Summits are finally here

[BearcatSandor]

<snip>He said they were too big. I finally had to load the truck with him. When they arrived at the home of the buyer, the woofer grilles were bashed in. I guess a trade is not so bad after all.

Did you have insurance on them when you shipped them?

 

[aliveatfive]

I had them insured for 1100 bucks, but the buyer decided to try to push the grilles back himself. I do know that after he had them for about 6 months, a woofer failed. Related to shipping? Could be.

 

[aliveatfive]

They're here!

I just set them up. Initial impressions: "refined" (more so even than Ascent is. No siblance on FM or CDs. Bass is hard to evaluate right now. First of all, my Depth is still connected. Second, the woofers require substantial break-in time, so I've heard. I'll keep you guys apprised as to further impressions in future posts. Right now, I'm going back to listen!

 

[BearcatSandor]

Have fun

*turns green with envy

 

[JMac]

They're here!

I just set them up. Initial impressions: "refined" (more so even than Ascent is. No siblance on FM or CDs. Bass is hard to evaluate right now. First of all, my Depth is still connected. Second, the woofers require substantial break-in time, so I've heard. I'll keep you guys apprised as to further impressions in future posts. Right now, I'm going back to listen!

Pictures? Mine are on order and I am anxious to get them here. For now, I would like to live vicariously through you. Good luck with them, and conrats.

-Jamie

 

[aliveatfive]

Pictures will have to wait for now. I'm too busy listening. Further impressions: There is a quality to the reproduction of vocals that I've not heard from my system before. I just listened to Bonnie Raitt and her voice is very clear and distinct. Words which were difficult to understand are now obvious. Bass reproduction (haven't tried messing with controls yet) is superior to what I'm used to. Pitch of bass guitar (on Raitt album) is easy to differentiate and is very prominent but the instrument does not boom.

Questions: (For those with tube amps especially.) What output taps on your amp's transformers do you find effective with these speakers? So far, I've been using 8 ohm taps. Any differences with the use of bi-wiring?

 

[roberto]

Pictures will have to wait for now. I'm too busy listening. Further impressions: There is a quality to the reproduction of vocals that I've not heard from my system before. I just listened to Bonnie Raitt and her voice is very clear and distinct. Words which were difficult to understand are now obvious. Bass reproduction (haven't tried messing with controls yet) is superior to what I'm used to. Pitch of bass guitar (on Raitt album) is easy to differentiate and is very prominent but the instrument does not boom.

Questions: (For those with tube amps especially.) What output taps on your amp's transformers do you find effective with these speakers? So far, I've been using 8 ohm taps. Any differences with the use of bi-wiring?

Hola Aliveatfive..I use the 4 ohms tabs...I trayed different tabs, but my Margules and my Summits like this setting. I´m using triode mode (only 30W/ch).Also I tilted a little bit more lay back on both Summits and the highs are from heaven... I am rediscovering all my music again...and I think that this is going to happen to you also...happy listening,
and congrats again,
Roberto.

 

[Joey_V]

There is a quality to the reproduction of vocals that I've not heard from my system before. I just listened to Bonnie Raitt and her voice is very clear and distinct. Words which were difficult to understand are now obvious. Bass reproduction (haven't tried messing with controls yet) is superior to what I'm used to. Pitch of bass guitar (on Raitt album) is easy to differentiate and is very prominent but the instrument does not boom.

Geez... it's these types of impressions that keep me drooling. Lucky lucky man!

 

[aliveatfive]

I've often wondered what might be the difference between spending 4 grand for a pair of speakers vs. spending 10. I'm beginning to see the light. These speakers do stage depth better than anything I've had at home. Instrumental details buied in the mix are now easy to hear. Vinyl (for better or worse) just totally outclasses CDs. Played Paul Simon's "Graceland" on vinyl and it blew me away. I'm starting to like these!

 

[BearcatSandor]

So, it's been almost a week since you've had them.

What do you think now?

Give us more!! (i can only find one summit review out there and i want more info.)

 

[aliveatfive]

Pictures you wanted, pictures you've got. I'm still fianlizing final placement. Are they worth it? If this is your passion, absolutely. I can see why, however, some people think we're nuts.

Equipment: Stereo: Summits, Bat VK51SE, ARC VT 100 III, SME 10, Graham 1.5t (modified), Shelter 90x, Magnum MD 106t, Whest phono pre.

Multichannel and ht: Bryston 99Bsst, Rotel RSP 1068, Cinema i, Frescos (surrounds), Esoteric DV50s.

 

[Sky Saw]

So I had the chance to spend a couple of hours listening to my favourite CDs on the Summits at my local dealer today...

The question that I had were very similar to the ones you (Aliveatfive) posted - can speakers worth $10K really be that much better than Ascents?...would I ever be crazy enough to want to spend that kind of dough on speakers? I mean, music is my passion (that and espresso), but $10k is almost stoopid crazy...

The ancillary equipment included a Krell integrated amp and the new Cary switchable tube-to-SS CD player. The dealer had set the speakers flat at 50Hz and -4Db at 25Hz, which I did not adjust during the session. No matter what I threw at the system, I could not find the weakness - vocals were truly stunning, string instruments sounded practically lifelike, piano was the best I have heard, choral music made me think I was at the event; for the first time, I couldn't point to any obvious flaw.

When I first heard the Aerius back in 1991, it was a revelation. When I upgraded from the Aerius to the Ascent-i, I thought the biggest difference between the two was that the Ascent had much more air in the sound and a lot more bass. Well, the Summits are another revelation.

I have never been bothered by the integration between the panel and the woofer on MLs, but the integration between the bass and panel with the Summit is in another league! The bass is so unbelievably open, fast, and natural that it set a whole new level of expectation from reproduced bass for me. The level of detail revealed by the Summits is almost distracting - you hear every page turn, mute change, and breath of the performers. There's no way the recording engineer or tonmeister heard the recording at the same level of detail that Summit owners will hear it. Which brings me to another point. All MLs show the weaknesses of your equipment and recordings, but the Summits are merciless. Every cut/join, dynamic range limiting, poorly placed microphone, and tonal flaw is exposed. Of course, the flip side is that good recordings sound amazing. I like to audition new equipment with a recording of the Berg quartet playing the Bartok string quartets. These quartets are to me the peak of complex music. When hearing this music live you can easily focus on different instruments at different times to help guide you through the complexity, so I depend on a good piece of equipment to help me do the same thing in a recording. When I pressed play, I was immediately transported into the recording, where it was practically as easy to follow any single instrument as it is when hearing it live. Air, space, and ambience are there like I have never heard before, which is what I think helped to draw me so quickly into the recording space.

Panel integration on MLs is most noticeable to me with 'cello or piano, and I must say that in the brief time I spent with the Summits, I was mighty impressed with both of those instruments, in that I was never aware of a tonal shift at the midbass.

And micro-dynamics! I was hearing a whole new level of dynamic shading in my most familiar recordings.

By the way, I heard these same speakers briefly a month ago when they were straight out of the box, and was left unimpressed. Knowing that MLs typically require some break-in, I waited a month before going back to listen to them seriously. They were transformed!

So can $10k speakers be that much better than Ascents (and I LOVE my Ascents)? Yes! Would I ever be crazy enough to want to spend $10k on speakers? Uh-huh, in a heart-beat. Aliveatfive and Roberto, you are two very lucky buggers.

 

[Joey_V]

Very nice speakers aliveatfive... room is not at the level of the Summits though.. hehehe .

Sky Saw,

Geez.. it's impressions like yours that make me want the Summits now. Ayiyiy.... how much longer till I get one again??



Enjoy them speakers AA5.... they are my dream speakers.

 

[Viking]

Damn I`m looking forward to getting my hands on my new Summits- I`m getting them next week. So now it`s just to set up my new Grandprix audio rack and hope to god my Emmlabs CDSD og DCC2 will come soon

 

[BearcatSandor]

Damn I`m looking forward to getting my hands on my new Summits- I`m getting them next week. So now it`s just to set up my new Grandprix audio rack and hope to god my Emmlabs CDSD og DCC2 will come soon

You lucky bastard. Of course you also have to give us a review and pictures. It's the law. Somewhere, perhaps only in my own head.

Thanks

aliveatfive,

Thanks for the pictures!! I have the picture of the Summits on my desktop. I think i might be able to get my wife to come to your house and clean up the cables. She loves the cherry though, and so do i. Did the cherry cost extra?

 

[aliveatfive]

Hey BearCat -

Cherry is a standard (no cost) trim option. I've got to admit, it looks even better than the expensive aluminum trim option that I had on my Ascents. Pretty soon, according to sources (my dealer,) many more trim options will be available. Childish me, I couldn't wait!

 

[Viking]

Then my Summits finally came in dark cherry with black aluminium trim Right out of the box they sound somewhat closed in and with a "honk" om voices. Much improved after as soon as 4 hours, but they are still behind my beloved JMLAB Altoutopia. Bot spundstage width is far superior, so is placement of performers and also they disappear as no other speakers I`ve ever tried.

 

[tonyc]

What beautiful speakers! I am SO envious. I heard these things at a store in Austin, TX and they sounded fabulous even with less than first rank electronics. God, I hope I can get my Tweeters credit card paid off while they can still order ML's! They just might replace my beloved Apogee Divas in the stereo room.