Auditioned a pair of Summits today...

[roberto]

What prevented you from getting up and repositioning the speakers and changing the settings on the bass control yourself? I've had to do it before, I even had a tape measure with me to try and set them up similar as to what I have at home. I'm begining to realize that some salespeople have no clue on how to set up Martin Logans. If they don't allow you to set them up the way you want then go somewhere else. Just my 2 cents

Hola...well said and also, perhaps what I like is not what you like, so the flexibility of setting up it is a must. Of course, you have to know what you are doing. Some people like a lot of bass energy and clean sound, others like less bass. The word "clean" is the clue for all of us. There are many room settings with the controls at the Summits for bass respect. Many room resonance could be eliminated or also, could make your room to sound with too much bass energy. As I said before, depends a lot of your liking. The Vantages are the second to follow...this is my liking and nice toys to play with...happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.

 

[mapmustang]

Well I went back again today and took home a Krell amp to audition at home. While I was waiting I listened to the same setup again and toed the speakers in some since no one was there with me. The focus of the image was much better but the bass was still fairly lacking. I took the Krell amp home and its definitely not the amp thats causing the bass deficiency. This amp really throws out some bass. I tweaked with the bass gains on the Summits while I was there and had them both at 0 to start then moved them to +3. The main knob on the top center of the summits I wasn't sure what it was but it was at about 75%. I was much more impressed than originally, but the bass still puzzles me. Regardless, I still hope to have a pair in the next few months.

 

[Craig]

It's possible they could wired out of phase. The Summits have the ability to boost the bass to a pretty high level or reduce the bass. That's one of the highlights of the Summits.

Each speaker has a control knob (25hz) for adjusting the bass level in the 20Hz-30Hz range and another (50Hz) for adjusting the 40z-60Hz range (approximately). Each one can increase or decrease -10dB to +10Hz. Each speaker has 2 10" woofers and each woofer has its own 200 watt amplifier and the effect is almost like having 2 subwoofers so there should be no shortage of bass with these speakers.

The knob in the middle that you were refering to is only for adjusting the intensity of the blue light bar on top of the bass module. The light indicates the speaker's power supply is active and stays on until about 5 minutes after a signal is absent. It's mostly a nice cosmetic touch and has nothing to do with the audio.

I'm sure it's not the amp and I'm sure it's not the speakers either. Again, something is not right with that setup and I'm surprised that your ML dealer hasn't recognized that. It would be ideal to listen to the Summits at another ML dealer if you happen to have one in your area.

 

[IWalker]

I'm not sure what your tastes in Bass are...

but I went and auditioned both the Summit and Vantage at an Audio Advice showroom in Boca Raton, FL. I went with a close friend and my fiancee. My fiancee has always been of the mindset "I can't tell the difference anyway, so why would I pay for a difference?" I hoped to change her mindset with a pair of Logans (so she'll let me buy them!)

The Summits were the only speakers in their room, with a Krell Integrated amp and SACD Player. The Vantages were set up in a room full of different equipment (which also meant it was a bigger room) I believe a high end Denon was powering the Vantages.

In the relatively small room the vantages were in, they sounded wonderful. Very fast and clean. I was very impressed. The bass was fast, and not overwhelming. The fiancee, in an A/B comparison with some equally priced box speakers (I'm don't remember the brand...Polk I think, but don't hold me to that) could tell a big difference as well, and greatly preferred the Logans.

Then we listened to the summits. In the smaller room. Too much Bass. The sound was actually much less focused. I didn't want to try to show the salesman up by offering to adjust the toe in and bass controls...plus, I don't think it would have helped a ton in a 10x10 room.

So, I got buy in from the fiancee on the Vantages...and convinced her (as I firmly believe) that the issue with the Summits was the tiny room they were in...so when we upgrade to a bigger house (we're having a small one built that will be done early next year....the Vantages will go in that) we can give the Summits (or whatever is available then) a shot.

So, a win for me...but a loss for Audio Advice, for having their premier speaker set up in a tiny tiny room.

Enough of me rambling. Unless you're a major bass head, the Summits output a LARGE amount of bass that should be able to fill most spaces quite easily. If you ARE a bass head, give the descent a try. I was VERY impressed by the speed and power of the bass in that baby. I would really try to find someone else in your area who has some Summits, or next time you travel out of state, make a point to visit someone (or some showroom) that has them...for a second opinion.

Unless you LOVE seismic bass, the Summits should do it for you...so I'd investigate other factors.

sorry for the temporary thread hijacking I tend to ramble

 

[Robin]

Why can't Magnolia get the larger ML speakers?

Thats for sure. The only reson I still deal with my local Tweeter is because they are the only ML dealer in 200 miles. Well there is Magnolia, but I dont count them because the can only get the smaller Logans.

Joe,

I was wondering why that is, do you happen to know why can't Magnolia HiFi get the larger ML speakers? I experienced a problem trying to audition Summits there about six months ago...

 

[Reverb2009]

Joe,

I was wondering why that is, do you happen to know why can't Magnolia HiFi get the larger ML speakers? I experienced a problem trying to audition Summits there about six months ago...

My local Magnolia is inside a BestBuy, and the BestBuy Magnolias are only authorized to sell the Clarity’s and under. They are a design series dealer, so they can only sell what you see on the MartinLogan.com site under Products, Design series.

 

[Robin]

Very Interesting...

My local Magnolia is inside a BestBuy, and the BestBuy Magnolias are only authorized to sell the Clarity’s and under. They are a design series dealer, so they can only sell what you see on the MartinLogan.com site under Products, Design series.

Joe,

The Magnolia, I visit is a Magnolia store alone. They had Vista's and Vantage's in the store. But when I spoke with the store manager, as to why he didn't have Summits, he side stepped and wanted me to order a pair, he more than willing to take them back into his store if I didn't want them. To Keep as in-store demo's, which I diffinatly got the impression he really wanted to have a pair of Summits in his store... What you discribe makes sense to me now... It explains his behavior and is probalby how he got his ML Vista's and Vantage's to his showroom floor

 

[Reverb2009]

Joe,

The Magnolia, I visit is a Magnolia store alone. They had Vista's and Vantage's in the store. But when I spoke with the store manager, as to why he didn't have Summits, he side stepped and wanted me to order a pair, he more than willing to take them back into his store if I didn't want them. To Keep as in-store demo's, which I diffinatly got the impression he really wanted to have a pair of Summits in his store... What you discribe makes sense to me now... It explains his behavior and is probalby how he got his ML Vista's and Vantage's to his showroom floor

My local Tweeter does not carry the Summits either.

They have said they are more then happy to order me a set, and I would have 30 days to try them in home and return them if I did not like them but they will not carry a demo set.

The reason why is because they would not sell a set even if they had a demo pair in store, as salesmen my local tweeter sucks big time.