Tower Speaker Reviews

Few film segments can attest to this better than the first 25 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, easily the most startling, realistic rendering of war, visually and sonically, ever presented on film. The action of an M14's bolt, for example, has a distinctive metallic presence, as does a mortar round or grenade explosion. Combine these with other munitions sounds, along with cleanly rendered dialogue, into a panoramic sweep of assorted explosive signatures, and many home theater systems will strain under the demand.

The MartinLogan setup doesn't seem to break a sweat; rather, it keeps up relentlessly with the process, making sense of it all, unraveling it discreetly. The speakers allow the sweep of sound to move directionally, simultaneously, seemingly in a full 360 degrees, even without extra effects speakers on the sides of the room or a center rear. Bullets fly, and explosions of varying amplitude take place between and outside the edges of all the speakers, deep in the soundspace, shallow in it, everywhere. Escape is hopeless. One can only move into the fear: This is the experience of war.

About two-thirds of the way through the battle, as I grabbed my pen to jot a note, I noticed for the first time how perspiration had soaked my palm, which signaled to me that the sonics swirling around me had affected my neural pathways into a subtle but very real anxiety response—that's how stunningly well the MartinLogans do their job.

And, when it comes to film scores and incidental music, the MartinLogans shine equally. These are nothing if not highly musical speakers. Whether it's a full orchestral sweep or simple instrumentation, the music indeed becomes part of the sonic tapestry in the same manner as the designed sound artifacts. The MartinLogans, in fact, are a music lover's dream. Play the James Taylor: Live at the Beacon Theatre DVD, a prime example of 5.l music done correctly, for a glorious taste of the MLs. Song after song—from the modestly constructed "Daddy's Home" to the dynamic and rock-complex "(I've Got to) Stop Thinkin'"—leading-edge guitar and drum transients are impeccably rendered. Taylor's voice is, well, Taylor's voice, a bit nasally yet real. The voices within each backing harmony are delineated both individually and in harmony, and the surrounds pick up back-of-the-hall echoes as if you were present at the acoustically quirky Beacon.

Nits? Minor ones at that. The system goes down to 28 Hz, rolling off in 6-dB steps below that. For some of us, this is not good enough for ultimate dynamic bass slam, a fair criticism to be sure. A film like Saving Private Ryan presents information at 25 Hz and below, and adjusting the Bass Boost helped only so much, certainly not in the lowest octaves.

In reality, the MartinLogan system was so revealing in virtually all other parameters, so transparent with incredible depth and breadth of field, that the lack of subaudible bass would not prevent me from purchasing the system (if I only had the cash), especially when you consider how exceptionally well it serves film sound design and film music. Moreover, the MartinLogan arrangement may even be one of the finest home theater systems for delivering two-channel music reproduction. Sure, it may not be the ultimate system for headbangers, but that doesn't really matter as much as its ability to re-create sonic reality.

Another nit. As configured, the system is stellar; however, if I were to consider the MartinLogan approach, I'd upgrade the rear channels a bit. To increase bass response so that it matches the Prodigies more closely, I'd opt for the more-expensive Aerius i (40 Hz to 22 kHz) or the Ascent (34 Hz to 22 kHz), the latter a closer relative of the Prodigy. Then again, if MartinLogan would let me hang onto the system as configured for a while, I wouldn't turn down their offer, nor would I miss the lower bass in the rears whatsoever. Ultimately, this is a must-audition system for those who want the entire sonic picture from films and music.