I’ve owned a lot of good speakers over the years. Axiom, Bowers & Wilkins, Mirage, JBL and even Klipsch. I’ve never had the opportunity to listen to any from Martin Logan, so I was very anxious to hear how they sound.
Martin Logan has been around for forty years now and they’ve been a respected brand for pretty much the entire time. It’s easy to see that reputation in action when you listen to the Motion Series B10 bookshelf speakers. There are some unique features of these speakers that I needed to find out more about. Probably the most obvious impression that anyone has of a pair of speakers is how they look. I would have really loved to see the walnut finish, but the black are really pretty great looking. Honestly, the photos just don’t do them justice. It’s not just black, it’s a piano black, high gloss finish. This finish is on everything except the front panel. The mid/bass grill makes it a truly signature ML speaker. I like the look of the grills. I generally run my speakers with the grills removed because I love to see fine speakers in all their glory. Usually, grills cover up all the beautiful engineering and style, but by just covering the mid/bass speaker, you still get that grill-less feel.
The drivers themselves scream luxury. You know this is not going to be your routine listening experience when you see the Gen2 Obsidian Folded Motion Tweeters. These are not your typical tweeters. They’ve been around for a long time in different variations but ML has put their own spin on them with larger magnets. This helps to improve the performance by lowering distortion. More and more speaker companies are adopting this type of tweeter design for a number of reasons but for the B10s, the choice is obvious. They have a very natural sound to them, and they do it in a way that allows the listener to not have to sit dead center to hear it.
The mid/bass driver has a woven fiberglass cone. The bass and mid bass is tight and very realistic sounding. I was able to listen to these speakers on two of my sound systems. One in my office without a subwoofer and one on my basement system that has a subwoofer. I can say without a doubt, I prefer using a subwoofer with the B10s. As good as they are, they are still bookshelf sized cabinets and really benefit from the low end a subwoofer provides. With the sound pressure levels being handled by a subwoofer, these speakers really shine. The first thing I noticed when listening to music was the larger than expected sound stage. It sounds like the speakers are much farther apart than I had them placed. You feel as if the sound is coming from a wider, deeper room.
In general, I could easily listen to these speakers for hours without noticing any ear strain whatsoever. They are, in a word… smooth. They have a very natural sound and don’t “color” the sound you hear. I listen to music with a subwoofer and flat EQ settings, but with a lot of other brands of speakers, after a time, my ears literally get tired. That’s usually because of harsh or tinny tweeters and a crossover that just doesn’t produce smooth transitions between speakers. I won’t say I’m able to hear and pick out a good crossover from a poor one, but when everything is properly dialed in, like it is with the B10s, it’s easy to start understanding the difference. All these special features combine to make a speaker that is crystal clear and accurate. If you’re looking for the deep thumping bass, you’ll benefit from pairing these guys with a separate subwoofer. Not that they aren’t punchy, they are, but they’re punchy in the mid bass area instead of the sub bass area. I should also mention that there is a bass port on the rear of the cabinet. This will also help to provide even more punch with experimental placement of the speakers. I wasn’t able to put them on a shelf or in an enclosed bookshelf, but I bet they would sound even more punchy if you don’t have a subwoofer to pair them with.
I put in several movies to see how these guys played with other non Martin Logan speakers and I was not disappointed. I have an Axiom center channel and Klipsh rears. I found the B10s performed similarly to the music listening I did. Smooth, natural sound that blended well with the rest of the speakers. I will say that after using them in my office system with an Onkyo 900 series receiver and a smaller room environment, the bass response was better. Still punchy mid/bass but because of the smaller room, it was a fuller sound. I had these guys on stands, but again, if they were put in a bookshelf they would probably perform even better for those wanting the low end.
At 14.5 pounds each, they are hefty for their size. They come with feet that screw into existing holes in the bottom of the cabinets. One thing I wasn’t too keen on was the fact that the feet are plastic, which seems like an odd choice to me. Since in my listening tests, I placed them on top of my basement tower speakers, and in my office I put them on my existing speaker stands, I replaced the plastic feet with small rubber bumpers. I didn’t want the speakers to vibrate and slide off their perches. The binding posts are very nice and are, for lack of a better description, oblong in shape. This allows you to crank down sufficiently on bare wires (although I used banana plugs with mine).
I’m very glad I was able to test out the Martin Logan B10s. I really like the sound of them. The smooth transition from the drivers and the wide natural sound was a very positive experience. I welcome the chance to review some floor standers from them. If I’m this impressed with bookshelves speakers I can only imagine the sound of the towers. Very nice job Martin Logan!

The Motion B10 Bookshelf speakers are my first Martin Logan product, though I’ve owned and used a number of other audiophile quality bookshelf speakers in the past. These by far are some of the most impressive that I’ve tried in this form factor, and they are a perfect fit for our 400 sq ft living room where we have our home theater setup.
The speakers themselves are compact, measuring 7”W, 9.75”D, and 12.5”H, but hefty at nearly 14.5 lbs a piece. It comes in 3 color variations, gloss black, satin white, and walnut. If you get the gloss black like I did, be aware that fingerprints and dust will show up on it readily as will micro-scratches from buffing or cleaning it with anything other than the softest of microfiber cloths. That said, each unit comes with a fitted spandex dust cover to protect and keep your speakers looking pristine; the mid-drivers have snap-on/removable grilles to protect the cones. Also included are four metal screw-on feet for isolating it from the surface it sits on, and these can also be used to secure the speakers to the platform of a floor stand (like MartinLogan’s custom-drilled STAND25, sold separately).
At the back of the speaker, the 5-way binding posts have large clear acrylic caps allowing you to direct-wire these to your AV receiver or use another connection type like banana plugs for convenience and reliability. I tried it both ways with 12 gauge speaker wires and the sound quality was identical.
The frequency response of the speakers is rated at 56-25k Hz, and these speakers do a great job at reproducing clear, crisp trebles with little distortion thanks to the Gen2 folded motion tweeter (FMT). Vocals and upper registers are quick, clean, and pleasingly bright. The FMT is set within a waveguide which enables sound dispersion 90° horizontally and vertically resulting in a wide, three-dimensional soundstage that is adaptable to a variety of room configurations, including our open floorplan living room.
The 5.5” mid-range driver delivers full, well-rounded mid-ranges, while the rear-firing reflex port produces some upper bass tones though leaves something to be desired in lower ranges. That’s not unexpected though, given that most bookshelf speakers perform best when used as mains in a larger system or alongside a subwoofer, and these are no exception. Once we added in a sub to our setup, this filled in that extra dimension and stepped up our listening experience with the B10s. If you don’t have a subwoofer, just be sure to place the speakers close enough to a wall (but not too close) in order to allow what bass does emit from the reflex port to reflect back into the room.
We tried the speakers hooked up to our TV and movie projector via optical input, and when watching films and TV shows, the experience with these speakers is immersive and enjoyable producing clear dialogue and accurate sound placement. Even at higher volumes there’s no perceptible distortion, crunchiness, or muddiness. Since our receiver is network connected, we can play music through the speakers from all of our favorite streaming music services, and it just sounds awesome. Overall, no matter what we’re listening to these speakers sound pretty great, even at moderate off angles, and they look super slick in our home theater setup to boot.

Normally when I review audio gear, I “stick with the script” and play through a number of demo tracks to get a feel for how a speaker sounds fresh out of the box, and then revisit those tracks after a few days of listening have broken in the speakers a little. With the MartinLogan Motion B10s, I messed up a bit. I hooked them up, and accidentally played a song that isn’t normally on my demo list as the first track.
And I totally fell in love.
That accidental first track was Bon Iver – “Holocene” , for the record. The review pretty much wrote itself as soon as the opening guitar loop started and by the time the atmospherics began 10 seconds later I was already hooked. These speakers are just so incredibly efficient and HUGE sounding in a package that is small even by 5.5″ bookshelf standards. Holocene was actually played via Youtube Music/Chromecast Audio which makes me even more impressed with the sound of these B10s. I’ve found with some speakers that lossy compression can lead to a harsh sound on the highs that gets tiring. I haven’t experienced that with the B10s.
Alright, for objectivity, my review setup is:
-Onkyo TX-SR705
-SoundblasterX G5 USB soundcard connected via SPDIF
-Pioneer DV49AV DVD-Audio/SACD player connected via HDMI
-Chromecast Audio connected via SPDIF
-Polk RM series 12″ subwoofer
-speakers sitting on acoustic foam pads at my desk
Demo 1:
Avett Brothers – “Shame” (FLAC) – I use this track because it starts off with just vocals in a studio that has a bit of reverb, then gradually adds the banjo and guitar, and finally the upright bass before bringing in the chorus of voices a minute later. The Motion B10s claim to have a range down to 56hz, and my non scientific testing seems to confirm that as accurate. Switching from “Pure Audio” to “Stereo” mode on my Onkyo 705 adds in the subwoofer and fills in the lowest notes that an upright bass can put out. With or without the subwoofer, the B10s sound amazing with this track. Directionality is very wide – the sound stage is just universally in front of me, even if I am not sitting perfectly in the “sweet spot.” They handle the roll off at the lowest end of their range very well. Highs are beautiful and clear. The sound in general is very “natural.” I do not feel like the speakers are coloring the music at all – this is the first time I’ve ever critically auditioned speakers and felt “this is just how it’s supposed to sound.”
Demo 2: Metallica – “Enter Sandman” (DVD-Audio) – Here I did not try to push the speakers to their limit without the subwoofer, and just enjoyed the sound of the iconic intro to this metal track. Again, I am struck by how natural the B10s sound. I have been using this track to demo speakers for almost 20 years and I don’t think I’ve ever had this same sensation on a first listen with new speakers. It just sounds the way it’s supposed to sound. It doesn’t feel like the speakers are adding their own flavor to any sounds. They just sound “right.”
Demo 3: Miles Davis – “So What” (SACD) – I am using the Pure Audio mode of my receiver to let these speakers run without the subwoofer at first. Again, I’m really impressed with the bass handling of these speakers for a 5″ bookshelf unit. I’ve found that some speakers can be a little harsh with the trumpet and saxophone on this track and again I’m not fatigued by the sound from the B10s at all. I just want to keep listening.
I’ve had the speakers for about a week now, and they have only gotten more mellow and natural as they’ve worn in a bit. I sit at my desk for 8 hours a day, and I could sit and listen to these for all of that time without fatigue if I was able to skip meetings. I was tempted to move them to a more “prestigious” location in my home after I did my demo listening, but I realized I listen to this setup more than anywhere else in the house. Why not keep them to myself? Huge recommendation to treat yourself, too.

For what you’re getting I think there are 2 better options, save up a few bucks and get the XT B100 or get the SVS Ultra Evolution at the same price as these B10. They are simply not priced appropriately for what you get. Not bad just better options out there. Attached photo is the B10 next to the SVS Ultra Evolution