ML and T+A yukk

[Heidrun]

Good morning.
Yesterday i heard one of the worst combination of speakers and amp ever. Martin Logan Electromotion together with T+A R 1000 E.
It Sounds so thin. There was no dynamic. The sound was like just tremble and up. It was maybe one of the worst combination i have heard.
And the listening was in a dedicated hifi shop. And to make everything worse, the seller stod there and said it was the best they had.
I myself fancy ML electrostat, But together with T+A, it sounded terrible.

What could be the problem with this set up. Is it maybe that the ML has not been played inn. Is it problem with the room etc. Because i have never heard so bad combination

 

[bonzo]

ML sounds thin with some SS amps, especially class AB. All planars are very sensitive to amps and room. Apogees too can sound sh*t and awesome, and with planars there is a problem with rear wave and bass nulls in a room.

MLs do not sound thin with push pull valves, and with some class A. You need to listen to it on a good push pull valve amp or a good class A SS amp. Both will have different sounds. Berning Quadratures are also excellent and Roy Gregory uses them on CLX. It's another different sound.

If you are in the budget of electromotion, I am not sure of your budget, but try Krell integrated s350i or bel canto class D used.

If you are in a higher budget than that (like Montis etc), try Audio Research type Push Pull valves, Luxman m900u, if you ever get lucky to hear Berning Quadratures (very rare). Bryston, Pass, Plinius are others as well and while you shouldn't buy them outright you should try to get a listen to any of these, depending on local dealers and local audiophiles, on an ML, to see where on the spectrum your preference lies

Additionally, how much dynamics can you expect from an electromotion.

 

[Pneumonic]

I would say bad setup in the room. Or something amiss with the speakers and/or amp.

 

[ElectroNoob]

I have the Electromotions with a Sunfire amp and I have to agree that the lower mid bass is the weakest part. Compared to my friend's AV123 RS850 Rockets there's less of a kick with percussion instruments. It got a little better than after I sound dampened the enclosure but still not as good as the RS850's.

 

[JonFo]

Mid-bass is the typically weak spot in hybrid ESL's. The latest line of high end Hybrids goes a long way to fix that with DSP and new woofers.

But for older models, the best option is to figure out how to use an active crossover and bi-amp them. Then they can perform at an impressive level. But I realize that's not for everyone.

Also, setup has such a huge impact on the sound, it should be the first thing folks work on before swapping endless amounts of gear.