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

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.

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!

Despite most home theatres needing ample space to work with, there are options out there for those who do not want to sacrifice audio quality but need a small enough speaker to fit in a limited space. This is especially true for those who only need speakers for listening to music, or perhaps only need a surround sound option for their existing setup. As such, I was excited to test the Martin Logan MP10 multipurpose speaker to see if a small speaker can provide ample sound quality. Upon opening the box of the MP10, the build quality is top notch. The piano black finish is impeccable and really stands out. At only 5 inches in depth, and weighing at a mere 9 lbs, the MP10 could be a viable solution for those who want to mount the speaker on the wall or want to create a music area in your household. In the box, the MP10 comes with a mounting bracket with two screws. However, the mounting screws themselves are not included. In addition, there is a set of four adhesive feet that can be applied to the M10 should you require them. Lastly, a grill was included so you can mount it to the front of the speaker. All in all, I think the MP10s look absolutely fabulous. Before I discuss my testing results, I first would like to mention that all the results here will more than likely differ from what your personal experience, especially given the wide range of common variables such as room size, layout, different receivers, cables, speaker placement, and your personal sound interpretation. For my testing, I used a Pioneer Elite receiver VSX-LX303. All speakers were connected via custom cut lengths of Audioquest X2 speaker wire. For playback, I used my Sony X800M2 4K bluray player; the player and my Sony A90J OLED TV were respectively connected to the receiver via two Audioquest Cinnamon 8-10K HDMI 5 FT cables (MODEL: HDM48CIN150). Additionally, I increased the front right and left channel by +5.0db in the receiver settings. Lastly, I made sure distance was set to 5 ft and impedance was set properly to 4 ohms. For testing, I wanted to see how the MP10s performed with various genres of music. Lastly, I wanted to see how the MP10s sounded as a height/surround speaker. All music was encoded in FLAC and was ripped from my personal CD collection. Every song was scanned with a spectrogram and had its frequency analyzed to make sure they are proper lossless quality. Starting with the trance genre, the MP10s were very clear and natural. The bass is certainly a bit on the lesser end, but it is certainly there to a degree. The bass can be heard a bit better on the back of the speaker, so I am fairly confident more bass will be heard if they are used in a confined area. Nonetheless, for something only rated 81 Hz on the low end I was still surprised with the results. High frequency tones, specifically snares and repeated tapping sounds are extremely clear and quite impressive. Vocals are excellent as well. Moving on to more dynamic music, Jazz and Classical both sound fantastic here as expected. During Jazz playback, drums and double bass can be clearly heard while all the brass instruments were front and center. The piano and middle frequencies were clear as well. Overall, the imaging and response was fantastic. For classical, orchestra placement and imaging was excellent. Much like before, I could easily make out each instrument clearly. On louder parts, it seemed as if the orchestra was right there in front of me. The MP10s created a wonderful soundstage. As for rock/metal genres, vocals were naturally reproduced. The drums seemed a bit more natural than other speakers. Symbols were incredibly crisp and sharp. Interestingly, despite most of the music being compressed at the mastering level, it seemed the MP10s were able to lessen it to a degree. Even the harshest songs, while normally muddy and hollow sounding, seemed to breathe a bit better. This is certainly a different sound than I expected. Granted, clarity was excellent throughout. Additionally, I noticed some high frequencies were emphasized a bit more on the MP10s than on other speakers. All in all, I believe most will be pleased with the sound, provided you are aware that these do not have the capability to rattle your walls. Lastly, I wanted to test the MP10s as a height/surround speaker to see how they would sound. I tested the 4K movie of The Mummy (1999), which features a DTS: X 7.1 48 KHz/ 24 Bit track. From the start of the movie, the MP10s do a nice job of backing up the two main channels. At 9:33, you can hear the sword effect perfectly clear in the height channel as it rips through the air. Another good example is at the 38:00, where you can hear the soundtrack kick in on both height channels. As with the music test, the MP10s are clear and sound perfectly natural. My initial impression is that while there might be more dedicated speakers for height/surround tasks, the MP10 seemed to hold its own. In conclusion, the MP10s are excellent multipurpose speakers. They sound very natural and were able to handle various genres of music with ease. Additionally, high frequencies were sharp and clear. Furthermore, they are also a very good choice as a surround/height channel speaker providing great sound in a compact package. Overall, I feel most will be please with the natural sound of the MP10s. Thus, the MP10s come recommended.