Just received some interesting information from my Martin Logan rep. The CLX is set to be discontinued. They have enough to make seven more and that will be it. Anyone interested in a pair let me know. I always take care of forum members!
CLX going the way of the dodo
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Wow, really? They just raised the price on those $5k too. Did they give a reason why they are stopping production? Will there be a similar model to take its place?
amey01
Well-known member
No, I was told there is no replacement planned at this time.Hopefully a CLX e2, along with a Statement e3
No replacement. I was told that they cost to much to make.
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I love mine! Very happy I’m fortunate to own a pair! If the CLX cost too much what about the Neolith?
Exactly. There must be some other reason. The CLX is what I would choose if upgrading from my Prodigies.
If they aren't going to make any more, that tells me that if customers want to get new panels then they will be out of luck. I wonder about the other components of the speakers, replacement parts. Might be a bad time to own them if that is the case. Any new ones have a 5 year warranty, so they need to support them.
Suppose it won't be different than any other retired speaker, and panels will be available?
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In general ML at least used to offer lifetime support so this should not be an issue.
I wonder how they continue to produce panels for speakers that are 20 plus years old? Its not as if they have a bunch stored up somewhere just waiting for customers. It sounds like if I were to order new Prodigy panels that they would be the old style and not the microperf they make now.
Got to be a highly specialized thing now, maybe that helps explain some of the $3k cost now.
Of course they have all the old designs somewhere so I guess it depends on how much is manufactured in house. But I can read that many have gotten panel replacement similar to the old ones at about half cost of the speakers. But for the electronic I am sure some components are long discontinued so may be replaced by e.g. new amp modules.
Chops
Well-known member
Maybe ML is discontinuing the CLX due to the fact it's an all panel design and those panels are not economical to produce. Wasn't that one of the reasons why they put the kibosh on the CLS series as well?
sleepysurf
Well-known member
I suspect they build the CLX (and Neolith) one, or perhaps a few, at a time (upon demand) so they need to "retool" every time they make a run. There are probably only a couple of (higher paid) employees fully skilled in making them, but the volume doesn't support keeping their production going. The Impression, Expression, Renaissance models are probably more of a higher volume assembly line production that is less labor intensive.
Stefan_DR3
Well-known member
Can't they make panels to order as needed?
Is the CLX made in the US or Canadian factory? It might be a case of Paradigm not being able to take over production.
Stefan_DR3
Well-known member
The Neolith now retails for 4 times the price of the CLX... so more room for profit!
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I believe the panels are made to order. They can make a panel for all Legacy speakers the only exception the logos center speaker. The panels were once affordable now they have are on the pricey side but they still make replacements.
TomDac
former MLO owner/operator
very sad to hear this... CLX is my dream speaker if I ever had a room large enuff for them. Oh well.
Panels and speakers all made in Canada. I was at the factory a couple of years ago
Yes it’s sad but ML did it to themselves in spades, in that once the new generation of hybrids came out all advertising, shows and just general promotion instantly stopped. It’s like the best kept secret at ML and they have done a great job, congratulations !!
Also no dealer that I know actually have any on display to hear in the US for years and years. When asked most thought it was obsolete years ago. Two people now owners Brad from Florida and Tim from Louisiana needed to come to my place as even the factory had nothing to demo. Both purchased CLX’s after compared to the 15’s
It’s their only true electrostatic the Neolith is a hybrid with no bass correction go figure that out- wow someone missed the memo on that one. Don’t get me wrong I love ML but am disappointed in how this all came down. It’s like instead of chasing better sound improvement for the CLX they just gave up. Actually did not even try and let the CLX just withered away by being ignored by their sales department or maybe it’s the bean counters we will never know.
Yes it’s sad but ML did it to themselves in spades, in that once the new generation of hybrids came out all advertising, shows and just general promotion instantly stopped. It’s like the best kept secret at ML and they have done a great job, congratulations !!
Also no dealer that I know actually have any on display to hear in the US for years and years. When asked most thought it was obsolete years ago. Two people now owners Brad from Florida and Tim from Louisiana needed to come to my place as even the factory had nothing to demo. Both purchased CLX’s after compared to the 15’s
It’s their only true electrostatic the Neolith is a hybrid with no bass correction go figure that out- wow someone missed the memo on that one. Don’t get me wrong I love ML but am disappointed in how this all came down. It’s like instead of chasing better sound improvement for the CLX they just gave up. Actually did not even try and let the CLX just withered away by being ignored by their sales department or maybe it’s the bean counters we will never know.
I agree. Wish I had a pair. The small audio store I buy my stuff from had some CLX speakers years ago but in the past few years they no longer do. I asked them why and they said the high cost of the speaker was prohibitive to them carrying it any longer. So I guess the sales volume was so low that it didnt justify having those sit in the room and depreciate. Now they just have the less pricey models in the rooms to listen to. They used to carry Magnepan too, but dont even do that anymore. They seem bigger now on brands like Focal and Goldenear.
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