I have the Martens firing down the room. They’re around 30cm out from the rear wall. I’ve tried different placements but the bass is still too strong for the room. I agree they’re a great speaker and really highlight the nuances in the music. I’d like to hear the smaller models as I’m sure they will work better in the room.
It is not surprising that the bass is overwhelming in the room if the speakers are 30cm out from the rear wall measured from the rear of speaker. My Dukes are 71cm out from the rear wall (wall to rear of speaker). My speakers are also firing down the room (3.2m x 7.0m).
The speakers look good in that space.
Thanks @ryder.
I’ll see if I can try moving them further into the room but then I get told that the speakers are dominating the room too much. I have to work within ‘acceptable room style limits’ if you get my drift 
Btw, do you swap between your Harbeths and Martens much? Does it depend on what music you’re playing to bring out the best in each speaker? If so, the Luxman has two sets of speaker outputs (A & B) that will come in handy.
No problem bongoman. It is true WAF often dictates the placement of speakers which usually limits the full potential of the speakers. Perhaps try pushing the speakers further out into the room to see if the sound changes for the better.
I don’t swap between the Harbeth and Marten much these days. Due to space limitation I can only listen to an optimised setup while the other system won’t sound too good due to the listening space. Currently the Harbeth is unused sitting in the corner of the room. I will swap the speakers one day if I intend to listen to a different presentation. It doesn’t really depend on the music that much but the Harbeth being the larger speaker does rock quite a bit better than the smaller Marten, more presence, better slam and bass. With instrumental music, I wouldn’t say one is better than the other but the Marten presents music in a more delicate way with more attention to fine detail. Just a different presentation between the two speakers and I like the dexterity of the Marten which seems to bring out the small fine details and nuances a bit more than the Harbeth. A finer and more delicate touch with the Marten. Although I have high hopes for the Luxman, I try not to expect too much to avoid disappointment. The Class A L-590AXII is the main selling point for me. The Harbeth is optimised with the Naim and I don’t really expect the Luxman to sound better than the Naim with the Harbeth although it would be interesting to see how the Harbeth/Luxman combination would sound like. The main goal is to get the Marten to perform closer to its full potential as I suspect it is still not sounding close to its best driven by the Sonneteer Orton.
@ryder have you got your Luxman yet?
Since my last post I’ve hooked up my NDX2/555PSDR to the Luxman L-509X. I have to say I’m warming to the Luxman. It sounds fab with a good source through the Marten Miles 5. The 552/300DR are sitting idle powered down on my Fraim…
I’m seriously tempted by this much simpler (& fab sounding) system 
Those alcoves look like they’d have an interesting interaction with and speaker placed in or near them but particularly rear ported ones.
Yes, indeed. I’ve now moved the Martens out from the alcoves, around 26cm from rear walls with a slight toe-in. Now sounding much better out from the walls although some bass heavy tracks are a little overpowering in the room.
I really like the Miles 5 and I would pull the trigger if it wasn’t for the bass issue. I’m looking to demo some Marten Oscar trios and Duke 2 to see if they work better in the room.
Yes I’ve got the Luxman but will only have time to listen during the weekend. I will update once I manage to spend some time with it. I’m glad the Luxman L-509X is finally showing a glimpse of brilliance with the Marten Miles 5.
A quick update. Right out of the box the Luxman has surpassed the performance of the Sonneteer Orton. It drives the Marten beautifully. Class A is truly something special. Will let it run in a little while before I post more impressions. It’s massive but the weight is still manageable, fortunately.
Here are some photos.
It is a truly beautiful high fidelity component, congratulations. I’m anxious to hear about the sound.
Claude
Looks great, and sounds fab too no doubt.
I’m finding the Luxman to be a better match with Marten speakers than Naim too.
Early impressions. Just a beautiful tone especially with the treble. Piano sounds more accurate and natural than Sonneteer Orton and 282/HCDR/250DR. The tone of piano is almost grainless and liquid, no smearing. Piano sounds slightly smeared and grainy with the Sonneteer Orton. With the Naim piano sounds slightly forced with a thicker tone, not very natural as if something is added to the sound.
Everything else with the midrange and treble, it’s very well defined. No smearing with the notes and bass. Early days but the Marten is sounding great with the Luxman. There’s no fireworks whatsoever but what I get is just a pure, smooth and liquid sound. There’s a hint of Class A smoothness in the treble but it’s not excessive.
A note is the setup is not exactly optimised as the Luxman is too big and needs to be placed at the top of the rack. At this position the amp is quite close to one of the speakers hence the sound quality might be affected a little. I will need to find a more suitable place for the Luxman but it is still sounding great at the moment.
The Luxman is very good. The Marten is singing beautifully. The Sonneteer Orton is outclassed. It’s much more refined than the Orton.
Currently playing different material through the Luxman.
" no fireworks…" exactly right… Do we need fireworks to enjoy the music? Hmmm…
The 282/HCDR/250DR provides the fireworks. A dynamic, punchy and vibrant sound. The Harbeth Super HL5+ comes to life driven by the Naim. I haven’t tried the Luxman on the Harbeth but I suspect the Harbeth will sound better with the Naim than Luxman.
The Naim specifically 282/HCDR/250DR provides the thrills and adrenaline rush while the Luxman is more on neutrality and refinement. With Marten speakers, the Luxman is pulling ahead quite comfortably.
Bongoman, how are your new Marten Duke 2s? I hope it is sounding splendid with your 552/300DR as it should.
The Marten continues to impress through the days. It is sounding close to its full potential driven by the Luxman L-590AXII. I’ll be replacing the weakest link in the system, a pair of single-ended interconnect with a balanced type very soon. By that time it’s the end of the road for me.
As a side note, I’ve tried the Luxman with the Harbeth SHL5+ and still find the speakers to sound better with the Naim than Luxman. It looks like my previous effort of endless amp swapping to salvage the Harbeth has not gone to waste. The Naim specifically the 282/HCDR/250DR is still proven to be the best match to the Harbeth to my ears
@ryder I’m very much enjoying my new Duke 2s. They really are delightful speakers and are proving to be a very good match with my system and the room (more so than the Miles 5). Apparently they take 200 or so hours to really open up but I’m amazed at how great they’re sounding from the off.
My dealer offered me a deal on the loaner Dynaudio stand 20s so I’ve kept these. I may look at the Marten stands at some point (tho I’m not a big fan of the silver leg supports).
I’m not surprised your Dukes are working out well with your Luxman. I was impressed with how great they sounded with the 590x so I’m sure they’re sounding great with the 590AXII too
@ryder @Flachead how are you getting on with the stands for your Duke 2s?
I’ve borrowed these solidsteel stands from my dealer and the difference is transformative. The soundstage has really opened up. I can just hear more of everything and the bass is much more controlled and taut. Highly recommended!
The Solid Steel stands look great. It is good to know that they brought a massive improvement to the sound. Are they SS-5 or SS-6?
The original stands for the Duke 2 is quite tall. They are 740mm in height which is about 29“. I did compare my standard 4-pillar stands with the Marten stands and the original stands sound slightly better than the 4-pillar but it could be the height of the stands that may have brought a big influence to the sound. The 4-pillar stands are 24" in height.
The unfilled original stands are a bit bass light and I had them filled with sand used for sand-blasting as recommended by Marten. The bass goes deeper and becomes more prominent and the overall sound is fuller after the stands are filled.
Perhaps go with the Solid Steel if the sound quality is much improved over the previous stand. Do try the taller stands (SS-6 or SS-7) if you currently have the SS-5. The original stands for the Duke 2 are around the same height as the SS-7.
