After I had to sell my Summits a few months ago, I finally returned to my ML dealer with the intention of buying probably the Ethos - the Summit is now out of my price range. I have to admit the Ethos is a stunning looking speaker. ML should be proud of it's design. The Ethos sounds as good as it looks. Wow! Punchy bass, clear uncompressed sound across the whole frequency range. Awesome!
I also had a listen to the new Spire. Again stunning. Perhaps a little more open, with the bass not quite as punchy as the Ethos, but the bass seems somehow smoother and deeper in the Spire. In a bigger room the Spire may very well be a better choice if you can afford the dollars.
In the same room was the Vantage and the Vista. It's easy just to concentrate on the new rather than consider the more established models. So I thought; 'Okay, lets listen to the Vantage just for perspective' - although I thought I pretty much knew the sound from an audition in my home a couple of years ago.
Well! There was something wrong here. I really thought the Vantage would sound dated and small compared with the new siblings. Boy, was I wrong! The sound of the Vantage made me sit up and take notice. The bass was full and seemingly more extended than the Ethos but not as 'punchy'. The mids and highs had just as much 'air' with a broad engrossing soundstage to die for. Everything was there that the Ethos had, only perhaps the voicing was a little different from the Ethos.
What was interesting, is that the Vantage seemed to sound more similar to the Spire than the Ethos. I don't know whether others have noticed this. Again, I cannot say that the Spire is superior to the Vantage. It's just that the Spire offers a little more 'air' and a little more extension in the bass. If I closed my eyes and I reckon I would not be able to tell which speaker was which - not without cheating.
I think the differences between the Vantage and the Spire would be more apparent in a larger room. I guess that's what ML had in mind when designing these speakers.
Now getting back to the original theme of this post, the Vantage vs the Ethos. After more extended listening, I thought the Ethos' bass was a little too forward and overpowering. I realised soon after that ML provided a control at the rear of this speaker which provided bass adjustment from 100 Hz down. I can see why this was included. After adjusting the bass, the Ethos sounded more balanced. But the Vantage still seemed even better balanced in the bass ( this speaker has a 35 Hz control to adjust the lower bass). After a little twiddling with the 35 Hz control, I could make the Vantage sound closer to the Spire.
So which one am I going to buy? Whew! Tough choice. I'm kinda leaning towards the Vantage. I'm not sure I like the Ethos' bass as much as the Vantage/Spire. And there's the dollar factor. The Vantage can be had for very competitive dollars. Decisions, decisions...
P.S. Don't take my observations as being critical of any of the above speakers. They all sounded fantastic in their own way. I would be happy to own any of them. Also don't forget the room has a big bearing on any subjective opinion relating to sound quality.
I also had a listen to the new Spire. Again stunning. Perhaps a little more open, with the bass not quite as punchy as the Ethos, but the bass seems somehow smoother and deeper in the Spire. In a bigger room the Spire may very well be a better choice if you can afford the dollars.
In the same room was the Vantage and the Vista. It's easy just to concentrate on the new rather than consider the more established models. So I thought; 'Okay, lets listen to the Vantage just for perspective' - although I thought I pretty much knew the sound from an audition in my home a couple of years ago.
Well! There was something wrong here. I really thought the Vantage would sound dated and small compared with the new siblings. Boy, was I wrong! The sound of the Vantage made me sit up and take notice. The bass was full and seemingly more extended than the Ethos but not as 'punchy'. The mids and highs had just as much 'air' with a broad engrossing soundstage to die for. Everything was there that the Ethos had, only perhaps the voicing was a little different from the Ethos.
What was interesting, is that the Vantage seemed to sound more similar to the Spire than the Ethos. I don't know whether others have noticed this. Again, I cannot say that the Spire is superior to the Vantage. It's just that the Spire offers a little more 'air' and a little more extension in the bass. If I closed my eyes and I reckon I would not be able to tell which speaker was which - not without cheating.
I think the differences between the Vantage and the Spire would be more apparent in a larger room. I guess that's what ML had in mind when designing these speakers.
Now getting back to the original theme of this post, the Vantage vs the Ethos. After more extended listening, I thought the Ethos' bass was a little too forward and overpowering. I realised soon after that ML provided a control at the rear of this speaker which provided bass adjustment from 100 Hz down. I can see why this was included. After adjusting the bass, the Ethos sounded more balanced. But the Vantage still seemed even better balanced in the bass ( this speaker has a 35 Hz control to adjust the lower bass). After a little twiddling with the 35 Hz control, I could make the Vantage sound closer to the Spire.
So which one am I going to buy? Whew! Tough choice. I'm kinda leaning towards the Vantage. I'm not sure I like the Ethos' bass as much as the Vantage/Spire. And there's the dollar factor. The Vantage can be had for very competitive dollars. Decisions, decisions...
P.S. Don't take my observations as being critical of any of the above speakers. They all sounded fantastic in their own way. I would be happy to own any of them. Also don't forget the room has a big bearing on any subjective opinion relating to sound quality.
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