On a recent trip to NYC, I took the opportunity to check out a local Best Buy which carried the previous Motion line-up, to get a sense of what was to come. It’s recommended amplifier power is 20-300 watts. It stands at 42.49” H x 7.56” W x 12.81” D and weighs in at 45lbs. It features the Folded Motion® tweeter, a 5.5-inch aluminum cone midrange driver, and dual 6.5-inch aluminum cone woofers with a rear-firing bass port located at the very bottom of the speaker. Introducing first (Bruce Buffer voice) the Motion 40i Floorstanding speaker! It’s still a relatively slim speaker with a small footprint given the power that it packs. Place the tapered side down to point them up towards you. In actuality, you can configure the 30i model to suit your listening position. This gives the impression that the speakers focus on pointing the sound towards the listeners head. All of the speakers in the Motion i line feature cabinets with slightly tapered tops. Two of the new models (60XTi and 50XTi not part of this review) received additional internal bracing. New to this range is the aesthetic overhaul and concave dust cap design that reinforce the rigidity of the midrange drivers. The Folded Motion Transducers remain the same as do the crossovers. The previous Motion line-up has sold incredibly well and has been met with rave reviews so rather than mess with a good thing, MartinLogan has made aesthetic changes to the new line up. This newly released line is a case of evolution versus revolution. The Motion Series of speakers sit just below MartinLogan’s electrostatic speaker line-up aiming to deliver a similarly high-level of performance but at a more affordable price tag. It also elevates the usually humdrum nature of big chunky boxes. There’s something sleek and sexy about high gloss finishes. The speakers arrived in a High Gloss Black finish as I was secretly hoping they would. The new Motion Series speakers are available in three luxurious finishes and matching metallic trim-gloss black with black grilles and gunmetal grey trim, matte white with silver grilles and silver trim, and red walnut with black grilles and champagne-colored trim. I had the opportunity to review this new set in both music and cinema configurations. MartinLogan’s Motion Series 40 Tower Speakers were previously reviewed by our staff writer Francisco Licon back in 2017 for a music-based set-up which you can read here. As part of this review I was sent the Motion 40i floor-standers, the Motion 30i center channel, Motion 15i bookshelf taking care of the surround duties and the hefty Dynamo 1100X 12” subwoofer for the low end. One of them, the Motion Series, is a more affordable range that lets you sample a slice of what MartinLogan has to offer. Fortunately, MartinLogan has other ranges that are more affordable. The top tier speaker is the price of a hot-hatch and out of my price range. In my case nothing I’ve ever heard before either. They are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. You simply can’t miss their Masterpiece Series, electrostatic speakers. If you haven’t heard of MartinLogan you’ve either been living under a rock or just not into hi-fi.
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