Surround Speaker Selection: Motion 4 or Encore TF

Hi all,

As I'm sure most of you have seen by now, I'm soon to be the proud owner of a set of Martin Logan Summits.

For the short-term, they'll be serving me as 2-channel only, but within the next few months I plan on building an entire home theater around them.

I've decided on a Martin Logan Stage and Depth i to compliment the Summits, but am at a bit of a standstill with my choice of surround speakers.

I'd love to go all out and buy two sets of Script i's for my side and rear surrounds (and you never know, I might yet) but being as all of this is going into an existing room, the wiring of power to the speakers is a little daunting.

This leaves me with the option of Motion 4's or Encore TF's to serve the purpose.

Which would you recommend? Are there any clear advantages of one versus the other?

I can pick up the Encore TF's for $199 a piece, though retail is $500. Meanwhile the Motion 4's retail and are currently selling for $250 each.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Charlie

I have got both the Encore and the Motion 4s in one of my other systems.

The Motion 4s are amazing for their size and the money. I used them in place of Bose speakers where they had to be small to fit on a shelf on one side of the bedroom. I used Encore TF for center channel and it looks like, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the Encore TFs are being discontinued, hence the cheap price.

The Encores are significantly bigger than the Motion 4s and I would suspect they do a better job with bass. Motion 4s are not known for bass reproduction.

When you get the chance you should be able to hear them both side by side at Best Buy and if you exercise them enough it should be close but obvious which one you perfer. If you can take multi-channel music and MC Bluray so you can see how they handle discrete channels, that would be good.

Then close your eyes, make your choice, and enjoy.

FWIW, I use Vignettes for surrounds and they work very well.

Hocky said:

FWIW, I use Vignettes for surrounds and they work very well.

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Thanks for that.

Looks like the Vignettes and Encores are pretty similar. Encores go just a hair lower in frequency range, and the Vignettes have a swivel bracket for the wall, whereas the Encores sit flat.

I like the idea of the Encores, they look like good speakers.

Would still like to hear more though if anyone else would like to chime in.

I have the Encores for sides and surrounds and find them to have excellent clarity and mid-range. As for how they sit on the wall, a number of companies make tilt/swivel brackets that work very well (note my system pictures). The prices on the Encores cannot be beat right now. (I found them to a little weak as a center.)

I have the encores as surround and center and of course I say go with the encores. Im very happy with them as surounds but it seems a little bit recessed for me as a center. retail vs sale, I always go with sale. unless you absolutely, positively adore or need the retail merchandise

omntch said:

I have the Encores for sides and surrounds and find them to have excellent clarity and mid-range. As for how they sit on the wall, a number of companies make tilt/swivel brackets that work very well (note my system pictures). The prices on the Encores cannot be beat right now. (I found them to a little weak as a center.)

Click to expand...

I've checked out your photos/system a few times. Was curious what mounts you're using for the Encores doing surround?

Sorry you missed this post a little deeper in the thread on My System:

"The speaker mounts are Peerless Universal Speaker Mount #811 - Speaker Brackets. I picked them up at Amazon for under $25ea. Also included in the kit is an extension tube that pushes them even further from the wall if so desired. (They will support up to 20lbs.)"

There are a number of mounts available on the market, but after going over a few reviews I went with these and am very pleased.

Sorry about that, I hadn't read quite that far down yet.

How do those mounts attach to the Encore? You don't need to make any new holes do you?

Several threaded connecting rods are provided. No mods to the Encore were needed. I just found a stud and attached. You can then adjust the position and lock in place. In that the Encores are light enough, you can also use plaster-wall anchors if a stud is not convenient.