The new CLX is HERE ........ indeed!

[miljac]

The new CLX is HERE ........ indeed! Heard them!

Dear fellow MLers,

been today at the High End show in Munich. Seen and heard the CLX.

So:

Today has been a really lucky day.
Visited the ML room at the High End and had a very nice chat with Mr. David Allen. Really appreciate the hard work at ML and the result is .... OMG.
Boy can they do the bass, can they play loud. Can the play FINE!!!!

I'm stunned.

There's even more ... came back to enjoy the great sound again only to find out that just about everyone was to leave to the press conference. By kindness of the last gentleman of the ML staff left in the room I was given the privilege of a couple of minutes of 'private' listening nirvana, being the only admirer in the room.

Kudos again. The best loudspeaker at the show. Period.

I'll get them some day. You might want that too.

And they DO look nice.

great job, ML.

I had only the mobile phone at hand so please apologize the photo quality ..........

In any case I was advised to come again and bring my own material which I surely will. Hungry for more. For a long time to come.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Awesome! Can't wait to hear them myself!

 

[MiTT]

This is why I have been waiting to comment.

As for the appearance of the speaker, at first blush it may not be as simply elegant as the older CLS, but of course it is not a CLS. This is a new step forward for Martin Logan and I appluad them for the effort.

As miljac is thus far at least the only person here who has actually listened to these beasts, I personally believe his is the only true objective impression we have - and based upon his comments here, I believe that ML may have a real winner.

Can't wait to hear them myself!

 

[miljac]

This is why I have been waiting to comment.

As for the appearance of the speaker, at first blush it may not be as simply elegant as the older CLS, but of course it is not a CLS. This is a new step forward for Martin Logan and I appluad them for the effort.

As miljac is thus far at least the only person here who has actually listened to these beasts, I personally believe his is the only true objective impression we have - and based upon his comments here, I believe that ML may have a real winner.

Can't wait to hear them myself!

Tim,

my impression is totally subjective.

It was a love at first sight & sound.

 

[David Matz]

Tim,

my impression is totally subjective.

It was a love at first sight & sound.

Thanks for the post! Finally some comments about the sound, and not the aesthetics.

What Mac were they using to drive it? What other electronics and cables did they use? Was the room treated?

Thanks!

 

[miljac]

David,

going back on saturday. Will come back with some quality photos and much more details. Was too excited with the sound to notice anything else but the CLX .........

 

[tonepub]

can't wait to go out to ml in june to hear em myself....

 

[TomDac]

Thanks for posting, miljac.. Get as many photos as you can and email them to me if you would.. That way, I can post them at a higher rez than what the vBulletin settings are.


Can't wait to hear them for myself!!!

 

[miljac]

Great Tom, will do. Looking forward to Saturday! Thanks for the offer, kindly appreciated & accepted. Expect some good photos!

 

[raygunn]

It's wonderful to read that they have great sonics...

Audio Shows are are real challenge to begin with. So if these things are that good in a show environment, they must be damned great!!!

I could care less if they have a case of the fugglies. If they sound as good as you say, I am getting a pair.

I'll look out for your post after a second listen. Second impressions are very telling.

Thanks for posting the comments and pics. I wish I was there!!!
:bowdown:

 

[Joey_V]

Best in show you say? Those are strong words.... I'm getting excited to have the opportunity to hear one of these bad boys!

 

[C.A.P]

I guess I'm the bad karma, 56 HZ as tight as can be is 56 HZ . Sorry Im not paying 20K for a multi driver that does only 56hz. The Design is hideous looking in todays sleek sexy Audio world . I am a wood worker and that reeks of apology ! A cobbled up right angle piece with mixed matched Lincoln logs !

 

[STV]

Wow that's sweet!:drool: :drool:

 

[MPS]

I don't understand why everybody seems so conserned about 56Hz -3dB... That's not bad and to estimate real world performance we would need to see what kind of slope there is in bass responce below this frequency. Anyway it's more easy to manage slight lack of bass than the usual boost some speakers precent. CLS/CLX -line is not for those who prefer amount of bass to quality IMHO.

 

[Rich]

I don't understand why everybody seems so conserned about 56Hz -3dB... That's not bad and to estimate real world performance we would need to see what kind of slope there is in bass responce below this frequency.

I agree. 56 Hz. at -3db is just not that bad for an electrostatic panel. Remember, this speaker has always been designed with the intention of mating them with a Depth i or Descent i to cover the lower frequencies. With music, how much audio information is below 56 hz.? Not that much. And no reason to think that can't be better suited for a sub whose placement you can vary than an electrostatic panel whose placement is stationery.

Cap, you should be much more concerned with how well the speaker performs with the 56 hz. on up frequency range, especially in terms of where the crossover point is and how seamless the integration is of the low and mid/high frequency panels. That will have much more impact on how well these sound than whether they go down to 30hz. vs. 56 hz. I mean, come on, what do you think a sub is for? Why would anyone mate an expensive sub with these just for the frequencies between 20 and 30 hz.? That would make little sense.

Remember, this is a pure electrostatic speaker design, with accompanying strengths, as well as significant electro-mechanical design constraints. The beauty in these speakers is not in their ability to produce chest-thumping, vibrate the walls bass, but in their ability to produce smooth, clean, accurate, realistic-sounding, bass that blends in beautifully to the midrange and gets us closer to the musical truth. If ML has accomplished that, who gives a f**k whether the panels' bass goes down to 30hz.? Again, that's what subwoofers are for.

As for the design, I would say it is daring and is somewhat of a modern art piece. Most folks would say that all electrostatic speaker designs are ugly. Every time ML comes out with a new design that varies from previous designs, people bitch and moan about how ugly they are. Get over it. Designs change, and as we get used to them they don't look so bad. In fact, I believe the newer ML designs look much better than previous models. Sleeker, smaller, more artsy. By it's nature, this speaker is a large one (width and height, anyway) and it is difficult to do too much to make it look any better than it does. I think they did a good job of trying to accomplish something different and unique.

Ultimately, the important questions are: How does it perform? Is it worth twice the price of the Summits? Does it truly advance the state of the art of electrostatic speaker design? Will ML sell more than a handful of them? Or will it just become a fringe cult speaker like the CLS?

 

[Joey_V]

Truth be told, I'm a little disappointed with the 56hz cut off. Essentially, this is a bookshelf speaker in terms of FR. Reminds me of the Magico Mini I (not the II, since this goes much lower).

Everyone raved about the Magico Mini I when it first came out and responded that there isn't much info below 56hz. However, when the Mini II came out and hit as low as mid 30s, now people were praising this new version like it was the bees-knees.

IMO, one can certainly live with a speaker that does 56hz. However, to me, there is quite a lot of info and quite a lot of musical "rhythm" that can be found below that number. To do so with the CLX, one must add a subwoofer.

Either a Descent I or something along the lines of a WB Torus.

 

[miljac]

Well, figures are figures .... and hearing is believing. I actually asked if the Descent was reproducing the bass ... and was not the only one.

 

[MPS]

Well, figures are figures .... and hearing is believing. I actually asked if the Descent was reproducing the bass ... and was not the only one.

There might easily be a 10dB boost in room acoustic at low frequencies. That could result acoustic responce to be -6dB at around 30-40Hz. This is of course pure speculation... Listen and you will see.

 

[David Matz]

Enjoy the Music thinks they are a winner!

Enjoy the Music reviewers, who admit they are not ML fans, think this one is great!


http://www.enjoythemusic.com/high_end_2008/friday/page2.htm

"Martin-Logan's world premiere of the CLX ($25,000 for 25th Anniversary version with metal billet frame, $20,000 for normal version with metal/wood frame) features a 57-inch curvilinear unit and double diaphragm triple stator 57-inch unit all in one. The say it offers low-frequency phase stabilization and upon some listening i feel they may have a winner. ML loudspeakers usually leave me cold due to the disconnected lowermost frequencies, yet the CLX design may finally mark the company's new avenue to achieve high-end sound quality. Frankly, I was extremely impressed with what I heard, and this is a very rare event at a show. The CLX is 90dB/W/m efficient and presents a relatively easy load. This is definitely a great new design worth a listen!"

 

[jjay]

My only complaint is about the wood trim. For $20,000 dollars, more effort could have been done about the right angle wood trim design. Any wood working shop could have made that 90 degree right angle trim fairly inexpensively. I believe they could have at least made the wood design more like the statement. They may sound wonderful which is the main thing, but again for this amount of money, the craftmanship of the wood trim design is as basic as it can get.
Just my opinion,
Jim