Robonaut
Active member
I've been looking for new speakers for my home theater for the past few weeks. Yesterday, I was at a B&W dealer listening to the 600 and 700 series speakers. In the same room with these were a pair of MartinLogan Clarities. Since everything was hooked up to the same equipment, I figured "What the hell", hit the little speaker select switch for them, and sat down to listen.
I soon forgot all about buying B&Ws.
These speakers sounded absolutely beautiful, completely outclassing the B&W 703s, which are pretty similar in price.
So, now I'm thinking that MartinLogans may be the speaker for me--I haven't really considered electrostatics before, though, so I'm not too familiar with them. I'm hoping you kind folks could help me with some questions.
(1) Based on what I've read so far on the Internet, planar speakers have a reputation for having a narrow sweet spot. I certainly noticed a large change in the sound when I stood up from the listening chair. The MartinLogan literature claims that they have solved the problem of a narrow sweet spot in the horizontal axis by curving the speakers. Is this true, or are they still difficult to appreciate when you're seated off-axis?
(2) Another problem that planar speakers supposedly have is that they are difficult to set up--is this true for MartinLogans?
(3) Yet another supposed problem of planar speakers is that they need a lot of power to sound good. I'm currently using a Harman-Kardon DPR-2005. Supposedly this receiver can output 200w*7 into 4 ohms--would that be enough for the Clarities?
(4) What center channel would be a good match for the Clarities?
(5) What should I use for surrounds? I'm pretty flexible in the space I have to set up the mains, but I'd definitely need something smaller and, preferably, stand-mountable for the rears.
That's all for now, but I suspect that I'll have quite a few more questions over the next few weeks...
I soon forgot all about buying B&Ws.
These speakers sounded absolutely beautiful, completely outclassing the B&W 703s, which are pretty similar in price.
So, now I'm thinking that MartinLogans may be the speaker for me--I haven't really considered electrostatics before, though, so I'm not too familiar with them. I'm hoping you kind folks could help me with some questions.
(1) Based on what I've read so far on the Internet, planar speakers have a reputation for having a narrow sweet spot. I certainly noticed a large change in the sound when I stood up from the listening chair. The MartinLogan literature claims that they have solved the problem of a narrow sweet spot in the horizontal axis by curving the speakers. Is this true, or are they still difficult to appreciate when you're seated off-axis?
(2) Another problem that planar speakers supposedly have is that they are difficult to set up--is this true for MartinLogans?
(3) Yet another supposed problem of planar speakers is that they need a lot of power to sound good. I'm currently using a Harman-Kardon DPR-2005. Supposedly this receiver can output 200w*7 into 4 ohms--would that be enough for the Clarities?
(4) What center channel would be a good match for the Clarities?
(5) What should I use for surrounds? I'm pretty flexible in the space I have to set up the mains, but I'd definitely need something smaller and, preferably, stand-mountable for the rears.
That's all for now, but I suspect that I'll have quite a few more questions over the next few weeks...