Marten Speakers

Oh absolutely…

Naim make gr8 gear !

But one has to look holistically…

It’s great you are in a situation where you could do this at home.

As I said I had a soft spot for Sonneteer and knowing my speakers they would have matched well.

Someday …if I have a 2nd home and Sonneteer is around…who knows :thinking:

Cheers !!

:beers:

I for one would love a pic…

It will 're refreshing to see 1 box powering speakers…

Regards

I didn’t post new photos as there has not been much change to the previous arrangement. The Chord DAC is not sitting on top of the Sonneteer amp anymore. To achieve this I have to move the 282 somewhere else.

In this photo, from top to bottom : Chord QBD76, Sonneteer Orton, 250DR (unused), Hicap DR and NapSC (unused)

The excess Naim amps on the display rack, top to bottom : 282, 202, 200

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I have just switched from the Marten Duke 2 to the Harbeth Super HL5+ two days ago and have been swapping the amps around. The Harbeth surely sounded poor with the Sonneteer Orton. The Naim amps have been reinstated and the Harbeth is singing some nice tunes again.

When I switch to the Marten again perhaps in a week or two, the Sonneteer will get back to the system again. Funny how results are completely reversed when the speakers are switched.

Thanks @ryder

Horses for courses then :grinning:

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Another one showing my Krell player on display since I gave up on CDs about 4 or 5 years ago. I’m still keeping it just in case I make a comeback.

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New Parker range, replacing the Heritage series. These replace the Duke 2’s.

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Looking pretty good. Indicated prices start from €9,000(~£8,000) which I presume is for the smallest Parker Duo standmount. Not too sure if the price includes the stands. The stands look like serious business with Isoacoustics pucks fitted at the bottom of the stands as standard. They shouldn’t come too cheap.

On a side note, I just got the stands filled all the way up to the top and there isn’t any massive difference in sound quality when compared to an unfilled stand. Just a slightly fuller sound across the frequency spectrum. I was hoping the bass to gain more punch and impact but that didn’t happen.

After extended listening sessions with the Duke 2, my thoughts about the speaker remain the same. My only gripe is it’s not particularly good at playing rock music due to a lack of presence and punch in the bass. With all other types of music particularly well recorded delicate material it’s very good.

One of my earlier post on the Duke’s mentioned how well I thought the Duke’s could rock when asked to. I think I might have to get out more as lack of presence and punch in the bass is not my experience. Maybe the room plays a big part, mine is pretty small and much more bass would simply overwhelm everything else. Goes to show how important system/room synergy is.

The Parker Duo has a passive radiator, that should help with the bass…

Yes, the room surely plays a big part. There is a possibility the bass could improve with a different amp, a significantly more powerful amp but I’m done with equipment and speaker swapping.

The new Parker Duo with passive radiator sounds pretty good. The price inclusive of the stands should be close to £10,000 if not higher.

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With apologies to the OP for giving in to the temptation that arises every time this thread pops into ‘latest’ list: The thread title catches my eye because it makes me think of Martin speakers, so familiar from live gigs, and never having heard of Marten speakers outside of this thread. These days the brand’s speakers at gigs are perhaps most common as flown line arrays that are hardly noticed, but the image below is the archetypal one that comes into my mind, with its ‘Philishave’ midrange horn. The first time the thread appeared I wondered if someone was using them at home!

image

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Now they would sort out any bass issues.

Reading through the responses on the 552/500 vs Vitus thread and some research elsewhere, I’m beginning to feel that the Vitus SIA 25Mk2 and Marten speakers will be a match made in heaven. Unfortunately the cost is prohibitive at the moment. Certainly one of the luxuries that we can look forward to. Someday.

An update. Apologies if my experiences offend anyone but these are my genuine honest thoughts.

I switched from the Orton to Naim 282/HCDR/250DR yesterday since I wanted to reassess the Naim with the filled stands of the Dukes. When the switch was made, a noticeable degradation in sound quality was immediately felt. I couldn’t listen to music the same way as I did with the Sonneteer. The music was giving me a headache and I tried listening at lower levels but to no avail so I switched it all off.

Results remained the same the next day. There were improvements after the standard Naim cables were replaced with the Chord Signature TA but I won’t elaborate too much here just to keep things simple.

In summary, music sounds more forward, lit and rough with the 282/HCDR/250DR and as a result listening fatigue is higher. With the Sonneteer, music has a lighter airier feel and smoother delivery. The overall presentation is more refined and organic with a human touch. Tonality of instruments especially piano is more spot-on with the Orton.

To me the Marten Duke 2 sounds better driven by the Orton than 282/HCDR/250DR. The forward, lit and slightly unrefined presentation of the Naim doesn’t quite fit the Dukes too well. Personally I feel the Marten may require a 252 or 552 if sticking with Naim to reveal its true potential / sound better. Something more refined and less forward or lit.

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With your vast experience you know what you heard has got nothing to do with individual products :grinning:

It’s the match of everything plus the room…

Maybe the Vitus thread sneeze I guess ?? :slightly_smiling_face:

Maybe you need a big ass Tube Integrated , Ayon Triton EVO, made in Austria… I would think a demo in the UK should be doable .

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After 3 months of swapping between Marten Duke 2 and Harbeth Super HL5+, I have come to a conclusion that the Dukes are an all-round great speaker. I particularly enjoy instrumental music through the Dukes as the tonality of piano is very good. It sounds smooth and natural without any glare, only with the right amps. :wink:

The only weakness of the Marten is in reproduction of human voice but this is only when it’s compared to the Harbeth. No shame though as the Harbeth is truly one of the best if not the best speaker for vocals. I’m not sure if a different amp will transform the Marten but it may be a futile attempt to make the Marten sound like a Harbeth. Both are distinctly different speakers which have their own sets of strength and weakness.

Currently very much enjoying the Duke 2 with the Sonneteer Orton.

I looked at few tube amps which include the EAR but in the end decided that it would still be solid - state for me. I have made it clear many years ago that I will not consider tube amps for the hassle that tubes may bring. It’s a personal choice though.

I may be looking at a solid-state integrated with tube-like qualities in the near future. Not at this point of time though as I’m financially exhausted at the moment. The Sonneteer Orton is still doing a fine job driving the Marten Duke 2, providing the dexterity that is much required with the delicate sounding Marten.

Always interesting to hear how you are getting on with the Martens they certainly are remarkable speakers. I’m still driving mine directly from the TT2 and have spent the last few weeks trying to extract as much as possible from this arrangement with cables, dressing, filters and location of units. Just yesterday I was enjoying the sound so much, I asked myself why am I pining for an additional amplifier? On that note, I’m hoping to get a Norma 140 on home loan which should help clarify, but there will need to be some notable improvements in SQ compared to the direct connection.