MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL 5.1-Channel Speaker System (TPV 109)
Serious High-End Goodness at a Sensible Price
November 28th, 2011 -- by Chris MartensSource: The Perfect Vision
o XStat Transducer technology: a package of technologies (too numerous to list) that allow MartinLogan to use an incredibly thin (just 0.0005-inches thick) conductive diaphragm that is driven in push-pull fashion between a pair of the firm’s signature MicroPerf stators. The driver is said to provide exceptional linearity, wide bandwidth, low distortion, and to play surprisingly loudly without danger of arcing or other damage.
o MicroPerf stator technology: Many electrostatic drivers use heavy, bulky, grid-like stators that block part of the sound emanating from the diaphragms within, but MartinLogan electrostats use insulated steel stators with myriad tiny “microperf” openings spread over their entire surface, allowing more sound from the diaphragm to pass through unimpeded. MartinLogan claims that output from its panels can match the output of competing electrostatic panels twice their size.
o AirFrame technology: MartinLogan uses light, compact, yet exceptionally rigid extruded aerospace-grade aluminum frames both to support its electrostatic panels and to attach them to woofer enclosures below, while minimizing unwanted vibration or resonance.
• The EM-ESL uses a long-throw, high-rigidity, paper cone mid-bass driver housed in a reflex enclosure (with a downward-firing port).
• Importantly, the woofer enclosure features a non-resonant “asymmetrical chamber” design, as can plainly be seen when the woofer section of the EM-ESL is viewed from the side. As an appealing and useful detail touch, the EM-ESL comes fitted with beefy floor spikes that are, in turn, equipped with removable rounded floor shields. The concept is that users will leave the floor shields in place until a final position for the speakers is found. Then, if the room features carpeted floor surfaces, the shields can be removed to allow the spikes to more firmly anchor the speaker to the floor.
• The EM-ESL is offered in either matte or gloss black finishes.
• IMPORTANT POINT: The EM-ESL speakers come with what I regard as hands down the finest manual I have ever encountered with any loudspeaker (competitors take note)—or for that matter the finest manual I’ve found for any type of audio product. If you buy these speakers, then, do yourself a favor and take time to read the manual and to follow the invaluable speaker positioning tips found within.
ElectoMotion C2 center-channel speaker, technical highlights:
• The signature technology found in the ElectroMotion C2 (EM-C2 for short) is MartinLogan’s Heil-type “Folded Motion XT” tweeter, which is similar in concept to the tweeters used in the firm’s less costly Motion-series speakers. A big difference, however, is that the 2.4-inch high x 1.27-inch wide Folded Motion XT driver used in the EM-C2 is a whopping 40% larger in area than the standard Motion driver—a change said to give it wider bandwidth and improved efficiency.
• One interesting note is that the diaphragms in Heil-type drivers are pleated and therefore have much greater radiating area than the driver openings, themselves, would suggest. For example, the radiating area of the C2 tweeter is specified at 4.5-inches x 2.75-inches. Impressive.
• Sonically, Heil-type folded motion drivers are thought to provide some of the same desirable qualities as electrostatic driver, such as transient speed, good linearity, and relatively wide bandwidth, plus an ability to play more loudly than you would think, given their diminutive size. They are also less costly to produce than electrostatic panels.
• The EM-C2 sports two 5.25-inch paper cone mid-bass drivers arranged in a D’Appolito-like (midrange-tweeter-midrange) array with the Folded Motion XT tweeter in the center.
• The EM-C2 provides a dual-ported (front-firing ports), “non-resonant, asymmetrical chamber format” enclosure. Apart from helping minimize internal reflections and standing waves, the asymmetrical enclosure provides a tipped-back mounting position that helps direct energy from the center speaker upward toward the listening area (when the speaker is positioned on a shelf below the screen). Alternatively, the speaker can be flipped upside down, which will cause the front baffle to point straight forward (rather than tilting upward by a few degrees as would normally be the case).
• The EM-C2 is offered in an attractive matte black finish with a perforated black metal grille that provides large openings over the Folded Motion XT tweeter.
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Comments
What source, pre/pro and amps did you use?
Also what is the next step up in performance/price and power requirement?
Hi jameslrock:
Let me tackle your questions in order:
1. Pre Pro: Anthem Statement D2V (used without any ARC room correction applied).
2. Amp: Anthem Statement P5.
3. Source: Oppo BDP-95 with both analog and digital audio connections to the Anthem.
Next Step(s) Up: two possible approaches.
1. Staying in the MartinLogan fold, but stepping up to next level: ESL Theos mains ($4995/pring), ESL Motif ($1895) or Stage ($2995) center channel, ESL EFX surrounds ($3095/pr), and same Dynamo Sub as for the ESL system. This solution gives you hybrid electrostats in all channels, plus an arguably more sophisticated pair of main channel speaker, but at significantly higher cost. Power requirements would be similar to those for the ElectroMotion ESL system, though this higher level system will be very sensitive to amplifier quality and refinement.
2. Alternate Dipoles. Consider a switch to Magnepans: Magnepan 1.7 or 3.7 ($2000/pr or $5500/pr), Magnepan CC5 Center channel ($1095), Magnepan MG12 (~$1200/pr), plus high-quality third-party sub such as JL Audio Fathom f122 ($2800). This approach gives you quasi-full-range planar dipole speakers, so that the only dynamic driver element would be the subwoofer. The potential sonic benefit would be enhance coherency and consistency of voicing from top-to-bottom. This system would need a beefy amplifier such as the Anthem Statement P5 we used with the ElectroMotion ESL's, as Magnepan's are extremely power-hungry.
Best, Chris Martens
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Chris-
Now I'm even more pumped to hear these! I'm gonna be writing about them for The Daily Swarm and now you've got me feelin' like a junky waiting for a fix!! I mean, the company/sound has changed so drastically from when I was a kid and Mr. Sanders was running the show - but you can buy these (and McIntosh tube gear, and Peachtree, and Audioengine, etc.) at our local Best Buy store in the Magnolia Hifi area!!!! BRILLIANT.
NICE one, covering these. Hats off...
Michael Mercer
The Daily Swarm
Positive Feedback
Chris,
Excellent, very comprehensive review - thank you!
I am currently in the market to purchase my next set of speakers in the $2K-$3K range and after much reading and listening have narrowed down my list to GoldenEar Triton Two's, Magnepan MG 1.7 and MartinLogan Electromotions.
While I love the sweet sounding Triton Two's, I like the Maggies and the ESL's better - they sound even more transparent to me! Where I am having trouble now, is deciding between the Maggies and the ESL's, since I haven't been able to hear them back-to-back (our lone Bay Area dealer for both brands is out of his demo ESLs right now). I think both are excellent speakers, and perhaps I would be fine with either one, but I would really like your advise on which one would you prefer and under what circumstances.
To simplify things a bit, I intend to use an Emotiva XPA-2 as the power amp and a Marantz SR7005 as the pre-amp, so a 4 ohm power load in the case of the Maggies wouldn't be an issue.
Many Thanks,
Andy
Hi Andy B,
You've named three of my favorites in that price class. Let me offer some thoughts that may be useful.
GoldenEar Triton Two's: Differential Advantages, Minor Caveats
1. True full-range speaker.
2. Easy to drive well, even with high-quality low-power amps
3. Good measure of transparency
4. Stupendous imaging/soundstaging.
5. Very easy to place for good-to-great results.
6. Absolutely does not need subwoofer support for home theater applications (the subs, plural, are already built in).
7. Not as transparent--in an absolute sense--as the best dipoles in its price class. Some would say, too, that the woofer section is not quite as transparent or "agile-sounding" as the midrange/treble section of the speaker.
Magnepan 1.7s (I'm using these in my home 2-channel system at the moment): Differential Advantages, Minor Caveats
1. Excellent transparency and openness.
2. Phenomenal top-to-bottom coherency.
3. Near full-range presentation
4. Requires considerable time and effort to position properly. Good results are easily achieved, but great results can take a fair amount of trial and error testing. Note, too, that some rooms work better than others in terms of supporting dipole bass. I happen to have a room that's great for dipole bass, but your mileage may vary.
5. Needs very good and very powerful amplifiers to sound its best (I'm using the superb but also quite expensive Rega Osiris integrated amp and getting great results, but you may want to consider that the 1.7 is a $2k speaker that in a sense deserves premium-priced electronics).
6. Needs subwoofer support for home theater applications, but is not particularly easy to integrate with subs. The fact is that the 1.7 tends to make even great subs sound a bit "slow" and "sluggish" by comparison.Thus, the best strategy is to use a very low crossover frequency, if possible, to minimize discontinuities between the sub and the main speakers.
7. Caution: At very high volume levels on action film soundtracks, you can occasionally "bottom out" the 1.7 woofer panel (this doesn't hurt anything, but it sounds, um, pretty 'flatulent' when it happens). The solution is to cross over to the sub at a higher frequency, which unfortunately makes integration (see point 6) harder to pull off.
MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL: Differential Advantages, Minor Caveats
1. Superb transparency and openness (especially from the upper midrange on up).
2. Does a really good job of blending the sound of its piston-type mid/bass driver with its dipolar electrostatic panel.
3. Coherency is very, very good, though perhaps not quite on a par with the 1.7.
4. Goes as low as (or maybe a bit lower than) the 1.7, and with little danger of woofer "bottoming" problems.
5. Also needs careful positioning and setup for best results. Note, though, that if you read and carefully follow the setup guidelines set forth in the excellent MartinLogan manual (one of the best audio manuals ever, IMHO), the process is relatively foolproof, though somewhat time-consuming.
6. The ElectroMotion ESL is very sensitive to amplifier quality (as is the 1.7), but unlike the 1.7 the ESL does not appear to be particularly power hungry.
7. Also needs a subwoofer for home theater applications. Like the 1.7, the ElectroMotion ESL sounds so fast and transparent that it tends to make subs sound slow and lethargic by comparison. As with the 1.7, using a low-ish crossover frequency helps minimize discontinuities between the sub and the main speaker.
8. Note that while the ElectroMotion ESL is not an excessively bright loudspeaker, it is very revealing throughout the treble region. For this reason, it is not a speaker you would want to use if you have bright/edgy-sounding source components.
Which is better: Magnepan 1.7 or MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL? I can't directly answer this question since I haven't heard both speakers in the same room and with the same electronics. Both have a lot of merit, so you'll have to let your ears be your guide.
Best,
Chris Martens
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Chris,
Many thanks for the detailed response, truly appreciate it!
First of all, I totally agree with your comparative assessment of the 3 speakers. And yes, listening to the GoldenEar's, despite their very nice midrange and treble integration, on some tracks, one can hear the bass to be not quite up-to-par. These are great speakers and would have been the easy choice for me, since I could drive them with the Marantz SR7005 itself, but alas, I've now heard the Maggies and the ESL's :)
I like the ESLs a lot, but did hear a hint of brightness/harshness at the high-end...it wasn't the source here (considered "warm" and sounded so on other comparable speakers), so perhaps these demo ESLs were new and after the break-in period, the ESLs treble warms up a bit? I believe this is true for the Maggies also. Regardless, the ESLs still are excellent speakers.
I love the Maggies, of course, but am worried about their subwoofer integration and placement, which may not be ideal in my room. And of course, as you rightly point out, they will also make me spend money on a high quality and powerful amplifier. I had been debating between the "high quality, but affordable" Emotiva XPA-2 and the Odyssey Khartago power amps, but perhaps, these might not be high enough quality for the Maggies - your thoughts here would be very welcome.
Finally, and importantly, I am most interested in your comment that "some rooms work better in terms of supporting dipole bass."
To clarify, can you pls outline a few key characteristics that would help me identify whether my room would be more or less receptive to dipole bass? The more I think about this, I believe room dynamics and placement could likely be the key decision criteria that helps me choose between the Maggies and the ESLs.
As before, thanks a lot for your help and advice on this front.
Kind Regards,
Andy
P.S. I finally get to demo the MG1.7 vs. the ESL's head-to-head at my Bay Area audio dealer this weekend :)
Hi Andy B,
Rather than try to answer your questions about rooms being receptive to dipole bass on my own, let me suggest that you contact Magnepan directly to seek advice from Wendell Diller (Magnepan's head of marketing) who has extensive experience in this topic area.
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Appreciate a recommendation on which in the Martin Logan 7.1 lineup will be a good match to the new McIntosh MC452 450 wpc x 2 and the MC205 200 wpc x 5. I have an 18x20 room and do not mind larger fronts and center. Which match up well with McIntosh? I heard ML at one of their dealers where I compared to other speakers and was impressed. They do not have the Theos yet.
Hi jameslrock,
I have heard a number of successful MartinLogan demos that featured McIntosh amplification and a wide variety of MartinLogan models--up to and including the top-of-the-range CLX. So, I suspect the answer will have less to do with determining which MartinLogan models match well with your electronics, but rather will have more to do with deciding just how much you want to invest in a MartinLogan system.
With that said, however, let me suggest that you might find it beneficial to contact MartinLogan and ask to speak to Mr. Devin Zell, who has had extensive experience in demonstrating various ML models and may be able to shed more light on your question.
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision