Sibling Rivalry - Is the big brother worth 250% more? We compare the Martin Logan ESL 15A & ESL 11A.

We compare the Martin Logan ESL 15A with their little brother, the ESL 11a, sharing our honest thoughts and impressions on their performance and features.
Mike's Review Tunes
Artist: Dhafer Youssef
Album: Abu Nawas Rhapsody
Track: Louage (Odd Elegy)
Artist: Tigram Hamasyan
Album: Mockroot
Track: Entertain Me
Artist: Shogu Tokumaru
Album: Toss
Track: Lita-Ruta
Artist: Polyphia
Album: New Levels New Devils
Track: o.d.
Tunes mentioned in passing only:
Artist: The Beatles
Album: Abbey Road
Track: Something
Artist: The Who
Album: Quadrophenia
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linktr.ee/audio_excellence
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Audio Excellence Inc. is a high-end audio/video store in Markham, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto. We've been in business since 1991.
Check out our interviews with designers and audio luminaries like Daryl Wilson of Wilson Audio, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Paolo Tezzon of Sonus Faber, Wendell Diller of Magnepan, John Atkinson of Stereophile, Dan D'Agostino of D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Nelson Pass of Pass Labs and others.
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[@victoraltadonna7640]

Whenever you hear speaker reviewers, you always hear the word holographic. Makes sense because that what gives the realism to the listening experience. I went through about 15 years of buying stereo equipment and changing out speakers and electronics. In going to high end Audio stores on the East Coast. I only heard true holographic sound four times. Once was with Magico M7’s And incredibly expensive electronics. The other free times in three different venues Martin Logan speakers gave me that feeling. I have to say when you hear it it’s truly eerie. I finally broke down and bought a pair of Renaissance 15 a’s. Had them about four years now, and never looked back

[@ewhite5381]

Thanks again for the comparison videos. Great work, great crew.

[@Kam87GT]

Awsome thanks

[@pswitzeny]

Fantastic video, guys!! As much as I love unboxings, these are a nice change from time to time 😂

[@lwdp74]

About 40 years ago in Toronto I heard the OUD at a Lenard Cohen concert. The sound was amazing and really went with his music.

[@morespinach9832]

OUD?

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

Love hearing the songs they use great

[@psyphonyxaudio]

Great editing and graphic overlay =) Love to see the playfulness from these guys.

[@timothylindsay3244]

It’s nice Adrian allows creativity and a little childish mischievousness in the production and editing of the video…agree with comment re: comparisons should in part use the same track and volume/tone settings.

[@dajikbatarang1]

Now how do they compare against Maggies. You sell them both so that would be a great future review.

[@Nova-xu8he]

Maggie's sound much better. They don't move air like the subs on the ML's. So you would have to add a subwoofer with the Maggie's. The biggest thing is listener fatigue with the ML's. If you like to listen between 80-90db, the ML's will kill your ears. Maggie's won't.

[@FrankZappa1959]

It's beautiful, pure beautiful, just to listen to you people how the music move you inside and outside by the vehicle of these ML Speakers, and I can realy follow every word. Great, may tomorrow I go to my dealer and will listen to both Martin Logans. And by accident...I anyway look for Speakers because I sold Mine couple of days ago...😉

[@vpdavis5927]

I enjoyed the comparison, but I think a more realistic comparison would have been the 13a vs the 15a.

[@rvdh1964]

Why not try the 13A? In my opinion the 13A hits the sweet spot… what do you think?

[@Mark-rw3kw]

I would have liked to hear the opinions of the panel of the 15A's using the hybrid McIntosh MA12000 vs the solid-state MC462 (used during the review).

[@mahasidha9]

When we went shopping the 11 did nothing for us at all; the 13A was a huge jump in every way; at that time the 13A were 15k US and the 15A 25k US; the 13A seemed the sweet spot also the 15A required a larger room than we had and by all accounts because of the wider panel were more diffuse in presentation. 4 10” powered woofers that blend after ARC seamlessly with the panel! Previous generation Montis did not do that at all.

[@johnkim3674]

It would be great to do a comparison of the speakers you carry in certain price range

[@garysmith8455]

Hey, hey, hey! That photo with the trio from the Masterpiece series is missing one. The CLASSIC NINE! It is the only of the series that shares the PASSIVE scheme of the Neolith. It is also the ONLY electrostatic in the ENTIRE line that has it's own sized panel shared with no other model. (just some trivia for you fellows). I got this directly from Andy and Andrew . You know them 😉....

[@markhampton7559]

Did you also plug in the speakers into the Audioquest Niagra? I have always wondered the benefit of just that change vs house outlets.

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

I love your channel and content. I wish you all could identify and articulate the subjective differences between the two speakers. A comparison video should at least point out differences using the same track on each speaker system and describe or try to use descriptive words which would indicate what is heard and what is lost on each system. 😊

[@mpp9964]

I wonder if there’s any other speakers that are so similar yet so massively different in price. Usually the price progression through a product line-up seems relatively logical, this gap seems pretty incomprehensible.

[@Projacked1]

I highly recommend the speaker placement video @ RMAF. I haven't looked back since. A vocalist should stand before you, you should hear the literal floor of the recording. It should not float in the air, that means that the entire image is off/ floating. Properly placed/ designed, you should be able to hear if the vocalist is standing up or sitting in a chair. The vocals go down in height.

[@danielkromer2295]

In my 14x24 room the 15a bass was overwhelming even with room treatment, the 13a was just perfect.

[@nelsonclub7722]

Even with ARC?

[@JJ-no2ob]

Adrian , No me quitte pas by the great Dusty Springfield is a must listen !

[@allenmonroe4512]

Are the 15’s subs good enough you can use for home theater with no separate sub?

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

hello Audio Friends, my listening room is super small-about 10’ by 12’ or so. is there an ML electrostat that could sensibly fit my room?

[@adrianlow2114]

Depending on budget the Electromotion ESL X and ESL will work. They need about 3-4 feet from the wall behind them, but they can go closer to the side walls compared to dynamic speakers

[@garysmith8455]

@@adrianlow2114 According to the manual, the MINIMAL distance from the wall relate to the size of the woofer! Truth!

[@tonymelito7392]

Whatever happened to Vilip he hasn't been in any videos in a while.

[@billsmith8739]

So did CC quit?

[@adrianlow2114]

She was only here for her coop term. She's back in University

[@80396]

You didn’t play Morrison? No. Oh good-I don’t have to ban you. It’s the light bar. It’s the light bar. LOL

[@jwester7009]

Haha the most overused audiophile reviewers sentence: "I heard things I've ever heard before". Funny enough we've heard that sentence hundreds of times before 😅

[@simonirvine1628]

It's a real shame that you play such bland run of the mill materiel, it really is... Maybe that's what music's about, maybe I have shit taste.