Customer Ratings & Reviews

These Martin Logan speakers are an outstanding addition to our new home theatre room. They provide incredibly clear audio for our movies and are well worth the price tag! They are aesthetically pleasing and we look forward to years of enjoyment!

The Sony TV speaker is fine, but there's too much side-wall interference. These MartinLogan speakers fill the room much better and without any need for a surround sound setup. In fact, with the Marantz driving them, it’s powerful to deliver music (or dialog) throughout the house without any noise interference or muffled sounds. I almost went with horn-style towers, but the high-to-low separation these radiate convinced me it was worth the few extra $$.

These sound pretty sweet IF set up properly. They are not for everyone's taste because some music sounds better on more traditional high end speakers

Once you nail the center image and seat about 5 feet more from the distance between each speaker they come alive.

I really cannot say enough about the Electrostats. They have the most beautiful sound. You will definitely hear things you've never heard in both music and movies.

Martin Logan ESL does not disappoint. I have always wanted a pair, and was fortunate to buy them at opened box price. Delivery team did a fabulous job. Martin Logan also honors the 5-year warranty. Don't get better that this!

I came from a pair of Polk Towers and I am blown away. The amount of detail is unbelievable. In the store I was leaning towards a pair of B&W's and a Marantz PM8005 amp in another room. The associate was kind enough to hook up the ML's next to the Bowers I was surprised how clear and natural the ML's were not to mention the imaging was amazing! The Bass is something lots of people are unsure about but when you put a little power into these guys they really come alive. I know its possible to power the stats off of anything but they really shine with some clean power. Another area of concern is placement. I sit 12 feet away and have these guys 7 feet apart. They are pulled out about 2 feet from the wall and have at least 1.5- 2 feet to each wall. They did take some time to set up and dial in but even right up against the wall they were great, I found they just kept improving the more I played with them. These fore sure have to be on everyones list to listen to!

These speakers are easy to drive, have a fantastic sound and great imaging. They are easy to drive and once positioned correctly, are easy to listen to. One thing to watch out for in placement is that they produce sound from both the front and the rear of the film, so ideally you would want similar surfaces behind both of them. I didn't so getting them placed properly took a bit more time due to time effects from one speaker getting the reflection from the wall behind it while the other speaker had no wall behind it. It took some toe-in and some experimentation with distance to the wall to get around this. Once they are set up though, they sound fantastic. They sound especially great with well-recorded orchestral music - especially brass. They also sound fantastic with vocals and piano. And then they sound great with contemporary as well. There's really no music I've found that these don't reproduce well. Some reviewers have stated these to be a bit bright -- I would say it depends a lot on your amplifier. For example, at first I had them powered by a Bryston B60 (60WPC). This amplifier had plenty of power to drive them, but I found output in the mid to high range was a bit harsh, but the lower end was extremely tight and present. The harshness at the high end went away to some extent with time, but never fully relaxed. I then tried them with my Classe CAP-150 (150WPC). The result was a much smoother sound through the mids and high, but the lows were a bit too relaxed. Finally, I hooked them up to my Classe CAP-2100 and that's how it's remained. The highs are smooth, clear, and crisp -- without being fatiguing on the ears -- and the lows are punchy, precise, and accurate. Most people probably don't have those amps sitting in their closets (luckily my wife hasn't sold them on me yet), so I would suggest auditioning in person and making a decision on an amp and speaker combination together. I would definitely recommend a sizeable subwoofer for this in a large room. Since these speakers are very efficient, they put out a lot of sound with even modest amplification (even at 60W). The lows drop off at around 50Hz in my room, so the sub really helps take the sound to full range. The only real downside I see with these speakers -- and it's minor -- is that the terminals don't allow for tight attachment of spade connectors. I plan to contact the manufacturer to see if they offer a binding post upgrade.

Beyond their obvious good looks, they are very easy to set up (the first step is done with a flashlight). The sound quality is amazing. It really is difficult to tell that the sound is coming from a speaker and not a live band. We listen to a lot of show tunes and classical and these speakers are wonderful for that. The high end is very bright and having each speaker include a sub-woofer gives excellent low notes. There seems to be a little loss around the cross-over, but you have to listen very close to notice that. I have not heard any other speakers with as good of a sound reproduction (unless you count the more expensive versions of the same speaker from the same company).

These are great sounding speakers and are a focal point of any audio system. They arrived in very large boxes. While not extremely heavy, they are taller than any other speaker I've ever owned and seem bigger in the house than in the store. But they look and sound wonderful. Guests always comment and are amazed that they work. So if you're going for subtlety, these may not be for you.

The first high end audio system I listened to was McIntosh tube amplifiers with AR speakers about 1970. I soon had my own McIntosh solid state amplifiers with KLH 9 full range electrostatic speakers. If you read the history of Martin Logan the KLH 9 is mentioned. Electrostatic speakers once enjoyed, set a standard that must be met. As my space is shrinking these new Martin Logan’s are replacing an older and larger pair of SL-3’s. After carefully listening to these new ones, I am well satisfied. Bravo!

I was condiering the larger ones, Theos, I think? Anyway, I ended up getting the little ones and the better (800.00) center channel to match. I ran these off my Denon 4310 for the first couple weeks. As Japanese Amps go, its pretty good. Not overly thin. They sound good, a little crisp, but OK for music. They seemed to really perform well on video, the front stage came alive quite well. My Denon is fairly power rich, I had played with placement and eq settings and many other things and finally decided they needed better power. Yesterday, I put my McIntosh 4x100 amp on the (3ch) on the front stage. Music changed dramatically. Needless to say my hardware on the head end makes a huge difference, but I think the Logans like the high torque power. I can really hear the fingers on the strings, the breaths, and the off stage conversations like never before and the bottom end woke up. They sound like they can play without a subwoofer now and didn't before. They sound like the big brother version for twice the price. Video however...this is where it gets it. I would say this is bar none the finest sounding front stage I have ever heard in a house, including systems where more dollars are spent. Power up these logans, try an American amp, or something with tubes and let them go. They will amaze you.

The sound is incredible. Very detailed. Being electrostatics, you must listen to these before you buy to see if they are to your liking. The sweet spot is very small, but if you are sitting within that spot, the sound imaging is amazing. Even outside of the sweet spot, they fill the room with great sound (just not quite as amazing). Bass is good for music, but for watching movies, you will want a good sub. You can pay for the sub with the money you save from not buying a center channel.... we disconnected ours because the dialog was clearer without it.

Strengths: a very tail sound stage, and a unique ethereal sound. Weaknesses: very limited sweet spot. If you move your head, it can change the sound. This might be perfect for a small room with a fixed listening position. I would also recommend a separate sealed subwoofer.

Fantastic speakers, super crisp quality and definitely add to a rooms decor. Needs to have the right power though! Skimping out on an amplifier doesn’t do them any good. Built for crisp highs and mids, lows can take about a month (or a week depending on how much you listen) of listening to break in the subwoofer to really add the clean punch. ALSO, if using any of the audio quest banana plugs, it will be extremely tight trying to get them into the hole, just have to squeeze it in there.

I waited a couple of months to review these speakers. I had first purchased a Pioneer SC-63 receiver and wanted to upgrade my speakers. My original choice was Bose 901s but found out they were not compatible with the Pioneer receiver. WOW am I glad I waited. I went to Best Buy with my own music and had them set up the SC-63 with the ML-ESL Speakers. I had about 6 CDs but the music that really showcased the system was Chemical Brothers 'Exit Planet Dust'. I listen to Jazz, Classical and the blues but needed something that would show the true potential of these speakers. They not only blew me away but totally surprised the sales rep with the sound they produced. They were clear, distinct and surpassed anything I had previously listened to. I had decided to purchased these speakers right from the beginning of the demo. At home they truly wonderful with both music and movies. If you are considering new speakers you must listen to these. Just give them a try. They are worth the extra $$.

The Martin Logan ESLs are crystal clear and with surprisingly good bass for an eight inch woofer. When they are coupled with the Martin Logan 700w subwoofer, the sound is amazing. The soundstage extends far beyond the plane of the speakers. Placement is critical, and they do require a substantial amplifier. Martin Logan recommends 20-200 watt, and I would think that should be at least a 100 watt minimum. Electrostatic speakers are notoriously inefficient. The downside: it took four tries to get a working pair. One of the first pair died in three days, and the replacements came in with shipping damage twice. Both were broken in the same place. The crew at the Springfield MO store went above and beyond to get me a working pair. Kudos to them.

We use two of these speakers in a 5.0 configuration with a center speaker and two bookshelf speakers at the back; no sub-woofer. They are quite unobtrusive compared with the much larger main speakers I previously used but the sound quality is just as good. I don't feel the need for a sub-woofer with the music, films and TV that I watch.

These speakers are absolutely stunning. The first 4-5 hours and poor placement made the speakers sound mediocre and I thought about returning them. However, after going through the rigorous speaker placement by experimenting inch by inch and even measuring stuff out.. it made the speakers worth every penny. When I'm in the "sweet spot" I can hear artists taking in breathes of air and even licking their lips before they start to sing. The only draw back is that these speakers are almost too reviling at times. They expose poor production and horrible microphones leading to my ears searching for high quality music. (which I didn't need to before with a pair of headphones) These speakers love space to breathe and some moderate power being pushed out to them. I recommend treating your room with absorbers/diffusers if you're able to as this added space to the music and really made the speakers disappear. If you aren't able to completely treat your room put some homemade sound absorbers from rockwool behind the speakers as this made the biggest difference. Overall, if you're on the fence about getting these speakers for music or even movie watching, I would highly recommend trying them out. Best Buy has an amazing return policy if you end up hating them. So give them a chance at least. For people who are wondering, these are my room dimensions with speaker placement. Room: -Width, 14 feet. Length, 12 feet. Height, 8 feet. -Bass traps in 2 of the 4 corners -Sound diffuser on back wall - 3" Sound absorbers behind each speakers (This significantly improved sound imaging) Speakers: 2 feet off the front wall -2 feet away from the side walls -5 feet between the speakers -5 feet away from speakers when in listening position - Slight toe-in. About 45 degrees.

I've had many speakers through the years. Anywhere from the college dorm Cerwin Vega w/ 15" woofers to M&K S150s that were used to mix the Star Wars movies. I purchased the ESLs after moving to NYC. I have a small apartment in a huge complex, so knew I wanted speakers that were crystal clear even at low volumes. I must say, I am impressed! The ESLs brought out details I've never heard before in music, and they're excellent for movies as well. Excellent purchase all the way around!