T.H.E. Show Newport 2018 Ron Report: MartinLogan

[Ron Resnick]

MARTINLOGAN EXPRESSION ESL 13A

Peter Soderberg, the friendly and long-time Western Regional Director of MartinLogan Ltd., was exhibiting the Expression ESL 13A driven by Constellation electronics. I have enjoyed MartinLogan speakers for over 18 years, starting with the Monolith, then upgrading to the Monolith III and then moving to the Prodigy. I consider MartinLogan loudspeakers a standard sonic recommendation, especially for audiophiles who love vocals.



















I like very much the sound of the Expression ESL 13A itself. But I have never cared for the sound of any ML loudspeaker driven by solid-state electronics.

In California and in London I heard the Neolith driven by tubes, and I loved the sound.

I think ML loudspeakers remain relative bargains in each of their price categories.



FEATURES

44x13-inch Xstat CLS (Curvilinear Line Source) Electrostatic Transducer

Dual 10-inch Powered Force Forward Woofers with Dual 300W Amplifiers

+/- 10dB Bass Control and +/- 2dB Mid-Bass Control

Audiophile Grade WBT Binding Posts

24-23,000 Hz Frequency Response

Advanced Vojtko Crossiver with 24-bit DSP Engine

Anthem Room Correction ready (for woofers)

Sealed enclosure
​

 

[bonzo75]

London at KJ it was constellation?

 

[Ron Resnick]

At KJ when I was there I am pretty sure VTL MB-450s were driving the Neoliths.

 

[bonzo75]

At KJ when I was there I am pretty sure VTL MB-450s were driving the Neoliths.

No constellation. We discussed it too

 

[Argonaut]

At Last years indifferent UK launch the KJW1 staff wanted to utilize a thermionic application, however were overruled in favour of the Distributers predilection, to compound matters they spent considerable time the evening before placing the Monoliths in the best space for their own listening room, only to find the speaker had been significantly re positioned on the day by the ML Tech, one may hypothesis that the latter should know best....However the KJ staff know their own room.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I have suggested to Peter Soderberg, a senior marketing executive at ML, that he should not use solid-state amplification. He did not disagree, but he said that it is generally up to the dealer demoing the speaker and sponsoring the show room who makes that decision.