Martin Logan Forte Amp Review

I have been using a system of primarily active speakers but need to use passive speakers for my rear surrounds and height channels because of the size of my room. I got a Martin Logan Forte amp for my rear surrounds because I know Martin Logan is owned by Paradigm so the amp would have Anthem components. It has ARC room correction, and most importantly for my use, it has a sub out. The amp can also be used for streaming but I don’t use that feature, just the RCA inputs for my HT system. I wanted the sub out so I could run an independent sub to the back of my room with content for the rear surround channels.
Before running ARC I just wanted to hear what it sounded like and was very surprised. If you have ever heard Martin Logan electrostatic speakers you know they throw a massive soundstage and sound very open and unconstrained. I don’t know how they got that quality into this amp, but somehow they did. My rear surrounds just filled the room, before connecting a sub or running ARC. Next I connected the sub and ran ARC and instead of just sounding like surround speakers it sounded like a nicely balanced system. The sub blends wonderfully and I haven’t even broken in the amp yet. It sounds like a lot more than the 50w a channel of listed power into 8 ohms. These amps are on close out right now marked down from $599 to $249. I would have no hesitation using it for larger speakers or in a second system like a desktop or bedroom. It worked perfect for my needs as an amp for my surrounds.