Summit X vs. Montis - Based on Room Size

I am getting closer to pulling the trigger on a speaker upgrade. I currently have a 5 year old set of ML Source for my main front speakers and I have loved them. I am now ready to upgrade. I have sampled tons of speakers and have decided to proceed with ML's. My listening room is 13' wide, by 19' deep.

My question is - will a pair of Summit X's be too large for the room? We will be in this house for a long time. I would love to get 5-10 years out of this upgrade and I don't want to buy something that is "too large" for the room (is that an issue?).

What say the ML experts?

By the way, I am driving my fronts with a McIntosh 6700. Integrated amp - 200 Watts X 2. (I realize my system is not worthy compared to some of the systems on this site, so please do not flame me....... )

Thanks.

The Summit and Montis have the same footprint with the same size panel. The key difference is that the Summit goes a bit lower. Some would argue that the electronics on the Montis are newer and better than the Summit X's since the Summit X is an older speaker. That said the Summit X has just been replaced by the 13A which is at the same price point but with a wider panel and the Montis has been replaced by the 11A which is about the same size. The key difference I see for the newer speakers is that the bass can be customized with a microphone for your room such that either may sound better in your room than the current speakers.

Basically the woofer cabinet on the new speakers has a subwoofer like calibration sequence to tune them to the room vs. just having two knobs on the back to manually adjust.

Wow, I had heard the change was coming - but I was not aware these models were already replaced by a new line. I will do some googling to find details on improvements of the new models.

Thanks.

bikerneil said:

Wow, I had heard the change was coming - but I was not aware these models were already replaced by a new line. I will do some googling to find details on improvements of the new models.

Thanks.

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You won't find much out there yet. This last page shows 13A pictures from a guy who just purchased a pair and has some other information about them.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...sterpiece-Series-Electrostatic-Speakers/page4

Hello bikerneil, thanks for the input of your room size, something special there as long as you can bring them out into the room, 19' deep is a better than my room, you may have to play with the separation of the speakers with 13', it's very possible to get that magic 3-D soundstage with that width. No side wall is the best side wall in Logan land.

I'd go for the Summits and place them within an inch of their life, never look back...or pay a bit more for the Montis or newer models, the sound will be very, very close, your call!

Hello bikerneil,

While the ML website is not still updated with the new model information, they have a news item in the news section, which is very informative.

http://www.martinlogan.com/news/pr/2016/05/05/masterpiece-series

Here is a summary of the information that I have collected so far.

Speaker Height:
(H x W x D - entire speaker)
Renaissance ESL 15A: 69.8 x 15.75 x 28.9 inches
Expression ESL 13A: 61.5 x 13.4 x 27.5 inches
Impression ESL 11A: 60.75 x 11.9 x 27.4 inches

Panel Height:
Renaissance ESL 15A: 46-inches
Expression ESL 13A: 44-inches
Impression ESL 11A: 44-inches

15A = $25K
13A = $15K
11A = $10K

They've also got the following information

15A dual 12" woofers down to 22Hz
13A dual 10" woofers down to 24Hz 300W class D amp
11A dual 8" woofers down to 29Hz 275W class D amp

"Assumption" going down to means -3dB

By comparison

Summit X 24Hz 200W class D amp
Montis 29Hz 200W class D amp

I have the original Summits in a 14'x19' room and they work great, but I also have a lot of acoustic treatment. You could try to find a deal on Summit X's before they are gone or you could wait until the Expressions are available. Either way, you will end up with a great pair of speakers.

The Summit Xs are from the same generation of ML speakers as the Montis (the Renaissance line), so they have the same technology as the Montis.

The Summit Xs have two 12 inch powered woofers compared to one in the Montis, so the Summit Xs would output a lot more bass energy into the room, which could be a problem. I think (I don't know) the Montis would be a better fit for your room.

I think it will be a while until the newer Masterpiece generation speakers sell for what you can pay for a Montis now. I think they also need to be a little farther out into the room as they have a longer bass enclosure and a rear firing woofer.

and to add my two cents ....... the cost difference of the Montis will allow you to add a nice sub (hopefully in the perfect location) which will in turn afford you with at least as good if not a better bottom end.

twich54 said:

and to add my two cents ....... the cost difference of the Montis will allow you to add a nice sub (hopefully in the perfect location) which will in turn afford you with at least as good if not a better bottom end.

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Interesting thought since you could get a fully modern sub that could calibrate itself to your room and get some of the goodness of the newer ML's.