JoeRod

Speakers can be a little tricky to Review. Most companies suggest a "break in" period before you do any type of critical listening. After having the Martin Logan Vanquish and Axis now for about a month with many hours on them it was time. Martin Logan has put them in their Stealth Architectural Series. They each have a larger, low distortion folded motion XT Tweeter, black-aluminum, high excursion bass and midrange drivers, advanced topology crossover network with polypropylene and low-DF electrolytic capacitors, custom inductors with thermal and current protection. All mounting hardware is hidden by the elegant and classy piano-gloss black body. Coolest feature is the bezel-less magnetic grille. Of course since I painted my ceiling black I do not use the covers. The beautiful black finish blends in well. So enough about what they have and how they look. How do these speakers sound?

MARTIN LOGAN VANQUISH & AXIS STEALTH SPEAKER REVIEW

The Axis have rotatable tweeters which allow flexibility for vertical and horizontal installation. Cool!

Stunning! The movies we have viewed have never sounded so alive. Especially the horror flicks. Insidious made us jump a few times. Of course the sound which emphasized the moment had a major factor. There were moments with my other speakers where the sound was very taxing to them. Not with either set of these Martin Logans. They have handled the toughest parts of all movies I have thrown at them. Including The Possession! There are some scenes in that one where your surrounds will get a P90X type workout. You can tell when you have terrific speakers when you don't realize where the sound is coming from. The room blends perfectly. The Axis which are behind us are rich with detail. The sweet spot is playing DTS-HD Master 7.1 soundtracks. Iron Man 3 is definitely a reference title. Now You See Me also has brilliant moments. The Vanquish and Axis both shine. I am now using them with a McIntosh 151 Reviewed here. We have been amazed with the difference in our movie soundtracks. For sports mainly football we can clearly hear crowd chatter around us. Nothing worse than a fan swearing in your ear when you are at home though! I also am using a Martin Logan Descent i (pics below) Subwoofer. It is on its way out being discontinued and replaced by a new model this Fall. I know it has been out awhile but this powerful yet classic looking sub will be missed! It has three 10 inch drivers and the top lid comes off to reveal what looks like a space station of controls. It has a really cool blue lighted ML logo as well. Enough about it since it is going but I am just glad I was able to get one before they are gone! 

The over 100 pounds Descent i even included this magnet! Nice! 

The last I will say about these MLs is if you are in the hunt these definitely need to be seriously considered. Trust me when I say it is much more cost effective to do your home theater right the first time. Speakers play a big role and that is not an area you should skimp on. I am using them with their Stage X and Theos Reviewed here. A great Center speaker is the anchor to your soundtracks followed up with very good mains. The Stage X and Theos provide a strong one-two punch in our room. The Vanquish and Axis are the perfect complement to them. They have completed the final piece of our speaker puzzle with style! Check them out sometime...

SONY VPL-VW1000ES 4K PROJECTOR, McIntosh MX151 A/V Control Center, Samsung BD-F7500 Blu ray, Simplay Labs DVDO DUO VP, OnkyoTX-NR 5010 Receiver/ Pre-Pro, DARBLET, DirecTV Genie, Xbox 360, PS3, Monster Power HTS 5100, Oppo 103 Blu ray,Sony S790 Blu ray player, MonsterVision 3D glasses, Sony 3D glasses, Parasound HALO A51 Black AMP x 2, Antec Component Coolers, Vutec SilverStar 120.5" screen with a Carada Masquerade Masking System. Speakers: MARTIN LOGAN STAGE X Center, THEOS (Left and Right), VANQUISH (Surrounds), AXIS (Backs), Subwoofers- Martin Logan DESCENT i, BG Woofer SW210, Dayton APA150 Sub AMP x 2, 8 Aura Pro Bass Shakers, 8 Black Seatcraft Venetian Home Theater Chairs, Remote: Harmony 1100. Monster 1000 HDX Ultimate HDMI cables top to bottom. And two Monster 35 foot HDX Hyperspeed HDMI cables.

Click the Martin Logan logo above to learn more about the Axis & Vanquish

Stealth speakers. 

1S 550 IL Route 83 Unit C

Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

(across from Oakbrook Mall on Hodges)

​<~ Stop in and listen to Martin Logan Speakers and check out their cool theater set ups. Tell them hello for me!

(630) 788-6624 Call Noah!!!

Equipment used for part or all of this Review:

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JOERODHOMETHEATER

IRON MAN 3 DTS-HD MASTER 7.1

2015 NEW UPDATE BOTTOM OF PAGE.

Since the time of this Review being published I am excited to say the Vanquish speakers have been used as DOLBY ATMOS & AURO-3D speakers with great success. I am using two in the front of the room and two in the rear. I also have one in the center (slightly more towards the back) which is used as a TOP speaker for AURO-3D and its up mix AUROMATIC. We will have to see how well they will work with the eventually coming soon DTS:X. I suspect rather nicely...

UPDATED FOR 2015:

Also since the time of this Review I have been using two BALANCEDFORCE 212 Subwoofers Reviewed here. I am also using Martin Logan's PBK (Perfect Bass Kit) with excellent results. 

I am also using a DATASAT RS20i to do AURO-3D and soon ATMOS and DTS:X sound. I have used other components for ATMOS so far. The REVIEW of the DATASAT can be read here...