Leaning toward EM-ESL

[gabbleratchet]

I've long read about MartinLogan but only this week did I actually hear a pair in person. Since I'm a music fan first, I'm in the process of gradually upgrading my middle-of-the-road home theatre system with more "musical" components (e.g., opting for an Oppo Blu-Ray player that also handles SACD and DVD-Audio when upgrading from DVD).

Anyway, my ultimate goal is to have a primary media room that can handle both surround sound and audiophile-level two-channel material. At the moment I have a Denon 3311CI receiver driving an old Aperion Audio 5.1 speaker system (actually Edge Audio-era, before the name change). I'll eventually introduce a dedicated amplifier and relegate the Denon receiver to a preamp/processor role.

The left and right front speakers in this setup are bookshelf-size and I figured the next upgrade would be to redeploy these into a 7.1 setup to make room for a pair of full-range towers to act as the main right and left speakers. I originally thought about the Aperion Grand Verus Tower for this role, but after seeing the EM-ESL at the same general price point and then hearing how good they sound, I'm wondering how the electrostats would fit into an existing 5.1 system.

Am I nuts to upgrade only two channels of a conventional 5.1 system (at least in the short term) with MartinLogans?

 

[Hocky]

If you don't listen to much multichannel music, the rears won't be that big of a deal. The center channel will probably drive you nuts until you swap it out, though.

 

[TomDac]

I agree with Hocky. I have crappy surrounds and have been meaning to upgrade to some ML's but it just doesn't warrant the expenditure of cash(ish).

 

[gabbleratchet]

Thanks. As I suspected

 

[shakham]

I'm with the majority on this one. A used cinema center won't break the bank though.