No speaker I have ever heard does what the CLSs do, and that is: convey music with such vivid, crystal clear detail, effortlessly airy and delicate in its delivery, but equally effortlessly on snappy transients. I auditioned them a few years ago, while purchasing an amplifier from a private seller. “Never mind the amp” I said to the guy upon seeing the vast electrostats in his room “please let me hear these speakers”. He entertained me with allowing me to choose what music he played. I was in absolute awe at what I heard. My listening habits at the time, were such that I felt I’d miss the room pressurizing bass you get from a large box speaker with dynamic drivers, but the CLS made a lasting impression on me. Since then I’ve auditioned many Martin Logan models which feature a built in, active sub, yet doing none of the magic in any of them. The memory of the CLSs haunted me until about a year ago when a pair of CLS IIZ came up for sale locally. Brought them home the very same day, and once set up in my sound room, it has been absolute musical bliss. Someday, I suspect, another speaker will take their place.... but so far nothing else comes close to what the CLSs have to offer.

I found the CLSs to be the most challenging speaker to set up in my room. Having said that, it is fair to mention that they are also the most rewarding to listen to, once set up properly. If you own a pair and haven’t raised them off the floor, please try it, as it made a significant improvement in bass and mid bass clarity/definition: a minimum of 6.5” off the floor gave me a great result. Toeing in also changes imaging and stage, and I prefer Aggressive toe in. Many complain the bass is lean, and I used to agree. Currently, I find that what bass they do produce, is accurate, supremely fast and satisfying in quality if not quantity. They do not play very loud.... they just don’t. Again, they have never left me wanting in terms of volume as I happen to enjoy music at a level that’s just below their limit. Anything more and and distortion is inevitable. They just cannot match a good pair of floor standing, dynamic driver equipped speakers in terms of sheer volume and associated impact, bass slam, etc.

amazing clarity and soundstaging

slight lower bass weakness

After hearing Quads years ago, and going through tiring auditions of dynamic speakers, I realized that I would probably only like to live with an electrostatic speaker. The CLS is the only single panel speaker out there, and the design theory intrigued me. I took a load of CD's to the dealer and listened for 3 hours and still had a hard time leaving. This was with CJ-12's, very powerful tubes. I wondered whether my Audio Research VT100 MkII would drive them well but took the chance. Well, they are truly sonic nirvana after a year and a half with them. The ARC amp works well with them, driving good bass and highs, the highs being the more difficult end with the impedence drop to 2 ohms. They are incredibly detailed throughout the range and put the performers right in front of you. The impression of a third speaker is very clear, since many recordings have some parts on right channel, some on left channel, and some mixed to center. After 6 months of living with these, I talked to Roger Sanders, who invented the curved ESL panel, and who now builds Innersound flat ESL panel hybrid speakers, and bought a copy of his book, the ESL Design Cookbook, which I highly recommend. Well, the equilateral triangle setup he recommended widens the field to 60 degrees and eliminates room problems at the same time. This is definitely the most holographic setup for these speakers. They are really not so difficult to place as others have noted. Mine are 2 feet from the side walls, six feet in between, 5 feet from the back wall. Though I have considered a sub, specifically the REL Strata in pairs, the bass is satisfactory and these are supposed to be difficult to mate with a sub. They easily show every change in component up the chain. The only problem I have had is an inability to handle very high volumes without distorting the lower bass, but I get good volume for rock, punk, classical, and everything else under the sun. I love them. Though the ideal sweet spot in my room is seven feet from each speaker at the apex of an equilateral triangle, with the speakers facing you directly, they still have good off-axis sound.

Amazing Clarity and transparency

Needs a subwoofer

I have had a pair of the Martin Logan Clses several years ago. I did not have aSubwoofer at the time, and I sold them and bought some Audio Concepts Sapphire II which are exccellent dynamic speakers, and then Apogee Slant 6s which overall might be the best speaker I have ever heard. But if your into vocal and extreme detail as I am, nothing beats these speakers on earth!! Try them with Tubes, I am using a pair of monoblock Quciksilver KT88s (60 tube watts) and its awesome!!

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Apogee Slant 6. Audio concepts Sapphire

I picked these (at the time) wacky looking speakers in the consignment section of an electronics retailer. The $750 price point threw me for a loop. These are speakers, right? The guy behind the counter agreed with me and said that the old coot who put them on consignment had no room for them in his new home. A few weeks later after reading up on Margin-Logan's reputation and reviews, I purchased the monstrosities and took them home. After hooking them up to my then rather non-high end system consisting of an Acurus A250, Audio Alchemy transport and D/A, a Sony ES pre-amp and some vampire cables, I sat down and prepared to be amazed. I was certainly impressed with the amount and depth of sound coming out but something was amiss. I attempted several different configurations and finally came down to an equilateral triangle type listening position and a slight toe-in on the CLS's. Eureka! These things turned standard PCM audio into a hologram and projected like envoloping mist at my position. I was thoroughly enraptured. I gleefully danced around like a schoolboy playing my old CD's anew as if they had never actually been heard.
I had an opportunity at a high-end store to hear the CLS-IIz's on a very high end system consisting of mostly Audio Research equipment. As a CLS fan I sat down with my personal collection of CD's and let it audition. I was not disappointed by their performance, but the only difference that I felt was present was a more pronounced feeling of robustness and clarity in the bass (there was no subwoofer hooked up). This of course could have been the room acoustics but i'll wager there is some improvement in the IIz model. Not enough for me to give up my originals, though. Quite possibly the most fantastic and orgasmic speaker i've ever heard. B&W Nautilus' and Aerial 10t's and Vanderstein's have all had their chance on stage to give me something new and noteworthy, but none have ever charmed and mystified like the CLS's. Once properly cast in a role and given the correct choreography, these pair of actors can put on a stage performance of the likes you've never seen...or heard.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

MUSICAL. Wonderfully seamless top to bottom, transparent insofar as the sound directionality. Supremely detailed uppper bass, mids, and highs - all combined, this makes for some hair raising 'auditory hallucinations'. They look just like they sound (if that makes any sense...). And not to be dicounted is the: "Wow - are those really speakers?!!!" factor.

Very finicky about their surroundings, setup, and associated equipment. They blatently reveal imperfect recordings (strength?). I guess if I were really forced to knock them somehow I might say that rock music and some drums are not delivered with the same punch as with high-end cone speakers.

I've had CLS speakers since 1990. At one point, I was saddened to find that my original 'stat' panels had degraded to the point of needing to be replaced. ML informed me that their original panel design has been improved to greatly extend the life expectancy of the metallic deposition - so be careful about purchasing older, used CLS's. Panel replacements are ~$900. Mr. Powers at ML Service Dept. should get a raise - he's awesome (hear that Mr. Sanders?).

Although I have occaisionally looked around at changing to some other speakers, nothing has come close to persuading me away from CLS's. I won't wax on too much about them as many reviewers have nicely captured my sentiments, but these amazing speakers can do things I have never experienced outside of live music - period.

After recently reading some reviewers having positive results from raising the panels, I made simple brick platforms 10" high and tried it out. Hey - what a big difference $20 can make! Don't know where the sonic benefits of a ~$289 designer stand might better my brick platforms. I have tight carpet on top of a concrete base floor, then the bricks, then the panels with spikes. For aesthetics, I used black material, corner braces, and velcro tabs around the bricks for a decent looking facia.

I tried out various raised heights up to 16" but found 10" to be the best for both seated and standing positions in my room. When raised above 10", the seated spacial imaging, and high freq's began to be compromised. I used (2) 10" x 16" x 8" blocks for each stand. More solid and 'sound dead' than any steel frame I could imagine.

Stand up! I'm surprised that there hasn't been a bigger to-do about raising the CLS's. With the stands, the 'sweet spot' is now not just limited to that magical 6" x 6" window while seated, and centered. I can stand up at 6' tall and get the same hair-raising sound curtain. Walking around, I notice the sound is MUCH better dispersed throughout my entire listening room. Even the output volume and curiously, the mid-bass have been appreciably increased. The seated, position is still as sweet as ever, maybe even with a degree of added detail - so I haven't lost anything by doing this.

After fixing on the 10" height, I found it necessary to tow-in a bit more (perhaps that is where my added detail came from) and I also decreased the top to bottom slant slightly. Voila! Now even my standing guests can be mesmerized by these crazy things, making a great thing even better. Now I feel like a dork for not having tried it sooner.

So if you haven't already checked it out, go spend the best $20 bucks you are likely to ever put into your stereo. Please let me know your results or if you have other comments on this!

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I've home reviewed various Magnapan and other Martin Logan series speakers.

Clarity and detail; imaging; purity

Dynamic range is not up there with cone speakers; forward/bright and needing equalization and special attention to placement; low bass is absent

I bought a pair of the original CLSs'in about 1987 and updated to CLS-II panels and electronics several years ago. (The CLS-IIz have a an electronics box that brings up the impedance to a more amplifier friendly range.) I can say I have never heard a speaker faster or more detailed than these, and I have heard a lot of speakers. They don't have the best cone speakers' dynamic "slam," but I have stuck with the CLS for more than ten years. Mated with an 18 inch Velodyne subwoofer they now serve in my home theater, and they do an incredible job sorting out the details of a soundtrack, as well as transducing all imperfections. The subwoofer does a great job with 20-50 Hz and an adequate job melding with the CLS, but its really tough to find a subwoofer as fast as these electrostatics. I spend a lot of time listening to classical music and they can reproduce complex orchestration and other subtleties with the best. They also reflect all the strengths and weaknesses elsewhere in my system. They are very tricky to set up and not really close to flat in frequency response when pointed straight at you, with a forward upper midrange prominence that you can reduce by tilting the speakers outward. When I can afford a good digital equalizer these things will be really incredible, but still without the dynamics of a cone system. If audio purity, detail, transparency, and imaging are your priorities, consider the CLS.

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None

clarity and detailed soundstage

very poor low end and power hungry

These are some of the most incredible speakers I have ever had the honor to hear. The imaging is so incredible and transparent. Classical, Jazz and especially vocals come to life with a realism seldom heard at home. If you love cranked up Rock & Roll, buy the hybrid with a built in conventional woofer. The CLS's won't have the punch you want. But, if you want the most enjoyable listening experiance you have ever had, these are the speakers for you. Like a great love, searched for and found, they are not easily setup, but when done, will bring a lifetime of heart warming joy. Take your time and try a lot of placements, it will make a huge difference. Also, don't underdrive these. They love power and when satisfied, they come to life. By now you know, I love these speakers.

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Martin Logan Quest

Good Sound quality

Need Subwoofer

The best speaker from all Martin Logan Speaker (The heart of Martin Logan)Try this one you'll not regret it if you like Classical, JaZz, Easy Listening etc.