LATEST ADDITIONS

Q I recently watched a video labeled “4K” using my Panasonic Ultra HDTV’s built-in YouTube app. When I paused the video, I noticed an icon next to the playback controls that said "Stats for Nerds." Clicking on the icon, I discovered that, while the video was originally shot in 4K, it wasn’t playing back at that resolution. Why does YouTube claim to have 4K content when their system doesn’t play the videos in 4K? —Wayne Mathews, Stone Mountain, GA

ElectroMotion ESL X Speaker System
Performance
Build Quality
Value

Dynamo 1500X Subwoofer
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Excellent performance with music and movies
Perfect Bass Kit for sub eases setup
Compact electrostatic center speaker
Minus
Some timbral shift between center channel and towers
Towers and center require AC power

THE VERDICT
MartinLogan’s ESL X tower speakers deliver delicacy and detail—along with serious dynamics when paired with the Dynamo 1500X subwoofer. A new, more compact electrostatic center speaker sweetens the deal.

As a member of Generation X, I sometimes get paranoid about being target-marketed when I see a product name appended with an “X”—for instance, MartinLogan’s new ElectroMotion ESL X speaker. I, for one, would be an easy target: An eX-MartinLogan owner, I’m very familiar with the detailed, almost eerily present sound that the company’s hybrid electrostatic speakers deliver. Consider me a fan.