. John Bagby, who has always been active in Paradigm daily business, takes on the role of Managing Director. I will link the new thread here. But again, we are dealing with an AC signal so, no speaker cable is not going to affect the entire audio spectrum linearly. I know that there are many, very good speakers in the $2000.00 a pair range. The Motion 40 was not my initial pick when browsing for a system, considering Martin Logan's rich lore and reputation is focused on their electrostatic speakers. Martin Logan seems to have hit a nice balance with the [Motion 15s], the first speakers of their kind from Martin Logan, there is a lot to like here. The opinion often stated by "objectivists" is just to use 12ga from a hardware store does not hold. Meanwhile, Martin Logan Motion 40 is a step higher than Martin Logan Motion 20, and is the middle model of the series. This was confusing because the note on the packing slip told whoever was in charge of dispatching these speakers to me to be sure to see that they were run-in for 100 hours and inspected before they were sent out. Capacitance pf/ft: 117 It's easy! On my own recording with the âSan Jose California Symphony Orchestraâ under Georg Cleve of Ravelâs Daphnis et Chloe ballet, the triangle floating over the left side of the orchestra has a clarity and an other-worldly etherial quality that I have rarely heard on a speaker. But when I listened to them and realized how closely the Motion 40s reproduce that airy crystalized sound that Martin Logan … BB representative asked me to give a listen to the Martin Logan. Again, different brands of cables affect the speaker sound differently. ... Three speakers in the new Motion Series (the Motion 60XTi, 50XTi, and 35XTi) feature upgraded Folded Motion XT tweeters, which boast a 40% larger radiating surface than the standard model. The current Motion Series of non-ESL (dynamic-driver) speakers from ML encompasses some thirteen models ranging from bookshelf to floorstander, with the 60XT the premium offering. Lately, we are seeing a resurgence in people who are interested in larger, full range floorstanding speakers. Inductance uh/ft/loop: .034 Astrud Gilbertoâs vocal on The Girl From Ipanema from the âGetz/Gilbertoâ album on Verve (Catalog Number 80020749-02) has just the right balance with the guitar of her husband and Stan Getzâ tenor Saxophone has never sounded better. Every configuration sounded different; single run to tweeters with short K400 jumper cable to woofer, same except connected to woofers first, and finally biwired.Â. At a $2,000 price tag, the MartinLogan Motion 40 loudspeakers could be either. And secondly, the fact that one cable is better at, say, rejecting RF interference than the other is not part of the equation? I think he designs the cabinets more than the innards of his speakers because he was a truck driver before his speaker days. phase effects:Â, http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/audio-faqs/bi-wiring-speaker-cables, and IM effects: https://www.qacoustics.co.uk/blog/2016/06/08/bi-wiring-speakers-exploration-benefits/, Biwiring is in no way essential, but if I have speakers with dual terminals and biwire cables, I will definitely use them.Â. But unless you have access many different brands, models, and gauges of wire with which to experiment and some fancy measuring equipment, finding a combination that will improve the sound of one's speakers by attenuating peaks in the FR, for instance,  it's almost impossible to predict the results. MartinLogan Motion 40 are $200 more expensive than the average speakers ($499). The major point of my review was the AMT tweeter used in this diminutive speaker. Itâs just an incontrovertible fact of physics that if two interconnects sound different, itâs because the two cables are attenuating different portions of the audio spectrum and both are wrong. Mostly, with cable swaps, and bi-wiring schemes it's a crap shoot, and I have found that many audiophiles, impressed that the sound changes, automatically assume that it's a change for the better, whether it is or not because in their minds, different is always better. Soon I was marveling at how good these speakers actually sounded! Now youâve got the true advantages afforded by bi-amping! In most cases, it doesnât apply significantly to audio due to the lengths involved, coupled with the very low frequency band width of an audio signal. The sloped-top cabinets have nicely tapered corners so there’s not a sharp edge in sight, and the way the glossy black (or cherrywood) lacquer frames the brushed aluminium baffle oozes style. The IM and phase improvements vs. single wire are a bonus. Today we are going to compare the MartinLogan Motion 60XT, Motion 40, and Motion 20. The electrostatics are now all manufactured in Mississauga, Ontario and the Motion series are built in China. A phone conversation with Devin Zell of MartinLogan assured me that whatever run-in these speakers received at the factory, they undoubtedly needed more. This three-way system crosses over to the midrange at 500 Hz and to the AMT tweeter at a surprisingly low 2600 Hz. Though it was demmed with Peachtree amplification, the speaker suffered from the suboptimal room acoustics. Instead, the Motion series is a cone-based speaker system that employs Oskar Heilâs âAir Motion Transformerâ (AMT) technology for itâs high-frequency driver unit. In the end I decide for myself what I like best. Not saying he is not smart enough, his business acumen is stellar, but not sure of his engineering background. There is an exception to that. For instance, if you prefer the bass of a solid-state amp, you might want to put that on the woofer, but if you prefer the sweet open high-end often attributed to tubes, then you might want to use a good-sounding tube amp on the tweeter (perhaps even a low wattage SET). (A Motion 40 home theater setup is going to need a subwoofer.) Judging the value of a cable swap is best determined with extended listening time. There have been a review or two so far mentioning the 60xt's would benefit from Room Equalization software which is the reason for my inquiry on the amp used on this review. I had breakfast with him at AXPONA once. Believe me, this subject is neither rocket science nor magic. One can tell that, for instance, the brass is behind the woodwinds (and slightly higher in elevation) and the woodwinds are behind the violas and cellos. Most likely it will makes the speakers sound worse than they did with single wiring. Bi-wiring doesnât really do anything positive. They're in the top 3 bestselling speakers and have dozens of popular alternatives in the same price range, such as Klipsch RP-8000F or Klipsch Synergy F-200. On good headphones, the string bass is truly realistic and totally natural sounding. The AMT works on that principle. While ESS still makes speakers employing this technology (down to around 800 Hz), the patents have expired and many companies now build variations on this theme. The speaker uses the largest yet Folded Motion XT tweeter to come from MartinLogan, marrying it to a 6.5" midrange unit and a pair of 8" woofers. It has to take something away. But in any case, the amount that any speaker cable will affect a speakerâs sound will be minuscule, often less than a dB over any given frequency range. If you go back to July 2, 2019, you will find that this writer favorably reviewed a pair of the MartinLogan Motion 4i, and small, compact bookshelf/desktop speaker. Again, it is the AMT that does the honors. Every time I sat down to listen I noticed an improvement. The ‘XT’ stands for ‘extreme’ and the 35XT lives up to that moniker with a bigger 16.5cm aluminium cone driver (up from 13cm in the 15 mo… The 20i's 40 Hz low-frequency extension was apparent, ... • Check out our Floorstanding Speakers category page to read similar reviews. I donât think that changes the physics, do you? One can believe what one wants, but if one does the maths, they tell the story. The Cardas speaker cables, which I purchased second-hand, provide a complementary tonal balance, along with resolution that allows subtle depth details to come through. 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