Advice From The Experts Here

Last night my beloved 22 year old Infinity RS1Bs blew some EMIM midrange drivers. I guess it's time for something new. I'm going to start to audition speakers next week. Planars have always hit my buttons but I will audition cone speakers, too. I come here for you advice on which ML is right for me.

The dedicated audio room is 12 X 20 X 7.5, treated with tube traps, rpg diffusors and GIK absorption.

The equipment:

Amps: Pass Aleph 2, Parasound A21
Pre: Parasound JC2, Audio Research SP11 MK 2
Sources: Denon 5900 SACD/DVDA - Bryston BDA-1 DAC, Squeezebox
Turntable: SOTA Millennia/Graham 2.2/Grado Reference

Music tastes: Jazz, Classical, Opera and Rock depending on my mood.

Budget: $15K but hopefully less.

Can the room handle the Summit X? Would the Spire be better or something else?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Craig

Craig, Welcome ! from another SE Pa'er.......Go Phillies !!

your room is sligfhtly smaller than mine so I see no reason why Spires's or Summitt X's wouldn't be a great fit. FYI, I'm close to getting private showing for our group put together down @ Overture in Wilmington where we plan to showcase the CLX and Summitt X.

FWIW, I'm tickled pink with my Spire set-up.

CraigS720 said:

Last night my beloved 22 year old Infinity RS1Bs blew some EMIM midrange drivers. I guess it's time for something new. I'm going to start to audition speakers next week. Planars have always hit my buttons but I will audition cone speakers, too. I come here for you advice on which ML is right for me.

The dedicated audio room is 12 X 20 X 7.5, treated with tube traps, rpg diffusors and GIK absorption.

The equipment:

Amps: Pass Aleph 2, Parasound A21
Pre: Parasound JC2, Audio Research SP11 MK 2
Sources: Denon 5900 SACD/DVDA - Bryston BDA-1 DAC, Squeezebox
Turntable: SOTA Millennia/Graham 2.2/Grado Reference

Music tastes: Jazz, Classical, Opera and Rock depending on my mood.

Budget: $15K but hopefully less.

Can the room handle the Summit X? Would the Spire be better or something else?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Craig

Click to expand...

Hola Craig, and welcome...due to the size of your room, and if I were you, I will get the Spires and spend the rest of money in music and room's acoustics. Of course the Summits X are better (at the bass energy and adjustment for room's standing waves)...but, this is my liking. The stat panels are the same size on both speakers...try the Spires, you might like them!!! Happy listening,
Roberto.

Hi Craig,

Consider buying a pair of used Summits.

At $6K +/-, a silly stupid bargain IMHO.

GG

Yeah, not that I want to take a sale away from ML, but Gordon's right! And it sounds like you already have your room dialed in, so you should be good to go.

Dave,

It's kinda been a mixed feelings week. Good - Phillies, Bad - Infinity RS1B. :music:

Keep me posted on the trip to Overture. I would love to join you.

Beautiful system, btw.

Gordon, Thanks for your thoughts. Presumably you mean the original Summits not the X. I guess for there's not an $8-9 thousand difference between the Summits and the Summit X.

Do I take that to mean that you think the original Summit is a better speaker than the Spire?

Thanks again.

Craig

Craig,

There have been posts regarding the difference between the two and I'll let you review the comments.

To summarize, the Spire does have the new crossover technology that's been incorporated into the new CLX, which is supposed to allow for a better blend between the panel and the dynamic woofer. However, the Spire has one powered woofer per speaker versus two contained in the original Summit.

I speculate, but based on what I've read here and elsewhere, there are folks that are more than pleased with a single woofer and feel that the Spire is just as good or better than the Summit. Other Spire owners (including the other Gordon) have purchased one or two subs to augment the low end.

I briefly heard the Spire in a dealer's showroom and they certainly are impressive.

Jeff D / Tone Magazine and MLC member, has heard all three speakers so you may want to find his reviews.

What's clear is that, all other things being equal, the Summit should have more reinforcement in the lower octave. Whether a better panel / woofer blend (Spire) or having a speaker that has more low end response (Summit) is preferential to you is something only you can decide.

If at all possible, you should try to audition the Spire and the Summit and come to your own conclusions.

GG

PS: I saw two for sale on the gon today. One, without boxes, for $5,100. Another, with an upgraded finish, for $6,100.

To give you the really short version, when comparing Summit, and Spire side by side, the Spire is slightly cleaner through the midrange, but the Summit has the extra pair of woofers and has a little more bass grunt.

Both are still very good and I'd say depending on your room and taste, you would be hard pressed to go with either. It's very close.

woops, typing too fast, I meant to say, you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with either!

Jeff,

May be one of those cases where the type of music this person listens to most often (and volume level thereof) may be the deciding factor.

If he does go with the Spires, I think he can pick up a used pair for $4K +/-.

I'm confident Mantana (MLC member) would try to work something out if this is the path Craig wishes to pursue.

Gordon

OK, thanks guys! I'm off to do some listening and I'll report back. You've all been very helpful.

My tastes, btw, run from small jazz ensembles to big scale classical works like Mahler's 2nd. Rock speaks for itself That probably speaks to me being happier with the Summit given I've lived for so long with the biamped RS1Bs and its 12 woofers .


Best,

Craig

Given that personal perspective, totally agree.

GG

CraigS720 said:

Last night my beloved 22 year old Infinity RS1Bs blew some EMIM midrange drivers. I guess it's time for something new. I'm going to start to audition speakers next week. Planars have always hit my buttons but I will audition cone speakers, too. I come here for you advice on which ML is right for me.

The dedicated audio room is 12 X 20 X 7.5, treated with tube traps, rpg diffusors and GIK absorption.

The equipment:

Amps: Pass Aleph 2, Parasound A21
Pre: Parasound JC2, Audio Research SP11 MK 2
Sources: Denon 5900 SACD/DVDA - Bryston BDA-1 DAC, Squeezebox
Turntable: SOTA Millennia/Graham 2.2/Grado Reference

Music tastes: Jazz, Classical, Opera and Rock depending on my mood.

Budget: $15K but hopefully less.

Can the room handle the Summit X? Would the Spire be better or something else?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Craig

Click to expand...

I'd probably roll with the summit as well -- can't beat the price and I have had great luck buying used.

To another question.... how did the bryston bda-1 improve your 5900??

I would think that a pair of used Spires and subs would make a good run at the Summit or X for about 8-9K. But I am a little biased here:music:

The Spire gives me the upgraded crossover and same panel as the Summit X minus the extra woofers. The addition of the stereo subs nicely fills in the bottom to my liking a bit better than the Spire alone. The Spire may provide you with all the bottom you need or want. I don't have the subs thumping like a club although they could do it if I choose.

Whichever you choose or if neither, let us know how your search turns out.

Gordon

X2 to what Gordon said, yes I'm biased but I firmly believe the Spire is hands down the best speaker for the $$ in the M/L lineup !!!

Yeah.

So you want to fight man!

By the way, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you at RMAF and glad your wife recovered from altitude sickness.

Best,

Gordon

Gordon Gray said:

Jeff,

May be one of those cases where the type of music this person listens to most often (and volume level thereof) may be the deciding factor.

If he does go with the Spires, I think he can pick up a used pair for $4K +/-.

I'm confident Mantana (MLC member) would try to work something out if this is the path Craig wishes to pursue.

Gordon

Click to expand...

Maybe, but not so fast. I finally made the move and bought a
Simaudio I-7. Just shipped and should receive early next week...
so, i'll give a good audition with the Spires before re-listing.

First to Timm re the Denon DVD5900 stand alone vs. The Bryston BDA-1. For SACD and a couple of DVD-As I have I use the dac in the player itself. For Redbook CD the Bryston is superior. I'm not good with audiophile words (though I be one! ) I think the Bryston is more focused, more air around the instruments. For want of a better term the Denon alone sounds sloppy and the Bryston gives the music precision. Well worth the investment. Of course I get the same upgrade running my Squeezbox and MacBook Pro with hi-rez files through the BDA-1. I like it a lot. I compared it extensively to the Benchmark and thought they were close but the Bryston had better bottom in my system.

I started my quest for new speakers today by auditioning the Thiel 3.7 and the Magneplanar 3.6. Using a variety of classical, jazz and the new Beatles remasters (stereo and mono) I thought the Thiels sounded like Carnegie Hall where I've spent many years listening to orchestras. Excellent imaging, harmonically rich, deep enough bass for me and none of the high end hardness I have heard from auditioning Thiels in the past. What it lacked, for me, is that see through quality you get from a planar. Of course it's the sound I'm used to after listening the the Infinity RS1B for over 20 years. I also take listening in a dealer's showroom with a grain of salt.

The Maggies were lovely despite being, in my opinion, being woefully underdriven by a NAD Silver integrated. The very bottom wasn't there, I could tell from the lack of oomph from the tympani in Copland and Stravinsky, but the planar sound was unmistakable. Rally, really nice.

Tomorrow, The Summit X and The Spires!!!!

also, for what it's worth, are you using a high quality subwoofer in your system at all? This may help you narrow down your choice a bit more... you may not need 2 "bass drivers" in your ML if you own a nice sub. ML's that I have heard generally do not have very good, deep bass extension so augmenting them by a high end sub (JL Audio Fathom, for example) would be another option if that's your cup of tea!