Hello From Iraq

Hello,
I have been looking at ML speakers for awhile now.
All the reviews I find are from some audio snob eating cheese and sipping wine listing to Nora Jones. I will tend to play music like..Primus, Beasty Boys Some very hard death metal or Gangster rap. With some Nora Jones tossed in there. in general how do Electrostatic Speakers sound when playing more *Harder* Music? Im in Iraq Now (US ARMY) so I cant run out and test speakers. Ill be home in July and I want my new speakers waiting for me. I have plenty of power. Sunfire 200x5 and a Modified Carver M1.0t My center speaker is a Linn AV 5120. Polk LSI-15 are my mains now. but if I get the ML's they will become my back.
Do you think the ML will be a good fit for me? Im Looking at a set of Source.

Thank you
Chad

If you can't get out and listen to speakers then forget the purchase until you can. Unless you're loaded and you can afford to make expensive mistakes based on the opinions of others in internet forums.

I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but it is the truth. Sorry.

I understand. In General do they play Rock/Heavy Metal well. Im doing my second deployment and Ill be going again 5 months after i get home. I have way more Money than time at home. And knowing I have toys waiting for my at home gives me something to look forward to.

Put it this way - I've got Vistas and I certainly enjoy rock and heavy metal on my speakers. That's not to say that they are the best for that genre for any given amount of money. For what it's worth, my main preference is jazz - and I guess that includes Norah Jones!

You really need to hear your own music on the speakers and compare to others to make the decision. If you like hi-fi, instead of the joy of "toys" waiting for you, personally I'd find the joy of a day at a hi-fi shop choosing appropriate speakers even more enjoyable. So why not look forward to that?

You would most likely get better performance for that Genera of music with a cone driven speaker. To listen to Death Metal at low volumes and not get the pounding bass you should get is pointless. Martin Logans are as clean as a speaker your going to get but may not fit your taste. JMHO

look into a good sub and a good monitor speaker

Hi Chad,

First off, Thank you for your service!

Now, You could have a rockin' ML system with that Sunfire 200X5. I'd try to get a good deal on some used Vistas and bi-amp them and get a good sub like a Depth i powered sub. That would be very close to the system I was using up until Friday and Yes it kicks mucho A$$ on everything from Hendrix to Diana Krall.

Keep yer head down Bro. and put together a Rockin" M.L. system...

Satch

Chad,

Thank you for your service!!

that is a tough question.

If you understand the ML speaker you will understand the problem with rock and roll.
First of all a lot of rock and roll is recorded for sizzle and boom. Played through logans this could be very hard on your ears.
Second the logans work by suspending a Mylar diaphragm between two stators. If you push 'em you can actually hear them slap up against the stator.
Third the logans are fairly inefficient.That means a high powered amp to play loud.
They don't do bass very loud.
If you are hooked on dipoles the Magnepan may a better choice. They are designed to play loud.
All that said I am Hendrix fan and I have been able to make the logans boogie(with dual subs of course).

Finally IMO for rock there is no substitute for an efficient dynamic(cone) speaker with a solid state amp(Gerhman Songram with Simm Audio Integrated I7}.

Chad,

Thanks for your service, there is not much we can do to repay you for your service but if you want a kick butt system that will blow your friends away then let's give it a shot.

First you could go on Audiogon and locate a pair of Summits. They can be had for less than 6 grand. Then locate a Descent i or two Depth i subwoofers. You can locate and negotiate a sale and then have someone stateside take delivery for you.

Your Sunfire will drive them fine and if not you can always sell your Sunfire on Audiogon and get a Sunfire 5400 or 7400 for less than 2500 dollars.

Now once you get this put together you will need a universal disc player and you can spend anywhere from 200 dollars for an Oppo on up to a McCormack UDP-1 for 2K it just depends on what you want out of it.

But suffice to say when you get back and hook this bad boy up and put a DVD audio or SACD disc on, this system will rock your world in 5.1 surround sound. It will give you and your friends a new experience every time you play something on it. It will play rock and roll and anything else you throw at it.:devil:

Chad , like the others I thank you for your service young man.

I have a rather old pair of ML Sequel II that I use you can get similar ones on audiogon between 1000 to 1500 dollars they are not the newest ML technology but I drive mine with the exact same sunfire you have I bi-amp them with 200 to the woofer and 200 to each panel the spare channel drives my center channel and I run the surrounds with my pioneer elite TX94 surround reciever and a big SVS subwoofer

for 2 channel listening i use a parasound preamp with theater bypass and while it will not hit the decibels of some big Dynamic speakers it is loud enough to play rock and roll at pretty high levels of volume I am not a Rap fan but it can play Mary J and Usher with enough volume to make anyone happy ( these are both recorded with heavy bass)

anyway this may be a cheap way to get a pair of ML to try and not have too much money tied up in them in case they are not your cup of tea and if you dont like them you will be most likley able to sell them for at least what you paid for them

keep out of harms way, Larry

As a former employee of a hifi dealer that carried both polk and Logan, I feel I can offer some perspective on your current conundrum. To begin, that notion that Logan's do a disservice to rock and Hip-hop is vastly overblown. The last two CD I played at room shaking levels on my Vantages where Dark Side of the Moon, and Eminem's relapse. That being said, I have client's, who had issue's with larger room's, greater volume levels (i needed earplugs), and incefiecent amplification (all at the same time). On that note the Logan's will expose many of the flaws on your recordings (especially compressed music) that the Polk's merely passed over. I will say, in my honest opinion, the source is not the speaker for you. Given your musical taste, and having had hundreds of hours with every speaker in the Logan line, I would sugest a model with built in amplifaction for the woofer. It gives low frequency's far greater dynamics and takes a big load off your amp. Look at the Vantage, Spire, or go all the way with a Summit (older models like Prodigy, and Odyssey are fine too).

Second, i would not waste freestanding Logan's as rears. When switching from the Logan's to the Polk's on our board, you immediately noticed with any music track that going to the Logan's sounded like a filter had been removed from in front of the music; the Polk sounded muddy and lifeless by comparison. Anyone who didn't mind the extra expense quickly overlooked the Polk (Both the LSI15, and there base happy big brother the LSI25). Your always put the stars of your system in front. Not to mention the Polk's have much greater sound dispersion than the Logan's and as a result, suffer less from any obtrusion (furniture, etc) that speakers in the rear of the room are more likely to have to overcome than fronts. If looking for freestanding rears to complement your Polk's, I would suggest Polk's RTI line, as they are some of the best sub $1000 speakers (pair) I have ever heard. One last point if I may. In the LSI's price range I much prefer Focal's chorus line (800 series) for traditional cone speakers. The high's are more open and bass is tighter. Those have been reviewed by nearly every publication (streophile, Sound and Vision, and a few others)

Thank you for your service and I hope I was of help

For the most part, hard rock n roll is not Martin Logan's forte. Not that it doesn't sound good. They will not match the dynamics and drive of Klipsch floorstanders. Like horns they are very revealing as to what's a head of them. They also sound good with tube amps, and the hybrids can break the apartment lease with a sub, and moderate power. Thanks for serving, and come back alive and well, my friend.

hotroady said:

For the most part, hard rock n roll is not Martin Logan's forte. Not that it doesn't sound good. They will not match the dynamics and drive of Klipsch floorstanders. Like horns they are very revealing as to what's a head of them. They also sound good with tube amps, and the hybrids can break the apartment lease with a sub, and moderate power. Thanks for serving, and come back alive and well, my friend.

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Not True!

I play Metallica, Mastodon, Audioslave, Snoop Dogg, you name it at brain damage levels with my CLX's. You might need a better amp than the carver, but if you've got the juice, these speakers will really rock out.

Everyone that has ever come in my door telling me panels cant rock out, leaves with a different perspective, including a few MartinLogan reps!

Stay safe dude!

I went from the Polk R50, to the Polk Monitor 70, to the Martin Logan Source, and currently the Martin Logan Vista. I agree with what Rvega003 said, it was like a filter was lifted from the music. The Polk Monitor 70s were fine; they could play loud and I have no complaints. When I made the move over to the Martin Logan line, it changed the way I listened to music. It moved me to listen to my music all over again to see what I was missing. Music now had depth and width. Instruments and vocals had a finite location. Music was no longer a something that I passively listened to, these speakers made me want to sit down, close my eyes, and analyze what I was listening to. If that is something that interested you, the reward is well worth the investment.

tonepub said:

Not True!

I play Metallica, Mastodon, Audioslave, Snoop Dogg, you name it at brain damage levels with my CLX's. You might need a better amp than the carver, but if you've got the juice, these speakers will really rock out.

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Aw man - and I thought you kept the volume low to maintain that 19KHz hearing at over 50...

Looks like you're a rocker after all

I think it's safe to say that your music taste will become broader after living with Martin Logans as you discover how good they make all forms of music sound.

If you crave something loud and full of cone breaking distortion, get a PA system and rock out in your basement.

Panel speakers in general can't recreate distortion of over driven cone drivers (as experienced at some local live venues) unless it's encoded in the original recording.

The heavy meat on the bones (no air) dense (compact and compressed) sound of box systems may be the sonic color you like today, but the fact you are considering and asking about M/L speakers means you might know there is something better out there than the box/cone.

tonepub said:

I play Metallica, Mastodon, Audioslave, Snoop Dogg, you name it at brain damage levels with my CLX's.

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You may want to reconsider that. I experienced extreme tinnitus for about a month and then it went away. And I have always jealously guarded my hearing - no headbanger music, which I dislike anyway. It sounded like someone was grinding metal next to my ears. I found out what desperation was then.

Tinnitus does not go away when it is a result of listening to music at ear-damaging levels.

tonepub said:

Not True!

I play Metallica, Mastodon, Audioslave, Snoop Dogg, you name it at brain damage levels with my CLX's. You might need a better amp than the carver, but if you've got the juice, these speakers will really rock out.

Everyone that has ever come in my door telling me panels cant rock out, leaves with a different perspective, including a few MartinLogan reps!

Stay safe dude!

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like I said, true for the most part. exception to every rule.

repman said:

Chad , like the others I thank you for your service young man.

I have a rather old pair of ML Sequel II that I use you can get similar ones on audiogon between 1000 to 1500 dollars they are not the newest ML technology but I drive mine with the exact same sunfire you have I bi-amp them with 200 to the woofer and 200 to each panel the spare channel drives my center channel and I run the surrounds with my pioneer elite TX94 surround reciever and a big SVS subwoofer

for 2 channel listening i use a parasound preamp with theater bypass and while it will not hit the decibels of some big Dynamic speakers it is loud enough to play rock and roll at pretty high levels of volume I am not a Rap fan but it can play Mary J and Usher with enough volume to make anyone happy ( these are both recorded with heavy bass)

anyway this may be a cheap way to get a pair of ML to try and not have too much money tied up in them in case they are not your cup of tea and if you dont like them you will be most likley able to sell them for at least what you paid for them

keep out of harms way, Larry

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Chad, Honestly, I think you will find this more the norm with ML's unless you go megabuck. Lots of people use Sunfire amps with ML's.

I was going to recommend the same thing, Hotroady. I run my Sequel 2's with two Depth subs in my 18'x22' room to very high SPLs. Megadeth hammering out the riffage at near front-row-of-the-concert volume levels may not be good for the hearing, but it's a hoot...

MLs for metal ? Two thumbs up, especially with a sub(s).

~VDR