Very detailed. Transparant. Open sound. Best integration of panel and woofer in a Martin Logan yet.

Launched just as the Quad ESL 989 debuts.

One goes for electrostatics for very specific reasons. No boxiness. Transparancy. Midrange to die for. Low coloration. Very, very quick transients, especially on plucked instruments.

Since I'm a die-hard electrostatic fan, the most obvious thing I did was compare the ML to the new Quad 989. They are both similarly priced and compete for the exact same market.

As good as the ML Prodigy is, it loses in ALL aspects to the Quad. It is just as detailed as a Quad, but less musical. It is more sensitive than a Quad, and should be more amplifier friendly, but it is the Quads that are more easily driven by low-to-medium powered tube amps (someone will need to explain that to me because it doesn't make sense to me). And while it has INCREDIBLE scale, great for classical, it doesn't rock as convincingly, and hence it is a less versatile all-rounder than a Quad.

The one area I thought it would out-perform the Quad in- bass output- was also another area where the ML finished second. Not that it was bad. But the Quads, at least in rooms of about 500-800 sq.ft., was dishing out those low Hertz in spades.

Don't misunderstand me. These are lovely (and lovely looking) and very, very good speakers. But it isn't quite as good as perfect, which, in my opinion, is what the ESL 989 is.

Truth to tell, I would rate the Prodigy as slightly below a Quad ESL 63 with a Gradient SW63. 4 stars for being the 3rd-best speaker I've ever heard.

Similar Products Used:

Quad ESL 989

Jaw Dropping imaging and sound clarity

they are BIG

I have auditioned these speakers at three different Hi-Fi resellers in Dallas and was amazed at how different the amplification/cabling can make a difference with these speakers.

Worse case scenario was when they were hooked up to a 50WPC Sonic Frontiers tube amp/pre-amp combo with a single run of speaker cable. Pathetic, they sounded tinny, no bass at all, and I was unimpressed. The ML Aerius i's in the other room hooked up properly to a 200WPC system sounded better.

Best case scenario, same store. A friend of mine went up there and had them moved to a 380WPC McIntosh and bi-wired them with good cable. I was ASTOUNDED!! I could not pick my jaw up off the floor for the entire song I had playing. I could not believe my ears, (playing Sarah M). I was in a room with a $15,000 Krell Amp/pre Amp hooked up to $11,000 B&W's... The ML's sounded better. Granted, we got more bass out of the B&W's but they did not sound better/clearer and I could add a $2,000 sub to the ML's to get the lower Hz and punch I was missing. Overall savings $10,000..

In Fact, Save your money, pick up the on Sale ReQuest $3500 and add a good acoustic Rel Sub, you'll have the same sound. The magic is in the Panel and the POWER, Lots of amplification. The panels are about the same size, although the Prodigy looks a ton better. SO you have to ask yourself, am I in it for looks or sound???

Anyway, I have yet to hear a speaker that has the acoustical clarity of the ML's, they are just amazing. The only drawback is you just have to mate them with a good sub or bi-amp them with tons of power.

3 stars for it's price.. 5 stars for the sound...

Similar Products Used:

ReQuest, SL3

everything

not many.

What a joy to linten to.Have not heard a better midrange,and lets face it thats most of the music anyway. Highs are sweet ,and natural.Bass is better when driven. Outstanding!

Similar Products Used:

revels thiels wilsons psb

Name it!!!!!!

Very LITTLE!!!!!!!

It is very sad to see review's by some people ( BOB & CARL C.) who have no idea what they are saying!!! ONE STAR!!!!! Common Guys, No way!!!! Maybe they are not the best, the very best!! BUT, ONE STAR?????? NO WAY!!!!! SCREW YOU'RE HEADS ON BETTER!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

B&W802, REVEL SALON, PROAC 3.5, MAGGIES Various, ETC!!!!!!

Transparent, Detailed and Dynamic

I've owned many speakers, both electrostatic and dynamic. The Prodigy's are by far the best speakers I've ever owned. In comparing them to the Requests, they are far more dynamic with deep, tight, accurate bass response and they are also more extended in the upper frequencies, with improved imaging. As with all electrostatic speakers, their revealing nature requires top quality electronics, with my preference being Classe amplifiers. Simply an impressive speaker.

Quite frankly, I was surprised in reading the two reviewer's negative posts here. I'm sure that Carl C ended up with a pair of the Klipsch Heresy speakers and I hope that Bob the Audiophile, was final able to "get me some", because of his Prodigy purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan Aerius, Martin Logan SL-3, Martin Logan Request

Loud, clear

10,000$ lacking bass

I just think these speakers are way too much for not the best quality. i own a pair of Revel f30's for 3,200 that sound just as good or better than the prodigys. im not here to bash Martin logan. ive owned the SL3's i just wanna state to any future buyer that you might wanna reconsider unless you are rolling in the dough.

Similar Products Used:

Revel F30's, Martin logan SL3's

transparency, lightning fast transients, imaging, resolution, musicality

Very sensitive to setup and front end equipment, not as dynamic as the BEST dynamic speakers (like Wilsons). The bass system used gives variable results.

I've been using the Prodigies for about 4 months now and I'm impressed. Everyone who comes to my listening room has to pick their jaws up off the floor - most comment that it's like "listening to nothing."

To anyone reading the poor reviews below, take this advice: these speakers are exceptionally sensitive to just about everything. Those who criticize them have probably not put in the amount of work it takes to make them sing. Cables matter. Equipment matters. Positioning changes of 6 inches can change things a whole bunch, especially concerning the soundstage. Toe-in changes matter. When set up properly, they're a window into the sound like few other speakers. Screw up the setup, and they are going to sound just plain wierd.

After doing a lot of work damping my room reflections, the sound continues to improve. Since they are bipolar, killing/dispersing the rear-directed sound has major benefits. Moving my listening chair out away from the rear wall helped as well. Without killing the room, at a certain volume level, the room loads up with sound and just gets terribly loud, losing all of the fine qualities this speaker has. They interact with the room a lot more than I expected them to, but again, after treating the room, things have improved greatly.

My one slight reservation is that the "Force Forward" bass alignment system seems to be doing a bit too well in my small room. The rear-cancelling woofer does a great job - stand behind the speakers and you don't hear much bass at all. At the listening chair, I get very taut bass at high levels down to 40 Hz or so, and hard drum whacks come through with good definition. When I heard these demo'd by ML at the product intro using Spectral/dCS gear, they gave impressive, tight bass in a large room. They actually shut down one of the DMA-360 monoblocks playing drums at unbelievable levels. All doubts about dynamic capability went out the window! They do eat power.

The quality that attracted me to the Prodigies was primarily its lack of coloration. They really don't have much of a character, and when I listen to box speakers anymore, I hear the box. Transients are excellent, and most everyone will say that they are fast and carry great pace. There's no overhang - the panel just stops dead when called to. Drum whacks will make you blink your eyes. They have plenty of detail, but they soften ever so slightly at the very very top - which I like. They are less ruthless than the Wilsons and top-model Thiels. The seamless midrange, as others have commented about, is to die for. Martin Colloms said that you could buy these for that quality alone. Put on Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" or tracks from Enya, and they can bring you to tears. They also reproduce piano better than anything I've ever heard.

While I was never a raving lunatic about imaging, these speakers do it very well, but not exceptionally. I do spend a lot of time goofing with the setup to improve it more (once you get it, you're hooked). They throw a huge wall of sound, and you can pinpoint locations well, but not quite as well as the Wilsons, which are almost scary in this regard.

All in all, this is an incredible speaker that deserves audition. They will reward the diligent with ever-improving sound when fed with the right components in the right room with proper placement. This is the speaker I'm going to spend the next ten years with, and I know that every component upgrade and room improvement will reveal an even higher level of fidelity and musicality. Bravo, Gayle Sanders.

Current equipment:
McCormack DNA-2 DeLuxe (600 wpc into the MLs)
Threshold FET/10 pre
Theta Pro Prime D/A (my worst piece...waiting for 24/96)
Theta Data Basic
All-MIT cabled with bi-wire speaker connections

Similar Products Used:

compared them with Nautilus 801s, Avalons Radian HCs, Wilson WATT/Puppies

Very fast transients with very smooth and deep bass with holographic imaging in the sweet spot. Excellent dynamic contrasts.

Awkward to move about after spiked. Reduced high frequency output when standing compared to the taller ReQuest. Not as graceful in appearance compared to other Martin Logan Models.

Like all loudspeakers, especially those capable of deep bass response, careful room and listening position is essential. Thankfully, in my room the smoothest location was with the rear of the 2.5ft deep cabinet nearly against the wall. The usual position out into the room for good imaging was unnecessary since the panels are still about 2.5 to 3ft from the rear wall. The bass extended with authority and smoothness down to 20-25 HZ, exceeding the response obtained from a large Infinity SW212 powered subwoofer I had used in the past to augment the response of a pair of Quests below 35-40 Hz.

The midrange blended seamlessly with the woofer as indicated by a plot of response using the Stereophile Test CD 2 warble tones. Relative levels of the bass and midrange were adjusted slightly through passive biamping with amps that allowed for independant channel adjustment. In this case the amps were Accuphase A50 units with the bass levels set for flat at the speaker and dropped by 1 to 2dB at the amplifier level controls.

The Prodigy's exhibited an incredible dynamic range far in excess of what I could obtain with the Quests or have heard in demos of the ReQuests. I'm not talking about sheer loudness but a get up and go quality. Good drum recordings had a very real percussive quality. Female vocals were very seductive. The speakers can play very loud on demand which serves to ensure a very linear dynamic response.

While the system sounded very good with AudioQuest Dragon and Crystal wire, the system benefited dramatically from the use of Transparent Music Wave Ultra BiCables.

I have heard the units demo'd in two different stores. At my local dealer the primary large room was pretty good with a position that emphasized imaging at the expense of some bass smoothness. Their other two rooms sounded pretty poor. This isn't surprising since I found most dealers rooms to be pretty poor. Another dealer sounded about as good as the first dealers best.

My pair was an early set. Early on the panels had developed a relaxation of the diaphragm at the corners. While not noticably degraded sonically, Stereo Design and Martin-Logan replaced the panels promptly. The new panels seem to be stable after a couple months of use as expected since my old Quests and Aerius models never exhibited a problem.

The Martin Logan's are impressive exercise in product design and material science. Prior to them, I would never consider owning a pair of electrostatics. In my college years I worked at a dealer that sold Acoustats, Audiostatics and Quad ESL 63 models, all of which had severe reliabilty, material quality and performance limitations. The Martin Logans really are ready for prime time, unless you're stupid and smoke or cook around them.

My value rating is in comparison to other speakers that are similarly priced. I've cycled through electronics quickly but have been committed to Martin Logan speakers for the last 6 yrs. For me there is nothing else worth considering.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan Quests, Aerius, Vandersteen 4A , Snell Type AII Imp,

Smooth, incredibly detailed sound without a trace of harshness

Non apparent

Having proudly owned a pair of SL3's for about 2 years I was intrigued when the new Prodigy was announced and arranged for a demo. I was fortunate to be able to hear the Prodigy with the exact same equipment set up I have at home, Krell FPB200c, KRC-3 and 250-CD. Four things struck me immeadiately as improvements over the SL3; the bass, the imaging, the detail and the sense of the recorded acoustic.
On the Cocteau Twin's 'twinlights' CD I could hear the reverberent decay of the piano notes as they faded away. On Diana Krall's Love Scene's CD, I could hear the microphone being switched on just prior to each vocal phrase Diana Sang. On John Martyn's 'Bless the weather' I could hear each thud and knock of John's fingers against his acoustic guitar. I can confidently say that I had never heard ( or at least consciously registered!) any of these before. The improvements in bass and maximum loudness were evidenced on the Mugwai track from Matador records 'everything is nice' sampler CD. This track starts very quietly but quickly builds to an all out attack with pounding bass, thrashing guitar and thunderous drums. The Prodigy held it's own without a trace of distress or harshness. The same track on the SL3's quickly led to me turning down the volume as the mid-range hardened up and became almost unbearable.

Satisfied that the Prodigies were a remarkable improvement over the SL3 I decided to audition some other speakers which I thought may be comparable, the Innersound Eros and the B&W Nautilus 802. I was unable to do a direct comparison between the 802 and the Prodigy but was able to contrast the Martin-Logan Request and the 802 thru Mark Levinson electronics. After extended listening I concluded that the Requests ( at least to my ears ) were superior to the 802s. With the 802s I just kept getting the feeling that the sound was coming from a couple of boxes in front of me, a feeling which I have never had from electrostatics.
For me the 802s just did not cut it.

Finally I auditioned the InnerSound Eros. As there was no dealer locally, I managed to hear these speakers in the home of a customer of InnerSound who kindly offered to let me hear the Eros. I found these speakers to be fundamentally flawed in that the directional characteristics are just not acceptable. The treble frequencies beam to such an extent that moving ones head six inches from the sweet spot results in an almost total loss of high frequencies. Compared to the Prodigies these speakers lacked bass, were bright and brittle, and although imaging was good, I was very aware of listening to a hi-fi, not music.

As you have probably guessed I ended up buying the Prodigy even though it was at the very upper end of my budget. All I can say is that I think the introduction of the Prodigy marks a major step forward for Martin-Logan. After listening to these speakers I just couldn't get them out of my mind, they were that good. I'm absolutely thrilled with these speakers and would thoroughly recommend them to anybody looking for an improvement on SL3's or similar

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan SL3

Soundstage, value for money.

Nothing I think.

Just heard these speakers at local store. I must say that this is best Martin Logan speaker I have heard. At this price the value for money is great.

The sound is similar as other Logan products. Great transparency and soundstage of course. But what was surprising is the bass. Now it's very fast and kin of different than other Logan speakers. In good room you can get out something great. Now the room wasn't so good that I could say the whole truth.

I would say that these speakers really are musical. The mid range was very detailed. But not agressive. The speaker didn't come on at anytime. That's very positive. Because when the sound is so crisp you are all the time waiting when it comes on. But not this time.
But at a meantime I'll just have to listen my old Quest's. But this speaker really is worth of listen. Let's wait and see what they have done with the old SL3. It should be made similar like the Prodigy.

The listening equipments:

Wadia 860x Cd-player
VAC Renaissance 140 monoblock amps.
Cardas Golden Reference speakercables and interconnects.

Similar Products Used:

Other Martin Logan products.