sound differences between asent-i vs vantage vs summits

[jon7988]

I know the obvious answer is the Summits are the best sounding, and also most expensive. I currently have 2.5 yr. old maple Asent-i's and I love them. They are powered with (2) Sunfire amps and a TG-4 processor. My possible change is both a search for a sound upgrade and looks as we are building a new home and the mains will really be a focal point actully, so there is a WAF factor somewhat - but I think the maple asents look pretty damm nice! Both the summit and vantage are a little less imposing.

How much better are the summits over the vantage? Is the vantage that much better (or are they even better?) than my current asent-i's. I know about the power driven woofers, but I have (2) SVS PB 13 ultra subs that are surprisingly very musical and seem to blend very well with the Asents really picking up for what they lack on the low end. The Powered woofers are not that big of a deal to me. thanks :rocker:

 

[Rich]

I can't answer your questions. Only your own ears can do that for you. Go listen to the Summits and Vantages and decide for yourself which is better and if they are worth the upgrade cost from the Ascents. I will tell you my experience though. Seven years ago, I really want to buy the Prodigies, but my wife couldn't deal with the price, so I settled for the Ascents. I still own those Ascents and they still sound great. But I have always regretted that I did not buy the Prodigies. So when it came time to buy speakers for my new dedicated listening room, I didn't even consider the Vantages. I bought the Summits, never looked back, and am as happy as I can be.

If you are happy with the sound of your Ascents, then your money may be better spent upgrading to a quality two channel preamp or a new source, to get the most out of what you already have. But if you are looking to take advantage of the improvements ML has made in panel design (getting more sound out of a smaller, more WAF friendly speaker panel), then consider this. If you are like many of us, you may end up keeping these speakers for fifteen or twenty years. Buy the best you can afford. If you buy the Vantages, you may always be wondering what you are missing. If you buy the Summits, you won't be. At the same time, it is a lot of money for maybe a 20% or 30% increase in performance. So if your budget is tight, buy the Vantages and be happy.

 

[Joey_V]

My experience is that I never bought MLs until the Summits/Vantages came out. I've heard the Ascent numerous times from the same store that I later heard the Summits/Vantages under very similar equipment.... yet, the Ascents never did it for me (even at their relatively much lower price point).

The Ascents, to me, are somewhat brighter than the Summits and this detracts from the more natural sound I was looking for.

 

[David Matz]

I know the obvious answer is the Summits are the best sounding, and also most expensive. I currently have 2.5 yr. old maple Asent-i's and I love them. They are powered with (2) Sunfire amps and a TG-4 processor. My possible change is both a search for a sound upgrade and looks as we are building a new home and the mains will really be a focal point actully, so there is a WAF factor somewhat - but I think the maple asents look pretty damm nice! Both the summit and vantage are a little less imposing.

How much better are the summits over the vantage? Is the vantage that much better (or are they even better?) than my current asent-i's. I know about the power driven woofers, but I have (2) SVS PB 13 ultra subs that are surprisingly very musical and seem to blend very well with the Asents really picking up for what they lack on the low end. The Powered woofers are not that big of a deal to me. thanks :rocker:

I moved from the regular Ascents to the Vantages. I did not consider the Summits because my room is small, was acoustically untreated at the time, and I wanted to channel the resources into other components. I never heard the Ascents in a treated room, but my system sounded pretty awesome with an Ayre universal player, BAT 51se and Ayre K5- XE preamps, driven by Bryston. I thought my midrange sounded better than that of the $30K Wilson Watt Puppies.

The reason I upgraded was because my bass was anemic and incoherent. The bass was "polite" at best partially because the Logan panel and woofer were not as well integrated and partially because I did not own any room treatments.

When I upgraded to the Vantages, the immediate differences to my ears were that the panel was much quicker, cleaner, and more transparent. However, this improvement is great, but fairly incremental since it is fairly easy to get used to the already great sound of the Ascent panel. The more revolutionary improvement is that woofer was much better integrated with the panel, and the bass was much more authoritative. The bass became almost too much, and I just got a pair of Mondo traps last night to absorb it. (The fact that it is a powered woofer is less of a factor for me, but makes sense to others who want to use a lowered powered amp.)

Will it be worth it to you? If you have the cash, get the Summits and electronics and room treatments. Only you can decide based on what your goals are and the trade-offs you are willing to make. To me the upgrade was definitely worth it since I love the woofer panel integration. This really makes the Vantage a world class speaker. However, I wish I treated my room earlier.

Best of luck,
David

 

[Joey_V]

David,

I didn't even know you moved to the Vantages! Congrats my friend and you can expect me in your listening room not too long from now, when things clear up.

Happy listening!

 

[Audioseduction]

What Bryston amp? Just wondering about the power rating. I find with my Odysseys paired with the Pass X350.5 have more then enough bass. Infact I switched the bass control in the rear of the Odysseys so it's set at -3 dB from 150Hz down. It also has 10" and 8" bass drivers.

 

[David Matz]

What Bryston amp? Just wondering about the power rating. I find with my Odysseys paired with the Pass X350.5 have more then enough bass. Infact I switched the bass control in the rear of the Odysseys so it's set at -3 dB from 150Hz down. It also has 10" and 8" bass drivers.

It's the Bryston 4b ST - no shortage of power, and the amp is renown for its bass. Keeping everything the same in my system other than the Vantages, I had to set the Vantage to -6db. With only 2 Mondo traps, I set it back 0 and I am getting 3 dimensional bass!

 

[David Matz]

David,

I didn't even know you moved to the Vantages! Congrats my friend and you can expect me in your listening room not too long from now, when things clear up.

Happy listening!

Joey,

You, and the rest of the Chicago gang are welcome to come by.