Marten Parker Trio Floorstanding Speakers

Marten Parker Trio: Listening

Before I go into the arduous task of describing how the Marten Parker Trio sounds, I would like to make a general point. Our job as reviewers involves listening to a multitude of devices, trying to understand as accurately as possible their “character,” and then conveying it to our readers. Okay, but what does “character” mean in this context? Here the subject gets a little more slippery because we are no longer talking about objective data, about numbers measured with measuring instruments. No, here we are talking about how the components of the audio chain – the speakers in this case – solicit our senses, how they move our souls (assuming they can). About what cards they can play to evoke a certain listening experience, perhaps live, that moved us and remained vividly etched in our memory. I am aware that some (several) among those who will read these listening notes will be horrified by my so unscientific approach. However, to them I would like to wish that at least once in their lives they happen to experience the emotion that listening to a sound system worthy of the name can give. At that moment – in my opinion – one no longer thinks about numbers, technologies, quality/price ratios. At that moment one is overwhelmed by the beauty, the emotion induced by the music.

Let’s return to the Parker Trios and, after all the talk we just had, to their character, which was clear and evident to me from the first few minutes of listening. Unlike most of the speakers I have reviewed (and even owned) over the years, the impression I got was that I knew the Parker Trios all along. That is: I didn’t have to strain to figure out how they sounded, because what I heard was always and invariably what I wanted to hear, what I expected to hear. As if the Parker Trios knew a priori my ideal of “sound aesthetics” and presented it to me effortlessly. With simplicity and naturalness even in the face of very high intrinsic resolution and great transparency.

As far as I am concerned, this is the first time I have paid such a compliment to a loudspeaker (I have not expressed myself this way even for my Vivid Audio Giya G 2.1), so I might as well end this review here. However, I am obliged to develop the discussion further, and so I will not shirk from that task.

We had said in the video review of the Marten Parker Duo that those speakers would be a delight for those who, while wanting access to the Marten sound, do not have a listening room of at least average size. My concern, upon placing the Parker Trios in Room 2, was that they would be too large relative to the cubic size of that room. However, this was an unfounded fear: the bass range immediately revealed itself to be not only articulate, very fast and timbrally accurate, but also well restrained and never intrusive. The interesting thing then is that to fully enjoy it it is not necessary to go up with the volume of the amplifier, since even at low levels nothing is lost. That said, I would like to emphasize that the bass range of these speakers does not go in the direction of the famous “punch in the stomach” that so seduces some listeners. For those looking for that kind of “hard feeling” the Parker Trios may be far too gentle and relaxed. Conversely, they may be ideal for those looking for the ultimate in tonal refinement and impeccable time response. Yes, because the Parker Trio’s bass comes in very fast and just as quickly and naturally decays. In certain passages they even evoked memories of my old Magneplanar 1.7s as to speed, but with a body that American dipoles could only dream of.

Positioning in Room 2-acoustically treated, this must be remembered-was not particularly complex, and with just a few adjustments we managed to obtain a wide image on all three axes and remarkably stable. Of course, it was necessary to leave quite a bit of space with respect to the back and side walls. Even with respect to this parameter the Parker Trios stand out for their naturalness: the stage never gives the feeling of being the result of who knows what artifice, you never have the feeling that it could collapse at any moment. It is there, stable, you feel it clearly, and after a while you get used to it and take it for granted.

The midrange – here I am thinking of some piano recordings – is a flourish of lights, colors, chiaroscuros in which to get lost. And one realizes this by subtraction: some recordings shine in this sense and benefit from the treatment that these speakers know how to instill. Others, on the other hand, less successful, are “unmasked” by the Parker Trio, although nevertheless the overall result always remains more than enjoyable.

In the high range the performance is superb thanks to the ability to enucleate detail in a context of absolute timbral balance. In this frequency region, too, there is a sense of a staggering level of transient response speed, albeit coupled with a sweetness and silkiness (okay, I’ve used this overused adjective myself, but I can’t think of a better one) that prevent any tendency to harden the response. At this point it makes me wonder how the Diamond Edition version of the Parker Trios, which is equipped with a diamond tweeter and various other technical refinements that should ensure that they perform close enough to those of the Swedish manufacturer’s higher series models, might sound.

I conclude this review by asking a rhetorical question: are the Marten Parker Trio speakers suitable for all genres? I have tried to abstract myself from my passions and have zealously listened to a bit of everything from Classical to Pop, Jazz to Folk, Fusion to Electronic, Vocal, Choral, etc. Frankly, I cannot say that I have found a situation in which these speakers have not excelled. And so, perhaps, the question needs to be asked differently: are the Marten Parker Trio speakers suitable for all listeners? Here, in my opinion, the answer is: no. No because to fully appreciate their gifts one needs to have a background as much in audio reproduction as – and even more so – in music culture. The Marten Parker Trio are speakers capable of delivering strong, indeed very strong, emotions. One just has to agree on what it is that excites us and that necessarily cannot be the same for everyone.