Preface vs Motion

New member looking for ML advise. I'm not an audio junky but do appreciate quality products and research all of my purchases which can be frustrating at times. Listening is 75% music and 25% HT in a large open concept, high ceiling living area.

Started building a system last year with Yammy amp, Klipsh fronts and Polk center and stopped in BB to demo sub. Purchased the ML D500 and while there listened a variety of speakers but the combination of Motion 10, Motion 4 and Encore center blew me away. Decided to ditch my current speakers and go ML. Planned on Motion 10 fronts but then found Preface on Amazon for $299 ea vs $439 ea for M10's.

Not much on this forum regarding Motion performance, especially compaired to Preface. What would you choose?

Probably not too many people on this forum have heard the Motions, since they just came out. Ultimately, the Motions are probably an evolution of what ML learned from creating the Preface and other ATF speakers. So you would expect that they may be a little better-designed. For the mere $280/pair difference in price, I think I would go with the latest technology. I haven't heard either speaker though, so all of this is merely conjecture.

If it was me, I would forget them both and pick up a lightly used pair of sources for near the same money. I have demo's M12 to sources and the sources were way better (except a little bit lighter on bass).

Thanks for your replies. I've heard the electrostatic speakers and agree they are superior, but thought they were more directional with a very small sweet spot... great for movies but not music in a poorly designed large room.

When I was at BB buying my ML sub, I asked the Magnolia tech what he would play to really impress someone, thus the ML combo mentioned above. Even though they are entry ML's, they sounded better than the Klipsch and DT at a much higher cost.

The point I'm trying to make is I need to stay entry level or my sub, amp, house etc have to be upgraded to fully appreciate high end audio.

Sources will work just fine for HT and for music. When you set them up, you should set them up for proper music listening and then dial everything else in around that set up. The only down side to buying the sources is that you'll really need to spend more money on the center channel, too, so that it matches more appropriately.

I use an Encore as my center and it works well enough between the Aerius i's. I will likely upgrade to a 'proper' matching center at some point but I don't find it as bad as I thought it might.

Welcome to the group, the following link is to write up Tim (Mitt) and I did on Motion setups M/L gave us to demo this past winter............

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11436

Former contibutor 'TonePub' did a nice little write up in his web based magazine as well.

Thanks everyone for input. I've ruled out the electrostatic because of the limited sweet spot. Need something to fill all areas of the room. Doesn't seem like there are many Preface owners on here but I'm interested in feedback on pro's/con's. Thanks again.

Twich - sent you a PM.

Honestly, that is a really bad reason to rule them out. Off axis listening is not bad, it is just that the sweet spot is really good.... this will be the case with any pair of good speakers. A huge number of people here use electrostatics for theater use. Give them a fair listen if you've got the budget.

That said, a lot of people enjoy the preface. I've never heard them, so I can't comment.

Hocky said:

Honestly, that is a really bad reason to rule them out. Off axis listening is not bad, it is just that the sweet spot is really good.... this will be the case with any pair of good speakers. A huge number of people here use electrostatics for theater use. Give them a fair listen if you've got the budget.

That said, a lot of people enjoy the preface. I've never heard them, so I can't comment.

Click to expand...

I've heard the source and they were incredible in the sweet spot but didn't demo them off axis compaired to M12's to see how much was lost in highs. If I were to entertain used Source, where would I find them and how much is a decent price?

Check out www.audiogon.com. I would guess that you should be able to find a pair for about $1k.

The sweet spot maybe isn't huge but it is pretty good and in a normal room works great. Its the center that needs the wider dispersion then the mains in a theater set up.

About a yr ago with my very limited budget, I was deciding 5.1 set-up with preface and encores vs 2.1 set-up with source for HT and a bit of music. I went with preface because it was more important for me to fill my room with sound. Although Im still very happy with my purchase, I cant help but wonder from time to time if I did the right move. The preface is great but the source has that distinct sound when in the sweet spot. Take your time and enjoy.

Preface Opinion

I was in the same sort of position as you a couple of years ago.

I started with the Preface from BB for the front pair. I really
like them, but my Denon receiver strained a little pushing them.
(They opened up more with an out board amp).

However, like others have mentioned I became enthralled with the
sound of electrostats. Magnolia doesn't do them justice with their
setup, they need better amps. After perusing AudiogoN, I bought a
pair of immaculate Requests at a great price.
I'm using them bi-amped in the front, with the Prefaces in the back/
side. With the Cinema in the center, the sound is seamless for music
and home theater.
The Requests have a sweet spot, but is not too narrow once positioned
properly. The sweet spot with music is fantastic ( in my chair-of course!)
but with company over, movies sound pretty good just about anywhere.

I guess what I'm eluding to is, you can start out with Preface/Motion,
and expand later.

Upgradeitis is part of this hobby!

Good Luck:music:

Seems the consensus is to go electrostatic or I'll regret it down the road. Needless to say, I'm in way over my head and after reading other posts I lack the knowledge to make even a remotely decent decision. I'm running a Yamaha RX-V665 which, from the sounds of it, will not be enough to push Preface or Electrostatic and I have no plans to upgrade any time soon. A possibility is to keep the Klipsch WB-14 bookshelfs as fronts and supplement them with a pair of Motion 4 and add a set in the rear. I could use Motion 8 as a center. That way I can upgrade amp and fronts later.

Before I make decision, I'll take the wife to BB for a ML demo because she can be more objective.

Preface vs. Motion vs. Source.

What about Electro-Motion? (Just in case things weren't complicated enough.)

I'd get a set of used electro stats for the mains and use your klipchse for the rear surrounds. For the center use a motion or encore and upgrade later if you need to. Your yammie should be ok with that load if you don't push it to extreme volumes though as always a dedicated power amp would help get the most out of the speakers.