I have owed my SL3's since new from1998 and love them more today than ever. Incredible sound and with 2 powered subs they are better than ever. Running 2 emotiva xps 1 mono block amps they have stood the test of time. I owned 6 pairs of DQ10's before I bought the SL3's and still own my last pair so having both I have some classics and never want for anything More. I used to own several audio stores in the 70's and John Dahlquist and I used to sit up all night and listen to vinyl.

Really need a sub to get the true low end

I waited a long time to get these and have not been disappointed. I paid GBP750 on the bay and had to get both of them in a saloon car to get them home (possible- just). Make sure you try before you buy as if run on cheap amps they will be wrecked by clipping, and new panels are not cheap. Mine had been run by Chords, so no problem.

These are low impedance (2 ohms at high frequency) and therefore eat current: my current amplifier, a Musical Fidelity E100 struggles even at moderate volumes as it has not got the gonads. I have an old Townshend Elite amp which should be better. a nice Audio Research valve amp would be good.

As with other electrostatics, if you feed them rubbish recordings or have a poor source, this will be ruthlessly exposed. That said, I have just listened to Eleanor Rigby, and McCartney sounds so Scouse you can almost feel his hand round your wallet. You need a biggish room, and need to play around with the positioning to get it right, but when you do, nothing comes close, especially with recordings that have not be ruined by remastering.

For comparison, the current top of the ML range sells for about 14k, and therefore if I paid 5% of this and got similar performance, this seems like a reasonable bargain.

http://www.turnmeup.org/
http://www.dynamicrange.de/

Location, location, location...

Non switching ES power supply

Having bought these gems 11 years ago, I can honestly say that nothing else comes close- not Kappas, not Monitor Audio, nor Mission. I have to unplug and vacuum them every 8 - 10 weeks, but driven with a humble Nak PA5 mk II they are, like the baseball player, outstanding in their field. I did have one problem when I moved to a larger appt - the rear wave was cancelling out the front wave and I nearly gave up on them. Thanks to an honest owner at Alternative Audio, I tried an innovative solution - I made up two wood deflectors, using 3/4" dowels and 1" thick oak hockey pucks, painted s.g. black. The rear wave now cancels out the front wave and the beautiful soundstage is back. The only non-stat I'e heard that comes close was an IRS set-up in Florida. Since I can't really afford a small Lear Jet, the $16.00 fix was worth every penny.

Similar Products Used:

'stat headphones

Open, airy, transparent, natural placement of instruments and detail.

Tough to place in a smallish room. A bit large.

I actually owned an SL3 a few years ago. Then, to try something different, I replaced them with a highly regarded cone/dynamic speaker. I purchased these used, mint condition.. Although the cone speaker was quite nice, I soon missed that open, airy, transparent sound of the SL3's. So, a couple months ago I went back to the SL3's. I feel like I just came back home after wondering through the cone jungles. The sound just floates in air as only 'stats can do. I think these will stay around for awhile. Considering the accuracy of sound reproduction, I think they are a relative bargain

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan Sequal, Aerius i.

A strong argument for "high end" audio equipment is reliability,durability, and endless musical pleasure (accompanied, of course by intervals of frustration and small adjustments, tweaking, to improve performance). My SL3s, purchased three months ago to replace Magnepan Tympanis are driven primarily by twenty-five year old Audio Research tube amplifiers, SP3A preamp and D51 poweramp(with new Svetlana output tubes). The sound of music(classical and jazz) is however noticeably brightened and made more transparent by using a modern solid state amplifier for the low frequency speaker. I chose a Parasound HCA1000A since it is moderately priced and includes pots to permit reduction of its input level relative to the input to the lower powered tube amp. Using the Parasound only on the SL3s is not satisfactory; in my opinion this leads to a substantial loss in realism of the music. Xover at 250 Hz is passive-internal on the Martin Logans. I used a series capacitor in the line to the Audio Research D-51 to substantially reduce very low frequency input to that 50watt/channel tube amp (about 9db at 60Hz), while negligibly (I hope) affecting the sound. The Martin-Logans are very sensitive to lead resistence. Lines to the loudspeakers should be short, relatively heavy, and tightly connected. Overall result is superb.

Clarity, transparent, and showroom look.

Weak on Bass, but that's what a subwoofer is for.

Keeping it short.. Most people have said great things about it so far, and I agree with them. It's lacking in bass, but SL3 seem to me more designed for the mids and highs. If you plan to get a full sounding system (any good speakers), you'll have to buy a powered subwoofer for it.

For those people who thought that the SL3s didn't sound very good. Ask yourself if you have the SL3s setup in the best location needed for the best sound quality. You can't truly compare speakers unless your placement is in the right spot for those peticular speakers.

Another thing about SL3s.. They need power for high quality sound. No simple 50-100 watt amp will do. You need a minimum of 200 watts. It's like putting 97 Octane gas in a jet engine. Hell if you're going to spend $3000+ on speakers, you should get a high quality amp for it.

soundstage, transparency and imaging

cabinet work while good quality, is somewhat plain - a high quality wood cabinet would befit the styling and capabilities of this speaker

in a word - awesome - no speaker in this price range comes close - you need good equipment and good recordings, properly set up and positioned these speakers will just blow you away with their realism.

plenty of bass, but it is the transparency and imaging that are mind blowing - highly recommended for value conscious high end enthusiasts.

My equipment:

Nakamichi PA7 Power Amp, CA7 Preamp and OMS7II CD Player - MIT 4 Biwire speaker cables

Extremely accurate, detailed and transparent (a warning though - it is not at all forgiving of bad recordings).
Make sure you have a good front end!!!!

I have also found them fairly easy to place for an electrostatic hybrid.

Crystal clarity, soundstaging, musicality

Need the right front end

Get your pair now while you still can. They are just discontinued and you should be able to "steal" a pair from your local dealer (one in my area is selling new in a box for $1298 each.)

My wife and I had been lusting after these speakers for about two years before finding a pair of demos that we could not pass up.

We are not audiofiles, but we do appreciate good sound (I used to be in the audio business and she is a piano teacher). We have champagne tastes, but beer budgets. And while the SL3s are aren't the most expensive speakers out there, I consider their sound to price ratio a terrific value.

We have lived with them for about 4-5 months and it has been an interesting experience. When we got them home, their sound was obviously far superior to the small JBLs we had before (now relegated to the rear). So, for about a month we were in the glow of new ownership. Then, we found ourselves listening less and less.

I started futzing with placement: further away/nearer the wall (settled about three feet from the rear of the speaker cabinets to the wall), toe in/toe out (settled for about a 12 degree toe in), bi amp/full range (settled on bi amp), and speaker wire (settled on very heavy guage Monster cable--more on that later in the review).

Still I wasn't pleased. I was especially disheartened after reading all the negative reviews on this site. Maybe these speakers were difficult to place, drive and live with.

I was considering getting upgraded separates, but could not afford them. So...I tried new interconnects and the sound difference (changing no other element in the system) is remarkable. When I switched to Nordost Solar Wind interconnects these speakers came to life. The speakers are now all I could hope for.

The treble is extremely clear and distinct with an attack velocity that nears light speed. Plucked instruments come across as dynamic and vibrant. Female voices are clear and breathy without being strident or edgy. Cymbals ring and shimmer. And strings are warm and distinct.

Bass was not the greatest before using the Nordost cables. Now the bass is robust and "kicks" when the cd has it recorded on it. I am also surprised by how low the response goes, somewhat contrary to conventional wisdom (and some of the reviews) about this speaker. The bass character is natural and defined. It is easy to hear the difference between the kick drum and the bass guitar (that had not been so prior to the interconnect upgrade, although biamping really helped the bass clarity).

But now for the best. The soundstaging (once you get the placement moderately correct) is outstanding. Imaging is both wide and deep with many layers heard on classical music. It is very impressive to hear a speaker keep a female vocalist just to the left of center, exactly as she would stand for a concert (the Nordost's get credit here too). And properly in front of the orchestra as well.

I am also using them for fronts in my video system. They do a fantastic job on dolby digital. I do not use a subwoofer but the room can shake when bass is present like on Air Force One (I actually knocked a picture off its mount).

While I am sure these speakers would sound better with $5000 of electronics driving them, I would say you need not fear using them with a higher quality receiver. I do not listen to music at rock concert hall levels, but often play fairly loud and have yet to hear my receiver driven to distortion.

Just to give you some idea about the accuracy of these speakers from our perspective. My wife is an avid music fan, but never had much use for audio equipment. It just "reproduced music" from her perspective. When she heard these speakers she actually cried. She said, "They are beautiful. They make music."

I couldn't say it any better. Just be sure of a reasonable front end. From my perspective, it can only get better from here. While I haven't lived with any other speakers, I demo'ed Paradigm, Joseph, Monitor Audio, NHTs. Nothing else made my wife cry.

I heard a pair of logan SL3's about 2 years ago at Audio concepts in Grande prairie Alberta. Now it's 2 years later and I have a pair bringing up the rearAccented by the quests up front along with the Logos centre.
I CAN HONESTLY TELL YOU THEY ARE THE BEST SPEAKERS IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Although if you dont have first rate componants and connections you might as well forget about them!!