Posted briefly in another thread but was asked to do a dedicated post here.
In the middle of a large home theater renovation (3rd upgrade in a year - I should probably stop now). I'll start with the new set up:
New Equipment List:
LCRs: 3x Martin Logan Statement 40XWs
Surrounds: 6x Martin Logan Edge
Atmos: 6x Martin Logan Sistene (4XC)
Subs: 2x JL Audio 13.5” in-wall subs, 2x Martin Logan Dynamo 1600x
Amplification: McIntosh MC402, MC255, 2x MI254
Receiver/Pre-pro: McIntosh MX170
Acoustic Treatments: Mix of Kinetics VersaTune and TAD panels throughout the room
Video Processing: MadVR Envy Extreme
Content/Media: Roku, Kaleidescape, Nvidia Shield
Projector: Sony VPL GTZ380
Screen: 14.5ft wide 2.35:1 Stewart StudioTek G4 1.3 acoustically transparent screen
Getting to this build has been quite a journey. I fell in love with the Martin Logan electro static sound about 12 years ago, and went from Martin Logan ESLs, to building a media room in my last house with the Impressions 11A, and then decided to build a home theater around the Renaissance 15A and Illusion center. The old combo sounded amazing but a few things were bothering me. I have a small-ish theater room (15"x20"x8ft), and with a riser + 2 rows of seats, the speakers and stage along the front made the room feel small. Also I was limited to 138" for the screen because of sightlines. I've been wanting to do a wall-to-wall screen for a while, and I was already pretty invested in McIntosh Amps and Martin Logan speakers so the 40XWs seemed like a great fit, potentially. I went to demo the 40XWs at a Magnolia store in Texas a few months ago, and walked away fairly impressed. The sweet spot was huge and they just filled the room with sound and had this immense verticality.
Not going to lie, It was a bit of a leap of faith as I haven't seen any real reviews or owner comments anywhere, but I'm a believer in Line Source Array tech in general and a fan of some of ML's choices in the 40XW. We're about a week from finishing so won't be able to post real impressions till then, but can't wait.
A few notes:
- We didn't really have enough room in the front to build a false wall, and have huge speakers behind the screen, which is why I wanted to go with in-walls, including the JL in-wall subwoofers in the front. Their set up is pretty ingenious, they have a suspended enclosure that fills the stud cavity and attaches by a ball and rod, with padding all around it. Additionally there's a 13.5" driver at the bottom that has a surprising amount of give forward and back. We're still doing 2x Dynamo 1600 subs in the back.
- We're going from 2 side surrounds to 4, so each row has side speakers at the appropriate side locations. The original theater had Edges for surrounds, and although I looked at the 7XW it wasn't worth the additional cost to upgrade.
- I always thought the Helios 12s for Atmos speakers were ok but not great, and I think the upgrade to the Sistine (4XC) should be significant. I'm excited to hear them as they come with a built-in backbox and should have significantly better dynamics with the multiple drivers.
- Went back and forth on the pre-processor, also looked at the Trinnov Altitude 16, the MX 170 isn't quite as flexible but still solid and should do what I need. Might revisit this down the line.
- The baffles/backboxes on the 40XWs are MASSIVE, you can see in the second photo, along with the in-wall sub enclosures, but it's hard to grasp the sense of scale from just the pictures.
I'll make a second post with info/pics from the old theater.
In the middle of a large home theater renovation (3rd upgrade in a year - I should probably stop now). I'll start with the new set up:
New Equipment List:
LCRs: 3x Martin Logan Statement 40XWs
Surrounds: 6x Martin Logan Edge
Atmos: 6x Martin Logan Sistene (4XC)
Subs: 2x JL Audio 13.5” in-wall subs, 2x Martin Logan Dynamo 1600x
Amplification: McIntosh MC402, MC255, 2x MI254
Receiver/Pre-pro: McIntosh MX170
Acoustic Treatments: Mix of Kinetics VersaTune and TAD panels throughout the room
Video Processing: MadVR Envy Extreme
Content/Media: Roku, Kaleidescape, Nvidia Shield
Projector: Sony VPL GTZ380
Screen: 14.5ft wide 2.35:1 Stewart StudioTek G4 1.3 acoustically transparent screen
Getting to this build has been quite a journey. I fell in love with the Martin Logan electro static sound about 12 years ago, and went from Martin Logan ESLs, to building a media room in my last house with the Impressions 11A, and then decided to build a home theater around the Renaissance 15A and Illusion center. The old combo sounded amazing but a few things were bothering me. I have a small-ish theater room (15"x20"x8ft), and with a riser + 2 rows of seats, the speakers and stage along the front made the room feel small. Also I was limited to 138" for the screen because of sightlines. I've been wanting to do a wall-to-wall screen for a while, and I was already pretty invested in McIntosh Amps and Martin Logan speakers so the 40XWs seemed like a great fit, potentially. I went to demo the 40XWs at a Magnolia store in Texas a few months ago, and walked away fairly impressed. The sweet spot was huge and they just filled the room with sound and had this immense verticality.
Not going to lie, It was a bit of a leap of faith as I haven't seen any real reviews or owner comments anywhere, but I'm a believer in Line Source Array tech in general and a fan of some of ML's choices in the 40XW. We're about a week from finishing so won't be able to post real impressions till then, but can't wait.
A few notes:
- We didn't really have enough room in the front to build a false wall, and have huge speakers behind the screen, which is why I wanted to go with in-walls, including the JL in-wall subwoofers in the front. Their set up is pretty ingenious, they have a suspended enclosure that fills the stud cavity and attaches by a ball and rod, with padding all around it. Additionally there's a 13.5" driver at the bottom that has a surprising amount of give forward and back. We're still doing 2x Dynamo 1600 subs in the back.
- We're going from 2 side surrounds to 4, so each row has side speakers at the appropriate side locations. The original theater had Edges for surrounds, and although I looked at the 7XW it wasn't worth the additional cost to upgrade.
- I always thought the Helios 12s for Atmos speakers were ok but not great, and I think the upgrade to the Sistine (4XC) should be significant. I'm excited to hear them as they come with a built-in backbox and should have significantly better dynamics with the multiple drivers.
- Went back and forth on the pre-processor, also looked at the Trinnov Altitude 16, the MX 170 isn't quite as flexible but still solid and should do what I need. Might revisit this down the line.
- The baffles/backboxes on the 40XWs are MASSIVE, you can see in the second photo, along with the in-wall sub enclosures, but it's hard to grasp the sense of scale from just the pictures.
I'll make a second post with info/pics from the old theater.
