[BobZealand]

Hi everyone I been looking for speakers that have good clarity, dynamics and imaging that are good for music and movies
50/50 My room size is 15x20x8 it opens up to the kitchen and hall. I listened to the Martin Logan motion 60xt at Mongolia a couple times and they sound punchy,clear and seem like they would work well with movies I listened to the esl also and think they sound great if not better but they lack the bass and punch I have good subs already but I like that mid bass that the 60xts have but I also am looking at the focal aria 936 and see a lot of good reviews on them but haven’t had a chance to listen to them yet I like the look of them and build quality it seems like they might have better imaging and
Be less localized
if anyone heard both the focal aria line and the Martin Logan motion speakers that have an opinion which ones would be the overall better speaker for music and movies I’d like to know your thoughts. thanks

 

[gajCA]

Hi everyone I been looking for speakers that have good clarity, dynamics and imaging that are good for music and movies
50/50 My room size is 15x20x8 it opens up to the kitchen and hall. I listened to the Martin Logan motion 60xt at Mongolia a couple times and they sound punchy,clear and seem like they would work well with movies I listened to the esl also and think they sound great if not better but they lack the bass and punch I have good subs already but I like that mid bass that the 60xts have but I also am looking at the focal aria 936 and see a lot of good reviews on them but haven’t had a chance to listen to them yet I like the look of them and build quality it seems like they might have better imaging and
Be less localized
if anyone heard both the focal aria line and the Martin Logan motion speakers that have an opinion which ones would be the overall better speaker for music and movies I’d like to know your thoughts. thanks

Soundstage did not measure those two speakers but they did measure the stand mount versions and generally they try and make the stand mount within a family sound as close to the floor standing model as possible and certainly above 2500hz or so, the identical tweeter should perform quite similarly.

Top is Martin Logan 35XT, bottom is Focal Aria 906, click on the link for more detailed measurements; these are the listening windows.


https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=140

 

[gajCA]

Hi everyone I been looking for speakers that have good clarity, dynamics and imaging that are good for music and movies

BTW, I have two pairs of LX16s sitting in my room; one pair in black gloss that are in my secondary room and one pair in Cherrywood that will go to my friends once their home is complete.

Hands down the Cherrywood looks better, far better. Some speaker companies would charge extra for the better looking finish but ML does not.

Sounstage written reviews of the bookshelves here:

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/768-focal-aria-906-loudspeakers

https://www.soundstageaccess.com/in...iews/615-martinlogan-motion-35xt-loudspeakers

 

[bluewizard]

I've not heard the Focal 936, but I did get a couple chances to hear the previous Focal 836. In my view these have nice Mid/High presence and a very large sound state. While the bass was perfectly rendered it was not dominant.

I"ve heard the the Martin Logan Motion 60XT which has much better bass, but by proportion, the Treble is softer. Though the Air Motion tweeters are very clear, and the speaker overall is very clear. Just a bit softer in the Mid/High with a bit more dominance in the Bass. At the time I was comparing the 60XT to the B&W CM-Series. For about half the money (or less) the Martin Logans were very impressive.

Neither is good or bad, it is simply a matter of which you prefer. At this stage in my life, I think I would prefer the Focal.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[torii]

I heard the 60xt's years ago...was planning on buying them until I heard focals. they are a good speaker. I preferred the aria tweeter and the huge soundstage of focals. they work really well in my space. the downside is the bass for me. even with 2 subs, my room just too large. 30x50

 

[BobZealand]

BTW, I have two pairs of LX16s sitting in my room; one pair in black gloss that are in my secondary room and one pair in Cherrywood that will go to my friends once their home is complete.

Hands down the Cherrywood looks better, far better. Some speaker companies would charge extra for the better looking finish but ML does not.

Sounstage written reviews of the bookshelves here:

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/768-focal-aria-906-loudspeakers

https://www.soundstageaccess.com/in...iews/615-martinlogan-motion-35xt-loudspeakers

I like the look of the cherry wood but it won’t fit with the rest of my setup sadly thanks for the links

 

[BobZealand]

I've not heard the Focal 936, but I did get a couple chances to hear the previous Focal 836. In my view these have nice Mid/High presence and a very large sound state. While the bass was perfectly rendered it was not dominant.

I"ve heard the the Martin Logan Motion 60XT which has much better bass, but by proportion, the Treble is softer. Though the Air Motion tweeters are very clear, and the speaker overall is very clear. Just a bit softer in the Mid/High with a bit more dominance in the Bass. At the time I was comparing the 60XT to the B&W CM-Series. For about half the money (or less) the Martin Logans were very impressive.

Neither is good or bad, it is simply a matter of which you prefer. At this stage in my life, I think I would prefer the Focal.

Steve/bluewizard

Yea I’m learning towards the focals at this point

 

[BobZealand]

I heard the 60xt's years ago...was planning on buying them until I heard focals. they are a good speaker. I preferred the aria tweeter and the huge soundstage of focals. they work really well in my space. the downside is the bass for me. even with 2 subs, my room just too large. 30x50

That’s what I wanted to hear I really want the big soundstage. The thing I like about the 60xt is the clarity and punch it has and sounds like you’re in a concert. How is the midbass punch with the focals is it similar,better or worse and how’s the clarity when compared to the 60xts I feel like the 60xts sometimes lack the smoothness that I think focals have

 

[torii]

I think the focals midbass punch really depends on room and where you position them. my 948's are tuned around 40hz and peak at 80hz...some dont like the 80hz peak but its somewhat easy to eq/dsp if you into that. I think they do really good in the bass dept and sound airy and natural. if you play loud and HT at reference, might need a stout amp due to the focals are like a 4 ohm speaker down to 2.8 ohms alot of times. this can be very demanding...my marantz avr did drive the focals pretty good tho.

 

[BobZealand]

I think the focals midbass punch really depends on room and where you position them. my 948's are tuned around 40hz and peak at 80hz...some dont like the 80hz peak but its somewhat easy to eq/dsp if you into that. I think they do really good in the bass dept and sound airy and natural. if you play loud and HT at reference, might need a stout amp due to the focals are like a 4 ohm speaker down to 2.8 ohms alot of times. this can be very demanding...my marantz avr did drive the focals pretty good tho.

I will probably get a tube amp later on but For now ill be using a denon 4400h to drive them. what was the main reason that led you to get focals instead of the 60xts

 

[gajCA]

I will probably get a tube amp later on but For now ill be using a denon 4400h to drive them. what was the main reason that led you to get focals instead of the 60xts

Make sure you get a 4ohm stable Tube amp...some folks think 4ohm loads and tube amps are not a good combo.

 

[BobZealand]

Ok I’ll look into stable tube amps thanks