Smallest room for successful Summit-X placement ?

[zele]

If it was legally possible I would force all manufacturers to list in the spec sheet the basic acoustic room parameters their speakers were designed to ( room size, distance from walls, toe-in, etc.), although I do understand that such parametesr would still be influenced a great deal by the geometry and by the type of the reflective surfaces of the actual room. At least some German audio magazines do provide some help by specifying some of these parameters.

Nevertheless, even practical implementation can vary from test magazine results, so I wonder what your experience with Summit-X in real life is, what is the smallest room you could operate your Summit-X without much sonic compromise.

 

[sleepysurf]

Obviously, room acoustics play a very important role, in addition to room size. One of the best Summit setups I've ever heard is this one... http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?1844-System-101-(Summit-X)

George's room is very shallow (front to back), so almost a nearfield listening setup, but with his gear (and acoustic treatments) he has one SWEET "sweet spot"! The imaging, dynamics, and realism is uncanny!

 

[Bernard]

Obviously, room acoustics play a very important role, in addition to room size. One of the best Summit setups I've ever heard is this one... http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?1844-System-101-(Summit-X)

George's room is very shallow (front to back), so almost a nearfield listening setup, but with his gear (and acoustic treatments) he has one SWEET "sweet spot"! The imaging, dynamics, and realism is uncanny!

Interesting, and yet you read here again and again that an equipment rack between the speakers screws up imaging.

 

[sleepysurf]

Ideally, it's better to NOT have something between your speakers. However, in the real world we often have no choice. Actually, electrostatic speakers (?? other panel designs), because of their "figure-8" dipole radiation, are somewhat insensitive to center and side-wall reflections. I have a large flat-panel HDTV between my speakers, which is also another big "no-no". However, in listening tests (also XTZ Room Analyzer measurements) I found the effect of the TV was negligible, even if pulled out from the wall directly between my Summits. In fact, the reflections from my (granite) coffee table have a much more negative effect on soundstaging than the TV (and ?? cabinet), so that's what I'm going to address next.

In a particularly small room, if worse comes to worse, you could always temporarily reposition the speakers and furniture for serious listening sessions (granted not the ideal situation).

If you really have a small room, and concerned about whether the Summits could work, try to audition them first, if possible, before buying. Frankly, even in a non-ideal setup, I think the transparency of the Summits/X would out-perform most other box designs.

 

[zele]

Obviously, room acoustics play a very important role, in addition to room size. One of the best Summit setups I've ever heard is this one... http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?1844-System-101-(Summit-X)

George's room is very shallow (front to back), so almost a nearfield listening setup, but with his gear (and acoustic treatments) he has one SWEET "sweet spot"! The imaging, dynamics, and realism is uncanny!

Well, by European standards that room does not look very shallow. I think such a size should not limit the imaging of the summits much.