Martin Logan Summit X

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Thank you for your post.

i agree with your comments.

So.... I am currently auditioning the D400 monos. As everyone may know, Robert Harley did a D200/D400 comparison review in the Absolute Sound 2/2015 edition. Everything he reported is being realized by me. In summary, the D200 was somewhat lacking. The D400, however, has provided unexpected good results. The sibilance is gone. The harshness is gone. The high volume strain is gone. The sound is alive, not flat. The slam is there. There is a magical combination of detail and liquidity. There is no noise. I can hear further into the music than ever before. It can play the Summit X's at near concert levels without hearing a hint of strain. At the -15 db volume setting, I could not take the SPL's and had to turn it down. This was not due to clipping. It was just too damn loud. Lastly and perhaps most important, the D400 monos did not fatigue me, whereas the D200 did, almost immediately, and they gave me a headache. I plan to do a "no alcohol involved" 4-5 hour listening session this weekend to test that completely.

Another surprise was that I had to dial back the Summit X sub-woofers to get a proper balance with the panels. The 25 hz knob is at -4 db, the 50 hz is at -3 db. Admittedly, those may not be the final resting points. I may need to run a room scan to get it right.

Anyway... Enjoy.

I am a newbie.  I hope this post is appropriate.  If not, someone please tell me.

I have Martin Logan Summit X's and have been wanting to substitue solidstate for my current Audio Research 200 watt mnonblocks and ARC preamp, with a Bryston BDA-2 DAC and MacMini running Amararra.

About 9 months ago, the local dealer brought in a Devialet 250 to audition on his store demo Summit X's.  He called me in to listen.  It was breathtaking.  In 40+ years of doing this, I had rarely, if ever, heard anything better.  My wife was there and heard the same.  All she wanted was a home audition.  Regrettable, the dealer had to send the demo 250 back and that was that.  No home auditoin.  No purchase.  7 months later the dealer advised that he had a D200 for me to home audition.  Off to the races, or so I thought.  It was nice, but not breathtaking.  It was a bit too forward and incisive in the upper midrange and treble, particularly female vocals.  To continue to quote Robert Harley's recent Absolute Sounds review:  It tended to "emplasize the harmonics of the strings rather than the instruments’ bodies. Cymbals were more prominent in the mix than through my reference amplifiers, and vocals had a touch of sibilance."  

It also seemd a bit flat and uninvolving.  I started getting fatigued about an hour into the listening session.  There was no toe tapping and no singing-a-long by the wife.  She was nonplussed.  It seemed like the D200 was straining to contend with the low impedance of the ML's at higher volumes.  One interesting thing of note:  I had to turn down the Summit X powered subwoofers to get proper bass balance.

I am now waiting for a D200 companion to arrive to see if that solves the issue.  It seemded to do it for Mr. Harley.  I hope I have the same experience.  I am told that the D400 configuration will stomp the D250 by itself.

I saw some ML Montis owners post about their positive experiences.  Please share any thoughts you might have.

Oh.. by the way I do not think it is the speakers cables.  They are Tranparent Reference, albeit the older XL technolgy.    

I also plan to hook up my old, but pristine, pair of B&W Signature 30's to see how those boxes do.  It should be wonderful.  For now though, the real issue is what to use to drive the Summit X's.  

I will post the results of the D400 audition in 2 weeks or so.

Hi - my tuppence worth. 

So I home demoed a D-Prem about 18 months ago and fell in love pretty much straight away   . Couldn't afford it at the time, but when Devialet l launched their new range, I thought a 170 would do the job of driving my ML Vantages. 

So I borrowed one, all ready to splash out, but found that I wasn't enjoying the music quite so much. Lots of good things going on, but no D-Premier magic. I then borrowed a 240 and re-discovered what I had been missing. 

Eventually I bought a D-Prem and upgraded it to a 250 and the romance is back into my listening.

I know the difference between a 200 and a 250 is meant to be minimal, and there are other posters on this forum who drive MLs with a 200 quite happily, but my ears tell me otherwise.