I'm still formulating my thoughts in detail. I've only had a few hours to spend listening and am hoping to get some real dedicated time this weekend, but here is a little taste.
Overall I am VERY impressed with how cohesive they sound. In previous HT setups I've always had a mix of different speakers, both as far as size and brand, with the exception of the Gallo Neucleus system I have in my Family room where all of the speakers are identical. It may have to do with positioning, but especially across the front of the room, the Motions are a literal seamless whole. Soundstage is much wider than I might expect given that I have them very close to the edges of my monitor (I'll post some final setup pictures later).
Listening to Alison Krause and Union Station on their live DVD the other evening I was impressed with the detail that I was hearing - much more information that what I've heard previously on the same disc running through the Gallo's. I've always liked the Gallo's, but the Motion's, at least in my humble HT setup, are in a different league altogether.
While certainly nowhere near the sound I'm used to from my CLS based 2 channel rig, I am very impressed with the quality of sound I hear with music alone. The other day I was able to spend a few minutes listening to the Reference Records recording "Mephisto & Co." and was very much enjoying the Saint-Saen's "Danse Macbre" cut decoded in HDCD at the Denon 2910 and then fed through the analog outputs. VERY nice sence of ambiance and again, a soundstage MUCH larger than I would have expected from these very diminuative sources.
I haven't participated in another thread pertaining to ML's decision to move production to Canada and China because I've frankly been too busy to articulate my thoughts appropriately, but one point that has come up repeatedly in that thread has been concerns over the potential for declining quality as ML expands into lower priced markets. While I know that the units I have are pre-production units, the method of construction mandates that the cabinets on these units essentially represent production units (they are molded). In talking with Devin Zell at ML he wanted to point out that there could be some cosmetic flaws in the paint and final finishing (none that I have been able to detect), but that otherwise they did indeed represent what the final product would look like and that sonically they would be identical. I'll say this - from a quality perspective they are quite incredible. Frankly, I can't believe that they can manufacture them to this high a level and sell them for what they are projecting. The ONLY way that they can get there is to invest heavily in tooling and have some very good Control Plans in place, because I'll tell you this, they look and feel like no other "Budget" product I've ever encountered. Don't think of Bose here, there is no comparison. Think along the lines of Wilson, JM Labs or Hansen when you are talking about the quality of the cabinetry.
More to come as I get to spend some "alone time" with them this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it.
