Description

MartinLogan Motion XTC8-HT – Angled 8-Inch In-Ceiling Speaker

The MartinLogan Motion XTC8-HT is a premium two-way architectural in-ceiling loudspeaker designed for high-performance home cinema and whole-home audio installations.

Unlike conventional downward-firing ceiling speakers, the XTC8-HT incorporates a fixed-angle driver assembly that directs sound towards listeners positioned away from the speaker’s mounting location.

Combining MartinLogan’s advanced Folded Motion XT tweeter with an 8-inch woven Kevlar woofer, the XTC8-HT delivers exceptional clarity, controlled dispersion and powerful musical performance.

Angled Driver Design for Home Cinema

The defining feature of the XTC8-HT is its angled woofer and tweeter arrangement.

This allows sound to be directed towards the main listening position rather than immediately beneath the ceiling speaker.

The entire speaker assembly can be rotated during installation to aim the angled drivers towards the listening area.

This makes the XTC8-HT particularly suitable for front, centre and other appropriately positioned channels in custom home cinema installations.

Advanced Folded Motion XT Tweeter

MartinLogan’s Folded Motion XT tweeter uses a lightweight folded diaphragm to deliver fast transient response, detailed high frequencies and controlled sound dispersion.

Its 30° × 80° dispersion characteristics help focus sound towards the intended listening area.

Premium 8-Inch Kevlar Woofer

The XTC8-HT incorporates an 8-inch woven black Kevlar woofer with Nomex backing and a cast-aluminium basket.

This driver provides controlled bass, natural midrange reproduction and excellent dynamic performance.

MartinLogan Vojtko Crossover

The two-way crossover uses carefully selected components to integrate the Folded Motion XT tweeter with the Kevlar woofer.

The crossover is engineered to preserve clarity, tonal balance and accurate musical reproduction.

Discreet Architectural Design

A paintable, micro-perforated magnetic grille allows the XTC8-HT to blend into the surrounding ceiling.

The low-profile design creates a clean appearance, making it suitable for luxury residential interiors and dedicated cinema rooms.

Home Cinema & Multi-Room Applications

The XTC8-HT is suitable for:

• Dedicated home cinema installations
• Front and centre speaker applications where ceiling placement is required
• Custom surround sound systems
• Premium multi-room music systems
• Open-plan living spaces
• Smart home audio installations
• Control4-integrated audio systems using compatible amplification

Speaker placement and channel assignment should be planned according to the intended surround sound format and room layout.

Key Features

• Premium two-way angled in-ceiling loudspeaker
• Fixed-angle driver assembly
• Rotatable speaker assembly for directional aiming
• Advanced Folded Motion XT tweeter
• 8-inch woven Kevlar woofer with Nomex backing
• MartinLogan Vojtko crossover design
• Frequency response of 51Hz–25kHz
• 91dB sensitivity
• 150W maximum power handling
• 4-ohm nominal impedance
• Paintable magnetic architectural grille
• Suitable for premium home cinema and multi-room audio
• Passive design requiring external amplification

Complete Technical Specifications

Dimensions, Weight & Installation Requirements

Important Installation Information

The XTC8-HT requires a substantially larger ceiling opening and greater installation depth than the standard XTC8.

Before installation, confirm the ceiling structure, available mounting depth, cable access and the position of the intended listening area.

The angled driver assembly should be rotated towards the listening position before the grille is fitted.

The XTC8-HT is a passive loudspeaker and requires suitable external amplification.

Because the manufacturer specifies a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, amplifier compatibility must be checked carefully, particularly in multi-zone installations.

For installations requiring moisture resistance, select an appropriately rated architectural loudspeaker.

Expert MartinLogan Installation at Riverside HiFi

At Riverside HiFi, we specialise in premium architectural loudspeakers, bespoke home cinema rooms, high-end hi-fi and smart home integration.

Our services include:

• Dedicated home cinema design
• In-ceiling and in-wall loudspeaker installation
• Speaker positioning and directional aiming
• Surround sound system configuration
• Amplifier and loudspeaker matching
• Multi-room audio distribution
• Control4 smart home integration
• Acoustic optimisation and professional installation

Whether you’re creating a dedicated cinema room or a discreet whole-home entertainment system, Riverside HiFi can help you achieve exceptional performance with MartinLogan architectural loudspeakers.

MartinLogan Motion XTC8-HT – Premium Angled In-Ceiling Speaker

Riverside HiFi – Hi-Fi | Home Cinema | Smart Home | Professional Installation

In-Ceiling Speaker.

The “HT” version of the XTC8 features a fixed angle mounting of the tweeter and woofer in order to provide a massive improvement in performance for listeners who are farther away. This is the perfect choice for when a speaker must be mounted apart from where the listener will be standing, walking or sitting, like in a home theater. When being used as the front or center speaker in a home theater, the listener is typically around 10 feet or farther away, yet typical in-ceiling speakers point straight down placing the sweet spot directly in front of the screen. By angling the drivers toward the listener, a very noticeable increase in performance is realized. The same holds true in whole house music systems where speakers are often located farther away from where the listener spends most of their time. In situations like this, the angled “HT” models provide a very real, and very noticeable increase in performance.

The MartinLogan Motion XT CI series takes performance to the next level over Motion CI. The Folded Motion XT tweeter gives each model in the Motion XT series even more of the clarity, output and efficiency that the standard size FMT is famous for. With Motion XT, we wanted to increase all aspects of performance over the Motion series, so we didn’t just stop at the tweeter. All Motion XT models feature woven Kevlar woofers for increased rigidity and lightness as well as a special Nomex layer on the back side of the woofer material which increases clarity and realism by reducing resonance and ringing. In addition to the larger tweeter, and lighter, stronger woofers, MartinLogan’s design and engineering team has fitted the Motion XT series with a more substantial chassis to strengthen the speaker and provide a more accurate sound, similar to a better cabinet on a traditional speaker. The Nomex layer and the chassis are not something you can see after installation, but it matters to the performance of the speaker, so it matters to us. With Motion XT CI, the difference is in the details.

The Sound of Invisibility:
Folded Motion^® Tweeters

MartinLogan’s signature Folded Motion Tweeter utilizes an extremely low-mass diaphragm that “squeezes” air, thus requiring significantly less excursion than the typical 1-inch dome tweeter. Its folded design allows for a much larger surface area (compared to that of a regular 1-inch dome tweeter), controlled dispersion characteristics, and vanishingly low distortion. It’s a miracle of audio engineering that delivers much of the high-frequency detail, speed and response of a large, dynamic electrostatic panel in a small space. Folded Motion XT tweeters advance thin-film transducer technology even further with a 40% larger radiating surface and 80×30-degree controlled dispersion. This upgrade increases audible bandwidth without sacrificing detail and reduces distortion to an incredibly low level while increasing efficiency and the tweeter’s already lightning-fast response time. The result is superior realism and alarming specificity that is aurally astounding, and only by MartinLogan.

This thin-film transducer design packs all the accuracy and delicacy of an electrostatic panel into a small space. Folding the dramatically lightweight film into an accordion-like structure increases the surface area, giving Folded Motion tweeters eight to ten times greater surface area than typical tweeters. This ideal combination of light and large produces superior accuracy, extended frequency bandwidth and higher output capability; all with a faster, more efficient transient response, and virtually zero distortion. In these characteristics, the Folded Motion Tweeter design can mimic the performance of a large electrostatic panel in the confines of a more traditional loudspeaker enclosure.

Woven Kevlar Cones

All Motion XT CI speakers feature very lightweight woven Kevlar cones specifically engineered to keep pace with the lightning speed of our highest performance Folded Motion Tweeter XT. While these high-performance drivers offer both increased rigidity and lightness, we took an extra step by adding a special Nomex layer on the back side of the woofer material which increases clarity and realism by reducing resonance and ringing. This layer is not something you can see after installation, but it matters to the performance of the speaker, so it matters to us.

No matter which Motion XT CI speaker you choose for your room, rest assured they are designed to provide a consistently high level of performance and can easily be used with other MartinLogan speakers to make creating the perfect system for your unique listening space that much easier.

The MartinLogan Sound

MartinLogan Motion XT CI speakers sound incredible in any room. Regardless of the environment, our speakers just sound better, more articulate, more detailed, and more realistic. With Controlled Dispersion and one of the most responsive tweeters in the industry, our in-wall and in-ceiling models can compete with and often exceed the performance of traditional cabinet speakers.

Spring-Loaded Binding Posts

With easy pre-installation access, our spring-loaded binding posts feature a large 4.5mm wire access hole and connect via banana plug, pin, or 12AWG bare wire.

Micro-Perforated Grilles

All MartinLogan architectural speakers feature an ultra-low profile, paintable, micro-perforated grilles with no visible bezel for a near-invisible integration into any wall or ceiling. A series of powerful magnets hidden inside the speaker quickly secure grilles into place, reducing the risk of warping or damage during installation. Optional square grilles are available for all current MartinLogan in-ceiling speakers.

Proprietary Vojtko^™ Crossover Networks

Vojtko Crossovers are named after MartinLogan’s chief audio technologist, Joe Vojtko.

His unique approach to crossover design is just as crucial to MartinLogan’s Truth in Sound as are our innovative electrostatic and Folded Motion thin-film driver technologies. A Vojtko Crossover isn’t just a set of design requirements; it’s a philosophy.

Vojtko Crossovers are hand-built from the highest quality components and avoid overly complex topologies. This crossover has a straightforward objective: breathtaking realism.

Hand-Selected Components

In designing each crossover topology, we take the drivers themselves into consideration. Carefully selected drivers, engineered for specific performance characteristics, are kept within their optimal frequency range by the custom Vojtko Crossover.

Each crossover is handcrafted using exceptional polypropylene and polyester capacitors, custom wound and large steel laminate low-DCR inductors, and double thick PCBs. This precision-tuned network preserves even the most microscopic sonic nuances while handling the full dynamics of any source. It’s a recipe for vanishingly low distortion and seamless driver integration.

The most critical aspect of a Vojtko Crossover design is the final voicing, always conducted in a real-world environment. This uniquely pragmatic approach guarantees that even the most amazing MartinLogan loudspeakers deliver Truth in Sound in any room, including yours.

Optional Retrofit Enclosure

All Motion CI in-ceiling speakers have the option for a retrofittable back can or enclosure. This helps contain the sound coming off the back of the speaker to dramatically reduce unwanted sound that can travel through the floor and up into the living space above the speaker. For those desiring increased bass output, or for when sound control is not required, you can simply choose to use the MC8 without the optional enclosure so it can take full advantage of the larger air volume provided by the space in the ceiling.

Pre-Installation Brackets
(sold separately)

Pre-installation brackets are available for every 
model in the Motion XT CI Series.

Specifications

Specifications are subject to change without notice

Frequency Response	51 – 25,000 Hz ±3dB
Tweeter Dispersion (horizontal x vertical)	30 x 80 degrees
Recommended Amplifier Power	Range 50–300 Watts
Sensitivity	91dB @2.83V/ 1 meter
Impedance	4 ohms. Compatible with 8 ohms
High Frequency Driver	FMT Transducer 1.27” x 2.4” (3.22cm x 6.09cm) Opening 4.5” x 2.75” (11.43cm x 6.98cm) Diaphragm
Crossover Frequency	2,000 Hz
Crossover Type	2 way
Driver Configuration	1 x 1.27” x 2.75” FMT, 1 x 8” Woofers
Woofer Specifications	One 8” (20.32 cm) cast aluminum basket, black Kevlar with Nomex backer cone, Open back chamber format. Concave dust cap.
Cabinet Material	Black w/ White Paintable Grill
Connector	Push style
Components	Custom air core coil inductors, polypropylene film capacitors in series and low DF electrolytic capacitors FMT thermal/current protection.
Max Power Handling	150 Watts
Weight	9.3 lbs. (4.2 kg) each
Dimensions (overall size)	12.68” x 7.15” (32.2 x 18.14cm)
Required Wall Opening (includes tolerance)	11.5” (29.1cm) diameter
Projection From Wall Surface	0.26” (0.65cm)
Depth Behind Wall Surface	7.03” (17.84cm)

Special order item.