I purchased about a year ago the revised "i" version of the Aerius speaker. This sound is incredibly life-like, three-dimensional, detailed and transparent for a relatively small electrostatic hybrid. The music reproduction seems utterly neutral with solid state or tube amplification. The speaker is also relatively easy to place and drive. I must admit, I'm quite fond of the entire Martin Logan line.
Associated equipment: SAE 8000 FM tuner, Macintosh C-22 (reissue) preamp, Conrad Johnson Premier 4 amp, Thorens TD-125 TT w/SME 3009 MkII arm & Grado 8MZ signature cartg, Pioneer PD-65 Elite CD player, Denon DRM-740 cass deck, and Martin Logan Aerius i speakers.

phenomenal transparency, low [no] distortion, fabulous dynamics and soundstage

requires a lot of patient setup. So clean you find you are listening very loud without knowing it.

Truly a fine speaker. I am continually amazed at how honest they are. Super fast.

One or two points: the Aerius i's need a matched cable setup- they are very revealing of bad cable, in particular the electrostat. A friend mentioned this is possibly because of the impedance curve [1 ohm at 20kHz] and is often hard work on the amp. A low inductance one apparently should suit. On the other hand, high silver content didn't work for me. Tried Nordost Blue Heaven, and the match was not good.
Oh and get a good amp, and a very good front end while you're at it!
In my experience, they don't play anything that isn't there, ie. if there is no bass on the source material, there isn't going to be any coming out of the speakers. If set up well, and at the correct distance from the wall, the bass is excellent and tuneful, and balanced well with the electrostatic unit.

And then there's the sound stage- just great. This was always a problem with my Quads- one listener at a time please. The low profile makes them excellent for home theatre.

All my friends wonder where this wall of sound is coming from.

LinnLP12
Sony CD transport
CAL Alpha DAC
Anthem Integrated 1 amp[modified for better bass]
Kimber throughout

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quad els quad esl63

Eminently musical. Gets out of the way of the music. Highly informative and resolving.

Requires excellent source material. Small changes in positioning drastically change the sound.

Listening to the Martin Logan Aerius(i) makes me feel that the money and frustration thrown into this hobby of ours can be worth it.

The Aerius takes the qualities I loved so much in the Magnepan line and ratcheted them up several steps. Even before break-in, the Aerius captures the emotional impact of the music. To his credit, Gayle Sanders has gotten the transition between the drivers right. The transition in his earlier designs always called attention to itself - so I wrote off his designs as "promising but flawed" and stayed a die-hard Magnepan fan. After all, the Maggies were less expensive and offered exceptional sound too. I am now all too happy to take a break from Magnepan. The Magnepan line is wonderful, but the Aerius edges past the Maggies in overall musicality. The ever so slight "texture" in the Maggies is absent in the electrostat panel of the Aerius.

The Aerius(i) speaker is transparent, coherent, tonally accurate, fast and reasonably small. This description does nothing to convey the immense musicality of these speakers. Even though I bought them used and they are now just discontinued, I believe I have found a speaker to keep for many years.

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Magnepan Ic, SMGa, .6QR, MG10.1
Quad 1970s model

Natural sound, superb medium & high ranges

Weak bass

Back in Sep. 98, a dream (of 5 years) came true. I finally got the chance to buy Martin Logan's Aerius i. Since then, it is 100% pleasure. I believe that for that kind of money, US$ 2.000, you cannot find any better speakers. Sound superb, look great and you do not need a gigantic amp. behind them. I have a Jadis DA30 integrated amp. (vacuum tube, push-pull 6550, 2 x 30 watt class A) which matches perfectly well my Aerius i. Fair enough, 87 dB is a tiny wee low but it is usually more than enough.

Well, medium and high ranges are superb. Should I say that the Aerius i are transparent but not too much. You do not get tired after an hour auditioning. On the contrary, you want some more. The speakers will not knock your socks off BUT lowbass is tight. It does not sound like a big "boooooom" (low but slow).

Aerius i will give you the best when listening to small jazz combo's or chamber music. Voices are also fabulous. Listen to Pergolesi's Stabat Matter with Emma Kirby & James Bowman. Heaven. Very natural sound. You do not have to concentrate to appreciate. Just let you go and enjoy. It is that easy.

System is : Linn LP12/Akito (arm)/K9 (cartg.)/Trampolin/Cirkus analogue turn table, Linn Karik 3 CD player, Rotel RQ 970 BX phono stage
Music : Jazz (85%)

Have fun.

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Final (made in the Netherlands), model ?

Stunning midrange, very neutral tone, brings out the best in female vocals

Not much useful bass below 30Hz, requires a fair amount of power.

A great speaker with tons of positive qualities. The resolution and reproduction on chamber, jazz, female vocals, is stunning. They do require sufficient power, and will reveal weaknesses in other components. They also are finicky about placement and don't sound nearly as good off-axis as in the sweet spot.

Well, I'm once again in the market to build my home audio system. I just finished a two day demo at home with the Aerius i speakers. I was running an audio Research Tube amp D115MKII about 100 or so watts per channel. A good thing as these speakers do need a fair bit of power. Between myself and two close friends who are also critical listeners we all came to the same conclusion. Mid detail, especially strings, cymbals, etc showed exceptional detail. Voices as well. Very big sound stage when positioned properly with ample room behind and beside them. Both depth and height could be easily detected, but seating position was important as moving a couple feet to one side or the other caused the soundstage to shift left or right accordingly as well as an overall reduction in size.
These speakers produce base fairly low although a bit thin and not entirely integrated with the panels. The upper mid base and low base both have different tonal sounds/tentures. It may be that the low base utilizes only the woofer, while the upper midbase also has higher frequency overtones played on the panel which changes the overall sound. To be extremely critical the upper mid base sounds like it's being driven by vibrating mylar film or similar. (Like plastic flapping in the wind - sorry probably too critical but you get the idea). The dynamic attack of especially exciting passages tends to be subdued on the Martin Logans.

In general the speakers are good for guitar, strings, vocal (solo), but not for orchestra, rock, some jazz.

Can anyone suggest speakers in the 2 to 4 thousand dollar range US that have the same level of detail as these, but more dynamic with better base?

I still need to listen to the Proac's, Thiell's and Audio Physics' speakers. Please offer any helpful comments.

I regret if I have offended any Martin Logan owners. These speakers had some very nice qualities in the level of detail and transperency, but for their price I expect better integrated base (this was the small problem) and more importantly increased dynamics. I know everyone says they are "smooth" and "liquid" in the mids and highs. This is true, but live performances can be harsh at times and when I listened intently to jazz and classical music where dynamics were required these speakers just could not produce. Put in a good piece of music like Gustov Holst' "The Planets", or Wellington's Victory March, or jazz with a live feel. You will probably note the excellent detail present, but lack of impact on rimshots and trumpet blasts, etc.

Three star is the best I can do for their rating.

I have lived with this speaker for just over a year and remain as enthusiastic about it as when I bought it - if anything its strengths have grown on me while (for the price point) there are no significant weaknesses. Mid-range tranparency and soundstaging are class leading, while the bass is solid and taut. There is a real three dimensionality here, a sense of 'being there' rather than listening to a recording. Careful room placement can also improve the quality of sound quite considerably. There is a slight problem with the crossover (inevitable I guess in a hybrid), but it is only occasonally noticeable. Even at inflated UK prices, this is a steal.

rediculiously fast! Clear and crisp highs, very transparent midrange, smooth and natural. Strong 8" mid woofer when pushed, also blends nicely with the panel. Can be pushed with more and more power but never flinch!

Placement does more than you think, if you have a dirty amp, they will show it, if you have a bad recording, they will show it, if you have a clean recording you will be in for a treat, ergo a revealing speaker.

Kudo's martin logan, fantastic speaker.
Always a conversation piece! Transparent in looks and sound, when you look at the price it may initmdate you, but for those who can appreciate it will find it a bargain. Great Martin-Logan build quality, and wonderful service.
Must have a decent amp to run(Higher end Denon, Rotel, Classe, Krell etc.) Most recordings sound killer, some punk doesnt sound so hot, but clean industrial recordings like all Nine Inch Nails and the like sound FANTASTIC.
Their natural forte is classical and most any well recorded music, as they reveal every detail in the music.
A bit hard to posisition at times, once you get it right, its good though. Very difficult to distort, your amp just runs out of power:)
If you can afford it, but a pair of Ascents, a bit larger with a 10" mid driver and lower crossover point, ergo better sound through the panel, if not, they aerius i's will not dissapoint.

Also good speaker cable will benifit this speaker(Transparent cable, etc)

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Martin Logan Script, Ascent, SL-3 and Prodigy.

Resolution, soundstage, speed (and attractive)

No bottom-of-the-earth bass

I've been living with these speakers for about two years now and grow to love them more and more. The extreme bass, which they admittedly cannot produce, troubles me not at all because I have a sub that will fill the gap admirably. But
they do develop a quite decent low end in their own right and, unless you're a fanatic for deep bass, they'll probably do you fine as standalones.

Not long ago I added a Cinema to the package, and it mates beautifully with the "i"s. Don't figure I'll be changing speakers any time soon. They are simply wonderful with classical music and - much to my surprise - do a wonderful job with home theater. Have gone through a lot of speakers over the years (always wanting electrostatics but never being able to afford them or being unwilling to put up with their shortcomings); methinks Gayle Sanders and co. have made a practical ESL that is within reach of all but the most penurious. Martin-Logan has a terrific line of products!!

soundstage

placement, placement, placement.

Wow. Greatest soundstage of any other products on the market (expect more expensive Martin Logans). Magnepan very close behind.

I love the sound for jazz and classical music! I only wish that I had more space to place them properly. They really need at least 3 feet of distance behind them to the rear wall to open up. I just have small markings in the floor that I bring them out to when I want to indulge my ears.

Now to look for the center channel, sub, and rear speakers......

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B&W Nautilus 805