"Blue Rondo a'la Turk" from Dave Brubeck's Time Out (Columbia re-issue) provided a completely different listening experience on the Re-Quests as opposed to a dynamic loudspeaker system. Imaging was tight as was the low end on the stand up bass, which took a little work to EQ properly on the back of the Re-Quests. The cymbals sounded hot and sizzled on the ultra high frequencies. This was not a plus, however the rest of the instrumentation floated in mid air providing, again, a better-than-life musical experience.

I ran into a little trouble when I started increasing the volume on more produced, multi-track cuts. While the bass and presence improved when increasing the level on Biggie Smalls' "Hypnotize" from Life After Death (BadBoy/Arista) the high frequencies became somewhat brittle and thin. Not the mids, just the highs.

I assumed that it was just "that damn rap music" being poorly recorded thus I dropped in Barry White's "Practice What You Preach" from The Icon Is Love (A&M;) and just like on Biggie, the presence was all there as was the bass, but the very high frequencies remained a bit thin. I then tried one of my favorite reference cuts "Mannish Boy" from Muddy Water's Hard Again (CBS/BlueSky) to find, once again great midrange presence but a snare that sounded thin. I inserted my Sonic Frontiers Line II, tube preamp with a nice improvement however the problem is not entirely in the electronics or the cables. Compared to very efficient (and more expensive) dynamic speaker like Cello Stradivari Legends and Wilson CUBs, Re-Quests don't resolve the very high frequencies at extreme levels quite as well. My audio instincts tell me adding to my $250 in room treatments and use of the highest caliber, all tube electronics (Sonic, VTL, Audio Research, BAT...) could reduce this effect.

Conclusion
Re-Quests are like a Ferrari. They are super high performance transducers that reproduce perhaps the single best mid range sound in all of high end audio. But like a great Italian car they need lots of attention to elicit maximum performance. Tweaking your speakers can take some time and necessitate the advice of your dealer but this fine tuning is part of the fun of owning Martin Logans. Each improvement prolongs the buzz of owning great, new loudspeakers.

Re-Quests do demand powerful electronics. While my Sunfire Signature Amp ($3000) could clearly power the Re-Quests with juice left over, it was my Mark Levinson No. 333 ($8500) that was used for most of my listening tests in that the Re-Quests seemed to really enjoy all of the current and finesse that the No. 333 could give.

Off axis listening with the Re-Quests is the about the best I have heard from a planar or electrostatic genre although the speakers design makes it tough to beat a dynamic speaker for off axis performance. I tend to listen to music all over my home including in my office, while I cook and while I lay in bed. Re-Quests sound great in the hot spot however if you stand up or move your head, you loose a good percentage of that airy sound. If you are a patient listener with a determined listening spot and you will be rewarded with a wonderful sound.

It is hard to beat Re-Quests for what they do well. Phenomenal midrange playback, airy, non-speaker like performance, better than expected bass from the dynamic cabinet and impressive low level listening characteristics make Re-Quests hard to beat. Priced at $4500 a pair, Re-Quests are the pinnacle of hybrid electrostatic design and can, under the right circumstances, provide you the highest level of musical enjoyment.

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