Caphill,
I have been a Martin Logan fan for a while now, and currently have some Motion (not 60XT) and ESL speakers, along with B&W and others over the years. And I agree with you about the Motion 60XT, which I recently had the opportunity to demo against Golden Ear Triton3 (maybe not a fair fight) and Definitive Technology BP9020/9040/9060 (again maybe not a fair fight). The Motion 60XT didn't sound as good to me that any of the others - even though I am a fan of the folded tweeters (which Golden Ear also has).
The ESL's are power hungry (100 watts minimum required), and too directional except for sweet-spot listening. But wow do they have a great sound in the sweet spot - amazing. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well for home theater where an audience of more than two can't all sit in the sweet spot. They broadcast sound like a spotlight, and anywhere other than directly in front of the electrostats all you hear are reflections.
To be honest, I liked the Golden Ear Triton series best, but DefTech is less expensive and I liked those nearly equally (plus the nice incorporation of Atmos toppers with that BP series). I noticed you didn't mention either of those in your recommendation for 60XT competitors. One aspect of both Golden Ear and DefTech I don't like is the apparently non-removable grills - is that correct?
I have been a Martin Logan fan for a while now, and currently have some Motion (not 60XT) and ESL speakers, along with B&W and others over the years. And I agree with you about the Motion 60XT, which I recently had the opportunity to demo against Golden Ear Triton3 (maybe not a fair fight) and Definitive Technology BP9020/9040/9060 (again maybe not a fair fight). The Motion 60XT didn't sound as good to me that any of the others - even though I am a fan of the folded tweeters (which Golden Ear also has).
The ESL's are power hungry (100 watts minimum required), and too directional except for sweet-spot listening. But wow do they have a great sound in the sweet spot - amazing. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well for home theater where an audience of more than two can't all sit in the sweet spot. They broadcast sound like a spotlight, and anywhere other than directly in front of the electrostats all you hear are reflections.
To be honest, I liked the Golden Ear Triton series best, but DefTech is less expensive and I liked those nearly equally (plus the nice incorporation of Atmos toppers with that BP series). I noticed you didn't mention either of those in your recommendation for 60XT competitors. One aspect of both Golden Ear and DefTech I don't like is the apparently non-removable grills - is that correct?