Although this thread has been inactive of late, I think I have some relevant observations.
I recently purchased AudioFanKj's Summits, replacing my Aerius i's. Upon initial setup, the bass was a tad muddy, and the midrange indeed lacked that "chesty" "full-bodied" sound that even my Aerius' provided. I was puzzled, since everything else in my component chain and room was unaltered. Pulling the Summits out another foot from the front wall helped tighten the bass, but the midrange was still recessed. I started playing with the bass settings, firstly bumping up the 50 Hz setting a tad, then the 25 Hz settings, but, if anything, the mids were even MORE sedate.
Then, a revelation! I happened to play an old forgotten CD... Mondo Beat: Masters of Percussion (a Narada world percussion compilation that is heavy on the bass, and breathtaking). The sound was horrific... boomy, resonating bass, and overall tonal balance equally abysmal. I started dialing down both bass settings, until I had a natural, but relatively tight sound. Surprisingly, I ended up with -4 at 25 Hz, and -8 at 50 Hz. Short of measuring my speaker/room's freq response (still on my to-do list), I never would have thought my room acoustics required such attenuation. Subsequently, replaying my favorite "test tracks", I rediscovered that gorgeous "blooming" midrange that was previously lacking.
What I think is happening is the Summits dual woofers, at their default settings (depending on speaker-room interactions) can create overpowering bass energy, which we inititially compensate for by listening at lower levels. This creates the illusion of recessed mids (perhaps highs, as well). However, once the woofers are properly BALANCED (i.e. tamed), relative to the stat panels, you can start listening again at "normal" volumes, fully restoring that "chesty" midrange and sparkling highs. I spent 6 hours last night absolutely mesmerized by the luscious sound now coming from my Summits.
I think ML should provide a "setup CD" for the Summit (and Vantage), with test tracks to help balance the woofers and stat panels. That would also help the Tweeter's/Magnolia's of the world properly set up and demo the product!
Next steps for me will be incorporating a Modwright preamp into my setup, and eventually getting Room EQ Wizard to further tweak the sound.
If I only had a couple weeks spare vacation time right now!
