Martin Logan XT B100 & B10 review and measurements by Erin's Audio Corner

[thewas]

Link to written review will be added here when it is published.

 

[Jeromeof]

Sounds like Erin has had a tough few days with covid but he seems like he has had enough of other reviews talking about “detail” or “resolution” !

Great to hear him calling BS on “fake detail”

 

[DavidMcRoy]

Nice review, though I cringe every time I hear an AMT referred to as a "ribbon."

I'm a big fan of AMTs for their generally low distortion, and my enthusiasm for them skyrocketed when I started using larger AMT mid-tweeters from 2kHz to 6kHz and smaller AMT tweeters above 6kHz, with DSP EQ applied, in my active DIY arrays.

Erin is absolutely right: too many manufacturers routinely boost the top end on pretty much everything they build regardless of the tweeter technology applied, (for that "showroom curve"?) leaving it up to the end user to do some correction. As Amir has pointed out, you really ought to be using EQ anyway to address room resonances so you might as well tweak the rest of the spectrum as needed.

As an aside, we visited our birthplaces and friends and family back in Alabama in June. We were fine in Mobile, where I'm from, but after our visit to north/central Alabama (where Erin lives) Dr. Horn and I both contracted COVID, verified by tests. Ugh. We had both received vaccines and two boosters long ago when they became available so our reactions weren't enough to put us in a hospital and we recovered quickly.

 

[dlaloum]

That frequency response profile, is quite similar to many MC cartridges that are highly regarded for their "detail"

In general, I prefer to use a treble control

This probably sells well to that part of our fraternity, who absolutely must eschew the terrible distortions generated by ANY processing in the signal path, and they will no doubt, laud the detail this speaker exposes.... (possibly at the risk of an ear bleed, although I don't think the high end rise is sufficiently extreme to cause that kind of effect)

 

[sweetchaos]

I don’t think we’ve seen any Martin Logan speaker worth recommending yet.

 

[Doodski]

I don’t think we’ve seen any Martin Logan speaker worth recommending yet.

I'm viewing the review with small bites at a time in-between Mathew Posa bush craft videos and Corrosion of Conformity rock vids...LoL.
@ Erin you don't sound egotistical. Regarding sibilance, I sold speakers with sibilance in my mind and advised the customers to watch out for that and then later I found a salesperson selling sibilance as if it is more detail and was better. People where buying both types of speakers dependent on what the sales person was telling them. We had issue with that and it was decided to eliminate a tweaked-out colored product line. It's very good that we have somebody like you to take the lead, guide things around and make adjustments. Per the manufacturers they might actually sell more speakers that are boosted at the top end for old people and such if they label them that way. Then there are peeps that require enhanced PEQ settings and might like a bright headphone/speaker. (Hopefully with horns for mids.)

 

[jhaider]

Erin is absolutely right: too many manufacturers routinely boost the top end on pretty much everything they build regardless of the tweeter technology applied, (for that "showroom curve"?) leaving it up to the end user to do some correction.

A boosted on axis treble isn’t always a bad. Sometimes it’s because the speakers are designed to fire straight out, so the design axis is 30deg ish off center. So the directly on axis treble basically dissipates through reflections + air absorption, and due to narrowing directivity the design axis is pretty flat.

That said, I’ve long noticed that when a speaker company touts an “exotic” tweeter, often the highs are bumped up. And salespeople or dimmer reviewers will wax on about the innate qualities of the exotic’s treble as a result, never seemingly considering that they’re really hearing mismatched levels.

 

[norman bates]

I always boost the treble anyway.

This one, I could just boost the bass.

I wonder about micro detail, and intermod.
Even distortion........
Waterfall plot showing woof or tweet resonances..........

I don't need nor want super flat response, especially for my probably 70-80db listening levels.


I wonder if a bunch of acusta stuf could knock the 800hz weirdness away......

 

[geox]

I was hoping this would be "'better *" Lintons and Kef R3.

*Linear, good horizontal dispersion, low sibilince .. oh well

 

[YSC]

Boosted treble, not well extended bass, and directivity error… uh well… wasted the nice exotic look

 

[Gwreck]

I was reading Gene on Audioholic say in the XT F100 review comments that they sent the XT B100’s back to fix the crossover before they would review them due to the treble issues. I am curious if ML would update a current B100 owner’s speaker with any updates.