XE Series

Musicians benefit from an onstage environment where they sound great. Hearing their individual performance, as well as the overall sound of the other musicians with clarity, dynamism and presence is essential to a confident performance that unites the band onstage. This is the realm of the stage monitor — the vital bridge between the artist and the audience. Martin Audio brings engineering innovation to high performance stage monitoring with the XE Series — setting a new reference in sonic excellence and defined coverage.

XE Series: Take the Stage

Martin Audio brings engineering innovation to high performance stage monitoring with the XE Series — setting a new reference in sonic excellence and defined coverage.

Designed in consultation with leading monitor engineers and combining sleek, low-profile enclosures with unique Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology, the XE300 and XE500 deliver perfect monitor sound with a defined coverage pattern that allows the artist freedom of movement, while reducing overlap with adjacent monitors.

Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology allows the artist to stand directly over the monitor or further back, without significant changes in SPL or tonal balance. It produces the optimal coverage pattern over a listening plane at head-height and helps to contain the sound within that region.

Delivering definitive monitor sound, the visually-appealing XE Series enclosures present a low, camera-friendly profile, are easy to carry and manoeuvre, and feature built-in risers for situations that call for a steeper monitoring angle.

Designed as a complete system, the state of the art iKON 4 channel Class D amplifier maximises the capability of the monitor while ensuring both engineer and artist can be confident they will experience the same high level of consistent performance from an XE monitor anywhere in the world.

Coaxial Differential Dispersion™: The Ideal Compact Monitor Technology

Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology combines the ‘point-source’ benefits of coaxial designs with the consistent coverage of Differential Dispersion technology.

XE Series monitors feature Martin Audio’s patented Coaxial Differential Dispersion drivers with an additional, patented, contour-moulded static third waveguide that increases the size of the horn mouth to maintain pattern control downwards and avoid spill outside the desired coverage area. Its rolled contour reduces diffraction and further improves pattern consistency at the lower end of the HF passband.

The Coaxial Advantage

Non-coaxial two-way monitors can suffer from uneven frequency response off-axis because the outputs of the LF and HF sections interfere with each other, causing cancellations off-axis, depending on the listening position. This is most noticeable close to the loudspeaker in the all-important crossover region — which lies right in the middle of the vocal band.

In contrast, coaxial monitors can achieve ‘point-source’ summation of the LF and HF sections at all positions off-axis, even close-up. Other advantages of coaxial designs are that they remove the need for left and right-handed versions and are inherently more compact.

Significantly, until now one disadvantage of conventional coaxial devices has been high frequency beaming, where the high frequency dispersion reduces as the frequency increases. This is primarily because conventional coaxial devices channel high frequencies through a narrow tube in the pole-piece of the magnet system. XE Series coaxial drivers overcome this by incorporating an innovative static waveguide in the centre of the driver that merges seamlessly with the unique cone shape — maintaining the dispersion pattern out to very high frequencies.

The Differential Dispersion™ Advantage

A Differential Dispersion horn has a 3D trapezoid dispersion pattern which distributes sound over a plane at the performer’s head-height more evenly than a system with a conventional, fixed-dispersion X° x Y° type horn, which produces an imperfect coverage pattern which misses out some areas — particularly side areas close to the monitor.

In contrast, a Differential Dispersion monitor produces a well-defined, near-rectangular coverage pattern at head-height and wide horizontal coverage is achieved when standing very close to the monitor. As the artist moves further back, the dispersion narrows, increasing the SPL to compensate for the increased distance from the monitor. The frequency response is unchanged, so the artist hears essentially the same sound balance and level wherever they stand within the coverage area.

The consistency in frequency response and SPL — both close to the monitor and further back — is exceptional. The well-defined and tight horizontal coverage also allows monitors with different mixes for individual performers to be placed closer together on stage.

XE500 SPL @ 6.3kHz over a 3 x 4m plane at head height
Each contour represents 0.2dB change; yellow is -6dB

Well-defined rectangular coverage pattern.
Artist can stand over monitor or further back without significant change in SPL

The Complete Package

XE Series monitors are designed as a complete system with compatible iKON Class D Amplifiers, offering a unique combination of power and audio performance seamlessly combined with advanced DSP, proprietary VU-NET™ software control and Dante™ digital audio networking.

State of the art components and a finely optimised design results in generous power reserves that ensures pristine sound quality is maintained even under the most extreme conditions. As well as maximising the capability of the monitor, this ensures that the monitor engineer and artist can be confident that they will experience this same high level of consistent performance from an XE monitor anywhere in the world.