Upgrading and considering Martin Logan's

I am sure that this a very biased community. But I was curious for some honest opinion.

I wanted to treat myself and update my office stereo system. I have an 5.1 sound system in my office from long ago. I play some movies and various game but the majority of my time I just listen to music while I work. I have always like Martin Logan speakers but my office isn't a huge space and I am not sure that they will sound great if the room isn't ideal. My office is about 17 feet wide, and only about 7.5 feet deep. Visual is below... the room is actually a rectangle there is a closet that I could remove.

Anyway. My current speakers are [cough] old Bose 301 Series iii that I purchased when I was in High School. Now that I am 30+ and I would like to treat myself so something nice. From what I understand you spend almost all of your 30-40's just working anyway.

My main concern about ML is that I sit about 4 feet away from the speakers. There's about 2' behind the left Speaker and about 6" behind the right side. (Again... I could make the room symmetrical by removing the closet.) Eitherway, it's only about 7' on either side of me to the walls. I would love to get a pair of Spire's or Vantage's but I am not sure if it's worth the money. I don't want to get the ML just for bragging rights or for the brand, I want them to sound nice in the room. I am not an Audiophile but I do love my music. The Spires do seem great, the extra cost of the Spire's is acceptable. I am drawn towards the 10" woofer so that I can really get the lower range. Plus, I would rather make the correct purchase once...

Despite my crummy speakers I do have a B&K 507 Receiver which I have been told works nicely with the ML's.

So, is it worth the money? Or would I just be burning cash on great speakers that are totally foo-bared by a poor listening space?

IMO and since I don't know what your 'serious' listening set-up consist of, but regardless I'd say put your money there. From what you described putting Spires and or Vantages into the office enviroment you have is a waste of $$.

Yeah. I was guessing that. Sadly, my office is the only 'serious' listening environment in the house.

Thanks for your honesty.

Infinite said:

Yeah. I was guessing that. Sadly, my office is the only 'serious' listening environment in the house.

Thanks for your honesty.

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Can you play with the position of your desk and the rest of the furniture? I think you could get a pleasant sound out of standmount speakers and a sub. Perhaps consider professional monitors as they are designed for nearfield positioning.

I agree with Twich54 - ML in your office environment would probably be disappointing.

Kevin

Sorry, that's insufficient space for any of the ML models to really perform well.

For a setup like that, I'd recommend looking a sub/sat system.

My first recommendation is to audition the Kef XQ series. These have amazing imaging thanks to their coincident driver setup.
The XQ20 plus your choice of sub would make an awesome config.

If you like really big soundstages and freedom to move around the room and not have the imaging collapse, then the Mirage Omnipolar series is my other frequent recommendation. I use these in secondary systems and love them.

JonFo said:

Sorry, that's insufficient space for any of the ML models to really perform well.

For a setup like that, I'd recommend looking a sub/sat system.

My first recommendation is to audition the Kef XQ series. These have amazing imaging thanks to their coincident driver setup.
The XQ20 plus your choice of sub would make an awesome config.

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JonFo, thanks for the advice. The KEF XQ Series look very nice. I was curious if there was a rhyme to the reasoning behind going from an KEF XQ20, to a XQ30, vs the XQ40. I am all in favor of doing a smaller system if it will sound better. Maybe I just need to a explanation of what makes a XQ system better in a small space.

Thanks again for your help.

The Kef dealer was actually only a couple blocks away and the owner took about an hour showing me the various speakers. I really liked the Kef's and I ended up ordering the XQ10's. The owner felt that the XQ20's would still be too large for the space I have. The shop will allow any upgrade or downgrade with in 1 year of the purchase.

Good stuff. Please post how they work out for you. People will be interested in getting a system to work in an awkward space.

Kevin

Infinite said:

The Kef dealer was actually only a couple blocks away and the owner took about an hour showing me the various speakers. I really liked the Kef's and I ended up ordering the XQ10's. The owner felt that the XQ20's would still be too large for the space I have. The shop will allow any upgrade or downgrade with in 1 year of the purchase.

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Congrats on the new speakers!

I had recommended the 20 for it's larger mid/bass driver, basically the same unit as the XQ40, but a smaller desk / stand mount cabinet.

The 10 is a very good unit as well, and again, in that small space should great.

Cheers

JonFo said:

Congrats on the new speakers!
The 10 is a very good unit as well, and again, in that small space should great.
Cheers

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I figure that I can always trade up to the 20's or I could use the 10's as Rears and get 20's. The dealer has them on order and we're going to do a side by side comparison with the Q20's which they did have in stock. The concern was that the larger speakers would still over power the space. The XQ20 and XQ10 are all ported so from what I gather it should be very easy to point them and get the desired result.

I should have them by the end of the week.

Infinite said:

I am sure that this a very biased community. But I was curious for some honest opinion.

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Even though we are highly biased towards "our brand" there is a lot of integrity around here, which has apparently worked in your favor. Stick around, things change. Perhaps someday you will find the space for a nice pair of Logans!

DrJRapp said:

Even though we are highly biased towards "our brand" there is a lot of integrity around here, which has apparently worked in your favor. Stick around, things change. Perhaps someday you will find the space for a nice pair of Logans!

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Well said! :rocker:

DrJRapp said:

Even though we are highly biased towards "our brand" there is a lot of integrity around here, which has apparently worked in your favor. Stick around, things change. Perhaps someday you will find the space for a nice pair of Logans!

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+2. I have people ask me all the time about what equipment would work for them. I don't automatically say MLs when it comes to speakers because no two combinations of listening habits, setups, budgets, and other factors are exactly alike.