Recessed Summit Midrange revisited

[Neil H]

I have been a long time Martin Logan user but have only recently joined the club. I happened to come across some threads going back a couple of years, discussing whether the Summit has a recessed midrange with some people loving the sound and others missing the claimed more forward midrange of the Prodigy and Odyssey.

There was much talk about the breakin period of the summits and also the correct postioning in the room. Some people felt there was more improvement to come on both these fronts.

I am now wondering what the overall consensus is now that the Summit has now been out for some time.

Do people feel they eventually got the sound to their liking, do they still miss the old sound, and did some trade in the Summit and go back to the older ML line.

It would interest me to hear of your experience now that the Summit's are no longer that new.

I personally love my Summit's now that they are reasonably broken in but they do have a very different sound than the older models.

 

[sleepysurf]

IMHO, the Summits midrange is perfect. The key is making sure you have ideal room placement, and proper room acoustics/EQ control of the bass, which then allows the midrange to "bloom". I (and many others) have also found that eliminating the backward tilt of the Summits, by using jtwrace's custom long spikes in the rear, really makes a difference.

 

[Neil H]

I also like the midrange. It is extremely clean and voices can be heard without any smearing caused by overblown bass and resonance. I find the sound much better with the speakers well out from the back wall. I have them about 5 or 6 feet out.

I suspect that what people may think of as a warm midrange in some speakers could be a bit of resonance inherent in the older panels. I find the new panels far less fatiguing and the speakers just seem to draw me into listening to one CD after another.

I have also tried reducing the backward tilt and I think this makes a big difference. I have done this by taking out the front spikes altogether and screwing down the back feet to make them as long as possible.

However, there is a limit to how far the tilt can be changed without the longer spikes. Do you know where I can get the longer spikes and can they be shipped to Australia.

 

[Bernard]

However, there is a limit to how far the tilt can be changed without the longer spikes. Do you know where I can get the longer spikes and can they be shipped to Australia.

Send a PM to Jason (jtwrace); he's the guy who makes them.

 

[Rich]

I think the Prodigy has more presence in the lower midrange and that is why the Summits seemed thin to folks originally. But ultimately, I think the difference is that the Summits are more neutral and evenly balanced through the whole frequency spectrum. Once you get used to the coherence of the Summits, you really notice that the lower midrange/upper bass of the Prodigy is out of balance.