A quick update - The Martin Logans (ML's) are sounding pretty good. All processing in the Denon receiver is turned off, and it is just a two channel amp now.

The ML's are the first "dipole" style planar speaker we have had here, and comments one will see about ML's and Magnepans are starting to make more sense. Unlike traditional speakers, these speakers change a LOT just by moving one's listening position a little.

They are detailed, and musical to the point where I look forward to heading to the "man cave" for some relaxing listening.

Compared to the M1's (my product - a $175 bookshelf MTM monitor) and the ARX A5's ($400 each), the ML's are quite the step up. Of course, for $1250 each, they should be. The soundstaging is good, and microdynamics are as well. They definitely are not "boxy".

The current front end is a Denon DBP-1611UD player, and the receiver a Denon 1712. The receiver will soon be replaced with something more upscale - but not too crazy. This process is still not going to require someone spend huge bucks to drive reasonable priced speakers.

The likely end result will be a Marantz 6009 or 7008 receiver and a good 5 channel amp. With $1000 towers, the receiver would be used stand alone, with the $2500 towers, the amp added to the mix, in order to approximate what most people would do in the real world.

THE VISIT TO AXIOM has been confirmed - Ian has been quite gracious in his invite. We will be having a lot of discussions about all things audio. There are two things I admire about Ian when it comes to our hobby (ok, more than two things, but these two are pertinent to this test):

1. Ian never puts down competition. Regardless how much he is attacked, he just lets it go. It took yours truly a long time to learn this, and I wish I had done as Ian has from the first time I had a review thread in 2002.

2. Ian loves blind testing. Double blind is preferable, but even the type I do here is something he likes over the standard on line fan boy always picking his favorite.

When I do listening, I have someone put one speaker pair into the system. The room is easy to keep dark, and I just listen to the speakers not knowing which they are.

If Ian has a speaker in for a blind test, and some one ends up picking a competitor as the "winner", he just smiles, knowing this happens.

Back in my "first run" reviewing speakers, Axiom, if memory serves, "won" 5 and "lost" 3 blind tests against comparable speakers (in term of price).

I say "won" and "lost" because participants in these tests want a "tally". It is my experience that telling the listeners in such a test not to "keep score" is about as likely to work as is telling kids playing baseball not to keep score.

The kids keep score, even if the adults think they don't. As a funny coincidence, the kids are also more mature (as the participants) than are the adults (as the audience) .. much like the forum world.

Ever notice that the participants in a blind test are much more relaxed about the results than are those who are reading about the results?

I sincerely hope this small start back into testing speakers is useful for those who are patient enough to read all this stuff.

Look for things to get more involved after I come back from the Axiom visit. Thanks for reading, and as always, comments and suggestions are welcome.