BOTTOM LINE MartinLogan's Motion Series is definitely an outside-of-the-box design, one that targets folks who, as Apple might put it, are looking to "listen different." (There's also the allure of owning a complete, "exotic" 5.1 system with an audiophile pedigree for under $3,500.) The Motion 12 towers in particular are sonically distinct from most conventional speakers of similar size, price, and frequency range - distinct enough that I would urge everyone intrigued by this description to find a pair to audition.

TEST BENCH
The MartinLogan Motions measure remarkably well, especially considering their somewhat exotic design. The Motion 12 tower and Motion 4 mini show generally fl at response and extraordinarily consistent offaxis response. The Motion 8 center speaker, while fl at on-axis, exhibits major response errors past 30° off-axis (a fl aw concealed in the averaged measurement shown here). The Dynamo 1000 subwoofer's output is fairly typical for its size, with average low-bass (40 to 63 Hz) output of 103.9 dB and average ultra-low-bass (20 to 31.5 Hz) output of 82.3 dB. - Brent Butterworth