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Planar Speaker Asylum

what is the MartinLogan - ElectroMotion ESL 8" like to live with ?

70.181.162.138

I have only heard them at Best Buy where invariably the high is really overly bright and harsh - the bass is almost completely dis jointed from the electrostatic driver.
I have heard this exact same thing for decades.
I admit there is defiantly an extreme clarity to parts of the musical spectrum but i always walk away thinking " yuck "
I know they cant be that bad or the company would not have survived this long.
Tell me I am full o ' hot buttered muffins ,,,,,,

Edits: 11/26/22

Follow Ups:

RE: what is the MartinLogan - ElectroMotion ESL 8" like to live with ? - Norman M 22:04:36 11/26/22 (3)
IIRC the 30.7 for C uses cone type drivers for the bass and we weren't talking about SW frequencies.
- RE: Sorry, Norman ... ? - andyr 02:49:55 12/01/22 (2)
  WTF does " the 30.7 for C uses cone type drivers for the bass and we weren't talking about SW frequencies " mean?
  - RE: Sorry, Norman ... ? - Norman M 06:04:24 12/01/22 (1)
    "WTF does "the 30.7 for C uses cone type drivers for the bass and we weren't talking about SW frequencies" mean?"
    
    I was intending to mean that the dipoles in the 30.7 for Condos deliver frequencies other than those assigned to sub woofers. And that sub woofers were beside the point, and didn't at all apply to my consideration.
    
    Can the 30.7 itself play low organ notes and might it itself need a sub or two to do that?
    - RE: Aah - thanks for the clarification. nt - andyr 13:53:10 12/01/22 (0)
      .
I went back to bestbuy ,,,,, I heard them again .......black friday weekend - trioderob 18:55:12 11/26/22 (1)
This time they were hooked up to an expensive McIntosh system.
The speakers were able to float a very nice picture of the singers and there was a lot of detail. They were somewhat brighter than reality without being at all strident - yet there was a "lightness" that's hard to describe which I did not like. Its as if you can sense that the sound is coming from a ultra thin sheet of plastic . For a recording of a solo Hawaiian singer with a Uke playing alone they might be great. Maybe even a solo classical guitar.
But the bass region and the integration with the electrostatic driver was horrid. First of all the bass unit was unbelievably one dimensional bloated and woofy. its like a Latin American teenager driving a low rider down the streets of Los Angeles basting rap music. There was no sense of timbre - the bass sounded the same no matter what was played. The bass unit sounded like a attempt to integrate an inexpensive sub woofer by an audiophile novice. The sound was fatiguing and boring. Basically they sounded absolutely like crap with my LRS system at home blowing them completely out of the water.
oh well.... go figure

Edits: 11/26/22
- From what I understand, the Masterpiece series of Martin-Logans seems to be much better regarded. - MWE 19:14:50 11/26/22 (0)
  And much more expensive, naturally.
  
  Mark in NC
  "The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
Never took a liking to hybrids either - E-Stat 15:00:03 11/26/22 (7)
As a coherency freak, reproducing all the music fundamentals with a monopole driver up to 500 hz transitioning to a stat for the harmonics with decidedly different directivity sounds strange to these ears.
- I've never heard the ElectroMotion either. - jimbill 10:50:08 11/27/22 (2)
  But my 13a's crossover at 300hz and they go down to 24hz. And the dual woofers blend in without notice to my ears.
  I'm sure the larger Sound Labs sound better because of the much larger panels. I've noticed a not insignificant difference between the 15a's and the 13a's due to the larger surface area. But for a full range you have to go with the Ultimate 745's or 945's to get down to 24hz or better.
  
  Edits: 11/27/22
  - RE: I've never heard the ElectroMotion either. - E-Stat 18:07:45 11/27/22 (1)
    But my 13a's crossover at 300hz
    Still in the fundamental range of voice and most instruments.
    I'm sure the larger Sound Labs sound better because of the much larger panels.
    Size alone improves image height and bass extension, but that's not where the real magic lies.
    Whatever you do, don't listen extensively to a full range design with piano or symphonic content. ;)
    
    Edits: 11/28/22
    - The first tune I heard on large Soundlabs - G Squared 19:05:42 11/28/22 (0)
      sold me. It wasn't piano or orchestra. It was a little country. The percussion attack was as good as it gets.
      Gsquared
      https://youtu.be/92jUf1aUogI (Open in New Window)
- It's my understanding that, FWIW, the more recent M-Ls have dynamic sections that... - MWE 18:49:17 11/26/22 (1)
  at least partially mimic dipoles, using a dual-driver sliding-phase scheme. I haven't yet heard one, but would like to for curiosity's sake, though I'm quite satisfied with my (biamped) Maggie 3.6Rs. There is a dealer fairly local to me in Raleigh; I might pay them a visit at some point.
  
  Mark in NC
  "The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
  
  Edits: 11/26/22
  - RE: It's my understanding that, FWIW, the more recent M-Ls have dynamic sections that... - svisner 10:22:07 12/01/22 (0)
    I purchased recently a pair of MartinLogan ESL 9s. I find their bass integration quite effective and smooth. No "boom" and good transition from the electrostatic drivers to the dynamic woofers. I use a vintage McIntosh 240 amplifier, which seems comfortable with low impedance loads.
- RE: Never took a liking to hybrids either - Norman M 16:11:12 11/26/22 (1)
  To my (limited) understanding the 30.7 'for condos' is a hybrid, and in whatever stage of development it was, knowledgeable listeners weren't able to say enough good things about it.
  - Two differences from my understanding - E-Stat 16:51:53 11/26/22 (0)
    Dipolar bass with lower xover.
    
    My HT technically qualifies as such, but uses dual subs placed at room diagonals for sub duty only-not the lower midrange.

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