Speakers
My theater features what I consider the world's best speaker
systems, the MartinLogan electrostatic speakers.
The models I use
as my main speakers are the MartinLogan Monolith III. These top-of-the-line units can fill
large spaces at realistic concert levels. For the rear channels I
use the MartinLogan Sequel II. Both pairs of these six foot high
beauties have crystal clear highs and the smoothest midrange of any
speaker I've ever heard (and I've auditioned many!). The MartinLogans are the only speaker system to pass my 'Piano' test. Meaning
that the speaker must readily convince me there is a grand piano in
the room when playing solo piano music. Since I grew up in a
household with a Steinway grand in the living room played by a
Julliard grad, I believe I have a good frame of reference for what
that sound should be.
One of the features of the Martin Logan that helps them achieve
this feat is the fact that they are dipolar radiators, which emit
equal amounts of energy towards the front as the rear. This means
they must be placed well away from the rear wall, so mine sit at
about four feet into the room.
While these ML speakers have large bass drivers (12" - Monolith,
10" - Sequel), their placement in the room is not conducive to the
best bass reinforcement, so low frequency reproduction in my system
is augmented by a subwoofer.
Subwoofers reproduce the lowest octaves of music. These are the
longest waveforms, so it generally takes large drivers and lots of
power to generate a high volume of low frequency sound. And since I
like lots of bass I don't have just any subwoofer, I built a
custom
Infinite Baffle subwoofer using four 15" drivers in an inverse
manifold array (the drivers are in the room). This beast outperforms
the two Velodyne ULD-18's I used to have in the room. Read my
install story about this unique IB.
The room actually gets pressurized on ultra-low frequencies. And the quality
is outstanding. It is clean enough to be a definite compliment to
the Martin Logan's.
While the system is capable of astounding
levels of loudness, it does so with very little distortion. So
little in fact that often listeners will attempt to converse until
they realize they can't even hear themselves !
Since the system is capable of more than just stereo music
reproduction, it also features a center channel speaker along with
side and rear speakers.
Side speakers are currently some
Mirage OmniSat FX's. They are fine for the current side 'fill'
application. Their wide radiation pattern suits the location and
provides an improved soundstage.
The center channel is one of the most important channels, and yet
most manufacturers short-change this critical channel with models
that are nowhere near as capable as their normal line. Martin
Logan is no different, and considering the size constraints most
people have with respect to a center, that's not surprising.
However, I'm lucky to have the space and an acoustically transparent
screen. So I designed and built my own Martin Logan derived center
channel. I call it the SL3XC, and you can read more about this
unique center at this
link.
Click
here
for an animated look at the Front three speakers with and
without the screen.