Robert R.
- Wednesday, November 15, 2023
A masterpiece doesn’t just inspire emotions. It changes the way you feel, and it sticks with you long after you’ve left the art gallery or the concert hall. It’s considered a masterpiece precisely because of its ability to alter something inside you. Once you experience it, you’ll never be the same. Enjoying a masterpiece in your own home is something to aspire to.
Consider the Classic ESL 9 your ticket to a life-changing experience with a masterpiece of audio performance. You will never be the same.
Classic ESL 9 XStat panels are joined to their speaker cabinets using MartinLogan’s redesigned AirFrame Blade construction, precision manufactured from an aerospace-grade extruded aluminum alloy. This material, and this exclusive manufacturing process, makes the panels extremely rigid.
The bold, forward-moving styling of this AirFrame Blade rail system, narrow and strong in front, broad and forceful from the side, is a modern design statement. It never obstructs playable surface area or interferes with the panel’s dipole sound radiation pattern. It also provides electrical and acoustical isolation, minimizing intermodulation distortion caused by vibration and resonance. The flowing lines emphasize the groundbreaking integration of the panel itself with the compact woofer and amplifier section. The breathtaking AirFrame Blade design enhances imaging, low-level sonic detail, accuracy, and speaker efficiency.
CLS technology is an essential ingredient of every electrostatic loudspeaker we produce. Through our proprietary manufacturing method, we have built-in the panel’s gentle horizontal curvature. This unique design enhances the high frequency detail produced by the large radiating surface, without compromising overall sound quality. Notice how the gentle modern curve and perforation pattern gives way to the flat grille of the woofer section.
The sound we hear from a loudspeaker is a combination of direct radiation from it to our ears, and reflections off of room surfaces—walls, floor, and ceiling. How our brains integrate this information is far from simple. Depending on the angle of incidence to the ears and the arrival-time difference between direct and reflected sound, reflections can either blur detail and stereo imaging, or enhance the natural impression of depth and openness.
Electrostatic panels, which are true dipole speakers, produce a nearly-ideal controlled dispersion radiation pattern. They send very little sound to the sides, thereby minimizing side-wall reflections, whose short arrival times tend to interfere with the perception of the direct sound. Their strong rear radiation, however, produces a generous amount of natural, ambience-enriching later-arriving mid- and upper register information.
MartinLogan's proprietary tool-less binding posts simplify cable connection and management. Two sets are supplied—one connected to the electrostatic panel and the other feeding the woofer. Listeners can choose to vertically/horizontally bi-amp the Classic ESL 9, or use jumper clips between the binding post sets for a single wire-connection. Classic ESL 9 features bi-wirable binding posts and provide the ultimate level of flexibility for connection and setup. To further simplify setup and cable management, Classic ESL 9 features a low-voltage DC power supply eliminates the need for a traditional, heavy IEC power cord.
The depth of Masterpiece Series speaker cabinets was carefully chosen to maximize benefits of advanced bass technologies, providing a level of low-frequency precision that is truly unique.
With ForceForward bass technology, the farther apart the woofers are from each other the lower in frequency its beneficial effects extend. MartinLogan’s ForceForward technology has solved a problem (found in nearly all speakers) where low bass frequency soundwaves reflect off the wall behind the speakers and interact with the waves traveling towards the listener. These interactions create non-linearity in those frequencies as they arrive at your ears and bass information suffers from both cancelations and excessiveness that is not accurate to the original sound. By selectively adjusting phasing of output from their opposing woofers, powered Masterpiece Series speakers eliminate problematic bass energy from behind the speakers.
ForceForward also simplifies the task of speaker placement by removing bass energy from behind the speaker and creating a uniform bass launch. This allows Masterpiece Series speaker cabinets to go closer to the wall than previous generations of MartinLogan speakers. As a rule of thumb we recommend placing the rear of the speaker cabinet no closer to the wall than the diameter of its woofer (Renaissance ESL 15A: 12-inches, Expression ESL 13A: 10-inches, and Impression ESL 11A and Classic ESL 9: 8-inches).
Additionally, due to their dipole nature, electrostatic panels perform best when placed at least 2.5-feet or more from the wall—a distance that is ideal for the front of nearly any high-end speaker, regardless of driver technology. The depth of Masterpiece Series cabinets lends itself to providing electrostatic panels with adequate distance from the wall, guaranteeing a richly detailed, three-dimensional soundstage.
Back in 2010, I upgraded my Klipsch RF-7 III to MartinLogan Purity Speakers. The transparency, depth of sound stage and purity of the music with the ML upgrade was startling. I further enhanced the sound by adding ARC Genesis room correction to the mix. My wife and I enjoyed the sound and look of the electrostatic speakers for 13 years. I was ready for an upgrade and read all of the reviews. At the time, I thought the ESL 9 was our of my price range. All of the reviews pointed to try the Revel F226BE which was on sale for an $1800 discount. I purchased and had a 60 day audition period with Crutchfield. Wow! The old Purity ESL still sounded better than the Revel. Revel is a good speaker but not in the league with an electrostatic. I returned the Revel and went for it (my wife wanted to send the Revel's back and get the ML) with the Classic ESL 9 and still used the ARC Genesis room correction. I am glad I did. The ESL 9 gives you goosebumps. Dynamic: These speakers hit you with a wall of sound! Deep Bass (verified flat to 35 Hz on ARC calibration), kick drums, guitar riffs, .......... They knock you out! The speakers do it with so much clarity (zero distortion) that you hear new details in the dynamic sound. Clarity: It is like a live performance (Metallica, Van Halen, Andrea Bocelli, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, .......). You name it. These ML's deliver. You get all of the nuances the sound engineers and performers want you to hear. Sound stage, low level dynamics, efficiency, ........ I can go on and on. The larger ESL panel line array is another big benefit. If you have a bigger room, the ESL 9 will play much louder and more efficient. I have a big open room and the ESL 9 effortlessly fill it with beautiful music (normal dome speakers lose 6 db of sound every doubling of distance, line arrays loose 3 db of sound every doubling). At our normal listening distance of 14 feet, the ESL 9 are incredible. The is an End Game speaker for me. Thank you MartinLogan.