Finally took the plunge. . .

[lexor]

processor

i am presently using a Lexicon Mc12 V.5 eq 7.1 system with Bryston Amps, speakers are SL3's, Cinema, Scripts and optimus ribbon's for the sides and 2 depths l/r and a grotto for the LFE. i have been very satisfied with the Lexicon and it has a feature i truly love the left and right woofer and Lfe outputs which very few processors have. for 2 channel it is great and the Logic 7 feature is something to hear. with movies it is one of the best if not the best. i heard the D2 is good also but i have been a Lexicon user for a long time and there trade in programs have been great. good luck and happy listening. For video i am using a Sanyo Z4 and a 106' Stewart GrayHawk wall mount screen.

 

[Rich]

Thanks for the Info. Lexor. I have heard nothing but good things about the Lexicon equipment. I definitely intend to audition some before I make a decision.

 

[Rich]

Just about to put my Salamander QUAD together! YEA BABY!

I customized my dual 20 and dual 10 doors on my Salamander Quad 20 with clear smoked glass...looks SOOO COOL!

Mine is black w/ black Al support stuff and it sits on the casters so it can be moved once it is finished.

When I get it all set up I will of course post pics!

Sounds awesome, James. The casters are a great idea. I was also looking at the black on black. I think it looks really sharp. Can't wait to see pics of your setup. The smoked glass sounds pretty cool but I am not a big fan of glass so I think I am leaning toward the metal mesh. How does the metal mesh look, Wayne?

 

[LOGANLOVE]

if you have time you should go to Premiere Audio Video in Cullman and listen to their setup with sunfire and Summits. They have an awesome demo room. The sales guy said it was about a 100,000 dollar demo theater. It was unreal!!! Runco autoscope projector!!I can't remember the phone number but it is on the Logan website.
Anyways good luck with your purchase

 

[Pcar928fan]

Sounds awesome, James. The casters are a great idea. I was also looking at the black on black. I think it looks really sharp. Can't wait to see pics of your setup. The smoked glass sounds pretty cool but I am not a big fan of glass so I think I am leaning toward the metal mesh. How does the metal mesh look, Wayne?

I am putting the metal mesh on the ends of my system for that cooling purpose, and I understand from someone over on the AVS forum that the back panels are pretty useless so I will probably employ a curtain rod w/ a black valance, that should also allow heat to escape better too...

 

[theWB]

How does the metal mesh look, Wayne?

Rich,
I think the mesh looks fine, the main reason I went with it was to help disapate the heat within the cabinet. Without it I definatly think the cabinet would get to warm.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Rich,
I think the mesh looks fine, the main reason I went with it was to help disapate the heat within the cabinet. Without it I definatly think the cabinet would get to warm.

I took care of that by using a 10 size for the middle two cabinets doors and 20's on the ends, so the hottest stuff will be in the open space in the middle two sections w/ a glass covered door below it... You'll see when I get it built and get some pics up for you guys!

 

[Rich]

They Have Arrived!!!!!

I took delivery on my Summits yesterday. They are absolutely gorgeous, in Natural Cherry with Black Aluminum Accents. My wife says they are much sexier than the Ascents. I hooked them up to the CJ and started burning them in. I was really not prepared for just how AWFUL they would sound. Talk about flabby bass. WOW. Just Awful. But I noticed a huge improvement after playing them just for an hour or two at a moderate listening level. Now they just sound bad, not awful. Can't wait to get them really broken in to see how good they can sound. The panels are already impressing me over the Ascents. They just seem to have a deeper, more full-range sound to them. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

One other issue. Near the end of my session last night I heard a crackle noise coming from one speaker that indicates I may have a tube going bad. This really ****es me off, since I just paid a lot of money a couple of months ago for these NOS tubes and had been greatly enjoying them up to this point. Jeff Z, you might have been right about going with the stock stuff from CJ. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Adjust the x-overs

Rich,

Given my experience, sounds like you may have the 25 and 50HZ x-overs set incorrectly. When the Summit is new, bass should sound somewhat dry /anemic / tight with no "bloom" and not bloaty. Try decreasing the levels (less output) to see if that diminishes the bass bloat. You will find that these settings have a significant impact on the overall "balance" of the Summits. I did a very minor adjustment on my 50HZ setting last night (0.2 DB) to "sweeten" the midrange a touch. Totally audible. Be patient. As I'm sure you've read on this forum, Summits take a minimum of 100 hours to break in with the final break in occuring at about 500 hours. This is my personal experience, which has been validated by others.

One final suggestion. To break in the woofs, play some music with alot of deep bass content. This should quicken the process. Good luck.

GG

 

[kcl]

These speakers apparently take a few hundred hours to break in.

I've taken the plunge too, and have picked up a year-old pair from an audiophile to replace my Ascents. He says he's "lovingly" broken them in over three to four hundred hours, and that the sound improved dramatically over the break-in until they were the best speakers he had ever owned. He also felt it took closer to five hundred hours to get fully broken in. (I got lucky and ran across him when he had to downsize his system and upgrade his house. He also swears he'll own these speakers again in a few years.)

Needless to say, I'm anxiously awaiting what is now my Summits to be delivered.

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Rich,

It may be a conservative approach to tubes but at least you know if you go with the tubes the manufacture designed the product around so you do know what to expect.

There is nothing wrong with tube rolling but if you add NOS tubes then it is one more variable. NOS tubes are by no means bad but they are in limited supply. The way I approach it is this, if I spend $200 on NOS tubes and in lets say two years I need a new set and they are not available then I have to start all over again finding some that will work as good. Now I know, this is part of the "fun" but there are times when I have had enough "fun" and my "fun meter" is pegged.

Just food for thought.


Jeff

 

[Rich]

Rich,

Given my experience, sounds like you may have the 25 and 50HZ x-overs set incorrectly. When the Summit is new, bass should sound somewhat dry /anemic / tight with no "bloom" and not bloaty. Try decreasing the levels (less output) to see if that diminishes the bass bloat. You will find that these settings have a significant impact on the overall "balance" of the Summits. I did a very minor adjustment on my 50HZ setting last night (0.2 DB) to "sweeten" the midrange a touch. Totally audible. Be patient. As I'm sure you've read on this forum, Summits take a minimum of 100 hours to break in with the final break in occuring at about 500 hours. This is my personal experience, which has been validated by others.

One final suggestion. To break in the woofs, play some music with alot of deep bass content. This should quicken the process. Good luck.

GG

Thanks for the suggestions, Gordon. I actually have the x-overs set at zero for the initial break-in. Once they are starting to really break in I will fiddle with the crossover settings, placement, etc., to really dial them in. I was just a little taken aback at how bad they sounded initially, and how much they had improved after just the first hour of playing. My main goal is to just keep breaking them in well for the next couple of months, so they will be ready to go when I set them up in my new dedicated room that is currently under construction.

kcl: Congrats on your new Summits. Hope you Love 'em as much as the guy you are buying them from.

 

[Rich]

Rich,

It may be a conservative approach to tubes but at least you know if you go with the tubes the manufacture designed the product around so you do know what to expect.

There is nothing wrong with tube rolling but if you add NOS tubes then it is one more variable. NOS tubes are by no means bad but they are in limited supply. The way I approach it is this, if I spend $200 on NOS tubes and in lets say two years I need a new set and they are not available then I have to start all over again finding some that will work as good. Now I know, this is part of the "fun" but there are times when I have had enough "fun" and my "fun meter" is pegged.

Just food for thought.


Jeff

Jeff, I understand where you are coming from. Tube Rolling is fun. But sometimes you just want your equipment to work when you turn it on without the issues that questionable tubes can bring you.

I replaced the two of my preamp tubes that cover the right speaker (which is where the crackle was coming from). I put the originals back in and it sounds great. No problem. So now I just have to figure out which of those two tubes is bad and get it replaced. Not too big of a deal. Just not what I wanted to deal with this weekend.

The interesting thing is, I can't tell any major difference right off hand between the left speaker (with NOS tubes) vs. the right speaker (with modern tubes). Of course, the Summits are not properly set up or broken in right now so it is hard to listen critically anyway.

I think I will get a replacement set of the originals from C.J. so that I can do some direct comparisons of the sound between the NOS and the C.J. tubes and see if there is a big enough quality difference to make the NOS worth the money and the hassle. I'll let you know if I discover anything earth-shattering.

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Rich,

We both have the same preamp. I think a set of four was no more than $120 shipped to my door.

Jeff