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MartinLogan 60XTi floorstanding speakers Review

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MartinLogan, founded by Gayle Martin Sanders and Ron Logan Sutherland in the 1980s, made its mark with electrostatic speakers. I remember listening to their Aerius speakers for the first time in 1992 and being very impressed.

The Motion 60XTi floorstanding speaker, the subject of this review, is the flagship of the MartinLogan Motion series. The Motion series uses the company’s folded motion tweeter as opposed to the full-length electrostatic drivers used in other series. The XTi features a folded motion XT tweeter, a 6.5-inch aluminum cone midrange driver, dual 8-inch aluminum cone woofers with rear-firing bass ports, and a proprietary Vojtko crossover network. Performance is claimed to have been enhanced relative to earlier designs by the drive-stabilizing dust cap design, a stiffened motor suspension, and low-mounted woofers to reduce floor bounce. The speaker’s enclosure includes increased internal bracing, a reinforced baffle, and a fabric grille. Available in three stylish finishes: gloss black, matte white, and red walnut. My review sample came in a beautiful gloss black, which blended nicely in my living room.

If you read my California Audio Show 2019 report, you will see that the MartinLogan room was one of my two favorite rooms. At the T.H.E. Show in Long Beach, Sunny Components (Covina, CA) also had a packed room featuring MartinLogan speakers. When my publisher asked if I would be interested in reviewing the new MartinLogan Motion 60XTi, I jumped at the chance.

I owned a pair of ESS AMT-1 speakers in the 1970s, which used the legendary Heil Air Motion Transformer for the midrange and high frequencies, combined with a CTS woofer for the bass. The MartinLogan Folded Motion tweeter, while based on the same concept as Oskar Heil’s air motion transformer (circa 1972), is very different from the original Heil driver. Modern materials, including powerful magnets, allow MartinLogan to offer extremely compact folded motion tweeters that perform consistently and with high levels of accuracy. I enjoyed my ESS speakers for nine years, although they were a little bright and a bit raggedy in the bass. How will these new MartinLogans stack up?

I started by placing the MartinLogan XTi in my living room system, which includes a Goldring GR1 turntable with a Talisman A phono cartridge retipped by Soundsmith, an inexpensive Sony CD player,  NAD Monitor 1000 preamplifier with built-in phono stage that also includes a moving coil step-up,  and a Parasound HCA 1200 high current power amplifier. The Motion Xti speakers are bi-wireable, but I connected them with a single run of speaker cable and used the jumpers provided.

My first impression was that these sound nothing like what I remember of the ESS AMT-1. First of all, these are not bright at all and they have much deeper and cleaner bass. Placing the speakers about four feet from the rear wall and six feet apart seemed to work best; even though I normally position speakers facing straight ahead, these sounded better toed-in towards me, which was consistent with the instruction booklet. Once the speaker positions were dialed in, they gave me a big wide soundstage that went beyond the edges of the speakers. Coupled with pinpoint imaging, the MartinLogans had the ability to disappear sonically. Handel’s Water Music from Christopher Hogwood conducting The Academy of Ancient Music on the Oiseau-Lyre label is one of the most beautiful pieces of music on CD. The midrange with the MartinLogans was pure and natural with first rate resolution. The bass was not as deep as the Audio Solution Figaro L speakers that I reviewed awhile back, but it was still deep enough to communicate the full weight of an orchestra, and went deeper than my Alons. My living room has a modern open floor plan with vaulted ceilings, so there are not a lot of walls to reinforce the bass. Nevertheless, the bass still sounded full. Highs were very sweet, as opposed to detailed, which gave the music a very natural and musical sound. I enjoyed listening to these speakers in my living room where the large size of the room helped to transport me into the music, the speakers disappearing as if they were not there at all.

Next, I connected the MartinLogan Motion 60 Xti to my main system (in my office): AR turntable with Sumiko Premier MMT tonearm and Ortofon MC1 Turbo high output moving coil cartridge, NAD PP1 phono stage, Audio Alchemy transport and Audio Alchemy DAC, Antique Sound Lab tube line stage, and Quicksilver 25-watt tube power amplifiers using KT77 output tubes. I connected the MartinLogans, rated as 4 ohm speakers, to the 4 ohm taps on the Quicksilvers. This is a small room, so I pointed the speakers straight ahead. These 94 dB speakers are a better match with these 25 watt Quicksilver power amplifiers than any other speakers I have used with them. The Quicksilvers had no trouble driving the speakers to full volume. I connected the MartinLogans using AudioQuest speaker cable bi-wired as I do with the Alon speakers I normally use in this system. Even in this small room the soundstage was decent and I had the same pinpoint imaging I heard in the living room. The low powered tube amplifiers combined with speakers such as the MartinLogans gives you that warm tube magic. Again, the midrange had clarity without sounding harsh. The bass had a nice full sound but, being closer to the back wall, might have been a little overpowering. The treble remained very sweet sounding without sounding too recessed.

Then I put my relatively new Wyred 4 Sound mINT integrated amplifier in the system, replacing the Audio Alchemy DAC with the much better built-in mINT DAC. This little integrated amplifier was a great match for the MartinLogans. The mINT has a tube-like sound to it but with more bass. A pure, natural, refined sound was evident with the mINT, its superior DAC offsetting some of what was lost in going to solid state from the Quicksilver tube amps.

No matter which amplifiers and preamplifiers I used, I was given a nice warm sound with no harshness at all. I am astonished that you can get this quality of sound for $3,200 per pair, sound that is better than a number of very costly systems. Overall, I preferred the MartinLogans in the larger room as opposed to the nearfield listening in my office, the larger room supporting the wide open sound these speakers can give you. The MartinLogan’s smaller Motion 20i would probably be a better match in a smaller room such as my office.

I have to do some preliminary listening before I review any pair of speakers, since I have to spend hours listening to them for the review process. This is why the last thing I want to do is review a pair of poor sounding speakers. I said earlier, the MartinLogan room was one of my two favorite rooms at the California Audio Show 2019, just like the Audio Solution Figaro L was one of my two favorite rooms at the T.H.E. Show 2019 in Long Beach, CA. I also have an extensive listening history with Magnepans. This is the reason these speakers were selected for review. The hours listening to these speakers (Audio Solution Figaro L, Magnepan LRS and Martin Logan XTi) gave me a lot of enjoyment. They not only represent a great value in three different price categories but their performance greatly exceeds what would have been possible 20 years ago at these prices.

The patents for the Heil air motion transformer expired in 2004. In the following 15 years, several manufacturers have begun offering speakers incorporating tweeters based on this technology. There are now several companies that use this type of driver, the MartinLogan Motion series (first launched a decade ago) was among the first and today is one of the best known.

I recommend you listen to the MartinLogan Motion speakers at good audiophile stores where they are properly set up using good components because, even though they don’t require much to sound great, you should be able to hear the spectacular wide open soundstage they can deliver.

Whether you listen to a turntable such as me or stream your music, with the MartinLogan 60XTi you can put together a system for under $6,000 that will give you a wonderful listening experience for years, if not decades to come. Listen to these MartinLogans for yourself and I think you will agree.

MartinLoganXT60i-4

 

Copy editor: Dan Rubin

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21 Responses to MartinLogan 60XTi floorstanding speakers Review


  1. Fantastic write up. We at Sunny’s have made 3 systems below $10K in our store.
    Must encourage new exciting music lovers to quality listening.

  2. Dennis says:

    Byron, I’ve read this review several times because I’m doing research and critical listening regarding upgrading my present speakers. I’m wondering how appropriately matched these Motion XTi would be with a McIntosh MA5200 integrated amp. This amp has been bench-tested and shown to be able to output somewhere between 180 and 200 watts RMS at 4 ohm resistance. As such, my concern is that this amp may not be able to get everything out of these speakers that they can truly provide.

    • Rob says:

      Sorry for such a late posting, but if you’re still debating the speaker there is no doubt that 150 to 200 watts is plenty, plenty, plenty of power… Even at 4 ohms. I never use more than 1.5 watts with my Macintosh 300 watt (forget the exact model) amp. If you use all 180 watts for any length of time, granted there’s music with this dynamic, you would not be able to hear after an hour I would guess.

  3. Byron Baba says:

    I have not listened to that amplifier with these speakers, although McIntosh makes outstanding equipment and the 180 watts should be more than enough power to drive these 94db speakers. I did prefer the sound of these speakers in a larger room to take full advantage of the big wide open sound so you may need some extra power in that situation. The best way to be sure, is to go to your local high-end store that carry MartinLogans because they will have a number of compatible amplifiers to audition these speakers. If possible bring in the Mcintosh amplifier.

  4. James says:

    Will my 75 watt SS Belles Aria be able to bring a disappearing act to my music in a 18 ft x 12 ft room with 9 ft ceilings with the Morgan 60XTi’s or would I be better with the smaller Motion 20i. Thanx Byron.

  5. Byron Baba says:

    These are 94db speakers so 75 watts should be enough power depending on how loud you listen. Proper placement of the speakers would help make the speakers disappear as opposed to the amount of power. I play a lot of orchestra and big band so I would probably prefer the larger 60XTi’s. When purchasing quality speakers such as these MartinLogan, it is better to listen for yourself at one of the many quality audiophile stores such as Sunny’s in Covina, CA mentioned in the first post. If possible make an appointment to bring in your amplifier for a listen with these speakers.

  6. GM says:

    I have a pair of Motion 40i from this line since last Feb. which I am really enjoying. While I found the bass quite satisfying once broken in, I ultimately supplemented them with a pair of Martin Logan Dynamo 1100X subwoofers to great effect. It is difficult if not impossible to find a speaker of this caliber at this price point, moreso any equipped with pleated ribbon tweeters.
    BTW, I am driving these speakers with a NAD C368 DAC amp.

  7. Jed Nelson says:

    Can you give your advise between the M/L XTi (60) and the new JBL L100 Classics.. I use a Carver Mono block silver Series 7 system… Thank You

  8. Byron Baba says:

    I heard the new JBL L100 Classics during a listening session at a dealer showroom. I really enjoyed listening to them and found they were a lot more refined than the original. I listen to mainly classical and jazz so I personally preferred the Martin Logan’s because of the incredible soundstage it created in my living room. If you can, you should listen for yourself because you may have different tastes especially if you listen to different genres of music.

  9. Steven Apel says:

    I wonder if you have had the chance to compare these ML XTi 60’s vs SVS Ultra Towers. They are of similar price and design except the AMT modified tweeter in the ML design. Your thoughts and or observations?
    Thank you,
    Steve

  10. John Simmons says:

    Hello, great review. I listen mostly late night after the family turns in for the evening and I am wondering if these martin logan’s are good low volume speakers or do they need to be cranked up to come alive. A lot of speakers can sound flat at low volumes and I am wondering how these do. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

    • Byron Baba says:

      The Martin Logan 60XTi will sound decent at low levels, however, you will not be getting everything these wonderful speakers has to offer such as deep bass, a wide soundstage and great imaging without approaching normal listening levels. I play my stereo very early in the morning at a fairly low volume and later in the day when the volume reaches my normal listening levels, which is not excessively loud, the sound is substantially better on every pair of speakers that I have used.

  11. Brent says:

    Thanks for the review. I’m considering purchasing Martin Logan 60XTi or Maggie LRS. I listen to mostly classical jazz. You mentioned in the review that you also have a pair of Magnepan LRS . How would they compare against one another. I’d be powering them with an Outlaw RR2160 MkII. 160 watts into 4 ohms. The room size is 14×16. I’m seeking lots of resolution and clarity. I owned a pair of AMT1b in the late 70’s and loved that sound. Thanks

    • Byron Baba says:

      I own the older Magnepan MMG and I reviewed the Magnepan LRS. The LRS $700/pr and the Martin Logan XTi $3500/pr represent two totally different price points. Both are great values in their particular price point. The LRS worked well in a smaller room. The 60XTi sounded best to me in a larger room. I enjoyed my time with both pairs of speakers and feel it comes down to personal needs and preference. I would recommend you audition both at a high-end store where they can set them up properly for you. I would also bring in your receiver to see if it is compatible especially with the LRS.

  12. B. Bello says:

    My Harman Kardon amplifier drives an 8 Olms. I love to have Martin Logan 60XTi but am worried that at 4 Olms resistance they might not be a perfect match, and one might end up damaging the other. What’s your opinion Byron?

    • Byron Baba says:

      You did not specify which Harman Kardon amplifier you have. According to Martin Logan’s website specifications, the 60XTi would work with a 4, 6 or 8 ohm amplifier. Most high-end integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers should have the current to drive these speakers. Whereas, a home theater receiver may work but not give you the best performance.

  13. Eric Ward says:

    I listen to all genres from classical, hip hop, rock to heavy metal. How will they do with heavy metal? How do they compare to Focal Aria 936 or the more expensive Focal Katana #2

  14. Eugene says:

    Hi I have vintage Sansui au 9500 is this speakers is good choice? If not what is your suggestion? Thank you.

    • Byron Baba says:

      The Sansui amplifier is rated at 75 watts per channel into 8 ohms which should be enough. I have not heard the amplifier although these speakers seem to be compatible with most integrated amplifiers. If possible, you may want to bring the amplifier and see if the components are compatible.

  15. Eugene,
    God’s Peace,

    I do not wish to contradict my fellow reviewer, Byron. Please consider this an additional thought, not a conflicting thought. While I have not used the speakers, I have used similar, and a receiver can usually power nearly any dynamic speaker with reasonable specs. However, you will not be experiencing what such speakers can do with more robust, i.e. better and higher power, amplification. Frankly, your sound will be quite compromised from the ideal with the vintage piece. I have tried such vintage gear, integrated, amp, speaker, etc. several times over the years and each time I try I usually remove it within about 48 hours. I just can’t take that degree of compromised of sound anymore.

    If at all possible, move up, man. I do not know your situation, but if you are set financially and trying to get by with the vintage gear to economize, know that there is a different world sonically available if you wish. Upgrading the power scheme for speakers is transformative (pardon the pun)! I would not have believed it to be so important had I not become a reviewer. Experience teaches!

    Get yourself a Legacy Audio i.V2 Ultra (or, if money is a concern, the plain i.V2), which is the two channel version of the amp I currently use for all genres of speakers, and a dedicated preamp, and you will be at an entirely different level of listening. You will be shocked that such a speaker could generate fundamentally different performance.

    Once you realize what that can do, get some affordable but decent cables. Then you will be making some serious headway. Feel free to read my review of the Legacy Audio i.V4 Ultra Amplifier here at Dagogo.com

    Blessings,
    Douglas Schroeder

  16. ralph servati says:

    How do these speakers compare to KEF Q950s? I’m looking at both of them.

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