MartinLogan - Motion B10 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker with 5.5” Midbass Driver (Each) - Gloss Black

Perfect!! Use them for my surround sound speaker in a 7.2 setup.

***TLDR:*** What an excellent sound from a quality product. I'm more than happy, especially considering the size and price. MartinLogan have done something which is actually hard to do: impress me. ***STANDOUT FEATURES:*** Honestly, the standout features here are going to be the looks. I went for Gloss Black (with a satin front) to match my setup, but the Walnut option, with bronze speaker surround, is highly attractive. In addition to looks, these have exceptional sound and simple 4-hole mounting, should you choose your own option or the MartinLogan "STAND25", which comes in colors to match your selection of either Gloss Black, Walnut or Satin White. ***LOWS:*** One should not expect ultimate bass with these bookshelf units, as they only have 5.5" woofers. Though they do have ported rears, they were absolutely intended to be used in combination with a subwoofer to adequately hit those 20-80 Hz frequencies. Rated officially at 56 Hz, sound drops off quite substantially at about 90 hz. Adjusting levels to compensate can only help a small amount before interfering in the clarity of the mids. The more frequencies you demand of any single speaker, the more convoluted the vibration - sometimes canceling out sounds you could otherwise hear clearly. Get a decent 8" or larger sub to go with these and keep their cutoff around 100 to enjoy a full and clear sound stage. ***MIDS:*** The density and heavy construction of the cabinets keep mids neutral. No unwanted reverberation/muddying. This makes speaking voices flat, so EQ up. ***HIGHS:*** This is where these speakers shine. The Gen 2 "Folded Motion" tweeter design recreates guitar (in particular) - with preserved drum and vocal separation - in the most clear way I have ever heard. I have been around nice speakers for over 20 years and these have me hearing new things in all my favorite guitar-laden songs. Martin Logan's choice to put the crossover at 2300hz was exactly right. ***DOWNSIDE:*** The gloss black is no joke. These can get very dusty, very quickly. ***CONCLUSION:*** If you have a love for guitar, these will make you happy. Go for it.

The Motion B10 Bookshelf speakers are my first Martin Logan product, though I’ve owned and used a number of other audiophile quality bookshelf speakers in the past. These by far are some of the most impressive that I’ve tried in this form factor, and they are a perfect fit for our 400 sq ft living room where we have our home theater setup. The speakers themselves are compact, measuring 7”W, 9.75”D, and 12.5”H, but hefty at nearly 14.5 lbs a piece. It comes in 3 color variations, gloss black, satin white, and walnut. If you get the gloss black like I did, be aware that fingerprints and dust will show up on it readily as will micro-scratches from buffing or cleaning it with anything other than the softest of microfiber cloths. That said, each unit comes with a fitted spandex dust cover to protect and keep your speakers looking pristine; the mid-drivers have snap-on/removable grilles to protect the cones. Also included are four metal screw-on feet for isolating it from the surface it sits on, and these can also be used to secure the speakers to the platform of a floor stand (like MartinLogan’s custom-drilled STAND25, sold separately). At the back of the speaker, the 5-way binding posts have large clear acrylic caps allowing you to direct-wire these to your AV receiver or use another connection type like banana plugs for convenience and reliability. I tried it both ways with 12 gauge speaker wires and the sound quality was identical. The frequency response of the speakers is rated at 56-25k Hz, and these speakers do a great job at reproducing clear, crisp trebles with little distortion thanks to the Gen2 folded motion tweeter (FMT). Vocals and upper registers are quick, clean, and pleasingly bright. The FMT is set within a waveguide which enables sound dispersion 90° horizontally and vertically resulting in a wide, three-dimensional soundstage that is adaptable to a variety of room configurations, including our open floorplan living room. The 5.5” mid-range driver delivers full, well-rounded mid-ranges, while the rear-firing reflex port produces some upper bass tones though leaves something to be desired in lower ranges. That’s not unexpected though, given that most bookshelf speakers perform best when used as mains in a larger system or alongside a subwoofer, and these are no exception. Once we added in a sub to our setup, this filled in that extra dimension and stepped up our listening experience with the B10s. If you don’t have a subwoofer, just be sure to place the speakers close enough to a wall (but not too close) in order to allow what bass does emit from the reflex port to reflect back into the room. We tried the speakers hooked up to our TV and movie projector via optical input, and when watching films and TV shows, the experience with these speakers is immersive and enjoyable producing clear dialogue and accurate sound placement. Even at higher volumes there’s no perceptible distortion, crunchiness, or muddiness. Since our receiver is network connected, we can play music through the speakers from all of our favorite streaming music services, and it just sounds awesome. Overall, no matter what we’re listening to these speakers sound pretty great, even at moderate off angles, and they look super slick in our home theater setup to boot.

For what you're getting I think there are 2 better options, save up a few bucks and get the XT B100 or get the SVS Ultra Evolution at the same price as these B10. They are simply not priced appropriately for what you get. Not bad just better options out there. Attached photo is the B10 next to the SVS Ultra Evolution

The Martin Logan motion bookshelf speakers offer excellent sound in a small compact bookshelf form factor. ML speakers have always felt and looked premium and the presentation on the Motion series is no different with the piano glass glossy finish and the contrasting grill and Midbass driver offering a premium appearance. The glossy finish does a great job of resisting fingerprints although I could see over time they will get some fine lines and dust. They do come with nice mesh bags to cover, store, transport and even wipe them down with. In terms of audio, I was planning to use these in a 5.1.2 Atmos set-up with my Yamaha receiver, but decided to go ahead and connect them to my Sonos Amp first to get them up and running quickly and the sound far exceeded the B&W speakers I had previously used with the Sonos. Mid-range was clear and confident and both audio lyrics, instrumentals and movie dialogue had excellent reproduction and projection with the Gen2 Folded Motion Tweeters. The single Midbass driver performed valiantly, however, I did find it lacked a bit of rumble for LFE for movies and music with deep bass tracks, so I did add a subwoofer to the Sonos amp to supplement. MLogan offers some higher end Motion speakers with 2 and 3 Midbass drivers that may not need a woofer to get a full bass range but they are also much larger and pricier than these bookshelf speakers. Ultimately, I decided to just stick to the 2.1 Sonos speaker set-up for these speakers since I was planning to use them in the basement in a smaller viewing area where full surround sound would probably be overkill. I mainly use the basement TV for 3D movie nostalgia and if we want to let the kids play or watch TV down there. The MLogan speakers are fantastic for music and they also performed brilliantly for movies and dialogue so I was more than happy with them, and they look great and don't take up a lot of room in the space. The Motion bookshelf speakers can be stand mounted with 4 hold standoffs, however, the stands are $200 each. Given how close that puts them to some ML freestanding options with Bass drivers, that may be another consideration and way to go if you want something that will stand on their own. These are definitely a great set of speakers with a bright soundstage and excellent voice reproduction, but lack some LFE from a dedicated bass driver. Still, I don't think you can go wrong in a smaller space, whether that is a smaller home viewing area, a den or office, or even a dining room.