Martin Logan ESL15A vs Goldenear Triton One.R comparison???

[henryeng]

Has anyone ever had the chance to compare Triton One.R speakers against Martin Logan ESL15As (or ESL13As)?? I have the One.Rs...and am very happy with them, overall. But my listening room has glass doors on the sides which produce reflections and affect imaging. The ESLs have very little side-radiation and would probably mitigate this issue. But they're mighty expensive! Any thoughts out there? I know that electrostatics are known for being very accurate, which is what I want. I listen to classical music on SACDs...and the Triton One.Rs are a hard act to follow!

Thanks....

 

[ddude003]

If you haven't already searched AV NIRVANA, you might find that @Sonnie, and a few others, including myself, have Martin Logan speakers in their systems... I would just point out that they need a nice matching amplifier that can deal with their unorthodox impedance curve... And they are a real pain to place in your room properly such as you get the most, sound stage and imaging, out of them... Your off to a good start by having a McIntosh with Autoformers to drive them with... You might tell us a little more about your room and your use case...

 

[henryeng]

Hi ddude003 and thanks for the reply. My only issue with the One.Rs is the reflections off the glass door and fireplace wall which affects imaging. (Not the fault of the speakers!) I have the speakers towed-in a bit more than usual to minimize sideways radiation. Otherwise, I have no complaints with the overall sound. For whatever reason, it's impossible to find a dealer in the LA area that actually has ESL15s to audition in a decent acoustic environment...hence my question to the AV NIRVANA community. This pic shows my listening area. The room is actually quite 'dead', with lots of furniture, a 'hawaiian style' ceiling (with grasscloth to prevent reflections) carpeting, etc. Its's just the sidewall reflections that are hard to eliminate. This is why I'm interested in ELS....very little side-radiation to cause reflections. The Mac MA8900 should drive them quite well. MS uses Mac amps to demo their speakers...so no problems there. (This pic was taken with a super-wide angle lens, so the room looks longer than it really is.) Behind the listening position (sofa) there is about 35' of open space (with other furniture etc) so the total distance from speakers to opposite wall is 50'. I have zero issues with standing waves, so the bass response is ideal....no nulls or resonances. It sounds fantastic....but imaging is compromised. If the ESL15s sound as good as the Triton One.Rs....I'd be a very happy camper!

 

[ddude003]

Oh, yea... I remember this room now... My concern with the ESL 15s would be the placement up close to that wall... Two parts, the first being the dipole stats and second being the PoweredForce Forward duel subs... Lots of energy firing back against the wall... I would like to hear what some of the other ML ESL owners have to say... Have you read this thread? https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/july-2021-get-together-at-cedar-creek-cinema.8959/#post-68975

 

[henryeng]

I could pull the speakers a bit farther away from the wall....and/or add some acoustic material to that wall to minimize its interaction/reflection from the dipole stat panels. Not a big deal. Great info from the writeup of the 2021 Cedar Creek event...thanks.

 

[ddude003]

Here is another good review of the ML ESL 15s... https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/re...log-reviews/martin-logan-renaissance-esl-15a/ Notice the distance from the back wall and the windows with some of the shots...

You might want to down load the User Manual from the Martin Logan web site and review the parts about speaker placement...

https://www.martinlogan.com/uploads/documents/manuals/manual-renaissance-esl-15a.pdf

 

[AudiocRaver]

I have heard the Triton 1's, and they are, in my mind, top tier for the price range, wonderfully transparent.

I own a pair of Classic 9's and a pair of older EM ESL's (one woofer), and have listened to Sonnie's ESL 15A's extensively, plus various other older MartinLogan models in his room over the years. Their controlled directivity is a key component of their success, and should serve you well.

I agree with ddude003 that a pair of 15A's would need to be pulled further into the room, away from the front wall, and I would space them wider, too. I would also vote for absorption behind them, you will get some nice natural late-reflection ambience from that cool Hawaiian ceiling and from the room area behind the LP, so near-total absorption of the panel's back wave will give you best image clarity and make them easier to place. With appropriate toe-in for best imaging, you can hope for those first reflection points to fall right in the "null zone" of the panels - first reflection problem solved!

Be aware that the larger MartinLogan models (beyond ESL and ESL-X) are buggers to ship, consider it a oneway trip. You might try a pair of ESL-X's for proof of concept with an eye toward reselling them to upgrading to 15A's later on. My bet would be that you'd keep the ESL's and be a happy camper.

You can tell I am a MartinLogan fan. As great as the Triton's sound, the ML's are as transparent and give you tightly controlled directivity to boot.

 

[henryeng]

Hi, thanks for that insight. And looking into this further, I'm thinking the ESL13As might be a better choice. The 15s will probably be visually too large for the room/space...and could create excessive "spouse resistance", which is a harder problem to solve than speaker impedance issues! I'll try to find somewhere to audition the 13s. The sound quality difference between the 13s and 15s is probably minimal...but a huge cost difference. Thanks again...

 

[ddude003]

The 13As are ~27" deep and ML suggests they be > 10" from the wall... Making them sit 37" into the room... There is also a calculation ML calls the The Extra “Tweak”... Good luck and let us know how they work out for you...

 

[henryeng]

Yep....I can easily deal with that. Many thanks....

 

[AudiocRaver]

be tickled witHi, thanks for that insight. And looking into this further, I'm thinking the ESL13As might be a better choice. The 15s will probably be visually too large for the room/space...and could create excessive "spouse resistance", which is a harder problem to solve than speaker impedance issues! I'll try to find somewhere to audition the 13s. The sound quality difference between the 13s and 15s is probably minimal...but a huge cost difference. Thanks again...

I believe you would be very happy with any of the 4 models in that series.