Theos vs. Summit

[Stereonerd]

I've recently acquired an as-new pair of Theos and have been luxuriating in their incredible sound. Having previously owned a pair of Puritys for 10 years (and really loved them) my experience with the Theos has been full of "wow!" moments: a much bigger and more expansive sound picture, loads more grunt and dynamic. But now I have the opportunity to acquire an as-new pair of Summits that have sat in their box for 8 years, so the question is: What is the real difference between the two? Are the Summits 20 percent better than the Theos? 50 percent? Or is it more subtle than that? And can the Summits be driven well in a small-to-medium sized room, or do they need a much bigger space to fully flower? I ask because I'm not rich, and I'd be in the "dog box" with the wife if I bought the Summits. But on the other hand, it's the model I've wanted to own since I first heard them (briefly) back in 2006.

 

[roberto]

Hola Stereonerd,

My liking says 200% better, you just found the holy grail if they are in mint conditions. If you need to replace the panels, they do cost some money. They come with two woofers, and two 200 Watts power amps that drives the woofers. You have a 25Hz and 50Hz bass control +-10dB. I have a pair of them, and they do sound marvellous.

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/summit
Read what the customers says regarding this wonderful product.

Happy listening!

 

[Robert D]

If the price is good on the Summits and you can sell your Theos for a good price, I would get the Summits.

 

[Stereonerd]

Hola Stereonerd,

My liking says 200% better, you just found the holy grail if they are in mint conditions. If you need to replace the panels, they do cost some money. They come with two woofers, and two 200 Watts power amps that drives the woofers. You have a 25Hz and 50Hz bass control +-10dB. I have a pair of them, and they do sound marvellous.

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/summit
Read what the customers says regarding this wonderful product.

Happy listening!

Thanks, Roberto. You do realise that if I follow your recommendation I may end up divorced and instead married to my loudspeakers.

 

[Stereonerd]

If the price is good on the Summits and you can sell your Theos for a good price, I would get the Summits.

Thanks Robert. I bought the Theos for $3000NZ (approx $2000US) but the Summits are $8000NZ ($5761US). To me, it's a bargain, but...

 

[Robert D]

Thanks Robert. I bought the Theos for $3000NZ (approx $2000US) but the Summits are $8000NZ ($5761US). To me, it's a bargain, but...

Price on the summits seems high to me. Those were launched just 5 years after my Prodigy speakers. I bought my Prodigies for about $2500 4 years ago. When new those 2 models had the same cost. Im no expert on price, just my observation.

 

[Stereonerd]

Price on the summits seems high to me. Those were launched just 5 years after my Prodigy speakers. I bought my Prodigies for about $2500 4 years ago. When new those 2 models had the same cost. Im no expert on price, just my observation.

Bear in mind that they were purchased in Australia for $23K eight years ago and have been in a box since. Loudspeakers imported from the US to Australia and NZ tend to be a lot more expensive due to the cost of freight, changing over the power supply, and the tiny market there is for them here.

 

[roberto]

Thanks, Roberto. You do realise that if I follow your recommendation I may end up divorced and instead married to my loudspeakers.

Hola Stereonerd,
You asked the question. You can not do any comparison Theos vs Summits. I have a power point presentation of the Summits and Martin Logan does a comparison between the Prodigy, Odyssey vs Summit.
If you want to see it, my email address is [email protected]. I will send it to you.
There, you will see the dispersion patterns, the way that the speaker cabinet is built and also where the electronics is located.
Happy listening!

 

[Robert D]

Bear in mind that they were purchased in Australia for $23K eight years ago and have been in a box since. Loudspeakers imported from the US to Australia and NZ tend to be a lot more expensive due to the cost of freight, changing over the power supply, and the tiny market there is for them here.

Yeah, I thought of that after I made the post. Everything is astronomically high priced there. Guy showed me how an Audi A6 I owned here cost $60,000 and in Australia it was about $100,000.

I feel for you.

 

[roberto]

Bear in mind that they were purchased in Australia for $23K eight years ago and have been in a box since. Loudspeakers imported from the US to Australia and NZ tend to be a lot more expensive due to the cost of freight, changing over the power supply, and the tiny market there is for them here.

That's about 1/3 of their price there...not to bad price if they are in mint conditions. Try to have a listen. I just had to buy a digital power amplifier for one of my Summits. It is good to know that there are spare parts for them.
Happy listening!

 

[jtucker]

Just checked Agon, and Summit / Summit X are asking $5k to $7k, so $8000NZ ($5761US) does not sound out of line at all. I was shopping for ML back when Theos / Ethos / Montis / Summit X were all current. I felt that Ethos was the minimum to get as the bass was better than on the Theos. The Montis and Summit are in another league with the larger stat panel. The Summit will go deeper than Montis, but I preferred the bass / panel integration of the Monits. I am a big believer in the ML DSP to match phase at the crossover. I admit the difference was subtle. I started out with the Ethos, then upgraded to Montis. I had both Ethos and Montis in a medium room of 22' x 14' and they worked perfectly. I now have Montis in a huge open floor plan great room ( I am going to post on this later). I was very worried the room would be way too much, but I actually think the Montis sound better with lots of "air" around them. If you can swing it n the Summits are in excellent condition, I don't see how you can go wrong.

 

[geeji]

AFAIU the Summit and Summit X are very different beasts. Only the Summit X has the VOJTKO active crossover, which is supposed to provide smoother integration with the 2 x 10" self powered woofers.