MartinLogan Motion 15i Bookshelf Speaker (Each) - Red Walnut

Wow! I got these Martin Logan 15i speakers for my surrounds in a 5.1 setup, but I was surprised by how good these sound on their own for two channel music. The bass won't be deep, but it is clean and punchy. Mids and highs are phenomenal. Incredible detail and resolution, without any harshness or causing fatigue. Simply gorgeous looking and sounding speakers.

After 10 months of ownership, I will say the Motion 15i’s are exceptional and exactly what I was looking for. I have them matched to a Yamaha 85 watt amp, an SVS 10 inch subwoofer, and the combo is heaven to my ears. See the lengthy review by N. C , I totally agree, but compared to all the dozens of speakers I’ve owned for less than a $1000 I will rate these a solid 5 stars. A total steal at the yard sale price of $269 a piece that I paid. The ML15i’s are very focused and entertaining speakers. I highly recommend a subwoofer and a good one with music. If you’re wanting smallish bookshelf speakers that produce even decent bass these may not work. Outstanding midrange and treble.

I Have this connected to a Yamaha A-S801 integrated amplifier. Sound is perfect, audiophile level. Easy for listen. Beautiful appearance and stylish.

I was in the market for bookshelf speakers for a home office and was looking at other brands at a lower price point. I had a test listen to the speakers I was looking to chose from when the electronics store professional introduced these gems to me. I was perplexed as I came home to do more research on these and another higher end (B&W) options.When I saw that the Safe & Sound store front here on Amazon had them 40% off and at a price point that was almost double of my intended budget, I pounced on them. (with encouragement from the wife of course)I have been very pleased with the performance of these speakers and as they get seasoned the performance has only improved. I have them in a 2 channel setup with a Polk Audio PS-108 Subwoofer powered by late 80s Yamaha RX-V 850 receiver, a Technics SL3200 TT and a Yamaha CD-S303 CD player.The clarity and mid-range response is outstanding. It has been described to me as being revealing, which I completely agree. Others have described them as harsh or tiring. I have not experienced this with these speakers. However, if I did not have the subwoofer to fill in the bass/low end I could see how they could be bright and lacking the lower frequencies for some. I am definitely not saying that they are not able to produce full sound. I am just very pleased with the way my set up is.If you have the need for bookshelf or rear surround speakers, I feel that you would quite pleased with these Martin Logan Motion 15i Bookshelf speakers and at this price you'd have to look pretty hard to find the equivalent value.That's my $.02 and it's worth every penny.

I rated these according to retail price to emphasize these speakers offer good value at retail but are really a great buy at their now discounted price. While these do not come in at the best in any one category, for their size, price and what one would expect at retail they are a solid four or better depending on what one likes in their speakers.What I find these best in and with relative balance for the most part at are clarity, detail, musicality, imaging and tonality inspite of the frequency curve not being linear. Somehow MartinLogan pulled off a fair balance of these qualities successfully. While other speakers can do these categories better, or at least to a greater degree, many more expensive speakers do so with disparity. For example, I have had more expensive speakers offering more clarity and detail but with a flat stage and an un-engaging listen, deemed too analytical such as Quad S2. I have had Dali Menuet SE with greater resolution and better timbre but to get that, gave up alot of detail in the music. Dynaudio Emit 10 offered greater dynamic range and a larger stage, but at the expense of sounding unbalanced at certain frequencies making voices sound unnatural at times and also losing alot of detail. It's a matter of what one wants and how they listen to music.At their discounted price to empty the old stock for the new ML speaker replacements, these are a fantastic buy. They offer sufficient dynamic range, all the other attributes stated above as well as sounding musical enough, meaning these get you moving to the music, toe tapping, etc. I have Triangle Zetas (essentially the Color series in a cheaper box) that can come across as more euphonic and a bit sweeter with some music in spite of having a metal dome as it sounds a bit softer and laid back in the mids in comparison, perhaps a V shape frequency and more mid bass but the 15i offers more clarity and sharper, well defined notes. One could prefer one or the other depending on music but both are enjoyable. The Zetas were also preferred over more expensive speakers mentioned above.So why buy the 15i over other speakers near or even less than their now price point? In a nutshell, there is enough in balance to state these are one of the best purchases at the $600 price point. They do not stretch the stage to sound taller, wider, than they should sound which often yields an unnatural rendition to instruments and voices, they offer enough depth to not sound flat, 2D and do well with both music and listening to movie soundtracks.While I would say these sound a bit more inclined for home theater, they do well with alot of music. Reminds me of Monitor Audio Silver 100 but do not throw everything at you at once and smear the upper mids and highs together. Yes, these are more enjoyable than Silver 50s, more exciting and dynamic too. For a small 5 inch+ driver, they do well. Nothing offensive, sibilance is well controlled, better than my Zetas, and no glare that alot of metal tweeters contribute to. The AMT/FMT variant is really nice. I considered another small British speaker with an AMT at more than $2K more but thought these would do fine, and these do. While you give up lower bass, the frequency drop off is well adjusted for a sub integration. I also have Dali Opticon 1s previous model and these do as well and as far as musicality fall in-between the Zetas and Opticons. The Zetas are V curved, the Opticon more level and the 15i sort of W shaped with emphasis in the mids but without sounding sterile, too forward or tiring.For the price, you get the sonic attributes I stated above plus real walnut veneer with a slight reddish tint that can also look brown at certain angles and lighting. I like that. I also like the natural wood grain and each is unique. They are not matched for wood grain, each is unique and you will not get serial numbers that match. My speakers were 100 units different so the wood grain will appear different to a degree but very lovely. I would rate fit and finish close to perfect but not as meticulous as much more expensive speakers may be as some actually are matched and fitted to perfection. But nothing obtrusive as in overly mismatched seams.From a distance, they will look absolutely perfect and beautiful. And, I like these even better than the Motion 15 I had years ago which I returned because they didn't offer any more SQ than the Paradigm SE-1 I had at the time. I think the 15i also offer more detail from what I remember. So in that regard the i for improved actually means sonic improvements. Also, the older cherry finish ad so much glossy veneer it created light reflection more in the way of glare that was distracting. These are simply just beautiful to look at.In summary, at retail these are a solid 4/5 but at discount/closeout, a solid 5 stars! While not for everyone, I think they offer enough for many and are small and easily placed, just experiment with placement and even height for your own preference. They are also easy to drive and do not make my small but quality 50 watt amp overly warm in spite of being overall 5 ohm rated. If voice clarity and tonality is important, these do very well indeed, without sounding harsh, tiring, etc., but will not present a warm or duller presentation that some may prefer. A good balance of attributes with no glaring deficiencies given its price and size.Also, the 3rd party sellers here are first rate retail establishments. Buy with confidence.

Perfect for theater room. Does exactly as we want

For a shelf small speaker with big sounds

Sweet sound and very good looking