Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Martin Logan and Axiom

Alan,

The manual says 5-ohms. I'm sure you're familiar with these speakers, but the manual states that they are a hybrid design, not just a straight electrostatic speaker. I have no idea what this means, but I'm guessing a mix between a electrostatic and box speaker.
Anyway, these speakers sound nice and the clarity is great, but they have to be positioned perfectly to get good sound. I have them set up fairly well, but I cannot pull them 2-3 feet from the wall like the manual states. If I did, they would be out of place in the living room. I still don't know about keeping them. They do seem to be a little laid back and after adjusting the receiver somewhat, I still have to turn it up to about -30 to get some decent sound.
Do the M60's have to be pulled 2-3 feet from the wall? I can only move them about a ft. or so from the wall and then it looks like they are out in the middle of the floor of the living room.

m60's need at least 3" or more so the low bass filters into the room from the ports.

Hi billy,

You're quite right on the meaning of "hybrid". The Martin Logan (and many electrostatics) use a conventional dynamic woofer for the deep bass, because electrostatic panels cannot reproduce deep bass at loud levels without "arcing", which would damage the membrane diaphragm.

You've also noted some of the other typical limitations of electrostatics--having to be positioned perfectly to get a reasonable stereo image, and the "laid-back" quality, which usually means a somewhat recessed midrange. But lots of listeners like that quality.

I think you'd find the M60s more forgiving in terms of placement--a few inches out from the wall behind is all that's required--and much more detailed in the midrange than the Martin-Logans. But planar speakers of all stripes are always interesting to experiment with.

The 5-ohm impedance is likely marginal for your Sony. It probably doesn't like it but I doubt it would trigger any current limiting unless the impedance curve dipped lower.