Introducing the Marten Coltrane IIs

[howiebrou]

Well I've gone and done it now. Bought a pair of speakers that cost more than my car but boy ol boy these speakers can sing!

To be honest I have always been wary of speakers with ceramic drivers but Marten has always produced great sounding speakers. Their Coltranes have sounded wonderful on the various occassions that I have listened to them.

They are a very neutral speaker but ol lordy lord, the resolution and detail is to die for! Don't take this to mean harsh and bright which they certainly are not, but incredibly revealing. I have literally never heard so much detail coming from a singer's mouth as I do with these Coltrane IIs.

Previously you could hear the air being inhaled with the Stradivaris but now you see the pout, the licking of the lips, the swallow before the note etc. It really is incredible to hear all this detail.

They are a great fit with the Kondo Ongaku which drives it with some ease, and it produces a clean and pure mid range with well controlled base from the 11 inch ceramic drivers. The huge diamond tweeter reproduces high frequencies without being bright like some diamond tweeters I have heard.

All in all I am very pleased with these so far.

[JohnA]

beautiful speakers in a beautiful room

congrats and be sure to give us a full detailed review when you have lived with them for a while

[BearCubinNY]

Great Balls of Fire! They look fantastic Howie! A big congrats to you on what appears to be a major upgrade. Looking forward to your comments as they continue to settle in.

Reg

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by JohnA

beautiful speakers in a beautiful room

congrats and be sure to give us a full detailed review when you have lived with them for a while

Originally Posted by BearCubinNY

Great Balls of Fire! They look fantastic Howie! A big congrats to you on what appears to be a major upgrade. Looking forward to your comments as they continue to settle in.

Reg

Thanks chaps. Apparently they work even better with Jorma Speaker Cables (which they are internally wired with) so I will be sure to try them sometime in place of my Crystal Ultra sc.

howie

[Myles B. Astor]

How did you fit stuff *under* your Craz rack? I don't have any room

[joeinid]

Congratulations Howie!

Absolutely stunning. Can't wait to read more about them. Beautiful

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Myles B. Astor

How did you fit stuff *under* your Craz rack? I don't have any room

Those are the Sooloos twinstores which are pretty low in height. They actually fit quite easily. Not so the PP 2000!

howie

[bart]

Howie, congratulations!
Beautiful speakers, good pics!
Me too, I'm looking forward to your experiences within a couple of weeks!

[cmalak]

Howie...absolutely stunning. Beautiful speakers. I have always been intrigued by Marten speakers. They look and I am sure sound great. Congrats

[jostber]

Congrats, these look wonderful! See you have some cow pillows, have one of those myself in my living room. They also add to the audiophile experience.