These are truly remarkable speakers. For critical listeners they supply the goods. I have never heard a more realistic speaker; vocals crisp and clear, instrumentals sharp and fast, orchestration rich and full. With that said, these speakers are very much like pursuing a love that when caught is a sweet joy. The placement is critical-my listening room is 18x18 with the speakers 3.5 feet from back wall, 4 feet from sides and raised 16 inches. They are demanding loads to drive. Your amp must handle 2 ohms and have ample current-I drive these with a 1500 watt Carver @ 2 ohms. They will bring out flaws in your other components. I do use twin JBL subs for 100Hz and below.

I have to agree with all the comments, the CLS is truely a remarkable speaker. I owned the CLS for 2 years and also a set of B&W 801's. Yes, I was a single man at the time! As you can appreciate these are two totally different speakers as I like the detailed midrange, and warmth of the Logans but the full and rich sound and the sheer depth of the 801's. Both speakers have excellent sound staging.
I was using homemade Lewitt valve power amps which could handle the low impedance, a Conrad Johnson PV10A preamp, meridian 206b CD player, Kimber silver between Source to preamp, Magnan type 5i between power amp to preamp, and straightwire maestro speaker cable. Yes, like everyone else, I spent many hours trying different speaker cables and interconnects, until Voila!

Overall, the logans give you a real sense of air and realism. You can get totally immersed in the music. Nothing comes close. Strings are so real you think the artist is right there in front of you. I could go on all night but I think you all get the impression......

None better.Well worth any agony involved to bring out their best.

Lifelike sense of energy, realism. Very pure reproduction.

Low frequency information. But frankly, that's expected with this particular speaker design.

Well, I'd tried just about every other affordable speaker produced by Martin Logan...I figured it was time to give the CLS IIz a try. First impressions are a multiplied sense of production from what I'd already experienced from other Martin Logans noted above. Drum solos, impacts, kicks, are stronger...more lifelike. Hmmm...They almost sound real, which in some way, is the ultimate objective I guess. Piano, horns, excel even more so. Jazz is my primary listening choice, but I'd imagine the CLS's would be a superb choice for classical fans as well.

Now, the search for the perfect sub begins. I'll probably begin with a REL Stadium III for starters. I've heard nothing but great reports on the REL's.

Tough to find a single fault with the CLS's at this point. If you've tried everything else Martin Logan produces, and have yet to give the CLS's a listen, I'd heartily recommend doing so. They're one beautiful speaker. I believe I'm done searching for a loudspeaker for quite some time.

Current system:
BAT VK500 (amp)
BAT VK30SE (preamp)
Sony XA7ES (cd player)
Oracle Delphi (turntable)
Benz Glider (low output MC cartridge)
JPS Superconductor XLR's
Harmonic Technologies Pro AC-II power cords
AudioQuest Sterling speaker cables
Lovan Sovereign Hi-Fi 'T' (rack)
Salamander Designs (amp stand)

Similar Products Used:

SL3, Quest Z's, Aerius I's.

I work in an audio/video store as a tech and have had the pleasure of listeningto a number of speakers and electronics in the past at work. I have always tried
to remain completely unbiased as towards my preference and simply followed
a god given judgement, my ears. After hearing Martin-Logan electrostats, starting
from the entry level Aries and working my way up to the Requests, it became
evident that what I liked about the imaging was somewhat directly proportionate
to the size of the actual electrostatic panels. I reveiwed their product literature
and selected the CLSIIs as my choice without even hearing them! Everything
that most people say about them with reguards to difficulty in placement, low
impedance dips, and power eaters is also my experience, but with patience and
the right associated electronics these speakers are without a doubt, spectacular!
I now own my second pair of them, the CLSIIz's, said to have improvements
in both low end response and impedance. The improvements are of significance
and were noticable immediately. I custom fabricated a pair of subs utilizing dynaudio 12's that also serve as stands that raise them aprox 15" off the floor.
These speakers greatest strengths, in my opinion, is their ability to image way
outside of their placement, and to reveal amazing levels of detail.
As many people have stated, these speakers are not for everyone, they require a large listening area and a level of paitience many do not have. Although, if you
simply want the most revealing speaker around, you will not be dissapointed!

First of all I doubt if any of you have had the opportunity to here CLS's to their full potential. I know of an electronics engineer who has reengineered a pair of Acoustat model x tube amplifiers. These are very special amps because they drive electrostatic panels directly. You do not use the power supply that Marin Logan gives you. They connect directly to the high voltage wires. The engineer has tried them on CLS panels and says that they have never sounded so good. The eq from these amps works with CLS's. They play at very impressive volume levels however not quite as loud as the Acoustat panels because they are not as efficient. There is bottom end and dynamics like you have never head. There is also more detail that was never heard before because there is less signal loss. He says they are the most advanced electrostatic drivers in the world. Judging by their sound I agree. The engineer is designing amps to drive the CLS's to their max. They require more voltage than the acoustats. I have heard other designs he has done and I can honestly say they make all other audio company's sound silly. Even with this setup the CLS's sound better that with any currently available electronics on the maket. They still need amps with more voltage. When he finally gets these masterpieces done the CLS's will truly sing. The sound will be a tremendous shock to the audio world. You will hear of these products someday. Listen for a new company called FOUNDATION RESEARCH. I promise all their products will be the world's best! I have had CLS's runned the traditional way. The acoustat panels sound better that CLS's because they are driven properly. The CLS's is a better panel and when it is driven properly all our jaws will drop in awe! From a true music lover and audiophile!

I HAVE OWNED A PAIR OF M.L. CLS IIZ FOR FIVE YEARS NOW.
IT TOOK A LONG TIME,MANY LITTLE CHANGES IN POSITIONING,AND SELECTING THE RIGHT
CABLES,BUT WHEN I FINALLY POSITIONED THEM ALONG THE LONG WALL OF A RECTANGULAR
ROOM RATHER THAN THE CONVENTIONAL ALONG THE LONG AXIS I FINALLY REALIZED SOME
OF THE POTENTIAL OF THESE SPEAKERS.DRIVEN BY 100 W PER CHANNEL OF TUBES AND WITH
A MUSE 18 SUBWOOFER THEY CAN BRING HOME A FULL ORCHESTRA.
WOULD NOT CHANGE THEM FOR ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT FOR ELECTROSTATICS COSTING $10,000 PLUS,THEREFORE THEY ARE IN TODAY'S WORLD A GREAT VALUE FOR THE DEDICATED
AUDIOPHILE AND MUSIC LOVER.THE PAIN TO GET THEM RIGHT IS WORTHED!

I am using CLS II z with class A amps by Pass with sundry equipment and agree with the above coments re setup,cables and even the humidity in
the air.
I have been lucky to have owned or heard some of the best including WILSON,
GOLDMAN,SONUS GUANARI,APOGEE etc and for the price there is nothig
that even comes close.Once you have heard a pair of CLSIIz set up corectly
you will never want to own or hear a pair of box speakers again.
I am very interested in any comments regards distance of floor to bottom
of actual elect. panel, amount of tilt-back angle,toe in and distance
between centre of panels to get even better than fantastic immaging and
sound.
I have also got a set of CLS panels without electronics but with transformers
so if anyone out there has got some circuit info please email me.
To those lucky enough to own a pair enjoy those that dont good luck

Amazing stage and vocals. Lifelike quality I haven't heard in any other speakers. Detail, clarity.

Power HOGS. Weak mid-low bass.

Amazing speakers. With vocal or classical there isn't anything I've heard that comes close in terms of immediacy and the feel of "beeing there." As a bonus, they also offer outstanding voice and effects reproduction when listening to movies (2-channel). They have a lot more midrange body than the SL3's, but defintely have less low-end. They also don't play loud as comfortably as the SL3's or a cone speaker.

They are VERY hard on amplifiers. I popped several fuses on my old Acurus A150 before upgrading. They also MUST have a subwoofer, or preferrably a pair. There is no low-to mid bass. Every once in a while I turn off my sub just to hear the difference.

I initially used them with a custom Bottlehead Foreplay preamp and the Monarchy amps but found the lush sound of the Monarchy's added to the tube sound of the Foreplay and made the midrange and vocals a little too "present" so I switched to a custom passive preamp. With a less warm amp, a tube preamp would probably be a perfect setup.

Mine are actually CLSIIa's, but this is the closest category I could find. At $5k for new ones they are a little steep, but if you listen to vocals, Jazz, or anything where you are more interested in detail and staging than volume and bass, these are very hard to beat.

Equipment:
Toshiba DVD
MBD Link DAC II
Custom passive preamp
Monarchy SM-100 Deluxe monblock amps
Custom silver interconnects
Analysis plus Oval-9 cables

Similar Products Used:

SL3, Spica TC-50, Magnepan MMG

I think that along with the QUAD 67 ESL this is the best 'real world' speakeravailable. As noted by Ali, the speakers are very demanding of amplifiers, but,
the Pass 0S and Krell KSA-100 Mk II both give fine results (the Classe CA-100
seems a bit wiry on top by contrast). This is because they go down to below 2
ohms in both the bass and extreme treble (which is kinder than many of the early
Apogee's, but, is still no picnic). They do need to be well out from the wall
and a good place to start is 1/2 X from the speaker to the back wall and 1 X
from the speaker to you (you should also not be against the back wall). This
will give the best imaging, but not likely the best bass response. As Ali noted
these are speakers capable of an almost unimaginable level of performance in
terms of mircro dynamics, detail retrevial, and transparancy. This is not a
speaker for the casual and undedicated listener, but, will reward the dedicated
as few others can. For that type of listner they are a full 5 stars, for others
I can't recommend them, instead try the ML Aerius which is far easier to place
and drive, and has more low bass too boot.