US-based speaker manufacturer MartinLogan has announced its new Motion range of stereo and surround sound speakers at CES 2010.

The company is best known for its high-end electrostatic speakers, but Motion features a (releatively) budget price and more conventional cone drivers. Not entirely conventional however, since they feature some interesting innovations.

Cabinets are curved to reduce to possibility of standing waves, and the tweeters features ‘Folded Motion’, a pleated design sometimes found in high-end speakers that offers up to eight times the surface area of a standard 25mm dome tweeter. The design promises controlled dispersion over a wider than usual area and ML claims it requires 90 per cent less excursion than a dome tweeter for the same output, offering minimal distortion and very fast response.

Similar technology has been used for the Folded Motion Cascading Bass Port on the standmount Motion 4, which the company claims produces the sort of high-volume, low-distortion bass that would normally only be possible with a much larger speaker.
Elsewhere the series uses compact bass/mid cone drivers with ML’s own crossover design, all encased in cabinets with a classy high-gloss piano black finish.

The smallest model in the range is the standmount Motion 2 followed by the Motion 4 ($200 and $250), then the Motion 10 and 12 floorstanders ($1,000, two-way and $1,500, three-way). Two centre channel designs, the Motion 6 ($300) and Motion 8 ($400) are also planned. All have been apparently voice-matched with ML’s electrostatic ranges and Dynamo subwoofers so they can be included in a mixed system.

The Motion range should be available from next month, a full 5.1 system is promised to sell for less than $1,600.