Auditioned Speakers this Week

[Dismayed]

A friend and I auditioned several speakers this week. My Martin Logan reQuests are over 20 years old, and my youngest has finished college, so it seems like a good time to shop. My impressions:

Revel F226BE: Slightly recessed sound. And there was a bass reflex resonance that was bothersome when we played Beethoven's violin concerto. Overall disappointing.

Focal Kanta No 2: Amazing detail and sounded natural at moderate volumes. Got a bit shouty when playing rock at higher volumes. A contender.

Magnapan 3.7i: Vocals sounded decent, but sounded muddy when playing classical music. My wife would kill me, so it's a good thing that I didn't like them. Hard pass.

Martin Logan 13A: Wow! natural and effortless sound, even at higher volumes. Amazing detail. They only had a turntable connected to them, so that's what we used. This speaker reminded me of why I love Martin Logan panels. Beyond my budget, though.

Martin Logan 11A: I bought these without an audition, assuming they will have many of the characteristics of the 13As. They had them at Best Buy, but they were out on the floor as display, without an amplifier. Worst of all is that the staff isn't allowed to move anything. Not a good policy if you want to sell anything! So I ordered an open-box pair from a Chicago dealer. I prefer the wood veneers, but he only had a piano black pair. Great trade-in allowance, so they will arrive via truck soon.

 

[MarkS]

Martin Logan 11A: I bought these without an audition

Wow! Those are $12K/pair list! I'm impressed with your decisiveness.

 

[Dismayed]

Wow! Those are $12K/pair list! I'm impressed with your decisiveness.

I’ve owned Martin Logan speakers for 30 years, so I have a high level of trust that the little brothers of the 13As, which I heard, will not disappoint.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

I haven't gotten to hear any of the new ML panels in years, used to be very well versed with the sound. Have they made any significant improvements since the days of the ESL/Monolith?

 

[Hapo]

...thou shalt not covet...

...someone tell us aboot the ESL 9's...

 

[whyfi]

Focal Kanta No 2: Amazing detail and sounded natural at moderate volumes. Got a bit shouty when playing rock at higher volumes. A contender.

Interesting experience with the Kanta. I auditioned it last year and came away with the opposite opinion.
Your experience of the Kanta matches my experience with the Focal Aria line.

 

[Dismayed]

I haven't gotten to hear any of the new ML panels in years, used to be very well versed with the sound. Have they made any significant improvements since the days of the ESL/Monolith?

I had reQuests for a couple of decades. They were nice, but the new speakers are better - particularly the integration of the woofer with the panel. The transition is now seamless.

 

[Dismayed]

Interesting experience with the Kanta. I auditioned it last year and came away with the opposite opinion.
Your experience of the Kanta matches my experience with the Focal Aria line.

I favor classical music, so maybe that's just my reaction to loud rock. The Kantas did sound really good, but I prefer the Martin Logan 11A speakers I purchased last week.

 

[Dismayed]

The sales guy where I listened to everything but the Martin Logans pulled out several CDs and gushed about the great engineering. He had no interest in artistic interpretation. So I thanked him, and told him that I brought my own recordings; it’s easier to audition speakers using recordings that I know well.