MartinLogan Discrete Cinema Soundbar 65 – 3-Channel Passive Soundbar for 65" TVs

The MartinLogan Discrete Cinema Soundbar 65 is a premium three-channel passive LCR soundbar engineered for 65-inch-class televisions. Instead of using built-in amplification or virtualized channels, it houses electrically discrete left, center, and right speakers in one ultra-slim enclosure, allowing a dedicated AV receiver or amplifier to power each channel independently. MartinLogan, Ltd.

At only 2.37 inches deep, the Soundbar 65 incorporates nine drivers—three Gen2 Folded Motion® Tweeters and six 4-inch Woven Fiberglass Unibody midrange/bass drivers. MartinLogan specifies 93 dB sensitivity, 100Hz–25kHz ±3dB frequency response, 4-ohm impedance, and 20–140 watts recommended amplifier power. MartinLogan, Ltd.

True Discrete Left, Center & Right Channels

The Soundbar 65 is a passive three-channel loudspeaker, not a conventional powered soundbar. Each left, center, and right channel receives its own amplifier channel, preserving genuine separation across the front soundstage. MartinLogan, Ltd.

This gives dialogue a dedicated center channel while the independent left and right channels reproduce music, effects, and directional information. Add a subwoofer, surrounds, and height speakers, and the Soundbar 65 can serve as the front stage of a complete 5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos, or DTS:X home theater system.

Nine-Driver Architecture

The Soundbar 65 uses a nine-driver sealed architecture consisting of:

3 × Gen2 Folded Motion® Tweeters
6 × 4" Woven Fiberglass Unibody midrange/bass drivers

MartinLogan's Motion Discrete Cinema range is designed around what the company calls Acoustic Scale. Rather than merely changing cabinet length for different television sizes, MartinLogan scales driver density and acoustic capability to correspond with 65-, 75-, and 85-inch displays. MartinLogan

For the Soundbar 65, that means two 4-inch midrange/bass drivers plus one Gen2 Folded Motion Tweeter per channel—a symmetrical driver complement across the left, center, and right sections. MartinLogan

Gen2 Folded Motion® Tweeters

Each channel receives its own 1" × 1.4" Gen2 Folded Motion Tweeter (FMT) with a substantially larger 5.25" × 1.75" folded diaphragm. MartinLogan, Ltd.

Rather than moving like a traditional dome, the folded diaphragm works by rapidly squeezing air through its folds. The design provides a large effective radiating area within a compact assembly, making it particularly well suited to an enclosure less than 2.5 inches deep.

Folded Motion Waveguides

Every Gen2 FMT is paired with MartinLogan's Folded Motion Waveguide, providing a controlled 90° horizontal × 90° vertical dispersion pattern. MartinLogan, Ltd.

The waveguide is designed to provide consistent high-frequency coverage across the listening area while controlling dispersion outside the primary listening window—important for dialogue intelligibility, imaging, and tonal consistency in rooms with reflective surfaces.

Six 4" Woven Fiberglass Drivers

The Soundbar 65's six 4-inch Woven Fiberglass Unibody cones use 1.5-inch high-temperature voice coils. MartinLogan, Ltd.

The woven-fiberglass construction combines stiffness with low moving mass, allowing the compact drivers to reproduce dialogue, soundtrack dynamics, and midbass with greater control than would be possible from the small full-range drivers commonly used in conventional soundbars.

100Hz–25kHz Frequency Response

MartinLogan specifies a 100Hz–25,000Hz ±3dB frequency response. MartinLogan, Ltd.

The 100Hz low-frequency limit is deliberate. Rather than compromising midrange output by demanding deep bass from an enclosure only 2.37 inches deep, MartinLogan recommends pairing the Motion Discrete Cinema speakers with at least one high-performance subwoofer. MartinLogan

With bass redirected to a properly integrated subwoofer, the Soundbar 65 can concentrate its available driver area and excursion on the frequencies responsible for dialogue clarity, front-stage dynamics, imaging, and cinematic impact.

93dB Sensitivity & External Amplification

Sensitivity is rated at 93dB/2.83V/m, providing relatively high output from the Soundbar 65's slim enclosure.

Nominal impedance is 4 ohms, and MartinLogan specifies compatibility with amplifiers rated for 4-, 6-, or 8-ohm loudspeakers. Recommended amplifier power is 20–140 watts. MartinLogan, Ltd.

Because amplification remains external, the owner is not locked into the electronics built into the soundbar. The system can be matched with an appropriate AV receiver today and upgraded to separate processing or amplification later.

2.5-Way Crossover Architecture

The Soundbar 65 employs a 2.5-way crossover design. MartinLogan, Ltd.

This allows MartinLogan to control the operating ranges and acoustic interaction of the multiple drivers rather than simply running every transducer over the same bandwidth. In a nine-driver enclosure containing three separate channels, careful crossover implementation is essential to maintaining consistent dispersion and integration.

Sealed Extruded-Aluminum Cabinet

All nine drivers are housed in a rigid sealed aluminum enclosure.

MartinLogan uses extruded aluminum because its structural strength allows thinner cabinet walls than conventional MDF. That increases usable internal air volume while maintaining the extremely shallow exterior profile. Its rigidity also reduces cabinet flex and resonance that could otherwise color the sound. MartinLogan

The finished enclosure measures just 4.76 inches high × 56.7 inches wide × 2.37 inches deep. MartinLogan, Ltd.

Designed for 65" TVs

At 56.7 inches wide, the Soundbar 65 is proportioned specifically to complement 65-inch-class televisions.

This is where MartinLogan's Acoustic Scale approach becomes especially relevant. The speaker isn't simply styled to look appropriate beneath a large television; its nine-driver architecture is sized to produce a front soundstage with acoustic scale that better corresponds with the image. MartinLogan

Curved endcaps soften the visual transition between the cabinet and wall, while the extremely shallow depth allows the soundbar to maintain the low-profile appearance of a modern flat-panel installation. MartinLogan

Low-Profile Wall Mount Included

MartinLogan includes the wall mount with the Soundbar 65. Your September 25, 2026 MartinLogan dealer sheet also identifies it as a three-channel low-profile passive soundbar with the wall mount included. Motion Discrete Cinema - USR51 …

Rear cable-management provisions help conceal the three sets of speaker wiring required by the discrete LCR architecture, keeping the finished installation visually clean.

Optional TV Mount Kit

MartinLogan also offers the Low Profile Speaker TV Mount Kit, compatible with the Soundbar 65, 75, and 85 as well as the Discrete Cinema LCR5, LCR7, and LCR9. Motion Discrete Cinema - USR51 …

Mounting the speaker directly to the television's support structure is especially useful with an articulating display mount because the Soundbar 65 remains aligned with the screen as the television moves.

Tool-Free Speaker Connections

Motion Discrete Cinema uses a removable, tool-free speaker connector designed to simplify installation.

The installer can terminate the speaker wires before the soundbar is hung, using tension levers to secure the conductors without a screwdriver. The terminated connector then plugs into the rear of the cabinet. MartinLogan

For a low-profile speaker mounted tightly against a wall and containing three independent channels, this is a practical advantage over conventional rear-facing binding posts.

Technical Specifications

These specifications follow MartinLogan's current Soundbar 65 product page. MartinLogan, Ltd.

Shipping Specifications

MartinLogan's September 2026 dealer sheet separately lists the Soundbar 65 at 60.4" × 8.9" × 6.1" packaged and 18 lb shipping weight. Motion Discrete Cinema - USR51 …

Those should be entered as Shopify shipping dimensions and weight, not customer-facing speaker dimensions.

MartinLogan Discrete Cinema Soundbar 65 at The Grid HiFi

The Discrete Cinema Soundbar 65 delivers the architectural simplicity people want beneath a 65-inch television without reducing the front soundstage to a conventional all-in-one powered soundbar. Its three discrete channels, Gen2 Folded Motion tweeters, six woven-fiberglass drivers, external amplification, and 2.37-inch depth make it a strong foundation for a serious home theater that needs to remain visually understated.

The Grid HiFi can build the complete system around it, including the AV receiver or processor, amplification, subwoofer, surrounds, Dolby Atmos channels, television, mounting, concealed wiring, Control4 automation, networking, and professional calibration.

MartinLogan's new USR51 ultra-slim 5.1 receiver is an especially clean companion for Discrete Cinema installations, combining 50 watts per channel, Anthem Room Correction (ARC), HDMI eARC, wireless streaming, and control integration. Motion Discrete Cinema - USR51 …

Building a high-performance system around a 65-inch TV? Call The Grid HiFi at (713) 218-8120 for expert system design, matching, and installation.