Many

Lacking Deepest bass.

This, my FOURTH pair of Logans' is the best overall. Although the midrange of the reQuests is hard to beat, by ANY other speaker I've ever heard, the Odysseys have some new technology that translates to better, more accurate reproduction.

The area most improved over other Logans is DYNAMICS. This is the first electrostat that can easily rival a good dynamic speaker in the "jump factor" dept. Both macro and micro dynamic graduations are superbly rendered. They also don't compress during loud passages like other older Logan designs. Beware though, because they are so "clean" and non-fatiguing, you will probably tend to play them a bit louder than usual, and you'll be ramping up and over the 100 db range before you know it.

The frequency extremes are also handled with better clarity and pitch. The high freq. seem to go on forever, with the absolute cleanest reproduction of cymbals that I've ever heard, ANYWHERE (with the exception of my own Zildjians in the basement).

The bass is much cleaner and quicker than again, any of the other Logans I've owned. Although it doesn't seem to reach as deep as my prior reQuests, the pitch and definition is much better.

These also seem to have a more accurate and stable image, and do project stable images more "outside" the panels. During more bombastic musical passages, they definately "hold it all together" much better than the older Logans.

MIDRANGE: Those who have owned Logans know that this is the area that few loudspeakers, at ANY price, can match, let alone beat. These things reproduce the human voice (both male & female) better than any speaker out there, with that incredible "in the room" spookiness that ALWAYS catches anyone who wanders in my room, off-guard. ANYTHING that falls into this all important range will, rest assuredly, be reproduced most faithfully.

Some caveats. Take it from someone who's been there, SEVERAL times, because of the "ruthlessly revealing" nature of these (and other M.L. speakers), and being a Dipole design, there are some important considerations to take into account for the prospective owner;

First,learn from my (& others) early frustrations -- don't even THINK of hooking these up to a "receiver". These will tell you EXACTLY what type and caliber of components, wires, ancillaries, that you're hooking 'em up to. Just as you wouldn't put K-Marts best tires on a Ferrari, don't even mess with these if you can't hook them up to top notch gear.

Also, because they radiate sound EQUALLY from the front AND rear, those with small rooms or unacommodating spouses need not apply. They need lots 'a room, both in front, in back, and to the sides.

All that being said, in the end, if you're looking for a holographic window on the performance with, as a good friend put it -- "these speakers are like a virtual reality machine!" you won't regret taking these monolithic beauties home.

System:

M.L. Odyyseys (Sonic Horizons "Daybreak" AC Cords)
Llano Design "Trinity" Reference 400 hybrid amp (PS Lab AC)
Audio Aero "Capitole" 24/192
PS Audio P300
Analysis Plus "Silver Oval/Oval 9" Bi-wire spkr. cable
Granite Audio 470 XLR & RCA interconnects
Well Tempered "Classic V" turntable (w/Audio-Technica ML170)
Balanced Audio Technology "P5" tube phono stage
Reference Line "Preeminence 1B" passive pre
Aurious M.I.B.
Shakti "Stones & On Lines"
Quantum Power "Symphony" (2)
Argent "Room Lens" (3)
Sanus "CF6" audio rack
Vibrapod isolaters (many)
Sonic Horizons "Skyline", "Hurricane" (2) AC cords
Silver Audio "Power Burst" Ac cord
Sennheiser HD600
Wheatfield HA-1

Similar Products Used:

ReQuest, Hales T-5, Alon IV, Aerius i, Sequel II, Magnapan MGIIA, Signet SL260

Looks - very nice sound

Could be a wider sweetspot

I traded a pair of Quad 989's for these mainly because my wife did not like the looks of them - I was a bit skeptical about doing so because the Quads are really great sounding. The Odyssey is very good in its own right - maybe not as balanced or sweeping as the Quads but it holds its own and I like the sound enough to not worry about the trade - the extra money I got in the deal was nice too. It is lacking a bit in its dynamic range compared to the Whispers I owned but nothing I have ever heard can top the Whispers in its midrange quality. It has a clear sound and great detail particukarly on acoustic guitar and piano. It is really a bargain at its price range and sounds better than my friends Prodigys which I find not as balanced in its overall sound.

Similar Products Used:

Quad 989 - Legacy Whispers - ML Quest Z's

Clarity, Midrange, Soundstage

Low end bass, Placement, Don't like the way the front grill attaches with velcro.

Best affordable speaker offered by Martin Logan yet. If you own SL3's and wondering if these are worth the upgrade, they are. They have a much smoother sound without losing any detail. Better midrange overall. Still trying to determine if the bass is alittle better or alot. In my comparison with the Prodigy in a AB test, these actually sounded better. The prodigy had a larger presence and larger midrange but sounded slower and heavier. Personally, the Prodigy did not offer $5k more worth of sound. The build quality is good on the outside except for the front grill. It attaches with velcro and would not fair well to having that grill removed more than a couple times without tearing the velcro off. The rear panel is much better with standoffs. Why Martin Logan did not use that same design on the front remains a mystery.

Similar Products Used:

SL3, Prodigy

Fantastic midrange and sweet, uncolored highs; instruments and voices have that holographic 'you are there' quality

Bass is nicely controlled and powerful, but there's no 'hard slam', even with Krell amplification. Smallish sweet spot. A bit finicky to set up, and not that easy to integrate smoothly with my Velodyne subwoofer.

Even non-audiphile friends have heard the new Martin Logan speakers in my room and commented with astonishment on how 'real' they make the music seem. The transient snap from a drumhead or a guitar string is startlingly fast. The cup or bell sound from a ride cymbal seems 'right there,' effortlessly so in fact. You can easily hear if the drumstick is wood-tipped or plastic-tipped. Well-recorded voices pull the same holographic trick, you feel you can walk out into the room and stand among the singers. Etc. In short, the timbre of instruments is to die for. If you had never heard a cello before, you'd still be able to tell not just how big the instrument is, but that it is made of wood. Saxes and trumpets have that burnished copper quality they do in real life.

The Odysseys are also soundstaging champs, if set up properly. One reason they impress me is that there is a height as well as a width and depth to their soundstage, which I suppose is difficult to achieve with speakers that are not as tall (the Odysseys stand at appr. 5'9''). But who knows? By the same token, the soundstage expands to beyond the left and right of the speakers, and of course, way behind them.

These are revealing speakers, which has a downside: they will perform miracles on great recordings, but they'll also bring out the tizziness and shrillness of earlier-generation CDs and anything else that is not recorded, mastered, and pressed with great care. Sibilance on female vocals is almost ruthlessly (but truthfully) rendered. If your preference is for a romantic, tubey sound, stay away from the Martin Logans. Same deal if you have less-than-first-rate electronics in the chain.

These are also not the best possible speakers if you're into Metallica or Public Enemy. They rock very respectably and enjoyably (I was playing MeShell Ndegeocello and Los Lobos last night and never felt groove-deprived), but they do seem to lack that last dollop of bottom-end slam that characterizes the very best. For some reason, this was still true even after I'd hooked up my Velodyne sub and futzed around elaborately with the sub's crossover and volume controls.

I compared the Odysseys to the Prodigies in the store environment and would say that, unless you have a very large room, you might be better off keeping 4Gs in your pocket and choosing the Odysseys. The Prodigies seemed just the tiniest bit slower to my ears, and more likely to overload the room with bass -- although the sales guy acknowledged that the associated equipment with the Prodigies was not carefully matched and that the pricier duo had probably not been set up properly with the requisite distance, toe-in experimentation, spikes, etc. The set-up in the room with the Oddyseys, on the other hand, seemed to have been tweaked to near-perfection.

I had a love affair with my Gallo Nucleus speakers for about five years and was not sufficiently impressed with anything else (below ten grand) that I'd heard in all that time to shell out the bucks and justify the switch. Not even the B&W 801s, a Class A Stereophile Recommended Component, sounded that alluring to me; neither did a 10,000-dollar pair of Infinitys, etc. But the Odysseys floored me. The ideal speakers they're not (and there will presumably not be any such beast in MY lifetime), but they provide an inordinately big chunk of audio Nirvana for a price that is a relative bargain. I've pretty much stopped watching TV at night because all I want to do is listen to music!

My set-up, for what it's worth: Martin Logan Odysseys, Velodyne F1200 subwoofer, Krell KAV-250 power amp, Sunfire Classic Tube preamp with phono stage, Sony 9000ES DVD/SACD player, VPI turntable with Sumiko Blue Point Special cartridge.

Similar Products Used:

Gallo Acoustic Nucleus Solos. Snell EIIIs. Martin Logan Prodigys. Recently auditioned B&W 801, 802, 803; and a $10,000 pair of Infinitys whose model number I forgot.

Size of soundstage, realism, deep 3D base

None yet

Well, I can't beleive I changed speakers again. I have been through 12 speakers in 3 years ! However, I just sat down this evening for a few hours of listening and it was the most musically involving sound I have ever heard.

My system:

Linn Ikemi CD Player
Goldmund Mimesis 28 amp
Goldmund Mimesis 7 pre
Magnum Dynalab MD102 FM Tuner
PS Audio P600 power plant
Martin Logan Odyssey speakers
Cardas Gold Cross Interconencts
Nirvana speaker cables

They throw a huge soundstage that is life-like, and they shocked me out of my chair how good the base is ! I used to own a pair of Requests and I sold them because I could not live the lack of good base integration..... now it is turned into a strength of Martin Logan... can you beleive it ?

The voices are also so real and the soundstage is so deep... I can listen for hours. I had to turn the switch on the back to reduce the base alittle... I found it a bit too much because I have the speakers 6" from the wall... they really need at least three feet. I will post again after a few months of listening... I really think I will have these for a while.

They have my highest recommendation.

Similar Products Used:

ReQuest, SL3, Maggie 3.6, Dunlavy Aletha, Avalon, Gershwin, Inner Sound, Audio Research VT100mkII, VAC 30/30, Audio Physic Virgo, Proac 3.8,...

All the traditional strengths of electrostats.

None that I could hear.

Overall, this is the finest speaker I've heard. I tried very hard to hear the difference between this model & the Prodigy. At the dealers' room, it was nearly impossible, but if I had to say, then it would be that performers were less large and, to my ears at least, better proportioned. Which is another way of saying that I actually preferred the Odysseys to the Prodigys, by the tiniest of margins.

These speakers have the most seamless integration of panel and woofer ever, Quad 63 and Gradient notwithstanding.

The transparancy, transient quickness, timbre, soundstaging (width & depth), are all intact, but added to it are dynamism and weight. Compared to the CLS it replaced, it is less power-hungry and goes far lower and with much more 'weight' and presence.

Lastly, if you listen to ONLY rock, I would recommend the B&W 801 or 802 Nautilus as the are more dynamic and 'present'. But if you are on an eclectic musical diet, there are no finer speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan CLS II Z.

Sound Stage, bass

Sensitivity to 'sweet spot'

Powerful speaker with excellent sound stage. Very fine imaging of recorded space information. It is not forgiving on bad recordings and week components and will scream 'digital edginess' appropriately. Bass is huge so depending on placement the -3 Db switch comes handy at times. This speaker is for you if your listening room is rectangle shaped with at least 20 sqm space, treated at the rear/sides with books, curtains etc. against reflections. This speaker is for you if your listening material includes jazz, rock or fine chorals. This speaker will also serve you well as front for cinema with deep hard impact effects. Properly set up, the best speaker I heard in a long time.

clear, deep bass, wide sound stage, dynamic

?

my system :

WADIA 21
YBA PRE 1
YBA 1 dual monos amplifier
MIT shotgun

After 11 years with the SEQUEL 2 I was expecting the new ML for arather long time

I was not disapointed by those great speakers very clear with deep bass

I bought them immediately (may be the first in France !)

They are excellent with all kinf of music (classic, jazz, ancient music, indian music) and certainly with rock which I do not listen to.

Much more better than REQUEST in all the spectrum

I recommand very highly those speakers

Similar Products Used:

ML Quest, REQUEST

WONDERFUL OPEN SOUND LOTS OF BASS

NONE

EVER SINCE I CAN REMEMBER, I'VE BEEN A MARTIN LOGAN FAN.
I FIRST PURCHASED THE SL3, HAD THEM FOR ABOUT 1 YEAR.
I LOVED THEM.THEN CAME ALONG THE ASCENTS,I TRADED IN MY SL3
AFTER AUDITIONING THE ASCENTS,AND FOUND THEM TO ALSO LIVE UP TO THE MARTIN LOGAN REPUTATION.
AFTER A FEW MONTHS TO MY AMAZEMENT I FOUND OUT THAT YHE ODYSSEY'S WERE COMMING ,I HEARD THEM AT THE CES SHOW IN JAN IN LAS VEGAS.THEY WERE SO GREAT IN EVERY WAY I HAD TO HAVE THEM... THEY WERE SIMILAR TO THE PRODOGY'S BUT SMALLER, THE PUSH PULL EFFECT GIVES A MUCH FULLER BASS FILLS THE ENTIRE ROOM, ASWELL AS THE AMAZING OPEN SOUND STAGE.
THEY ARE STILL VERY NEW SO THEY SEEM TO BE ABIT ON THE HARSH SIDE,BUT AS WE KNOW THEY TAKE TIME TO BREAK IN.
THEY SEEM TO BE BY FAR THE BEST OF THE 3 OTHERS I HAD I CAN HIGHLY RECOMEND THEM.

OTHER SPEAKERS IN MY SYSTEM
LOGOS CENTRE CHANEL
SCRIPT'S REARS

DARREN

Similar Products Used:

ASCENTS,SL3

great soundstage in in the proper environment

Demoed these speakers at CSA audio in an ideal room configuration and they were fabulous. I do have a question for those who own these speaker. How do they perform if the speaker is placed close to a rear wall? Also, how do they handle the demands from dts/dd in watching dvd movies?
I appreciate your valued feedback.