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MartinLogan Remakes Motion Series Speakers

OldManMatt

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@OldManMatt are you using a subwoofer with the B100's?
Yeah, I'm running a single SVS 2000pro with them. A sub or subs will be a necessity with the B100's. I tried to adjust the sub today, raised the cut off point. The sub was measured and tuned for the nulls and boosts in my room for 50hz and under with the Polk's, but I don't have my microphone so I just tried raising the cut off point to around 70hz. I used my RME dac and did a little 1 to 1 and a half db boost between 80 to 300hz. Nothing extreme. I'll spend more time trying to dial the sub in better as I go.

A point I should make is other than a local hifi show the only speakers I have been listening to for a good while now are the R-200's and the Linton's. For a bookshelf neither of those lack in the low to mid bass area. Actually the lower tones can be a bit much on both those speakers if not placed off the wall enough in my home. So I'm probably use to a certain type of sound bouncing off my walls and the Logans are just a little different in comparison. I will strictly be listening to the B100's for the next week. Im pretty much home all day so I will get a lot of time with them.
 

OldManMatt

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thank you.
my money would be there is a lack of baffle step, similar to the klipsch rp600f ii.......

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I think the r200's are $750 for a pair now.
Good call, you might be on to something right there. And yeah I believe $750 has been their regular price so not 3x's less than the ML's. I don't think I've seen them for under $600 since I bought them during one of their sales.. I've had them about 14 months.
 

RobL

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Interesting, I wonder how much influence Scott and John Bagby had in the redesign?
 
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MarcT

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Over the weekend, I was able to hear the new Motion F100 speakers at three different audio shops. None of the shops had them set up in a decent listening room. Nevertheless, I'm pretty impressed with them for my family room setup, which needs to be good for music and able to produce big dynamics in movies. If anyone is interested, I posted my impressions on another site:

 
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norman bates

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to quote you (MarcT)...

"I can't believe the natural sounding power of the trombone and trumpets. And the AMT tweeters presented cymbals and snare drum shots at realistic levels and seemingly without stress or compression."
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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to quote you (MarcT)...

"I can't believe the natural sounding power of the trombone and trumpets. And the AMT tweeters presented cymbals and snare drum shots at realistic levels and seemingly without stress or compression."
Just curious, are you agreeing with that? Or questioning it? Or is there some other point?
 

norman bates

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I'm just letting people quickly know some thoughts on the F100.

I apologize if I offended or should not have reposted what you said from avsforum.

Glory days on that thread you linked to seems to be enjoying the Martin Logan F200 over Revel f208.
 
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MarcT

MarcT

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I'm just letting people quickly know some thoughts on the F100.

I apologize if I offended or should not have.

Glory days on that thread you linked to seems to be enjoying the Martin Logan F200 over Revel f208.
I'm looking for a "big, open, effortless" sound which my current speakers don't seem to be giving me. They do sound good, but not "big" like the F200's. But you don't really know how they compare until you can get a set in your room and compare to your current speakers.
 

norman bates

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I run multiple sets of speakers depending on my mood, music, time of day, distance (either 10' or 15' deep into a rectangle.

My 2-ways with a 6" woof cannot compare to a 12" 2-way with a compression driver.
And to be fair, the 12" 2-way is not nearly as "revealing" as the Revel I have, especially sitting 5' or 10' away.

And I am a bass head also, lol.
Well, technically, I'm more of a mid-bass head. I like my slam, but I also like a bit of boom.
100-300hz crossovers sound off to me for drums and bass guitar.
 
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OldManMatt

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I bet with the extra drivers the F100-200 sound awesome. For me the B100's just didn't work out. I ran them for over a week on my Elac Alchemy amp. It's rated at 325x2 at 4ohms, based off the older UcD400 hypex module. That amp paired well with the Logans I believe, it was really able to open the speakers up. The detail and upper extension is there with the Logan's. At the loudest of volumes I found that the woofer gets squirrelly before the tweeter was ever able to lose composure. You really want to feed them a good clean signal, crappy recording will sound crappy in my opinion, especially the tweeter. The overall bass and mid-bass did get a little better for me, but I just wasn't blown away by the speakers as a whole. When I put the Polk's back in their spot I didn't feel like I was missing anything I had to have back. I'm sure that won't be a popular opinion but it is what it is. I'll take the Logans back to the store and hold out for something better. Wish I could afford their full range model at the moment. I imagine they are pretty dang good. Bummer these didn't work out, I thought they looked very nice and "hi-end" in my living room.
 

Brian6751

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I bet with the extra drivers the F100-200 sound awesome. For me the B100's just didn't work out. I ran them for over a week on my Elac Alchemy amp. It's rated at 325x2 at 4ohms, based off the older UcD400 hypex module. That amp paired well with the Logans I believe, it was really able to open the speakers up. The detail and upper extension is there with the Logan's. At the loudest of volumes I found that the woofer gets squirrelly before the tweeter was ever able to lose composure. You really want to feed them a good clean signal, crappy recording will sound crappy in my opinion, especially the tweeter. The overall bass and mid-bass did get a little better for me, but I just wasn't blown away by the speakers as a whole. When I put the Polk's back in their spot I didn't feel like I was missing anything I had to have back. I'm sure that won't be a popular opinion but it is what it is. I'll take the Logans back to the store and hold out for something better. Wish I could afford their full range model at the moment. I imagine they are pretty dang good. Bummer these didn't work out, I thought they looked very nice and "hi-end" in my living room.

I know you said you were using a sub but, were you also using a crossover? Something to add a high pass filter to the B100's?
 

OldManMatt

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I know you said you were using a sub but, were you also using a crossover? Something to add a high pass filter to the B100's?
Yeah, along with trying a few different amps I used an AVR with it's internal crossover, tube preamp full range, Dac as a preamp and made eq adjustments but ultimately full range, and eventually pulled the Lexicon MC-8 AVP out of the closet. The Lexicon and the Elac amp was a good pairing. So good I still have them both set up. Anyway, with the Lexicon I'm able to cut the frequency's in increments of 10. I started off around 90hz but by the end of the week I was down to 70hz. The MC-8 also has Tilt Eq so I was able to shift the EQ balance about .4 to .6db more in the mids to bass side of the spectrum.

When I sat in front of the speakers and listened to a wide range of different music there was times I really liked the B100's, but it was always due to the tweeter. Overall I don't think they are all that. Maybe it's my equipment, my room, or my ears. These just don't do it for me. The in room frequency response from Andrew's video made me believe these would probably be good...as well as his somewhat glowing review. Normally with everything I've heard that he's reviewed I tend to agree with him.

I've read the reviews were everyone seems to love these speakers. Which has made it hard for me to admit I didn't like them. Maybe there is something wrong with me lol, although I'd like to know what they are comparing them to. To directly answer your question yes I did use a crossover with them, and I felt it made the speakers perform better. I feel I need to upgrade to a more full range speaker after this venture though.
 

Ellebob

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I think this stresses the importance of people listening to speakers in their home and spending a fair amount of time with them whenever possible. Some people say speaker A is great and others say they prefer Speaker B and don't like A. Nothing wrong with that. I have seen it many times. I also know that research states that people tend to prefer speakers with accurate sound, good bass and good off axis performance. I have seen many people choose speakers that don't come close to that criteria. I can't explain it but in the end it is whatever YOU prefer.
 

norman bates

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Thank your for your opinion.

Seems like they need a better woofer…………….

Shorting rings or copper cap to me would trump a better cone, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have a cone with less distortion, energy storage, resonances, etc.



I was figuring that the tweet would be the star.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized you need more than just a really good tweet….
That's why I've waited buying emotiva speakers also.



I’m really getting to distrust most reviews because some reviewers admit that they will send a product back and not review it if they didn’t like it.

I think we can blame Bose for suing Consumer Reports for a bad review so many years ago…..
 

Brian6751

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Thank your for your opinion.

Seems like they need a better woofer…………….

Shorting rings or copper cap to me would trump a better cone, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have a cone with less distortion, energy storage, resonances, etc.



I was figuring that the tweet would be the star.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized you need more than just a really good tweet….
That's why I've waited buying emotiva speakers also.



I’m really getting to distrust most reviews because some reviewers admit that they will send a product back and not review it if they didn’t like it.

I think we can blame Bose for suing Consumer Reports for a bad review so many years ago…..
Or, not everyone is going to universally like what other people like?
 

Punter16

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any new news ?

anyone else buy some ?
We did a review on them. We were pretty much blown away. Fantastic realism in providing body (ex: pianos and stand-up bass in some of our demo tracks sound 3 dimensional) and they are really good with horns or reed instruments.

NOTE: Our main con was that they sound slightly hot so if someone likes a flat, neutral sound it could be offputting. With that said, they have now replaced my Focals in my office!

 

OldManMatt

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We did a review on them. We were pretty much blown away. Fantastic realism in providing body (ex: pianos and stand-up bass in some of our demo tracks sound 3 dimensional) and they are really good with horns or reed instruments.

NOTE: Our main con was that they sound slightly hot so if someone likes a flat, neutral sound it could be offputting. With that said, they have now replaced my Focals in my office!

I think you are spot on about some of the realism these speakers can portray. Pianos, Xylophones, rimshots..truly sounded pretty amazing. I can understand why you and others love these speakers. Based on the time I spent with them I would totally recommend anyone that is looking for new speakers in that price range to give them a try. If slightly hot is your sound these have a Wow factor going on..but then I don't believe your impression would be "slightly hot" but more along the lines of just right.

any new news ?

anyone else buy some ?
The good people of this forum may be waiting for more data, measurements, or user feedback before trying them out. Usually I am more patient when a new speaker comes to market.

I ended up going with the full range R700 for about $300 more. Not as exciting and extended as the Logan's but gets the job done for me and my taste. I'll be keeping them. I didn't bother trying the Logan floor standers due to their much larger price.
 
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