Attended the Summit public premier today

[Bill Donnell]

Apparently this was the first public demo of the Summit, hosted by Gayle Sanders and Terry of Overture Ultimate Audio/Video in Deleware. These were the first production models, numbers 1 and 2. The electronics were all Spectral and even though the speakers were only 48 hours out of the box and not broken in, the sound was fantastic, as you might imagine. They look much better in person than was my initial reaction from the photos. These were in the black trim. Small and slender and much less conspicuous than the big Prodigies. The Logan engineers did a great job coaxing some serious bass output from the small bass enclosure. No boom, no bloat - very seamless integration. Was a very interesting and enthusiatic presentation by Gayle and Terry, and a great way to spend a rainey Saturday.

Bill

 

[Wayne]

Bill, how many pair did you buy ? Glad to hear that they look better in person, and that they sound great !!! Out of my reach though.

 

[Bill Donnell]

Actually, I'm in that rare place where I'm happy with my current system and have no real urge to upgrade anything. It was fun to look and listen, though, and meet the Martin of Martin Logan.
Bill

 

[aliveatfive]

Any idea if ML is going to offer trade-ins on recently purchased speakers? Bought a pair of AscentIs less than a year ago. Didn't buy more upscale because of space restrictions. Wonder if there will be a cry for a way to purchase brand-new model which performs better?
BTW - Shipping Logans (as I'm sure most realize) is a gigantic pain. When I sold a pair of Sequels, the UPS guy gave me a huge argument about accepting the boxes even though they met the UPS requirements.

 

[attyonline]

Never heard of ML doing this but I may be wrong.

 

[GRIN]

Hi everyone,

I am in France and the importer will receive a pair of summit in the next days for a show.
I am really interested by what you ear. I see that the panels are smaller than the prodigys panel. Do they really sound better?
Is the image as large than with a pair of prodigy?
I will listen to summit as soon as they arrive in France. But the price will be very expensive about 12 000 euro (which represents about 15 500 dollar ). Does any one know the price in US.

My system
Denon DVD player 2910
Krell Showcase pre amp /processor
Krell 3250 (3 channels)
Front Ascent
Theater I (center)

 

[Wayne]

Hello Grin,
I believe the U.S. price is $9995.00 give or take a couple dollars for the base model, more depending on the finish you pick... BTW you have some good equipment !!!!!!

 

[GRIN]

Thank you
I must put my system on the section "member system".

I see that you have SL3 which are similar to the Ascent.

During the summit show did you find a big difference between the SL3 panel and summit panel.

I had long discussion with french martin logan owners and it seems that more your panel is large better is your sound. But actually the panel becames smaller and smaller.

I supposed that the new technology used for the summit panel offer and beautifl panel. Some people compairs the summit panel to the CLS.

 

[EricE]

Any idea if ML is going to offer trade-ins on recently purchased speakers? Bought a pair of AscentIs less than a year ago. Didn't buy more upscale because of space restrictions. Wonder if there will be a cry for a way to purchase brand-new model which performs better?
BTW - Shipping Logans (as I'm sure most realize) is a gigantic pain. When I sold a pair of Sequels, the UPS guy gave me a huge argument about accepting the boxes even though they met the UPS requirements.

Nooooooo!!!!!

I just bought a set of Ascent I's and I DON'T want to hear and trade in schemes from ML. I can't afford the Summits anyway....

 

[Bill Donnell]

Grin, I never heard the Prodigy or Odyessy the Summit is replacing, but if Gayle says they are able to equal their performance with a high tech smaller package, I'll believe him. They sounded very good with various types of music. The new panel is said to equal almost twice the size of the previous panel. The woofers have a two inch excursion with the downfiring one being basically a subwoofer handling below 50 hz if I'm not mistaken. They can wisper or shout.
The music was unfamiliar to me but I'd say there was definately a family resemblence to the SL3 panel.
Price is $9995 for black aluminum and base wood enclosure.
Pony up another 4994 for chrome or black chrome!!!

Bill

 

[GRIN]

Grin, I never heard the Prodigy or Odyessy the Summit is replacing, but if Gayle says they are able to equal their performance with a high tech smaller package, I'll believe him. They sounded very good with various types of music. The new panel is said to equal almost twice the size of the previous panel. The woofers have a two inch excursion with the downfiring one being basically a subwoofer handling below 50 hz if I'm not mistaken. They can wisper or shout.
The music was unfamiliar to me but I'd say there was definately a family resemblence to the SL3 panel.
Price is $9995 for black aluminum and base wood enclosure.
Pony up another 4994 for chrome or black chrome!!!

Bill

Ok so i will listen to the summit when they will be in Paris. I really enjoy my system but i am still intersted by the new ML product. Concerning the price its expensive but it is the top of the line (except the statement of course). interesting the chrome need to see. I thong the summit would be in Paris in May.

 

[aliveatfive]

Just thought you might be interested - went to one of ML's NYC dealers today (Sound by Singer) and was told the following: accepting orders now for early May delivery. No demos until then.

BTW - I was offered $2000 for my almost new Ascent is in aluminum in trade.

 

[Barbados]

I would never buy a thing from Andy Singer.

 

[attyonline]

Just thought you might be interested - went to one of ML's NYC dealers today (Sound by Singer) and was told the following: accepting orders now for early May delivery. No demos until then.

BTW - I was offered $2000 for my almost new Ascent is in aluminum in trade.

Pretty crummy trade in for speakers like yours IMHO.

 

[Wayne]

I would never buy a thing from Andy Singer.

What do you know about Andy Singer that we should know as well? Maybe I'm going to be the last to know what everybody else already does.....

 

[Wayne]

Pretty crummy trade in for speakers like yours IMHO.

ATTYONLINE I agree !!!!!!!!!! 1/2 of a almost new pair is ---- "pardon me" My old audio store for loudspeakers gave me one year and 100% purchase price towards upgrades.

 

[roberto]

the Summit sound hit me at Vegas...

Hola Chicos!...when I listened the Summit at Vegas, I got goose bumps with their sound...very dramatic and one of the most clean, crystal clear low mids that I have ever listened. I was very exited with this new ML product...and still have their sound into my brain...when ever you have the chance to audition them, do it!!! your ears will be very grateful...the mids and hi-mids, and highs are like any other ML, but to my ears, with better scatered, dispersion...I think this is done by the new Micro-perf tech (like the Clarity model). The bass from that tinny box was something too...a built inn 200 Watt amp. with +- 10dB @ 25Hz control and other other +- 10dB @ 50 Hz will solve a lot of room acoustics and standing waves problem...
Happy listening and trust your ears!
Roberto.

 

[Frank K.]

Summit in Munich

Hi ML friends,
I'm back from the 2005 Munich High-End show which takes place from 05/05 till 05/08. And, yes the new Summit speaker was there - two pair, one in the room of the german distributor, the other one in a special audition room of the german magazin AUDIO/STEREOPLAY. I had the chance to listen a comparison test of four speakers : the new B&W 801 D, a JBL horn speaker, the Summit and the Audio Ph. Caldera.
All I can tell you is that when the Summit came in the room (each speaker pair was removed from the room when demonstrated and next pair came in) and my friend and me listend to the first song (of three same songs for each speaker pair) it was like the wall behind the Summits was removed. Such a transparency and clearness like no other speaker created. There was perhaps a little lack of bass but it was a really big room. I think this will not be a problem in a common living room. So, I'm amazed about this new speaker which lacks the usual ML style. In a black version the hard edges will disappear and after one week you will like the new look - I'm shure.
So, that's my first impression (sorry for my poor English).

Frank K. ( e2 and Aerius )

 

[Reverb2009]

Frank K

I look forward to seeing the pictures you took, I all ways I like to see what’s going on that audio shows. In the mean time I found coverage of the audio compression at SoundStageLive.com.

Click me to see the StereoPlay shoot out.
B&W 801D vs. Audio Physic’s Caldera vs. ML Summit’s vs. JBL K2 S9800.

 

[SteveInNC]

Bear with me here...

I was auditioning Ascents (again) at my local dealer for several hours yesterday. I felt like they were lacking something, so I had the dealer roll in a Depth. That did it... . The Depth phase was initially miss-set, which I could hear. It just sounded muddy. Before I could say anything, the dealer "... had an argument with himself" and came back in the room and set the phase to 270. It dramatically cleaned up the bass sound. He mentioned that when he left, he thought it didn't sound right.

After several hours of that, just to torture me, he had me go listen to the Summits, tied into a stack of Audio Research REF tube gear (about $21k). They were wonderful. The built-in bass drivers sounded roughly similar to the reinforcement supplied by a Depth, and the panels were even more transparent than the Ascents. For those that consider MLs to be lacking in bass, the Summits might change your mind. I'm sure that the better gear up front helped too, but the Ascents were driven by Musical Fidelity and Levinson CD transport which is certainly no slouch.

I still can't bring myself to spend the extra for the Summits - we all have different priorities - but am about to pull the trigger on the Ascents/Depth. None are in stock at ML, but they said that it would take about six days to build some.

P.S. - the Summit does look very different. I can't decide if they would grow on me or not. If they had radiused the back corners, I think that they would be more aesthetically pleasing. The overall impression is that they are smaller than Ascents, although that may just be perception. Up close, the new panels are very jewel-like, almost glittery in a pleasing way.