Customer Ratings & Reviews

Music should be an experience. It should transport you beyond the walls of your family room. With the right speakers and source material, your soul will be connected to that of the artist. I’ve purchased various bookshelf speakers over the years. They are, by nature, a compromise between size, weight, and technology. Fortunately, technology improves in the 10 years I tend to keep each set of speakers I get. MartinLogan is generally known for having a balanced sound, not to bright or punchy. Bowers & Willikins (B&W) has a similar reputation and the reason those were my last two sets. In fact, I was ready to get a new set of B&Ws when I walked into the store, but was encouraged to check out these B10’s as MartinLogan decided to outfit their entry level speakers with the same tweeter as in their highest end model. I’m glad I did as it sold me on spending a little more for much better sound. The 5 ½” bass drivers on this set will never get you as deep as a dedicated subwoofer, but ML knows that no one should expect that at this size and price point. Instead, they put their energy into making sure the mid tones are pure and smooth. The specs show this speaker can handle down to 50Hz, but I don’t drive them any lower than 80 Hz. For fun, I drove them at full range, when I first hooked them up, but it didn’t last. They have some extension, but when driven that low, you lose some definition in the mid range. The definition is why you should be buying these speakers as part of a system. While the speakers are excellent, they’ve showcased for me another challenge. I now have to find source material which allows the definition to shine through. Most of the music I listen to is from streaming services. There are a few tracks I’ve found in 192 khz / 24 bit. On those, I can hear aspects I never noticed before. For example, on Pink Floyd’s Shine on You Crazy Diamond I could hear the individual notes in the guitar chords. On Beethoven’s 7th symphony, the triangle rings through separate from the xylophone. Even more telling, after installing these for the first time my wife commented on how much better the music sounds. While she's enjoyed music, it hasn't had the same focus for her as it has for me. Knowing that she could tell the difference in the newer speakers proved to me that we definitely made the right choice!

These are really good speakers but I'm writing a review as a Martin Logan 15i bookshelf owner. My placement is right up against a wall on a bookshelf. (Not the best place to put a speaker as they should be a foot off the wall at least. The Motion B10 is not an upgrade to the 15i speakers, more of side grade. The B10 has an upper frequency boost that's noticeable. Sometimes a boost like that people perceive as more detailed. This isn't more detailed to me than the 15i but definitely a boost in the treble that adds a crispness that some will love but some won't if you prefer a more neutral sound as found in the 15i speakers. I personally think the 15i speakers are preferable slightly. They have a bit more oomph in the mid bass but again, that's in my room against a wall. Maybe I would enjoy the B10s more pulled off the wall than the 15i speakers? So if you don't have the older Martin Logans to compare to, you can't go wrong with these. If you have the 15i speakers already, these are not really an upgrade sound wise. I also tested the Martin Logan XT B100 pair and those I would say are indeed an upgrade to the 15i speakers. I loved the sound of those but the problem with the XT B100s is that I ran into ear fatigue pretty quickly. I didn't tinker with them too much to knock back the treble because they were too big for my bookshelf space and I had to return them. The B10 speakers were not as fatiguing to my ears as the XT B100s. The 15i speakers aren't fatiguing at all and are great for long listening sessions.