Martin logan vs. B&W

Both posters above said it all. One other thing to consider is that B&W require a lot of power and it should be solid state. Martin Logans love tube power, although solid state will sound very good. B&Ws will be easier to set up in the room & will play louder. Martin Logans will require more work to set up due to the dipole design and will arc when played very loud. I always felt if I had the room & money I would love to have a second setup w. planar or electrostatic speakers. Now go listen as that will truly answer your questions. PS once you can hear the crossover / transition on the Martin Logan between the woofer & the panel you will always hear it. I used to own them & sold them for that reason. I hear the new designs are much better. Listen to each for a while will really do the trick

As a former owner of ML SL3s (sold because we moved to a smaller house and still missed), I can agree with much of what's been said, but I question the statement that they "will arc when played very loud". I believe that that may have been the case with far earlier models, but I know that I was never able to make mine arc with ~380 wpc (McCormack DNA 1/B).

Thanks guys for your inputs

I guess what I wanna specifically find out sooner or later is how the Summit and the 803D (or 802D) comopare.
My dealer's doing the local premier of the Summit soon, so I guess I'll see..
I'll keep in mind the intrinsic differences you guys mentioned between the two brands

thanks for sharing
Jay :-)

My recommendations are simple. Buy a pair of grado sr-60 or sr-80 headphones; listen to any of your music the headphones this is exactly what you will hear if you choose to audition martin logan speakers. lots of detail but no sound stage; you will not be able to tell the source or direction of singers or musicians. i personally love my thiel 2.3's they completely disappear in the room with most 3 dimensional soundstage ever.

Enjoy, Dave

Dave - I wonder if the Martin Logans you heard were not set up properly, one of the things I love about my ML SL3 is the soundstage, they very precisely locate the instruments. I have them 5 feet from the rear wall and 4 feet from the side wall, and toed in so they face directly to the listening position, about 7 feet away. If you are in the sweet spot the Martin Logans disappear.

I have a 2nd system with Sonus Faber Signums (which I guess might be more comparable to the B&W). The Martin Logans do better on imaging than do the Signums, and the midrange might also be better on the ML, they are outstanding for jazz, folk music and string quartets. But overall I prefer the Signums to the ML, it seems to me that the SF Signums have a more natural and musical sound and also better integration of the base, while the ML have the problem of the directionality and small sweet spot. For "dedicated" listening in the sweet spot I might lean more to the ML, if you are moving around the room or have guests, or listen to rock I'd recommend the cone speakers.