Martin Logan ESL electrostatic hybrids speakers $782 EACH

These will need hella power, no? They have electrostatic at BESTBUY?!?!

Not just power but the placement is critical for this type of speakers. So, not for everyone but good deal.

Yeah, basically if you don’t have a way to place these at least 3-4 feet from the walls and have a good amp, forget about them.

These really shine in a medium to large room with some room treatment with good source and amps, so you guys with your Lepai amps need not apply.

skinnydoggy wrote: ↑These will need hella power, no? They have electrostatic at BESTBUY?!?!

At 91 db at 1 watt per meter most any receiver will power these speakers louder than you should be listening at. And they have been selling martin logans for years at fs and bb now. Though placement is important for the very best sound, these will still sound amazing placed in the usual manner.

I've always assumed electrostatic required 300w monoblocks lol

skinnydoggy wrote: ↑I've always assumed electrostatic required 300w monoblocks lol

This one's a hybrid (woofer in the base) which is why the efficiency is good, but you still need lots of power for full electrostatic speakers like Magnepans.

betamaxman wrote:At 91 db at 1 watt per meter most any receiver will power these speakers louder than you should be listening at. And they have been selling martin logans for years at fs and bb now. Though placement is important for the very best sound, these will still sound amazing placed in the usual manner.

the problem is these speaker have impedance that dips down to 2 ohms which is quite a difficult load (as measured by S&V mag)

The beefy amp requirement is one of the likely reasons BB is finally getting rid of these. Just imagine all the electrostatic units coming back alongside a PoS Sony Receiver that someone bought together with the speakers, thinking they'd achieve synergy...

Kwirky wrote: ↑This one's a hybrid (woofer in the base) which is why the efficiency is good, but you still need lots of power for full electrostatic speakers like Magnepans.

Magnepans are NOT ESL they are planars. Very, VERY different.

warpdrive wrote: ↑the problem is these speaker have impedance that dips down to 2 ohms which is quite a difficult load (as measured by S&V mag)

Depends at what frequencies that it might dip towards 2 ohms. If at high frequencies not so bad. Gosh haven't read s&v in ages.
From martin logan

"Will amplifiers rated at 6 or 8 ohms work with MartinLogan electrostatic speakers?

All MartinLogan speakers are compatible with receivers rated at 4, 6 or 8 ohms. We have tested several mainstream, high quality receivers and have found all are more than capable of driving 4 ohm speakers. The limitations of an amplifier rated at 6 or 8 ohms only becomes obvious at extremely high sound volumes over a very extended time period. For most every other application an amplifier rated at 6 or 8 ohms will perform perfectly with MartinLogan speakers."
http://www.martinlogan.com/learn/faq-electrostatic.php

betamaxman wrote: ↑Depends at what frequencies that it might dip towards 2 ohms. If at high frequencies not so bad. Gosh haven't read s&v in ages.
From martin logan

"Will amplifiers rated at 6 or 8 ohms work with MartinLogan electrostatic speakers?

All MartinLogan speakers are compatible with receivers rated at 4, 6 or 8 ohms. We have tested several mainstream, high quality receivers and have found all are more than capable of driving 4 ohm speakers. The limitations of an amplifier rated at 6 or 8 ohms only becomes obvious at extremely high sound volumes over a very extended time period. For most every other application an amplifier rated at 6 or 8 ohms will perform perfectly with MartinLogan speakers."
http://www.martinlogan.com/learn/faq-electrostatic.php

I can't tell what the where the lowest impedance is for this particular speaker on the S&V website because they omitted the graph that would have been published in the print mag.

A few pure electrostatics have their lowest impedance at the lowest and highest frequencies and are a highly capacitive impedance. This one is a hybrid, so it should be an easier resistive load in the bass frequencies. I would definitely still aim to pair these speakers with something that is well rated in the 4-6 ohm range since it's likely that you are putting these kinds of speakers in a large room (due to the placement requirements).

In their FAQ they did specify "mainstream high quality receiver" can drive these speakers, so I assume that rules out your average $300 BestBuy Doorcrasher.

Fantastic speakers. I have a pair as well as Summit X's... I use these for rears now. Before I moved them to the theatre room, when I had them in the bedroom setup, they required a fair bit of space away from the wall, and proper placement to sound surreal... but once setup properly, oh my god, amazing.... Not a problem to run them on a higher end AVR like Marantz SR7007. 7008, 7009 or Anthem MRX-510, or 710.... But they do flourish with a good power amp rated at 300 RMS at 8 ohms... I don't think they dip to 2 ohms as frequently as the Summit X's do but still possible... rated 6ohm amp will be okay. Not a bad deal at all.

These ML sound amazing when setup properly. I recently purchased a pair of vintage Magnepan SMG from someone who replaced them with this set. These have got me hooked on planar speakers. He did have a couple 8" subs in the mix to compensate for the the lows. For this price I may have to make a trip to best buy. Are there any budget friendly 4 ohm amps out there?

Also, if you're in or around Vancouver tomorrow there is a vintage audio yard sale in Surrey at Innovative Audio:
http://www.iavscanada.com/8th-annual-au ... rage-sale/

I do wish I had an extra $1500 sitting around burning a hole in my pocket.. Seems like an exceptionally good deal for this quality of speaker that is usually not available at deep discount prices.

its oos online

kopokipi wrote: ↑its oos online

Back in Stock as of 2pm EDT. Got myself a pair, so there are 6 in stock as of now.

And it's OOS again, hard to believe people are hoarding electrostatic speakers.

I ordered a pair on Saturday but have not heard back from BB at all. Are they going to flake out on the deal?

unknownone wrote: ↑I do wish I had an extra $1500 sitting around burning a hole in my pocket.. Seems like an exceptionally good deal for this quality of speaker that is usually not available at deep discount prices.

Every mass produced speaker is available at deep discount prices eventually, as the retail margin on them is like furniture... crazy large.

I love audio equipment threads on the internet with all the pseudofacts and black magic. Who's got the most expensive speaker wire here I wonder. :P

BinaryJay wrote: ↑Every mass produced speaker is available at deep discount prices eventually, as the retail margin on them is like furniture... crazy large.

I think this is a case where BB is clearing them out because they don't want to carry these. Likely pricing them at cost. It's not like the average joe walks into a BB looking for electrostatics. Once they are gone they are gone. I've never seen these kind of speakers go for this cheap.

And these are excellent sounding speakers if you can make effective use out of them...and no fancy wires are needed either