Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Equipment:
1x MartinLogan Motion 6 Center Channel Speaker
2x MartinLogan Motion 4 Bookshelf Speakers
1x Sony STR-K840P
Test Samples:
Top Gun (initial dogfight)
Eagles: Hell Freezes Over (DTS DVD): Hotel California
Melissa McClelland: Passenger 24
Sarah McLachlan: Angel, Building a Mystery, Forgiveness
Various 720P YouTube samplings
720P Digital Copy of Iron Man 2 (Racetrack scene)
Harry Potter: The Half Blood Prince (initial Dementors attack and subway scenes) - Blu-Ray PS3 (over TOSLink)
Walk the Line: DVD - Folsom Prison concert
Blade Runner: DVD - Intro
XBox: Fallout 3: New Vegas
Disclaimer:
Most audio reviews are very dependent upon the preferences of the listener. Personally I like "punchy" speakers with a nice warm tone which do well for both movies and music. My home theater system is made up of the Klipsch Reference Series speakers (1 center, 2 floor standing, 2 bookshelf) along with a 12" Velodyne sub woofer. Klipsch speakers are generally known for their good low and middle tones with sometimes muddled high notes. Velodyne subs are generally known for loud, thudding base. The Klipsch Reference Series ranges in price anywhere from an affordable $250 per speaker to the high side over $1000 a speaker. Most of my speakers are in the middle of the road, averaging around $500/ea. I'm providing this info so you can get an idea of the type of sound I prefer and skew my review with this in mind.
The Music Review:
The MartinLogans did very well in my opinion on the music side of the house. The high tones were nice, bright and clear - you could even call them "snappy". However with zero large woofer support, the snappy tones had no body or warmth which was the only drawback. If you plan on purchasing these speakers as your one and only source of sound, make sure to pick up a decent sub woofer at the same time or else you'll be missing a lot of the musical undertones. If you're a vocal music lover you will approve of the clear tones produced by these speakers. If you're an instrumentalist (especially percussionist) you'll probably want to skip having these as the only source of sound. You'll hear the snares, but the toms will be sad and lacking.
Music Conclusion: Purchase when paired with a nice sub woofer as the nice high tones produce an amazingly clear treble pitch. Avoid if these will be the only source of sound as the lack of tone warmth will leave most music feeling flat.
The Movie / Surround Review:
Much like with the music review, watching movies using the MartinLogans produced nice clear tones, but again no "thud". As surround speakers however, these little speakers produced an impressive amount of sound for their size. The test room was a standard living room approximately 25x25 in size with three closed walls and a single open wall into the kitchen. Like most homes an acoustically perfect room doesn't really exist in a home's build plan. That being said, the MartinLogans did well with filling the room with sound and creating the environmental sense of being surrounded with sound - even when only using three speakers. The small footprint of these speakers also lend themselves well to being hidden within media furniture if you decide not to use the provided wall mounting hardware.
Movie / Surround Conclusion:
Great speakers for general sound including movie and TV watching. The lack of bass support does require a sub for added "oomph," however the lack of the low tones may suit smaller rooms and would work especially well for buyers living in apartments or multifamily housing which doesn't allow the volume to be turned up significantly. Both the center channel and bookshelf speakers did well in creating the illusion of sound depth.
Overall Conclusion
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The MartinLogan Motion series of speakers have great sound for a great price but their placement in the home theater market may be very specific if not supported by a good sub woofer. Like their premium electrostatic brethren, these MartinLogans bring a wonderful sound clarity and brightness while sacrificing the warm lower tones. As standalone speakers, the Motion line would do well for smaller rooms and apartment dwellers in both the movie and TV realms. For music lovers however, a more full-bodied line of speakers should probably be considered. When paired with a nice sub however, the Motion line can easily sit proudly with many other mid-range home theater speaker solutions.
As far as the "bang for your buck" factor, the Motion line is sitting in the middle of a very competitive field. Home Theater speakers that are in the $150 to $300/ea range are probably in the most cluttered field on the market right now. The small physical size of the Motion line is both its greatest asset and flaw, all in one. The tiny footprint allows these speakers to go almost anywhere - and again with the Folded Motion Tweeter technology, these babies put out an impressive amount of sound. Unfortunately the size also removes the possibility of a woofer - unless you upgrade to the floor standing Motion 10 or 12's, which also take a huge leap in price. That being said, the MartinLogans are by no means "cheap," and in fact they're hugging the high-side of the general consumerists' market. Don't expect these Motion speakers to rival their bigger, costlier electrostatic brothers either - they're not really in the same ballpark. In the end, you will get what you pay for, but that's a good thing with these speakers. They proudly announce their tone clarity and small physical stature while assuming that you will eventually pair them with a punchy sub or floor standing front speaker to help them fill out the mid and low tones. The Motions are solidly built and come with an amazing piano black finish (with an included polishing cloth because these suckers will attract fingerprints and dust like magnets) that no one will look at and think "cheap".
Can you get better all-around speakers for the same price? - More than likely, yes.
Will they have the same brightness of tone or small foot print? - Probably not.
Will you be happy with the purchase of the Motion series? - Yes, I think so.
Motion 6 Center Channel Speaker Specific Conclusion
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The Motion 6 is tiny for a center channel - and for such a tiny speaker it puts out a whopping amount of sound. As most of you know, the Center channel is the heart of your surround configuration and can be responsible for upwards of 80% of the total sound produced. It doesn't have to provide punch or bass-y thud, but instead just pure, clear tones. The Motion 6 knows how to do this and does it well. The only complaint I would have about this speaker is that it does tend to get tinny when you push a large amount of volume at it, but my testing volume was probably much higher than most people would enjoy during a normal sit-down TV or movie watching (50+ on the Sony receiver).
Click Here to see more reviews about: MartinLogan Motion 6 Center Channel Speaker (Piano Black, each)
Inspired by MartinLogan's ultra-high-end electrostatic loudspeakers, the Motion Series was created to provide stunning sound for your ultimate-performance home theater or stereo. MartinLogan's dedicated in-house engineers carefully crafted the Motion Series to create an extremely affordable and compact product line that seamlessly blends our exquisite Folded Motion transducers with powerful, compact bass technology. The result is a smooth, refined sound with stunning dynamic range and jaw-dropping clarity. Complementing Motion's sonic accuracy is elegant yet understated styling. Flawless high-gloss, piano black finishes and subtle curves, along with our signature perforated grille, give Motion Series speakers an elegant and timeless look. Tower models feature a real-wood veneer finish and a stylish aesthetic certain to blend with any decor. The curves also serve a purpose; they allow Motion compact bookshelves to mount at two different angles with the included wall bracket. This means you can point sound directly toward the desired listening area for high or low wall mounting applications. Beauty and brains! Convenient push-style speaker terminals and curved inserts help guide speaker wire effortlessly into place. The rubber end caps on the terminal are also removable for the use of banana plugs instead of bare wire. So simple, you'll actually enjoy hooking up these speakers.
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