MartinLogan - Motion MP10 2-Way Multi-Purpose Speaker with 5.5” Midbass Driver (Each) - Walnut

Good sound, looks good, little expensive but worth the sound

I have two of these speakers and am using them as my rear surrounds in conjunction with 2 F10 and a C10 for my front and center channels. These speakers are excellent in this capacity, as their design is perfect, with the stealth bass port and slim angled lines. That's not to say this is the only application for these, as they could easily be used as standalone bookshelf speakers in a stereo setup. Yet, for my case, they added the perfect surround aspect for my cinema and audio needs. Never before have I felt as immersed in the sound and action as I have with these speakers. Their accuracy is true to spec, and they hold that clarity even in the plus dB range. Having had a prior setup, as well as the 2022 top soundbar models with discrete surround, in comparison, there is no comparison! I've been blown away by MartinLogan's speaker performance, and their design gorgeously integrated into a theater or living room almost effortlessly. I also enjoy that they include speaker covers, in the event you won't use it for a while, or just to protect your investment. Connection was as simple as it gets with the hybrid banana or twist down posts. Though, I would have rather have seen the posts angles down more, as trying to use bananas while they are in the angled orientation to fire down is near impossible. Not a huge deal for me, as I just put it in bare, but know some refuse that, so something to be noted. I also was less than impressed with the bracket. It's nice and I'm glad they include it, but the instructions are extremely limited and no hardware to actually mount the mount is included. Thus, I was stuck googling how best to mount these angled brackets with 4 holes, and unless you have spacers readily available, the top holes won't get used. Luckily I'm highly familiarized with sound setups both commercially and residentially and had hardware, of which I just popped in a couple of molly's, as this is a weighty speaker with a good sized driver. So you'll want to make sure your mount is secure. Overall, these are fantastic speakers that function perfectly in surround channels, but are absolutely powerful enough to stand on their own if you want to sans floor models. They provide excellent and detailed sound reproduction that does not falter, even at high levels. While also being a tasteful and clean addition to your room.

MartinLogan's MP10s are part of their newly revamped Motion series which have been an absolute revelation for me. These share a lot of common traits with the C10 and F10s I also have, while providing a slim design that allows for a host of mounting options. As with the other speakers in the range, the build quality and finish on the MP10s is stunning. I have the piano black color, which looks phenomenal. Initially, I was leery of the slimline, slanted design of these, but after using them and mounting them on my wall, I can unequivocally say the function of the design makes these a great surround option, especially if you have a challenging or limited space. The sound quality on the MP10s is great. They have a fullness and balance that's quite unexpected given their stature. While listening to movies, the hold their own, which is somewhat uncommon with surround speakers. They have a reasonably decent low response (though there frankly isn't a lot of low end extension here unsurprisingly), but the mids and highs are spot on. As with the other speakers, the tweeter very much impressed me, providing an even soundscape that at times feels almost omnidirectional in a way that dome tweeters never do, and it's paired with a mid driver that sounds great. Frequency response is unexpectedly even and well balanced through the upper lows through the highs. Listening to music through these tells the same story; the highs and mids are incredibly well composed, but the low end drops off fairly steeply after a certain frequency. Given the intended usage of the MP10s as surround speakers (or height speakers if you're running an Atmos setup), they perform incredibly well. Their design is a bit odd at first, but once you deal with mounting them, it becomes clear just how much utility and flexibility that design gives. Overall, I feel as though the bookshelf speakers in the 10 series will produce a fuller sound and might be a slightly better option for those with the space, but these have a huge leg up on versatility while still giving you great sound.

The new fourth generation MartinLogan Motion MP10 bookshelf speakers bring a high level of clarity and detail in a compact, stylish package! The folded tweeter provides crisp, accurate highs that pair excellently with the woven fiber 5.5” diameter mid-range driver. The “wave guide” over the tweeter and the “stealth” bass port delivers a wide listening stage that doesn’t require finding the perfect spot for surround speakers or as a pair of bookshelves used for main drivers. I tried these on their own in a stereo setup and wow do they fill the room! I put on a playlist of my favorite songs (lossless quality) on Apple Music and enjoyed a full afternoon of incredible listening with just these bookshelves, I completely forgot to hook the matching F10 towers back up! I have them paired with the matching C10 center channel and F10 tower speakers. The set works phenomenally together to create a truly cinematic experience without having to worry about sticky theater floors, $15 popcorn, and uncomfortable seats! The look of the speakers is a very nice piano black, except the front which is a matte black. This does present the challenge of keeping them clean, they don’t really attract fingerprints (not a huge worry after they’re installed) but they are magnets for dust! The logo is a nice little badge that you can flip depending on how you orient the speakers, as they can be mounted or stand on their own on either end of the cabinet, too! All around, the speakers are absolutely stunningly beautiful, crisp, and accurate. I would recommend them with the only caveat being the dust, but the real winner is the sound quality. These speakers will draw your attention so deeply into what you’re listening to, music or movies, that you might not remember notice the beautifully designed cabinets!

This will be a quick overview of the MP10 (multi-purpose) surround sound speaker from MartinLogan. Along with the MP10, I also reviewed the C10 (center) and F10 (floorstanding) all of which are part of the MartinLogan's "entry-level" Motion series. There is also the Motion XT range which offer larger options of the same main Motion speakers. The one exception to that being the MP10: where the B10, C10, F10, and F20 have a "100" sibling on the XT side of things, the MP10 has no "MP100". From what I can see, it was designed to work across both lines. I mention this as the XT line is nearly double the cost of the standard Motion speakers. So these were designed to blend seamlessly into the mix alongside some very, very high-end items. And blend in they do... To get it out of the way, the body is gloss black. You also have white and black/walnut as options. The black/walnut likely is the easiest to keep clean, but depending on the aesthetics of your room, might clash given the wood tones and copper ring surrounds. Personally, I'm not a big fan of gloss black; fingerprints and dust are gloss/piano black's arch nemesis. If you have pets that shed expect to clean the gloss colorway often. Now, they do come with speaker covers so that will help while not in use. But realistically who is going to cover their speakers after each and every listen? And while the MP10s might be mounted in a way that they are less noticeable or interacted with (high and in corners being their typical placement) I do want to mention it all the same. Speaking of placement and mounting, you have one back edge that is tapered. If you want it square side down you will have a flat front profile for lower to mid level mounting heights. But if you want to mount them up higher, you can flip the MP10 over, adjust the removable "ML" logo on the front, and angle them down to aim more accurately as your listening area. Simple but effective. Sounds themselves are amazing. Don't go expected a ton of bass from these. They aren't going to give you booms or shake your seat, but they certainly will fill a decent sized room with plenty of mids sprinkled with some supporting lower rangers to help complement the heavy lifting that is provided via the F10 (if you decide to go that route). That isn't to say the speakers are any less capable, in fact, they are identical. Your tweeter in the MP10 is the exact same at the F10. The mids are, too. It all comes down to the MP10 only having a single 5.5 (the F10 has two) and the design of the speaker itself. I would compare the MP10s sound profile to that of an elevated bookshelf speaker. Could you use them as such? Sure, but they aren't physically designed to do that, I'm merely stating what their sound profile comes across as. These are meant to be hung discretely out of the way. The B10 is what you want if shelf mounting or desktop use is preferred. Sitting these next to some of my other bookshelf models, they are nearly 1/3 as thick, which is amazing considering how full the sound coming out of them is. I mention this as I currently have some very pricey bookshelf surrounds mounted in my living room and while they sound great, they stick so far off the wall that it is visually distracting at times. After using the MP10s in my home office a little bit, I think I'm going to swap those two systems out as I really think these lend themselves better to that environment. They are beautiful (gloss/piano black or not) to look at and have a very sleek, refined appearance to them. Easy recommendation to add the MP10s to your setup if you are already considering the other offerings in the MartinLogan Motion series of speakers. If you aren't, I strongly suggest you consider them.