Well it's about 51% of the cost, so the C18 is roughly 1/2 the cost. Seems about right to me. The amp in the Illusion is only 250 watts at 4 ohms it says, so 125 watts at 8 ohms best case scenario. I'm wondering, is that amp the only thing driving the woofers, or does it just help out the external amp connected to it?
Do I really need to upgrade my centre channel with a ESL C18
- Thread starter Kernel
- Start date
Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:
On the C18 there is about 1" between the stat panel and the edge of each woofer. And like you say, there's a few inches of space at the outboard edge of each woofer. I am thinking this is for air volume inside for each woofer. I can't find any drawings to show how the box is put together. It must be some kind of magic or sumthin'.
You're right it's closer to 50% than 60% - my mistake. But I would think the cost is not linear (due to complexity/development cost/# sold units). Anyway, these are the prices. For the 4" I was referring to the edge of the speaker not to the stat panel. Some magic surely - that's why I'd like to see a drawing or x-ray picture how it's built up inside if anyone has one) or took one apart.
After carefully reading through many posts on this site (thank you all who have increased my knowledge); I have concluded that my "ML Theater i" could not be repanelled. Upon emailing the UK distributer I did NOT get a response whereas three years ago I did actually get a price (£950). They were still working perfectly so I accepted a £500 part exchange for a brand new C18 Focus (cost £5495 - 7000 USD retail). Additionally considering everyones advice on the use of sub woofers I did decide to get a used REL T9i. It was interesting that REL (the UK team in Wales) advised my to purchase a front firing subwoofer to augment this C18 centre speaker; as the down/floor firing versions were definitely inferior for a centre speaker due to being less fast (their words) and in some sense somewhat muffled. They recommended a new T7x due to its speed. But I wanted to experiment with the LFE (.1) channel hence the decision to go for a REL T9 varient. At the moment my problem is cries from the next door room "TURN THAT THING DOWN" whenever the LFE is switched on.
Last edited:
Congrats on the Focus C18, excellent choice.
Leporello
Well-known member
Stereophile's John Atkinson alluded to magic and wizardry from Kansas when he reviewed the CLS umpteen years ago. To this day nobody else has come up with a true curved stat panel commercially. (The wizard was actually from Kansas, in Dorothy's dream and when she awoke from it).
Uhm, that would be because ML has a Patent on the curved panel design.
Muraudio has an intriguing 'point source' ESL speaker that has garnered good reviews. Its panel is curved both laterally and vertically.
Yes! I looked at Muraudio back in 2019 with my recollection being that they were integrating Transmission Line speakers with Electrostatics. But this may not be correct. My first 'performance speakers' were IMF Professional Monitors, but after I heard electrostatics (Quads) for the first time I have never deviated from that concept with Martin Logan being prettier (says my wife) and with bass extension (says me).
Davioj
Well-known member
Does the focus C-18 make that much of a difference over the ESL C, kind of tossing the thought of buying one but wondering if it would make that much of a diff to cover the price I can get one for about $5000 CDN. I have ReQuests for the fronts and ethos for the rears ESL c centre and Motion MC8's for Atmos speakers
I think you will be surprised at the difference. It's not subtle.
The center is the most important channel in movies and quite important for surround music, so having the best center that one can fit/afford is the recommended recipe.
Davioj
Well-known member
Looked into it and didn't realize how big this is got to look into moving everything around to get it to fit, is mounting above the screen a viable option or is it better to mount below and just move everything around
It comes with anflef brackets to mount above or below the screen. And yes it is big - the woofer seems to have say at least 2" unused space on their outer sides. Well I guess it serves a purpose.
Davioj
Well-known member
Is there much of a difference mounting above the screen though or is it better to mount below
It would be blocked by my screen mounted in the ceiling, hence big difference
I wouldn't think so, but others may have real world experience hence in better position to answer this.Shold read angled brackets but i take you guessed
When I was using the Motif, I had it mounted below the tv, then above and liked that better. But, there are issues with any location - as I've found.
With the C18 I've never tried it above the tv due to the weight and the need for two people to wrangle it onto the wall mount. So mine is below the tv panel using the angle plates so the speaker is angled up towards the MLP.
From my experience, having it under the screen is better. Make sure it is close to the screen for best imaging. You can then angle it up or down to point toward your head. Up above, when I had it that way, the sound didnt seem to come from the screen and it basically sounded like a speaker over the tv. Even when I angled it down at my ears, it still didnt sound as good as below. When down below it is closer to your head position than when its up above. Your listening position is closer to the floor than the ceiling.
Davioj
Well-known member
Thanks that's what I thought it would do being above
If its not hard to do, you should probably mount it up top and see how it sounds. From your description, putting it down below is going to be a lot more work for you. If you could try it up top and it sounds good, then maybe you might avoid unnecessary hassle?
I just looked, and my center channel speaker is about 6 inches below my screen. The OLED screen is mounted on the wall, and the C18 is sitting on a console table that has all of my audio equipment in it. The center channel is ever so slightly angled upward a bit since it sits a bit lower than where my head would be. The sound going up makes it sound more like its from the screen that way. It sounds pretty darn good. The best way of course is to have a sound transparent screen with the speakers behind the screen. Thats my goal someday.
Similar threads
