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As I was awaiting the arrival of MartinLogan’s new Montage speakers, I found myself thinking about Jim Hanks, who looks and sounds a bit like his Oscar-winning brother, Tom, but whose career hasn’t hit the same stratospheric heights. Even though he’s enjoyed some success (he’s made several movies and filled in for Tom as the voice of Woody in a few Toy Story-based projects), I thought it must be tough trying to live up to the inevitable comparisons.

The point, of course, is that any new MartinLogan speaker is bound to come with lofty expectations given the reverence accorded the company’s electrostatic speakers. Electrostatics work differently from most speakers: instead of a conventional midrange and tweeter, they use a large, ultra-thin diaphragm (usually Mylar) that projects sound from both the front and back. This dipolar radiating pattern gives listeners a mix of direct and reflected sound.

Electrostatics can deliver remarkably accurate sound in the midrange and upper frequencies along with a highly detailed, transparent soundstage — in other words, the kind of sonic magic that can get even seasoned audiophiles gushing like schoolgirls. However, they’re inherently costly to manufacture, and their need to be plugged into a wall outlet can make them awkward to place. With the compact floor-standing Montage ($1,500 a pair), MartinLogan is attempting to deliver some of the best qualities of its high-end speakers at a fraction of the price.

Instead of a large electrostatic panel, the Montage uses an Advanced Thin-Film (ATF) transducer that’s only 3 3/8 square inches to reproduce the highs. The ATF tweeter sandwiches an ultra-thin diaphragm between two arrays of powerful neodymium magnets, so no AC power is required. This dipole tweeter is mated with a pair of aluminum-cone drivers that serve as midrange and woofer.

To create a complete 5.1-channel surround sound system, we combined Montages for the front left/right channels with three of MartinLogan’s Vignette speakers for the center and surround channels, plus the company’s new Dynamo subwoofer. The Vignette uses the same dipolar ATF tweeter as the Montage, plus a smaller pair of shielded aluminum cones. Its solidly built, ported cabinet has a flat bottom and an arched top to facilitate horizontal placement, but it can also be mounted vertically using optional stands (see photo) or a wall mount. Supplied brackets allow it to be mounted flat against a wall or ceiling while still allowing it to be pivoted up to 90° to achieve the best mix of direct and reflected sound — critical for proper imaging.

The Dynamo is a compact, 200-watt subwoofer with a 10-inch, high-excursion aluminum driver. Its removable base lets it be used in either a down- or front-firing configuration, and it’s equipped with both level and crossover controls (30 to 80 Hz) and a 0/90/180° polarity switch.

SETUP I installed the system with the Montages about 2 1/2 feet from the front wall and about 2 feet from the side walls, toed in slightly toward the primary listening area. As with any dipole speaker, you will need to play around a bit — or maybe a lot — to determine the best location. One Vignette sat atop my TV, while the two surround speakers were mounted vertically on MartinLogan stands. I put the Dynamo in the front right corner of the room.

PLUS Impressive imaging. Detailed highs and midrange. Excellent home theater performance. MINUS Extra-long break-in time for Montage. Proper placement is critical for best performance.

Following instructions in the exceptionally detailed user manual, I burned in the system for a little over 30 hours at about 90 dB SPL (sound-pressure level). Several tracks revealed impressive imaging, but the speakers lacked the midrange presence and detail I’m accustomed to with my less expensive reference Magnepan MMGs (also dipolar speakers), and they exhibited some harshness in the midrange and lower treble regions.

Noticing that the sound seemed to improve the longer the Montages were played, I clocked close to 150 hours before resuming my critical listening. The difference was notable: a wider, more open soundstage, smoother, more detailed highs, and none of the harshness I’d previously heard.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE For those used to the more laid-back sound of MartinLogan’s electrostatics, the Montages will be a surprise. They’re more than capable of the dynamic punch that rock music often demands. On the power pop of Fountains of Wayne’s Welcome Interstate Managers, the Montages delivered the palpable impact of the upfront drums and rhythm guitars on the opening track, “Mexican Wine,” while vocals were presented without graininess or harshness.

On Kelly Joe Phelps’s 1997 Roll Away the Stone, the speakers faithfully reproduced his husky baritone voice and 6- and 12-string acoustic lap guitars. On his slide-and-vocal rendition of “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder,” I could distinctly hear the slide’s slightly discordant opening glissando before Phelps’s deep voice and rich-sounding acoustic guitar took over. The midrange was clear and present, keeping the competing guitar and vocal lines clearly delineated even when they were in the same register.

For multichannel listening, I turned to the DVD-Audio version of Porcupine Tree’s atmospheric album, In Abstentia. On “Sound of Musak,” the upfront vocals and lead guitar were reproduced accurately and clearly, while the acoustic guitar and backing vocals in the surround channels sounded natural and detailed. The Dynamo sub kicked in with surprising impact.

MOVIE PERFORMANCE Soundtracks were where the MartinLogan system really shined. In Alien vs. Predator, it proved capable of handling both subtle and over-the-top effects to create a highly immersive home theater experience. In the scene where the building’s stones begin shifting in a jigsaw motion, the speakers realistically rendered the sound of the massive stones moving against each other. The sub was particularly impressive, conveying a sense of their 2-ton weight and, later, adding impact and depth to gunshots and explosions.

In the highly stylized martial-arts movie Hero, the system superbly handled scenes with complex sounds without smearing or muddying the individual elements. When the army launches an impossible flurry of arrows, I felt like I was in the middle of the action, with arrows whizzing around the room and reverberating realistically when they found purchase. And in fight scenes, the clanging of sword against sword was rendered naturally, and subtle noises, such as rain and water effects, came across with impressive detail and clarity.

BOTTOM LINE While I didn’t quite hear the magic you’ll find even in MartinLogan’s entry-level electrostatics, the Montage does offer impressive imaging and a taste of the detail and transparency that can be found at higher prices. Mate a pair with the Dynamo sub and the Vignette center and surround speakers, and you get a first-class home theater system that can compete with anything in its price range. As a few filmmakers have discovered, sometimes Jim will do nicely if Tom is out of your budget.