Montis review

September issue of Stereophile contains quite the rave.

Question. Given ML's recent panel replacement cost actions, how does this impact forum members reaction to the review?

GG

Quality counts.

It would be nice to see longer warranties and perhaps extended warranty opportunity.

I am not sure many prospective buyers worry too much about a possible problem greater then 10 years in the future.

While we are not sure about the current level of service, past reputation serves well .


J

40% fail within 10 years - or thereabouts according to the poll conducted here.

Poll based on small numbers over many models and selective audience may not be accurate . Truly hard to get a clear picture of expected longevity of well cared newer models.

Best for Martin Logan to extend their warranty to 10 years.

I still do not think this issue will affect sales if the reviews are truly very good and the sound correlates with the reviews for the prospective buyer.


J

jmschnur said:

Poll based on small numbers over many models and selective audience may not be accurate . Truly hard to get a clear picture of expected longevity of well cared for newer models.

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True but there is NOTHING else to go on.

What makes me wonder is the high % of 19+ years. Were the older models better?

Definition of "longevity" is also in the ear of the beholder except for functional failures which would be unambiguous.

Very hard to get a handle on this and how ML panels longevity and their replacement costs compare with other speakers of various designs.

Getting my B&W 801 matrix up to grade cost me 5K two years ago . Surrounds on the woofers and capacitors on the xovers needed to be replaced .


Joel

Also interesting to note that this is the first ML speaker review to appear in this magazine for years.

Gordon Gray said:

Also interesting to note that this is the first ML speaker review to appear in this magazine for years.

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Yes. VERY interesting...

$$$$ a factor or is Stereophile independent?

J

Word has it that the previous ML "powers" refused to send any product to the magazine because of a "bad" review that appeared years ago.

Well this one is certainly quite good. I just read it.


Joel

Simple fact is Stereophile usally only reviews products that pay for advertising in their mag'Open the first page and a huge ad for the ML montis.That gets you in the front door.Good review also by the way.

When was the last time anyone read a negative review in Stereophile? Just sayin' . . .

I'm sure the Montis is a great speaker, but it isn't like it is anything new or different than ML has been doing the last few years. I seriously doubt there is meaningful difference in sound between the Montis and the Spire, for instance. Truth is, they are the exact same speaker, but the Montis has a slightly higher crossover point and has DSP added (which I think is nothing more than a marketing gimmick in this particular application. All it does is process the low pass filter "digitally"). And for that small addition, they raised the price $1500 over the price of the Spire! I guess Stereophile probably neglected to mention that.

Before one can say that the spire and Monits are equal one would have to listen to both in the mid bass region in the same room . the claim is that the Monits crossover provides a better blend than the Spire.

Both are excellent speakers and of course the Spire is no longer being manufactured.

I have listened to both. Montis sounded smoother in this region but hard to make a definitive call.

Stereophile has knocked speakers in some of its previous reviews by the way. One has to look at nuanced phrases to find the poor reviews.

Yes jmschnur'You are so right.You have to read in between the lines to find the negatives.Like politicians.
Over all he did a great job in the review.Lots of good info about ML in general.

jmschnur said:

I have listened to both. Montis sounded smoother in this region but hard to make a definitive call.

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My point exactly: very little discernible difference between the two, for a $1500 jack in the price. I bet if ML hadn't said a thing about the DSP in their marketing, no one would even notice the supposed smoother blend between woofers and panel when comparing the two. Right now, the Spire is one of the best values in HiFi if you can find a new pair on clearance.

Rich said:

I guess Stereophile probably neglected to mention that.

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exactly Rich, in fact unless I missed something there was no comparison to the Spire at all. With that being said I thought the review was fair at best, typical Stereophile....tons of BS (except for JA's portin) and little substance. Any review worth it's salt would have made mention and comparison to the speaker of which replaced, given supposed design differences, that would have been a no-brianer.

As for M/L and stereophile 'back together', look no further than inside the front cover..........M/L add for the Montis

There is a British review that made some favorable comparisons (tone).

I really do not think that it is wrong to raise prices on a replacement product. The market will adjust as time goes on. Good discounts on the Montis were available this year in keeping with the prices one could get for the Spire a few years ago.


J

I may be wrong but I think this is the first time I've seen ML advertise in this magazine for a long time.

Comparisons between the two models? They never reviewed the Spire.

GG

jmschnur said:

There is a British review that made some favorable comparisons (tone).

I really do not think that it is wrong to raise prices on a replacement product.


J

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Almost a 20% price increase for what is virtually an identical speaker? You and I have a very different idea of what is right and wrong.