You might think that all well designed and well made speakers are easy to like. In my experience, this isn’t always the case. Some speakers can sound downright foreign, as if their musical language isn’t the same as yours.
I’ve heard speakers, systems really, that made music sound too muscular, or too tight, too resolving, too thin, and even too fat. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of getting to know a new speaker because its way with music isn’t the same as what we’re used to. Like getting used to a new accent—once we figure out the differences, we’re back to understanding one another.
The Marten Parker Trio sounded like they belonged in the Barn as soon as they began filling it with music. If there was a getting to know you period, it passed without distinction and we were having fluid musical conversations in minutes, like old friends sharing favorite tunes. One aspect of the Marten’s sound that stood out, which remained consistent regardless of associated amplification, was their ability to sound completely resolving with an enticing fluid ease. This combination—resolution and ease—are not common bedfellows in my experience and my best guess is the Marten’s drivers, crossovers, internal cabling, cabinet construction, and footers deserve the credit.
The drivers in the 2.5-way Parker Trio consist of a 1” ceramic tweeter and two 7.5″ ceramic mid/bass drivers that are made to designer Leif Olofsson’s specifications, and a pair of rear-firing 9″ aluminum passive radiators. The “multi-diverse” crossovers are constructed from Polypropylene capacitors and copper foil inductors while all internal cabling is from Sweden’s Jorma Designs and uses separate + and – for enhanced shielding and the highest quality Copper. The cabinets are constructed from M-board, a proprietary multi-layered material designed by Marten, who are also based in Sweden, that offers extreme resonance reduction, making them essentially resonance free according to the company.
The drivers are covered by protective metal mesh grills, while the tweeter gets a mirror-finished chromed stainless steel surround that matches the outrigger bases which sit on Marten footers that were developed in conjunction with IsoAcoustics. A pair of WBT Nextgen binding posts are surrounded by a matching mirror polished stainless steel badge. The speakers have a rear-leaning rake and the cabinets taper from front to back. The Parker Trio stand 46” high and weigh 89 lbs. a piece so while they are not small speakers, their appearance does not overwhelm. As I hope the photos show, the Marten Parker Trio are finished to a very high quality, the review pair’s flawless Piano Walnut finish looks the part of fine furniture grade. And I do mean fine.
I drove the Parker Trio with a number of amplifiers including the recently reviewed AVM OVATION A 8.3 Integrated Amplifier (review), ModWright KWH 225i Hybrid Integrated Amplifier (review), Constellation Audio Inspiration Integrated 1.0 (review), LTA Z40+ Integrated Amplifier (more info), and the Soulnote A-2 Integrated Amplifier (more info). The totaldac d1-tube DAC/Streamer handled front end duties, at times paired with the Lumin U2 Mini Digital Transport/Streamer (review), while cabling from AudioQuest was in use throughout.
The Parker Trio have a rated sensitivity of 91dB/2.83 V, with a 6 Ohm Impedance (3.1 Ohms minimum) and all of these fine integrated amplifiers had no problem handling their load. My favorite partners for the Parker Trio were the Constellation, it’s pretty much always a favorite, and the ModWright. Both of these integrated amplifiers had more than enough power for the Marten’s, offering superb control while really bringing out their full-range sound and endlessly appealing smooth precision. That said, the Marten are also some of the least picky speakers I’ve had the pleasure to host in Barn and I enjoyed every partner.
The Marten Parker Trio love all kinds of music as much as I do. “A Catastrophic Legend” from Nate Wooley’s sublimely stunning Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes (review) offers a lovely mix of field recordings, electronics, guitar, pedal steel guitar, trumpet, drums, and electric bass. This music twists and turns and each element’s sound is an essential aspect of the overall mood and meaning and the Parker Trio are simply stunning in their ability to replace their physical presence with the members of the band. There’s some very delicate interplay about 7-minutes in between Mary Halvoson’s guitar and Susan Alcorn’s pedal steel, looping lines that impart a woozy feel, and the various elements of touch, tone, and timbre are finely detailed by the Parker Trio’s presentation. The space of this recording was also rendered with real dimensional accuracy, as if the recording venue was reconstructed in Barn at 1:1 scale.
Julien Baker’s recently released EP B-Sides is a simple and lovely affair with the opener “Guthrie” featuring just Baker and her acoustic guitar. This achingly intimate song sounds like it was recorded close enough to capture flash and blood and pain and the Parker Trio placed Baker in Barn, painting a solid sound image that allowed me to picture her sitting cross-legged on a stool just a few feet away. When I can easily understand the relationship, in space and scale, between each element of a recording, in this case Baker’s voice/head/mouth and guitar/arms/hands/fingers there’s nothing left to do but enjoy the show. This is one real outcome of the Parker Trio’s marriage of resolution and ease.
“Our new sound marries extremely low distortion with perfect time optimisation.”
I read that on the Marten website only after I started writing this review and thought, Hmm. Maybe that’s another way of saying resolution and ease.
On those increasingly rare occasions I find myself in a diner eating breakfast, I sometimes pretend the maple syrup accidentally soaked the bacon—as if it was an accident because doing this on purpose is surely a sign of gluttony. In much the same way, I’m nearly reluctant to admit of my undying love for the Quartetto Italiano’s way with Beethoven’s late string quartets. Their reading is so effervescently effusive, it feels like liking it is admitting to an overtly sweet tooth. Be that as it may, I find listening to the Quartetto Italiano playing Beethoven’s late string quartets can impart the same kind of feeling as being tossed and turned by the ocean where seemingly gentle swells give way to violent waves that turn into moments of near calm only to repeat the cycle in unexpected ways. With the Parker Trios full-range and physically forceful sound, I was left nearly seasick after the experience, as if I’d spent too much time in the water. Nice.
This kind of involvement only holds together for hours, days, and weeks on end when the quality of reproduction is seamless, where sonic qualities like timbre, dynamics, resolution, and micro subtlety to silence are replaced by violin, viola, and cello. The Marten Parker Trio consistently stepped aside, letting music move to the fore.
Z.O.A. and Boris’ 33-minute roller coaster ride that is Refrain builds from a deceptively mild mannered intro to all out maelstrom, or put another way, it takes Boris some time to become Boris. We’re talking about dense crushing sound with Wata’s signature guitar piercing through the barge-like bass with drums that fight like they’re fending off drowning in a sea of distortion and tenuously contained abandon. As is the case with solo piano, vocals, and string quartet, a mesh of densely layered distortion with crushing percussion and bass can tell you a lot about a speaker’s sound. Namely, can it stay afloat and retain each part’s voice while presenting the power and force of the whole without losing control. The Parker Trio’s way with Refrain begged for more and even more volume as Z.O.A. and Boris raged to anthemic heights. Picture my lighter lit at the end.
Multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin got together for 2022’s Ghosted, an exploration in slowly unfolding sounds and moods that keep pace with a deep drone-like groove. Berthling’s bass is the primal driving force and the Parker Trio delivered every pluck and thrum so fully formed the bass felt more real than the speakers. There’s a host of other sounds on Ghosted including shakers and Ambarchi’s processed guitar, itself sounding multi-instrument, with a broad range of size and scale and the Marten’s presented every last ounce of sound in a coherent and fully integrated manner allowing for deep focus on parts while never losing grip on the whole. Macro groove, micro resolution.
The Parker Trio never sounded edgy or overly precise while being highly resolving. They conveyed the full voice of everything I played through them without sounding overly ripe or unnaturally thin, and they rattled the Barn with finely controlled authoritative bass and life-like dynamics. What’s more is all of this good sonic stuff was presented as one seamless whole, where music becomes the driving force of the experience—as opposed to aspects of reproduction—hour after hour, day after day, week after week.
The Marten Parker Trio impress with an uncanny sense of accuracy and ease, offering a stunning combination of strengths that pay homage to whatever music you send their way.
Marten Parker Trio Floor Standing Loudspeaker
Price: $24,995 in Piano Walnut, $23,995 in Matte Walnut or Piano Black
Company Website: Marten
US Distributor Website: VANA Ltd.
Specifications
Frequency range: 26-40000 Hz +-2dB
Power rating: 300 W
Sensitivity: 91 dB/2.83 V
Impedance: 6 ohms (3.1 Ohms min)
Type: 2.5-way
Crossover frequency: Multi diverse order, 2200 Hz
Terminals: Single-wiring WBT Nextgen
Internal wiring: Jorma Design
Cabinet: 35 mm M-board
Finishes: Piano Walnut, Matte Walnut or Piano Black
Stands and feet: Mirror polished stainless steel with Marten Isolators
Dimensions W x H x D: 22-28 x 117 x 36 cm (8.7- 11 x 46 x 14.2″)
Net weight: 40 kg (89 lbs)