Martin Logan Motion 20?

Thanks for all the good feedback. After auditioning a whole lot of speakers in the $1000-2000 range, I ended up settling on the Totem Sttaf. The ML Motion 20s were a very close second place, though. My next big decision - speaker cable. Amp is a Rogue Cronus (not Magnum version) and so if suggestions are appreciated for what cables I should get - I don't really want to spend much more than $200 for 10 feet. Thanks!

A few years ago I auditioned the first generation of the Motion series (e.g., Motion 12) and was underwhelmed. They looked cheap and didn't sound of a piece. But a couple weeks ago, playing a hunch, I listened to the new generation Motion 40s. At first I wasn't sure what to make of them; they sounded hyped up with very thumpy bass. It turns out they were running through a "Cinema" EQ setting on an AV processor or receiver. Once I figured out how to bypass all that crap I was finally able to hear how the speakers sound on their own.

And on their own, the Motion 40s are a very viable competitor at their $2K price point--clean, articulate, transparent, and smooth up top, all in a modest footprint and attractive cabinetry. I like the treble produced by motion transformer type folded ribbons (e.g., Motions, GoldenEar), as they're fast and extended but with no hint of harshness, ringing, or overshoot. And the other Motion drivers are aluminum--light, fast, linear, and articulate. I may have to return for another audition and see if I can get the vendor to hook them up to more serious amplification to see what their true potential is.

Right now I consider the Motion 20s and 40s to be sleepers at their price points.

Hi, I agree with your feelings on the motion 20's, I stopped b best buy to audition the definitives monitor 55, their was a pair of the 20's in the room and I asked the salesman to ab them with the definitive, no reason, just that they were sitting there, I was amazed how good the motions sounded, so I went in there to buy the definitives (based on reviews), and bought the 20's with the free sub, bottom line is , always audition before you buy, and take reviews with a grain of salt.

I should also reiterate that I'm starting from scratch - but, as of today(!), I'm the proud owner of a used Rogue Audio Cronus integrated amp (not the Magnum, so it's just 55wpc). I think that's plenty of power, but maybe there are certain speakers that would make for a better marriage than the Motion 20s?

It seems no one wants to comment on this, or maybe people just haven't come across the Motion 20? I detect a skepticism from the Audiogon crowd about anything from Martin Logan that's not electrostatic. I'm put off by some of their marketing - it seems like they dumb themselves down a bit. But I really thought that this was a great speaker, especially for the price. Really nice imaging, detail, and though the bass extension wasn't the best, with a sub to take care of that, I feel like maybe you can't do much better than this for $1500.