Decisions, decisions. ESL, Theos or Ethos?

Well, I believe the time has come to sell my B&W CM9's. Haven't had them long, but made the mistake of demoing some Electromotion ESL's at Best Buy. Despite being placed right up against the wall and probably with less than stellar electronics, I was blown away. Surprisingly, more so with movies than music. They played a Transformers 2 scene which I'm very familiar with. Holy cow, it was like Optimus Prime and Megatron were breathing in the same room with me. Never heard anything so clear.

Now I need to decide which model to buy. The ESL's sounded great to me and I'm sure I'd be happy with them. But eventually I would like to get a center and keep everything electrostat, would it be weird to get a $3k Stage X with $1k ESL towers? Are the Theos and Ethos worth over 2 to 3 times the price?

I only have two reservations with Martin Logan. One is the smaller sweet spot issue. Is the sweet spot that much bigger with the larger panels on the Theos/Ethos? The second is it seems some people are having problems down the line with their woofers or panels. Should I be worried about this? I don't mind spending $5-6k on speakers...if they last. If I'm going to have to worry about replacing parts down the line I'd rather get the cheaper ESL's.

Also it seems like the Ethos aren't in showrooms or available online as much as the Theos. Is there a reason why? Are they not worth the extra money so they're not as popular?

Lastly, where should I buy? In the B&W world, it seems most people can get 20% off, even at authorized dealers. Is this the same with Martin Logan, or are discounts not common? If that's the case I will probably buy from Magnolia.

I have theos and love them. I have a separate sub but I find quite often I don't need to turn it in when watching music.

For movie viewing:
Do you have a sub?
How powerful is your amp?
What are the dimensions of your room?

I find a small tweak- extra few inches from the wall, a bit nor toe in, gives me the impression I'm in the action, as you suggested.

My buddy, who is a dealer, told me to go with the theos. He has never steamed me wrong - I believe he was right again...

Chib

My bad, not "watching" music.... Listening to music. Gotta love typing on an iPhone....

No sub yet, currently in a one bedroom apartment. Will be moving to a house in a year or two and will definitely get a premium $1500+ sub, probably SVS, PSA or Martin Logan.

Currently have a Denon 3313 I will be running them on, but probably within a few months will get a pair of Emotiva XPA-1's or at least an XPA-2.

Dimensions of room are 13.5' x 21', I sit about half way of the 21 part.

Do about 75% movies/25% music. Leaning more towards the Theos/Ethos rather than the ESL. Is the powered amps in the Ethos mostly for music? Will there be a difference over the Theos in movies when I also get a sub?

If you are thinking of a sub, buy the Ethos. You won't need a sub - even for movies. The Denon AVR-3313 will be a lot happier with the Ethos as well, because it only has to drive the panels.

I'm still in the process of running in a pair of ESL's but having heard all of the above, I decided that the ESL's gave 90% of the performance of the more expensive speakers for a fraction of the cost. I believe the only real advantage is to more advanced bass implementations however the ESL's certainly work very well in my room and have basically given me a brand new pair of Aerius only better!
I don't feel the need for a sub (and I have an REL to hand if required) then again these are for music not film -I use a dedicated setup with Kef eggs for that.
Good luck whatever you decide!

Actually ended up ordering gloss black Theos, hopefully will be here in a couple weeks. I agree that the ESL is the best bang for the buck and not sure if I could tell the difference in a blind test between it and higher end models. But I like the bigger sweet spot of the bigger panels.

I didn't think the Ethos would be worth it for me since I plan on getting a sub later and also for some weird reason they don't come in gloss black.

wardth, what kind of amp/receiver are you running with the ESL's?

I am currently with the same dilemma. I have a pair of Magnepans 1.6QR, a Denon AVR-4520 (as pre processor) and a Emotiva XPA-2 as power amplifier. I will be using them mostly for 2 channel stereo on a 20' x 16' room. Occasionally I will be using them also as front speakers on my 7.1 setup that includes a Magnepan center speaker, REL Storm III subwoofer and BSA surrounds.

Two weeks ago I auditioned a pair of Electromotions in a Miami dealer (great dealer by the way, very informative) and was quite surprised with audio quality of those speakers... comparing to my 1.6's. Since my room is a bit bigger than the one I auditioned the speakers, I am not sure what would be the benefits of getting the Theos instead.

Could you please provide me some guidance regarding comparing the Theos and the Electromotions? Is the difference worth it for that room size? I usually listen to music (mostly Jazz and classic rock) at moderate to low volumes.

Any input would be welcome... Thanks in advance.

I have a pair of ethos and they sound great. The powered woofer on the ethos makes a huge difference on the ethos over the theos when watching movies or music (believe it or not). In your big room, I would recommend the ethos. They're only $1500 more than the theos, well worth it.

asaraiva, I got the Theos last week and love them. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the models. I got the Theos mostly because of the bigger panel over the ESL, but who knows if the sweet spot is that much bigger. The ESL is a great deal for $2,200, probably the best bang for the buck.

mamba24, how are you liking the Ethos? I mainly chose the Theos cause I plan on getting a good quality sub later and thought the money was better spent there. Plus $5k is already more than I thought I'd ever spend for a speaker. That and the Ethos doesn't come in gloss black.

The ethos are incredible. I have a descent i sub and that thing is a BEAST. My Magnolia Design Center rep came and adjusted the ethos for bass and my sub. He also positioned the descent i and ethos and the sweet spot is definitely bigger and more open. The bass is now tighter and more low end with the adjustments he made to both the descent i and the ethos. Couldn't be happier. The Stage X is also incredible.

Nice. I'm not sure if I will go for a Descent i, or save some money and get a Rythmik or Seaton yet. Or wait for the new ML subs at the end of this year.

Mamba24 and SubSolar, thank you very much for the feedback. I am now planning to get either the Theos or the Ethos. Since I already have a REL Storm III sub, I am not sure I which of the two would be better suited for me. Even if you had already a sub, do you still think the Ethos is worth it?

I will try to listen to both but that dealer only had Electromotions and Ethos in stock so I will have to look elsewhere in order to audition the Theos.

Are you here in California?

asaraiva said:

Mamba24 and SubSolar, thank you very much for the feedback. I am now planning to get either the Theos or the Ethos. Since I already have a REL Storm III sub, I am not sure I which of the two would be better suited for me. Even if you had already a sub, do you still think the Ethos is worth it?

I will try to listen to both but that dealer only had Electromotions and Ethos in stock so I will have to look elsewhere in order to audition the Theos.

Click to expand...

I went with the Theos cause they came in gloss black and a little cheaper. With the extra money I saved I plan on getting a Seaton Submersive F2 sub. Also I figure I will add a hi power amp later, if you are just going to run off a lower powered AVR forever, perhaps the Ethos would be better served cause the amp for the woofer will take some of the power burden off. The Ethos crossover is set lower so you get more range out of the panel. However, I don't consider myself to have golden ears and at the end of the day, I'm not sure if I could tell the difference if you swapped my Theos for the Ethos and didn't tell me.

Of course, the Ethos are only $1800 more than the Theos. But then again, the Montis isn't much more than the Ethos for a much bigger panel...it never ends, lol. The last couple of speakers I bought were in the $2k-3k range so $5k was already way more than I'm used to.

mamba24 said:

Are you here in California?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm in Irvine. Here's a pic of my new Theos:

I have a pr. of Theos. Love them. Depending on your electronics and financial situation, I might suggest saving the extra dollars and putting that money to upgrading electronics or interconnects or stands. All of those factors will play a role in the final product.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?14619-System-461-(Theos)

Thank you once again, ktchnman and SubSolar. I think I will go for the Theos as I am already powering my mains using an Emotiva XPA-2 and, as mentioned before, already have the REL sub.

I will post pictures as soon as I have them at home.

Facing similar decision. I've already decided on Theos over the ESL due to unacceptable beaming of the ESLs with limited sweet spot. Considering the Ethos but I already have a ML Dynamo 700 and wonder if the Ethos has anything more to offer (have no showroom her in NJ that stocks Ethos) than better bass. If not, then I'll save myself about $1800. Also have a McIntosh amp- 300 wts/ch which seems well suited for the Theos. Any comments...

asaraiva - Theos over Electromotions is a good decision if you can spare the $$$. With the Theos you get that little bit more of everything - but sometimes it's hard to tell from a 5 minute comparison at a hi fi store (I owned a pair of Theos for 18 months and and only sold them for the Montis). You will find the Denon 4520 will run the Theos extremely well and you probably won't need the separate power amp unless you have a big room. I ran my Theos speakers with a Denon 3313 and it was only when I listened at very high levels did the amp start to protest. The REL Storm is a superb sub. It will sound great with the Theos.