Whether you're a "wall person" who can't spoil your HT room's feng shui with a equipment rack or not, MartinLogan's Encore TF speaker can fit into your HT speaker setup at a price point we didn't expect the company to hit. Put it on a wall or use the included table stand, hang it horizontally or vertically -- for $499 you get a Advanced Thin Film (ATF) mid/tweet backed by a pair of 4-inch woofers. Purists will cry that the ATF mid/tweet is a departure from MartinLogan's electrostatic calling card, but MartinLogan promises that the transducer is a good match for its panels -- it's still a push-pull design that moves the entire driver surface evenly -- and we figure consumers will appreciate the lower prices and smaller cabinets afforded by the design. Press release and more pics after the break.

MartinLogan isn't the kind of company that rolls out new speaker models every month, so it's notable when new introductions are made. The Kansas-based electrostatic manufacturer has borrowed some tech from its $25,000 flagship CLX loudspeaker and brought them to its relatively more affordable $13,995 Summit X model, making it the first to inherit the CLX's XStat transducer, PoweredForce woofers and Vojtko crossover design. That's a lot of trademark names, but the take home message is a panel that reaches down to 160Hz before the dual 10-inch woofers that can reach down to 24Hz and still keep up with the fast electrostatics are blended in. Still north of our budget, but we can dream, right?

We're longtime fans of active fully powered loudspeakers primarily because they allow the manufacturer to get the best sonics by optimizing the speaker-amplifier integration and also they make cabling the system up a little nicer, too (interconnects are thinner and more flexible than speaker cables in our system). So MartinLogan's move to putting a 150-Watt amp in its Feature LCR (wall-mountable, too) speaker to power up the electrostatic membrane, dome tweeter and dual 5.25-inch woofers should be good for the target high-end audience -- great sound, a tidy install and we imagine at $1695 each, a nice margin for MartinLogan. You didn't think you were going to get into electrostats on the cheap, did you?

EDIT: MartinLogan is keeping us honest -- "active" would imply an adjustable crossover, which these speakers do not have; so "fully powered" it is!

It's always welcome news to us when we see an audio stalwart make the transition from audio-only to home theater; even better when they embrace the internet along the way. Word comes to us via press release that MartinLogan is now making the heart of its speaker lineup, the Design series, available on Amazon. That means that if you don't have a local dealer (including Magnolia) in your area or you just can't be bothered to leave your AV den, MartinLogan speakers are now just a mouse click away -- with Super Saver/Prime shipping, no less. We've got to admit, the logos look pretty good together in a doodle kind of way. Included in Amazon's sampling are: Purity and Source uprights; Matinee and Vignette center channels; Ticket, Presage, Voyage and Helos 100 in-walls; and Abyss and Dynamo subs. Certainly enough to fill out your speaker needs; just be sure you remember to report the (cough) sales tax (cough)! Full press release after the break.

MartinLogan, the name synonymous with electrostatic speakers, is celebrating its 25th anniversary by launching the flagship CLX speaker. Here's what to do if your golden ears find the sound of the company's panels let down by the integrated conventional cones in other models: come on back down to Earth (we think ML's marriage of cones and panels is great) and audition the CLX. This beast packs one 57-inch membrane for the high frequencies and another one for the lows. put it all together and you get 100-pounds of speaker that use low-mass films to cover a 56 - 23,000-Hz range. No, it doesn't spec out at the magical 20-Hz, but if that figure is all that's important to you, then you won't appreciate what these are about; besides, a little bird tells us these pair up quite nicely with the company's Descent subs. The CLX will show up in June at $20,000/pair (in a variety of finishes), but act soon and you can get on the list for the 25th Anniversary Limited Edition for $25,000. More eye candy in the gallery; sorry, no ear candy.

No stranger to electrostatic speakers, MartinLogan is giving audiophiles an awful good reason to rid their wallet of $8,495 (per pair) with the all new Spire floorstanders. Each powered hybrid electrostatic loudspeaker includes a 10-inch aluminum cone woofer and 200-watt high-resolution amplifier which produces bass down to 29Hz. You'll also find a 35Hz equalization knob for low-end calibration, the firm's own rigid AirFrame and the curvilinear XStat electrostatic transducer. As expected, such fine pieces are available in a plethora of shades -- Black Ash, Dark Cherry, Natural Cherry, Maple, Birds Eye Maple, Wenge, and Rotary Cut Bubinga -- and those not satisfied with dropping "only" $8.5k can free themselves of even more Benjamins by dreaming up a cabinet hue of their own. One more look after the jump.

[Via eCoustics]

If you've never heard properly set-up electrostatic speakers, you've missed out on something a bit different from conventional cones. Electrostats have always been surrounded by a bit of hi-fi snobbery for a number of reasons: they tend to be expensive; the associated equipment to drive them properly is pricey (read: really high current amps); and they just look so different. MartinLogan is hoping to broaden the appeal of electrostats with their new Source speakers. They're not what we'd call cheap at just under $2000 per pair, but their price isn't stratospherically high, either. Because we expect speakers, especially those doing HT duty, to convey a sense of bass "slam," MartinLogan combines the electrostatic panel with an 8-inch aluminum cone woofer. If your whole HT setup is going for the "thin" look, then put these on your short list.