Floorstanding loudspeakers — Marten Design MINGUS QUINTET 2

The Mingus Quintet 2 is a three-way floorstander belonging to the Mingus family of the Swedish maker Marten, and it replaces the first Mingus Quintet as a second-generation version. Marten describes the update as keeping the basic design while cutting cabinet resonance with new damping materials, refining the crossover and moving to higher-grade parts. It is sold in a standard version and in a Statement Edition.

Key specs that matter

The reflex-loaded enclosure carries five units. A 0.75 inch pure diamond tweeter from Accuton's Cell range sits above a 5 inch pure ceramic midrange of sapphire type, and three 7 inch aluminium sandwich honeycomb woofers of CELL design handle the low end. First-order filters split the signal at 370 Hz and 4,000 Hz. The quoted range runs from 24 Hz to 100,000 Hz within 2 dB, sensitivity is 88 dB at 1 m with 2.83 V, and the rated load is 6 ohm with a minimum of 3.4 ohm. Power rating is 300 W. Each speaker measures 28 x 109 x 38 cm and weighs 63 kg.

Engineering and use context

Fibre laminate of 25 to 40 mm makes up the side panels, closed at top and bottom by solid wood, and the added damping inside targets panel resonance. Using three woofers rather than one larger cone gives a large combined radiating area on a narrow 28 cm baffle. With the low crossover point to the midrange, the ceramic cone covers most of the vocal band on its own, and the diamond dome only starts working above 4 kHz. Jorma cables made by hand, with the positive and negative conductors kept apart, link the drivers inside, and the Statement Edition adds Jorma Statement internal cables and better crossover components. Single-wire WBT Nextgen terminals connect the amplifier. Mirror-polished stainless steel stands with Marten Isolators come with the speaker. Solid wood parts are offered in matte oak, walnut or zebrano, and the gloss versions come in Piano Black, Grey, Plum, Red and Gold.

Pairing

Because the load dips well below its nominal rating, solid-state amplification able to keep its output steady at low impedance suits it better than a low-power tube amplifier, and the moderate sensitivity means a modest wattage amplifier will reach normal listening levels while higher power adds headroom. There is only one pair of terminals, so neither bi-wiring nor bi-amping is possible, and one stereo amplifier drives the full range through one cable run per speaker.

Alternatives

The Marten Parker Trio is a smaller 2.5-way floorstander from the brand's Parker line.