Recommendations for speakers with Luxman 509x


Hey everyone - looking for some suggestions on speakers.  Just upgraded my amp and DAC to a Luxman 509x and Lumin T2. They’re driving Martin Logan motion 40s so upgrading speakers as well. Room is 14x18’ with the speakers facing the long way. It’s a living room, so am constrained by space and the wife. They will be less than 2’ from the wall and snuggled up next to a wood TV stand in the middle. Towers will be much easier to pull off than something very wide.  Wood floors but covered by a large rug, L couch, lots of windows, 8’ drywall ceiling and a large bookshelf in the back to give you an idea of acoustics. Listening position about 8-10ft from speakers.  Budget is $5k-$10k. Willing to go used. I mostly listen to rock, folk, country, hip hop and jazz.  Fairly new to the language of hifi, but prefer natural over clinical and a touch of warmth would be nice with the supposedly neutral components in the system. Thanks!
trentgordon

Showing 1 response by oldaudiophile

@trentgordon, as you may already know, more than just about anything else in audiophilia, comparatively speaking, speakers are a very subjective and personal choice. Different ears like different sound signatures, even with the same source equipment. You should definitely make your final decision based upon YOUR ears and YOUR personal tastes. FWIW, you should do your critical listening under conditions as controlled as you can get them, with music you are very familiar with, speakers that are thoroughly broken in, etc., etc., etc. Considering the amount of dough you have to spend on this, you shouldn't have any difficulty getting any reputable shop(s) to accommodate your requests in this regard. Incidentally, spending lots of cash will not insure a successful result. It's all about proper matching of components. Keep an open mind.

That being said, several years ago, now, as I was in the process of doing months worth of critical listening for an amp upgrade, I spent about 2 hours of serious seat-time with a Luxman integrated (can't remember the model number but think it might have been the L-550AxII) and and a pair of Focal Aria 936. Source was Rega P3 with Ortofon Blue, MoFi high-quality re-pressings and Rega Apollo. I liked those Focal a lot. I've also spent serious seat-time, more recently, with the Aria 926. Those were very nice, too, but the 936 were noticeably nicer sounding, to me.

With your amp, my recommendation would be to stick with speakers that are either 8 or 6 ohm nominal designs. Don't worry about port location(s) and all that jazz. Let your ears decide what sounds best to you. Since you seem to like the Martin Logan sound, have you heard the ML Motion 60XTi? A word of caution with regard to AMT tweeters, though. Many reviewers have advised these sound best when the sweet spot or listening position isn't right up against a wall (i.e.  has plenty of space behind it). Based upon recent personal experience, I agree.

Good Luck!  May the music gods be with you!