Dan Meinwald
E.A.R. USA/Sound Advice
1087 East Ridgewood Street
Long Beach, CA 90807
562 - 422 - 4747 (Pacific Time)
E-mail: info@ear-usa.com
Dan Meinwald |
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E.A.R. USA/Sound Advice is the US importer and distributor for Marten loudspeakers The goal of Marten loudspeakers is to reproduce music that is as close to reality as possible. Of course, Marten is not alone in this, but Marten loudspeakers are constructed to achieve this goal in normal living spaces, and in this, they are virtually unique. Most loudspeakers are designed to be placed as far away from reflective surfaces as possible, often 1 to 2 meters from the rear and side walls. Unfortunately, most people cannot place their speakers in this way. Often, speakers must be located quite close to the rear wall, where the sound becomes distorted, with heavy, impure bass and inferior perspective. Because Marten loudspeakers make use of reflective surfaces, they can, if necessary, be positioned close to the rear wall and (to a certain extent) close to the side walls, taking advantage of the amplifying effect that the walls have on the bass range. In achieving the goal of realism, Marten employs the very highest-quality drivers and electronic components. Marten loudspeakers employ the best drivers available today. Most of the drivers used in Marten speakers are made of ceramic. These are the only dynamic drivers that work with a perfect piston movement. That means that the drivers do not have any breakups (flexes) within their frequency range, and have none of the audible distortion that can be found in most other drivers on the market. The ceramic used for these drivers is an aluminum oxide, with a thickness of only 0.15 mm in the midrange and bass drivers, and a mere 0.05mm in the treble drivers. This makes the cones very light, and allows extremely fast and dynamic music reproduction. These drivers have the best of both worlds—the microdynamics and resolution of electrostatic drivers as well as the macrodynamics of dynamic drivers. Distortion masks detail, and because of their distortion-free reproduction, every Marten loudspeaker sounds extremely detailed and transparent. Unless all musical details can be heard, naturalism cannot be achieved. The crossover networks of all Marten loudspeakers are as simple as possible, and use the best components on the market, including robust foil coils, Teflon ring core coils (for bigger values than 3.0mH), polypropylene capacitors from Mcap and MIT, and induction-free resistors from Mundorf.
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Coltrane Series Coltrane Supreme The Coltrane Supreme is the ultimate reference in sound reproduction. After the great success of the former top model, the Coltrane, it was time for for Marten's chief designer, Leif Mårten Olofsson, to take the final step into the realm of the world's finest sound reproduction. The Coltrane Supreme is a four-cabinet system, with two main loudspeaker towers and two dedicated subwoofers. The main towers have a frequency range of 90 to 100,000 Hz. Each tower employs four 7-inch ceramic upper-bass drivers, one newly-developed 7-inch ceramic lower-midrange driver, plus the world's first midrange driver, a 2-inch diamond, and the world's finest tweeter, a 1-inch diamond. The Coltrane Supreme subwoofers have a frequency range of 15 to 100 Hz. The subwoofers employ four newly-developed 10-inch long-throw ceramic bass drivers with extreme low bass capabilities. The Coltrane Supreme’s cabinets are made of extremely rigid, light, and stiff carbon fibre laminate with a Kevlar honeycomb in between. The crossover between the main loudspeakers and the subwoofers is a fully balanced, active, fourth-order design, with digital room correction possibilities below 70 Hz. The sonic performance of this system is a breathtaking experience, with extreme detail, clarity, speed, dynamics, and resolution, combined with a deep, wide soundstage and extreme low bass performance. With the active crossover and the digital room correction system, full performance can be derived from the system in rooms of very different sizes. System price: $295,000 (special order) Main towers: Subwoofers:
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Coltrane A combination of elegance in design with high-tech materials and excellent components,: tradition and modernism in one, the Coltrane loudspeaker delivers true virtuoso performance. The unique cabinet of the Coltrane is made of extremely rigid and stiff carbon fibre laminate. The cabinet is one of the most sophisticated constructions ever undertaken in the field of high-end loudspeakers. The Coltrane features a unique tweeter, with a membrane made of pure diamond. The first resonance is at 100 kHz; distortion is hardly measurable. The bass and midrange drivers have extremely stiff ceramic membranes that have no resonances whatsover within their operating parameters. The frequency range of the Coltrane is 20 Hz to 100,000 Hz within 2 dB. Bybee Quantum purifiers coupled to each driver eliminate high-frequency distortion, lower the noise level, and enhance dynamics. The crossover of the Coltrane has been designed for high
performance and transfer of the signal to the drivers with minimal loss. With a weight of
approximately 16 kg, it is one of the most sophisticated designs on the world market
today. The series coil to the bass drivers is custom made, with a Teflon core that alone
weighs 8 kg. The crossover allows bi-amping as well as bi-wiring. The Coltrane loudspeaker in the living environment Loudspeakers should not only sound good but also be easy on the eyes. They should be an addition, not a subtraction, to the living environment. This requires perfect design and the highest-quality materials. The Coltrane comes in four standard finishes: Walnut, Maple, Cherry, or Oak, combined with high-gloss black, with other finishes and colors available as options. Thanks to the elegance of their design, a pair of Coltrane loudspeakers looks smaller then they really are. The Coltrane is not overly sensitive to placement, and can easily be integrated into a living environment. The Coltrane can perform very well in rooms as small as 156 square feet, up to very large rooms. Retail: $60,000/pr Frequency range: 20-100,000 Hz +/-2dB Reviews
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Heritage Series Bird The Bird
loudspeaker from Marten, a tribute to jazz legend Charlie Parker, builds
upon experience derived from the award-winning Coltrane and Coltrane Supreme
loudspeakers. Like both Coltrane models, the Bird In addition to its ceramic
drivers, the Bird features a newly-developed, custom-made, 26mm diamond
tweeter. Diamond is one of the most rigid materials known to man. When
applied to driver design, diamond exhibits virtually no resonance, and
produces pure, uncolored, distortion-free sound. The crossover components
used in the Bird include copper foil coils and silver foil/oil capacitors of
the highest quality and most advanced technology. The cabinet of the Bird is
optimized, both in appearance and acoustic design. Non-parallel sides, heavy
bracing, and Frequency range: 28-45,000 Hz
-3dB
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Miles III Retail: $12,500/pr. Frequency range: 29-40,000 Hz +/-3dB Reviews |
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Duke Retail: $6500 standard veneer/$7500 high-gloss veneer or lacquer Frequency range: 39-40,000 Hz +/-3dB Duke stand: Retail: $750 satin finish/$1000 high-gloss finish Reviews |
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Alice
(center-channel speaker)
Frequency range: 39-40,000 Hz +/-3dB Retail: $375 satin finish/$500 high-gloss finish
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FormSeries The FormSeries represents a new concept of loudspeaker design from Leif Marten Olofsson, chief designer and founder of Swedish manufacturer Marten. After creating award-winning loudspeakers that have reached out to audiophiles around the world, he wanted a new challenge—to create a beautiful and simple geometrical form that would fit into the interior of any contemporary home, yet provide the high-end sound quality and cabinetry for which Marten loudspeakers have become so well known. It goes without saying that the cabinets of the FormSeries loudspeakers are extremely well built, but why the unusual shape? The triangular configuration of the FormFloor and FormCentre models is acoustically optimized to allow the speakers to totally disappear within the soundstage. If you close your eyes, the only thing that’s left is the music. The cabinet of a high-end loudspeaker is not only one of the most important contributions to its stellar performance, but one of the most obvious. There are other, less obvious things that are also very important. The FormFloor and FormCentre models employ custom, pure ceramic midrange/bass drivers that give dynamic and powerful bass (from 36 Hz) and a transparent and musical midrange. The ribbon tweeters, also custom-made, provide sweet, seductive sound all the way up to 40 kHz. The crossover components include air-core conductors, polypropylene capacitors, and metal film resistors. The cabinets are internally damped with washed and combed Swedish sheep wool. The feet are made of steel, and feature Resonance Damped Compound (RDC) cones. The FormSub contains a 10" extreme-long-throw driver that is powered by a verypowerful 400W class D amp. The FormSub is very musical, and works very well in both two-channel and multi-channel systems. All FormSeries loudspeakers are provided with magnetically-attached grilles that allow the user to decide if he wants to keep them on or off—the speakers look and sound great with or without them. The down-firing bass reflex ports make it easy to position the FormSeries loudspeakers in the listening environment. FormFloor Retail: $6500/pr Frequency range: 36-40,000 Hz +/-3dB FormCentre Retail: $3000 Frequency range: 70-40,000 Hz +/-3dB FormSub Retail: $4500 Frequency range: 19-200 Hz +/-3dB |
