which excels at Rock and Roll

While live Classical music at times may reach 100dB, it is for only brief lengths of time. Hard Rock bands on the other hand may average 100dB for an hour or longer set.

A speaker which does very well with Hard Rock music may not reproduce a String Quartet (or a harpsichord, one of my favorite sounding instruments) as well as does the QUAD ESL, and visa versa. Not exactly horses-for-courses, but not far off.

I don’t find the idea of different loudspeakers excelling at reproducing different kinds of music at all a radical notion, any more than the idea of different  automobiles excelling at different kinds of driving and roads.

I remember in the early-70’s the JBL L100 being sold as a "Rock ’n’ Roll" speaker. I hated the L100; it was extremely colored (in what J. Gordon Holt termed "Vowel colorations"). Vowel coloration is one thing you don’t want in ANY loudspeaker. At that time ESL’s were the only speakers I had heard which didn’t sound colored to me. ESL’s reproduced human voices and acoustic stringed instruments like no others. For those who listened primarily to vocal or acoustic string instrument music, an ESL was an excellent choice. If it was pipe organ music, not so much.

robshaw

Marten Oscar or Parker. Then, invite me over sometime.

Happy Listening!

@jafant  Thank you! Went to e mail first thing this morning and came across your post. Just made me laugh and smile!  I'm still looking. I just cant get over how much the Oscar and Parker cost? I spent almost 10k for a special pair of Tekton Encores, that are almost 6' tall, 175lbs., have many drivers of top quality, used in another large area and sound Exquisite, worth ever penny.I  have never heard a speaker (for me and rock and roll)  sound so GOOD!   I know of a lot of research and hours went into development of the MARTENS, of which your paying for. I just have trouble wrapping my head and wallet around something so diminutive, alas beautiful. 

Then  I look at some of my CONSIDERATIONS, The platimon VC 1  around 6.5K and Arendal 1528 bookshelf at around5K,  Acora MRB-1 or maybe BorensonX3 floor stander, and feel like I'm getting more product for my money. I live an hour and change from Nashville where there a some shops. However, driving into Nashville is something I don't relish, almost as bad as Atlanta.  Thanks for the post and making me laugh. Robert  any thought appreciated.

@robshaw - You've got some great considerations besides the Martens, which yes, are on the pricey side, especially the Parkers with the stands.

Trip to Nashville might be worth it for that kind of coin to give some speakers under consideration a listen, otherwise you're kinda flying blind (or deaf, as the case may be). You'd get some idea of how they sound compared to each other, though they're likely to sound different in your listening space. 

There are places that let you audition gear at home for a certain length of time, and if you don't like, you can ship back with a nominal restocking fee. That's fine for some gear, but speakers??? Not something I would do.... 

I remember in the early-70’s the JBL L100 being sold as a "Rock ’n’ Roll" speaker.

@bdp24 I remember that and its the classic example of this myth. IMO it wasn't all that good at rock- it did all genres equally poorly. One of my employees restored a pair so we got to audition them extensively. I don't know anything about the reissue.