Transparency, soundstage, precision and looks great

A bit difficult to place

After allowing adequate time for break in, placement becomes a labor of love. I've owned many different speaker systems but have never been quite happy with their performance - there always seemed to be something missing... MIDRANGE, where the music lives. The Ascents reproduce such sweet mids that I wonder how I ever tolerated conventional speakers. Some listeners have been critical of the base response and have included a sub to enhance the lows, WHY? It takes a little time adjusting the position of these speakers but when positioned correctly they perform admirably. Of coarse the related equipment is a factor that must be taken into consideration before concluding that a speaker is this or that, not to mention room accoustics. The Ascents are a winner by any measure and are highly recomended.

Similar Products Used:

never owned an electrostatic speaker

Open sound, clarity and definition of soundstage, best match of standard woofer and planar mid/high I have heard

Requires an amp that can manage heavy loads, takes a while to break in

These are fantastic speakers. If you pair them with suitable components, they bring out the best in the music- clear, smooth, open, with a humungous soundstage and great dynamic range. Few speakers sound as good as MLs - and none can match them with vocals. I've heard some complain that they can be bright or bass shy. I disagree- it is more a function of the components they are paired with- and the bass is great- tight and fast to match with the speed and style of the panels. In terms of this matching, I think that these are a solid step up from the ReQuests. Pair the Ascents with tubed amps for the best results in my opinion.

My system:

BAT VK30 Preamp (tube)
BAT VK75 Amp (tube)
Arcam FMJ23 CD player
MIT interconnects
MIT Biwire

Similar Products Used:

JM Labs, Platinum Audio, Tannoy, Meadowlark, Maggies, KEF, Vandersteen, Energy

Super revealing speakers, Gorgeous looks

Knowing that there are bigger and probably better Logans.

Well after two long years of hunting for new speakers,and four years of knowing that i wanted Logans finally settled myself with this pair.
Now after two weeks of throwing the best in my collection on them i decided to write this lines for anybody intereted on a pair of Ascents.
They are in a room that is roughly a cube( bad isn't it)of about 14 x 14 x 12, the ascents are located with the center of the panel at about 31/2 ft from the front wall, left speaker at barely less than two ft from side wall, rigth side is about 3 ft fron side wall, they are separated at about 8 ft sightly toed in( 15 degrees), listening position is at about 8 ft directly against the back wall, wall are all concrete with a tile floor with just a courtain to the left of the room( in the future this arrangemment will change but just a bit).
Just after being unpacked and connected they struck me with their amazing detail, anything that is in the source will be exposed to your ears.My pair of acoustat sounded mudied in comparison.
The sounstage is open and very natural extending rigth to the boundaries of the room in all directions( LF-RT, front back).Thus, giving a very lifelike experience.this was beautiful on acoustic recordings like those from Diana Krall,Jacqes Loussier Trio,Pat Metheny ( Missouri skies).
In Orchestral works i tested them with the Firebird suite performed by valerie Gergiev and the range was amazing in the infernal dance as well as in the closing section,other selections included also sprach zaratustra( giving me all the thrills of the tympani).
Rock selections included some from Spocks Beard, Flower Kings, Who and genesis, wich tended to sound a little on the brigth side, but again the acoustic side of this performers was clearly and beautyfully presented by the ascents.
The well known strenghts of the electrostats in the presentattion of the voices was present as well, Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry were naturally presented, as well as Lorrena McKennit, Andrea Bocelli, Enya, Cat Stevens and Ian Anderson.
To closing the review let me add that i invited a friend that never had listened to a pair of martin logans( he even was not aware of the excistence of such a speaker)he had recently listened to a pair of B&W nautilus 801 with DVD audio as source, and ,well he was just blown away, he cannot believe the sound that was coming from that transparent membrane, he just knew that he has to own a pair of these, pretty much the same that happened to me after my first exposure to a pair of SL3 four years ago.
Now they are in my room and God i am going a have a very good time for years to come.
Associated equipment: Nakamichi stasis amp 7PA( By the way thank good it did a very good synergi with the ascents).
yamaha DSPA 3090
Pionner 414 dvd/cd player
run of the mill interconnects and cables.
All of it to be upgraded slowly over the next two or three years.
So to all of you with better electronics than i own take note, because this ones are killers.
Final comment, yes i am terribly biased i bought them ;-).

Similar Products Used:

Acoustat model one, Acoustat model Two.

Expensive, requires time to place correctly.

These speakers offer incredible sound. The music is open, with a deep, broad, and precisely imaged soundstage. For lack of a better word, I'd say that their presentation is engaging and enthusiastic. My musical tastes are eclectic, and I think that these speakers offer plenty of puch for rock- but only at mid+ volumes.

My system:

BAT vk60
BAT vk30
Acram FMJ CD
MIT T2 speaker wire
MIT Ultima interconnects
Martin Logan Ascent

Highly reco'd. Five Stars.

Similar Products Used:

Merlins, B&W, Meadowlark, Platinum Audio, Proac JM Labs

First off, please bear in mind that if you've not heard a pair of electrostatic speakers, you simply do not know just how incredibly the panels produce sound. Placement and detail is an order of magnitude above that of cone speakers, and you need to be aware of this when considering a review.

So, lets begin.

You need a wide room for these speakers, and you need good placement, otherwise you lose a lot of what they can do.

They're about five and half feet tall, and have plenty of bass coming out the woofer. Turn the volume up a little and they're loud; they really fill the room and you can't hear anything else. They play party volume music just fine with my 100 watt monoblocks.

The panels produce sound with *absolutle* clarity and detail. If your sources are not up to the level of the speakers, you'll hear it, every single last bit of it.

The sound is a tad polite, in my opinion; I suspect this is because the lower midrange sounds are being produced by the electrostatic panel, and that *type* of sound production doesn't lend itself to out and out rocking.

However, if you like voices, especially female voices - Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Tanita Tikaram - there is simply nothing like an electrostatic speaker.

And the detail - if you listen to Baker Baker on Under The Pink (Tori Amos), there's a point about half way through where she pauses for a moment - and with these speakers, you can here a faint double tap where Tori taps the ground under her piano with her foot.

I'd never heard that before. And you can hear *so* much detail and clarity in the voice, every single last whisper.

And if you like precise industrial music - NIN for example - these speakers will blow you away. The Fragile has so much detail, and the midrange and bass is so detailed and precise - it's fantastic.

The 3db bass rolloff switch on the back of the speakers is effective at eliminating the ear pounding you'll get if the room is too small.

All in all, hmm. The nominal price in the UK is 3897 UKP, I got a 10% discount just by asking, which took it to 3500. These are serious grown up speakers and I think that's a fair price.

Overall rating? a four I think. I love them, but you have to appreciate there are some things (serious rock and roll) they don't do as well as a cone speaker; this is the price for the fact that they do some other things (vocals, mid-range, placement) so much better than a cone speaker.

Similar Products Used:

Aerius I, Magnepan IIIa