Thank you very much. The new direction with cell concept drivers and first order crossover is a radical departure for Marten. I am about to audition the Marten Mingus in my house for a week or two. I actually want to get a handle on what these new drivers bring to the listening experience. For me it's going to be between the new Mingus Quintet and Coltrane Tenor if I decide to switch out speakers.

C3's arrived yesterday afternoon so read all comments in that light

First - the packaging was excellent. Each speaker comes in its own flight case on castors. The speaker itself sits on castors in the flight case and once you up end the case little ramps appear and the speaker simply rolls off - brilliant.

Second - they appear better finished than just about anything I've ever bought in HiFi. Everything comes in cases inside the transport containers. The finish of he wood on the front and the chrome highlights is fabulous.

Compared to the Tenors that these replaced the C3's are much bigger.

i had a listen last night but was too impressed with the sound - they sounded tight and a little thin.

this morning they are sounding fleshier and fuller, the midrange is filling out and treble appears out of nowhere - like there isn't even a tweeter to reproduce the sounds.

the biggest change in the sound from Tenors, apart from fuller and more grounded bass is the soundstage and imaging. The vertical, and front to back imaging is much better than the Tenors...... And it sounds strange given how big they are, but they are harder to localise/hear compared with the Tenors. They throw up this huge soundstage and simply disappear.

ill write back some more thoughts as they break in

Thanks for posting this.

I am currently auditioning the Marten Mingus Quintet's my room and am also hearing these qualities.

The disappearance act in these First Order cell concept drivers is very uncanny. Now the Mingus uses the 5" midrange and tweeter from the Marten Coltrane Supreme 2. The Coltrane 3 has a 7" version.

I really really like the midrange weight that the Tenors have. Let me know if you feel the Coltrane 3 midrange fills out closer towards that Tenor midrange you are undoubtedly familiar with. I get that weighted sound in my Bird 2 as well. So far, the Mingus nor the Coltrane 2 Supreme's have that tonal richness I'm accustomed to.c, I am going to have to play with some tube rolling, vibration control etc. to get the mids to fill out like I want. I am looking for bloom, weight and tonal density that the second generation Marten speakers have (Bird 2, Coltrane Tenors, Coltrane II etc.), yet seem to be somewhat elusive to these new cell concept speakers.

At any rate, I am really looking forward to your comments as you are especially coming out fresh from the Tenors.

I will be making a decision between the Tenors and the Mingus Quintet in the near future :) Congrats again!

Here is are my Bird 2's and now the Marten Mingus in their place on loan.

https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7218/2...5e774040_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7324/2...2ec17d74_b.jpg

Shaz - how old are the Mingus u have ?


at this stage the midranges are i think similar between C3 and Tenor. The difference in weight i think is in the upper bass.

its funny, the sound is similar but also different

also, my dealer said to me that he heard the Mingus at Munich just recently and said that Mingus sounded full and composed and was almost as good as the Tenor, but fell down slightly with its ability to resolve finer details.

hope that helps...

This is the same pair that was shown in Munich and then shipped out to the SHOW Newport here in California.

So they are very well broken in. You are absolutely right...it is the upper bass weight that I am looking for. This black finish of the speaker is mesmerizing though...with the stainless steel surround around the midrange and tweeter, it looks drop dead stunning!

my gut feel is that you would find the Tenors a little lean...... certainly not bass shy but not as rich as the C3 and also the Mingus

Shaz - what about the walnut finish? Ive got walnut with black drivers - looks awesome

pweg, can you post some pictures of your Coltrane 3's?

If I go the Mingus route, I would PROBABLY pick up the Piano Gloss walnut finish, though this black gloss finish is looking amazing with my black and silver electronics.

This is the Piano Gloss walnut finish:

http://www.my-hiend.com/leoyeh2/2016a/SGH_0709mm.jpg

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/highend2016/p3/marten_1.jpg

lol - can u tell me how to - happy to

I think the way to do it is to upload to a flickr account or any picture service. Then just link the picture here with using this icon here http://www.audioaficionado.org/image...nsertimage.gif