Why Do Martin Logan Speakers Lack Dynamic Energy?

It is common with the electrostats for the glue that holds the sonic weights to the polyester film to come loose. Martin logan can fix this for a price.

I like the way they sound. I don't think they sound lean in the mid-bass region. Your mileage might vary. So might your amp,preamp, room, and source components.

I would say that lack of dynamic energy, impact and weight is something I have noticed with most electrostatic/hybrid speakers, regardless of components and room acoustics when compared to a comparably priced, traditional cone speaker. The Martin Logan Statements sound incredible, but use multiple, midrange dynamic drivers and are VERY, VERY expensive.

The lack of dynamic punch can really be noticed when not listening to anything but the most perfectly recorded music. Acoustic (strings, etc.) and vocal music sounds wonderful, but most rock music sounds forward, grating and almost intolerable. The problem becomes that you find yourself only being able to listen to perfect recordings, or certain types of music. Do people really want speakers that forces them to only listen to well recorded CDs and certain types of music?

Electrostatics are highly, highly placement and room sensitive. Don't assume there is something wrong with the speaker until you have exhausted every placement possibility (or your patience, whichever comes first). Having said that, no planar is going to "energize" the room in the same way as a cone/box speaker, simply because its dipolar radiation cancels itself out at lower frequencies. The initial transient is there, but the gut-thumping wallop that comes from pressurizing the entire room isn't, and never will be. It's the nature of the beast and something you either can live with or can't (I personally can't). That's the curse of the electrostat: it does some things so well that you end up eternally frustrated because it won't give you everything you want. You keep thinking, if only it had bass to match the rest of the speaker..... but it doesn't, because it can't.

Electrostatics, planars and ribbons drivers have much less mass than cone/piston drivers and as a result electrostatics can respond to the input signal much more quickly than piston speakers. In general stats also don't exhibit the same level of dynamic compression as piston drivers. It's actually easy to see how some people might interpret stats' quick transient response and the lack of dynamic compression as a flaw. If you want to add more dynamic punch to a stat then simply add an outboard compressor/limiter to gently squash the signal's transients to mimic the behavoir of a typical cone based speaker.

Several possibilities come to mind that might have a bearing on what you're experiencing.

First, the differing radiation characteristics of point-source woofers and line-source panels means that their integration is somewhat distance-dependent. The sound pressure level from the panels rolls off more slowly with distance than it does for the woofers. So if the room is too large for that particular pair of Martin Logans, the bass and midbass energy will be lacking.

Second, some earlier model Martin Logans had a response dip in the crossover region (ballpark 200-300 Hz) that would result in a lack of lower midrange energy.

Third, electrostats in general are extremely demanding of associated amplification, and the Martin Logans are no exception. From my own experience with Sound Lab electrostats, I can tell you that choice of amplification makes a huge difference in dynamic contrast and liveliness.

Fourth, it is possible that the dynamic compression characteristics of the woofer and panel are very different. The primary source of woofer compression is thermal compression, while the primary source of compression in the panels is probaly transformer saturation, which does not set in until you reach a very high input level. So what may happen is the woofer compresses more than the panel does up until the point where the panel compresses severely. I frankly do not know if this situation applies to the Martin Logans - I'm only mentioning it as a possibility in a dynamic/electrostatic hybrid.

Ahem... also, ah... at the risk of coming across as somewhat self-serving, I can think of at least one large, full-range electrostat that has good weight and body in the midbass region...

Cheers,

Duke