Another play day in the Garden of Audible.
So today I have the honor (emphasis) of playing and comparing the stunning Cherry gloss finish MartinLogan Motion 60 XT tower speakers ($2999 see the product page here) and the lute shaped Italian Walnut finished beauty, namely the Sonetto 3 ($3999, see product page here), from the still fairly new Sonetto series. (Note: many colors available, shown in the larger photo gallery below)
The results were awesome. (in case you’re a skimmer)
Sharing the fun about hearing great new Speakers on the floor, or Amps, or any other aspect of a Day in the Life at Audible Images AV is every Audiophiles dream. At least it is for me. I’m also the Marketing guy for us. And since our culture around here is Have Fun, Enjoy learning and Share the fun with others, and the Customers will just enjoy asking Ed for the order, instead of us asking because they can feel his total Passion and Knowledge about designing and tuning systems.
Now, there’s no getting around the Audiophile crossfit aspect of setting up big, or delicate or just plain heavy stuff, but then we all know that’s just part of the hobby, so anyhow here we go. 😉
My electronics and source were the Dan D’Agostino Momentum Integrated 2 channel Amplifier, and the dCS Rossini DAC and player as a source (streaming). I chose to use Streaming from the Rossini using Roon (music management system) with a high Rez Tidal account. Now I know, you’re probably thinking the $45K D’Agostino Integrated is overkill for a $3 to 4K pair of speakers, but there are two reasons why I made the choice. Because it was close and already setup 🙂 Additionally, when we got a demo from our Sonus Faber & McIntosh rep, back when the Sonetto series came out in late 2018 (see the post here), we had the chance to hear the Sonetto 2 and 5’s, using the Parasound P7 preamp (around $2295 new) with the Parasound A31 (around $3295 new), 3 channel x 250 watt solid state amplifier that we were selling as pre-owned gear for a customer. And they sounded quite good with those, so perhaps using a much higher end Amp would expose any of the shortcomings or the excellent attributes of the Sonetto 3’s or the 60XT’s. So here we go.
Please note in the 2 images below: The 60XT’s are actually 8 inches taller than the Sonetto 3 (as in the post header graphic). The photos below are scaled automatically in the photo gallery settings 🙂 Also, see additional gallery at bottom of page.
MartinLogan 60XT and Sonus Faber Sonetto 3
Listening to these two beauties was a mixture of Love of listening, Lust and Learning; as I discovered both speakers sound quite spectacular, but had I not gotten the knowledge of placement and specifics of tuning from Ed for these specific speakers, I might have missed the magic that I soon came to hear from both pair. (More on the tuning details below, as this was a mistake even veterans can make on setting up and tuning these particular speakers 🙂 )
Now so we’re clear as to my purpose here, this is an experiential blog post, not a review persay. Part of my job, is listening to modest all the way up to ultra crazy high end and sharing what I heard or felt. If you would like to read detailed reviews to take it further, here is an excellent review on the Sonetto 3’s by hometheaterreview.com here.
If you are on the hunt for some floorstanders in the 2K to 4K bracket to complete your system, these MartinLogan Motion 60 XT’s and Sonetto 3’s will provide a very enjoyable listening demo for you. Ed Masterson, Owner, Engineer, Audiophile at Audible Images, makes clear that he doesn’t like the sales guy thing. Can’t stand the whole pressure or tactic thing. So that’s one of the reasons I’m blogging and doing Social Media, so you’ll know what a relaxed atmosphere we have in the showroom, and how we’re pretty passionate about setting up speakers just right for you to really hear what you’re thinking about adding to your system.
So how do these floorstanders sound? How do they compare? What kind of music are they best suited for? What are the differences, nuances?
Well, I started my demo comparison the same way I always do as taught by my friend and boss Ed. Use a specific collection of tracks that I would use to test any and all gear, so that the nuances of the speakers or gear and their differences would become obvious fairly quickly. So I did this with 6 specific tracks and then afterwards I bounced around in choices to see how well I just melted into the listening chair and slipped out of the test pilot chair.
The 6 Tracks used initially:
- Fade to Black – “On Every Street” album by Dire Straits
- Birds of St. Mark – “Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1” album by Jackson Brown
- Come Away with Me – by Norah Jones
- Lush Life – by Kate Reid
- Nature Boy – by the Nordahl Trio/Lisa Ekdahl
- Hotel California – “Hell Freezes Over” (acoustic version) – Eagles
The Motion 60XT’s deliver a much warmer sound then the Sonetto 3’s in my experience, probably because of the two 8 inch sub-woofers in the Motion’s vs the two 5.9 inch woofers in the Sonus Faber Sonetto 3. (a nice review, on the Motion 60XT’s also at hometheaterreview.com here) There is no muddiness in either pair, nor any brightness that I could feel. The tonal balance was quite different between the two, (most noticeably because of the extra bass delivery in the Motion’s). But very enjoyable for both. The treble was pleasant for both, nothing grainy or bright. The extension in treble seems to be a little greater in the Sonetto’s, more detail, not colored, more articulate. Smooth and fairly gentle on both in treble.
I really enjoyed the strong deeper octave chord strikes in the piano from Jackson Brown’s “The Birds of St. Marks” on the 60XT’s. The energy really made me feel like I was there, you could feel the chords in your chest kind of, as he pounded them in this live recording. The decay sounded natural (meaning without artifacts), keeping in mind, the source is all digital from the dCS. Now I will confess, that for those of you who want an extreme level of articulation in mid-range of percussion, the Sonetto 3 did share a bit more airiness about them, and an even greater level of timbre integrity if you will.
On the Sonetto’s, that raspy textured voice of Norah Jones had a very detailed and natural resonance. You had no problem seeing and hearing Norah just a foot or two right of center in the middle of the stage. Very clearly defined.
On both pair, the acoustic bass in the song “Nature Boy” , Lisa Ekdahl, you could hear and feel the texture of the strings, from the plucking, scraping and vibrating decay. I love to play this song just to hear how resonant the fingers on that acoustic bass are going to sound, both during the strike and as the fingers travel down the instrument.
I closed the “Test Songs” with ‘Hotel California” , the acoustic guitar version from “Hell Freezes Over”, and of course, this was done on purpose. That classic intro of the song with multiple artists in the band playing acoustic guitars each doing their own special section of the song, sitting on their chairs in a harmony of transition with the next guy if u will, and the unique drum intro that follows is fairly breathtaking sonically on a high end system. Plus, personally that 1977 concert in Orlando (or Tampa) right after Joe Walsh joined the Eagles (yeah, I’m an older guy), even though it was the electric guitar version back then, it just makes a special song to close out any demo. And one that I can listen to every day on these incredible sounds systems at work. When you get to hear such perfection sonically almost every day at work, no song gets old. 🙂
So from those 6 tracks, I will say, both speakers are keepers in their price point. Now is there a significant difference between the two? Yes, as shared above. Do they satisfy your favorite style of music? This is where having your own personal listening demo would provide the answer. And, visually, both speakers will probably create smiles for the other half, as their designs are quite gorgeous if you will.
Two key points: The MartinLogan XT’s could not be pointed at you and you had to sit much further back. And the Sonetto 3’s, were pointed right at you, you sat much closer, and the rake angle was critical for not only the treble, but also for the bass. How could anyone know this, unless they were an audiophile with tuning experience, or had someone explain this to them when demo-ing the speakers for consideration? Absolute Sound does an excellent detailed review on the 60XT’s, and the summary on this page 3 link, nails it.
Now here’s where I surrendered the test pilot hat, and sank into personal mode. I decided to listen to some Europe jazz (for those of you New Orleans or Chicago jazz/blues purists, I strongly suggest adjusting & expanding your palette, because the talent and style of the artists in “Jazz at the Pawnshop”, 1977 original recording, opens a whole new genre of Jazz.) I first heard some of it a couple years ago, but have spent more time listening to it now at work.
When I was first exposed to Jazz in my early listening days, it was around my senior year in high school, and back then, an African American buddy Stu, that I worked with after school turned me on to George Benson, Billy Cobham, and yes John Coltrane, and a few other artists that I can’t recall this moment, I realize, that now, having Tidal to continually expand my listening tastes is such a gift for seasoned and new Audiophiles today. I will also say, that having row 6 tickets for the Chuck Mangione concert back in 1979 in a theater with only 2-3000 seats that had excellent acoustics, I can literally re-live better sound than that concert in The Transporter at work.
So, I ask, when does a vibrophonist get your attention during a listening session? When Lars Erstand in the album “Jazz at the Pawnshop” does an intimate duet with the bass player in the track ‘Fascinating Rhythm (Live), be Good!: Oh, lady, be good’. Three or so minutes of dedicated vibrophone enjoyment with the contrast of subtle electric bass. The colors from those two little mallets brought out so many colors (listening on the 60XT’s now), I became entranced by just hearing Lars duets with other instruments in the recording in addition to just the background complement of the Vibrophone. What a great recording to just enjoy an instrument that you very rarely listen to. Like 4rth of July Fireworks colors, but in audio colors enjoyment! (I’m still a new guy to Audiophilia)
Feel free to drop in during showroom walk-in hours, or call ahead to hear these 2 wonderful speakers, and maybe even hear some Electrostatics if you’ve never had the chance, to hear 3 totally unique speaker designs in your budget area. You will totally enjoy pecking Ed’s brain and submerging in our listening rooms.
Thank you for stopping by!
Audible Images AV
Gallery of both Models
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