Speaker shootout update; aggressive treble eliminating some (fairly?)

"Motions" were highly recommended for their AMT tweeter. Your hint makes no sense to me. What is "Elthos"? I'm finding it hard to grasp your point. Perhaps revise your comment to help?

@coltrane1
"Ha, why sample ML Motian’s. Hint: They’re not true ML’s. "

Why not? A ML rep called me out of the blue this week, happened to mention Martin Logan sells Motion series all over the world with success. The original founder of Paradigm purchased the Martin Logan company last year, including Motion series. Why?, Sales there too. Gotta sell speakers to make money.

I own several Motions, along with other custom speakers I build. Tested Motions with various solid state and tube amplifiers. Decent AMT implementation, sounds nice when paired with some amps. Can be nice for folks with HT/Audio combos. Best for 2ch audio, maybe not, yet holding a position within the Martin Logan Co line now.

Personally, I wouldn’t own any of the new ML panel planar magnetic speakers below the new ML ESL-9 model. Very nice. $2k above OP’s budget. "CLX Art", yes! Few of the older MLs under $10k sound right to me, kind of a blurred sound.  

Did you actually test the Motion Series speakers? Which models, and what amplifiers were used in your evaluation, if any?

The Motion 60XTs outperformed several costlier speakers in my audition, including the lower-tier ML ESLs. 

@helomech I think they’re very musical, with bass that easily rivaled the Focal 936’s, perhaps beat them for texture and control. They weren’t right for my room, for reasons described earlier.

@corelli,


'Many years ago bought a pair of Def Tech BP-10's following an all to quick audition. They were bright. I had 6 CD's that sounded great. The rest not so much. Learned to hate them. They did not "break in" nor did my ears adjust. When you have a speaker like this, it is sheer lunacy to try and spend huge amounts of money to tame a speaker you don't even like in the first place. WHY WOULD SOMEONE EVER DO THAT?

By doing some careful research I am amazed how you can often find what you love without carting numerous speakers home (pity those dealers). We should all agree that a Klipsch is going to brighter than a Sonus Faber. Now what you love is up to you. So with careful discussion with other audio friends who owned both Magnepan 1.7's and then Tekton DI's, I confidently ordered up. And not only did I LOVE the DI's, but they did exactly what others had said they did.

So do some homework and don't waste time on stuff doomed to fail. Tonal balance and some other qualities will remain a constant no matter what room and what gear you pair them up with. I'll bet with careful research and discussion you can find a speaker you love in one or two tries. Then address placement and room treatments. Then look at associated gear and cables.  If your electronics are staying put, then obviously that has implications in what speakers will be good candidates as well.'



My experiences too.

I've never had much luck with 'correcting' speakers that had serious treble issues, so I don't really much faith in the difference that placement, amps and cables could make.

I once had a pair of Ruarks that sounded wonderfully vivid and dynamic - an explosion of sound. I would have loved those speakers but for the treble which considerably overstepped into harshness on more than a few recordings. 

It was a difficult decision to sell them on as they were doing so much right - but just one all too obvious thing wrong.

Yes, I could have attempted to modify the crossover myself but my knowledge and mental abilities strongly advised against it.

I believe the OP is trying his very best to avoid 'stuff doomed to fail' whilst at the same time trying to come to terms with which of the inevitable compromises he will have to ultimately accept. Great stuff.