Avantgarde Acoustics Duo GT
- Thread starter nirodha
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And the follow-up:
Compared to the new one, this one looks from the stone age. If you want imposing, check out the new one
The new one looks much more "polished". Roy certainly gave a stellar review of them.
I thought the sounded good at AXPONA. In fact, I think the Duo sounded better this year in that room than the Trio's did last year. Maybe turning the system 90 degrees was a good thing.
I thought the sounded good at AXPONA. In fact, I think the Duo sounded better this year in that room than the Trio's did last year. Maybe turning the system 90 degrees was a good thing.
Roy Gregory has also heard Avantgarde G3 with Kondo Ongaku and he thinks that iTron is completely superior in terms of dynamics, accuracy, timing and presence.
Now the question arises, is this Curret Drive system also able to compete with the best SETs in terms of tone color and texture? And do better than them with new AGs?
"Oh, you’ve got an Ongaku (or some other, fabled SET)? I don’t care: the iTron will kill pretty much any standalone amplifier – and it will do it at a fraction of the price! It’s faster, more accurate, more dynamic, more precise and with far more natural timing, presence and immediacy than any voltage amplifier at anywhere even close to its price"
Now the question arises, is this Curret Drive system also able to compete with the best SETs in terms of tone color and texture? And do better than them with new AGs?
"Oh, you’ve got an Ongaku (or some other, fabled SET)? I don’t care: the iTron will kill pretty much any standalone amplifier – and it will do it at a fraction of the price! It’s faster, more accurate, more dynamic, more precise and with far more natural timing, presence and immediacy than any voltage amplifier at anywhere even close to its price"
I heard the iTron with the new Trios ánd Unos. It IS a revolution. But don’t worry, it is only used by Avantgarde because they are the only ones who pulled it of. .I am going to hear the iTron Duo GT this month. Will keep you posted. BTW, I think other manufacturers are crying and laughing at the same time. Crying because they know they cannot beat the iTron/Avantgarde sound quality. Laughing because they know that sound quality is second to prejudices within the audiophile community. Some are shouting I HEAR HORN COLORIZATION before the first note has been played, others won’t accept that their ueber power amp is trumped. And finally, the industry likes to make a lot of money: selling power amps, preferably mono blocks is the way to go
.I am going to hear the iTron Duo GT this month. Will keep you posted. BTW, I think other manufacturers are crying and laughing at the same time. Crying because they know they cannot beat the iTron/Avantgarde sound quality. Laughing because they know that sound quality is second to prejudices within the audiophile community. Some are shouting I HEAR HORN COLORIZATION before the first note has been played, others won’t accept that their ueber power amp is trumped. And finally, the industry likes to make a lot of money: selling power amps, preferably mono blocks is the way to go
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Avantgarde speakers never sound their best at audio shows.
Horns have a very small sweet spot and should be set up for listening at that spot. At shows, they have to be set up facing much more forward in order to widen the listening area for the benefit of 20 or so listeners. If they sounded good at AXPONA, imagine how great they would sound, set up properly, in your own home!
What's the news on your audition?
Mezzo it will beWhat's the news on your audition?
. Trumped the GTs in every way (how incredulous this may sound)
Interesting. Could you describe why the Mezzo should sound so much better than the Duo, and have you auditioned both under similar circumstances?Mezzo it will be
The mid and top horns and drivers and the iTRON amp elements are identical as far as I can establish, and the bass section has identical drivers and amp / DSP in both.
The only differences as far as I can see:
1. The length of the mid tube may be 1" / 2.5 cm deeper with the Mezzo, but that's only based on the Mezzo total depth of 72 cms, compared with 69.5 cm for the GT - per AG specs.
2. The larger bass enclosure and the flared exit from the bass drivers - not quite a horn but it may offer some horn advantage compared with the more convention flat-fronted sub of the Duo. Oh, and the Mezzo has twin reflex tubes if that is relevant.
I ask because I'm inclined to favour the Duo GT as it is much "slimmer" than the Mezzo and would spoil my views to a much lesser extent. In fact, I've slimmed down my existing Duo XDs by replacing the "scaffolding" supports with a top-mounted bracket for the mid-horns as per Mezzo. The Duo GT is possibly influenced by my own mods as they were favourably commented on by Holger and Armin!
Thanks
PS - I note you currently use KEF Reference 207/2s - I used to have their Reference 107s. Will you be upgrading to Mezzos?
PPS - This is what AG claims are the differences between the new Mezzo and the new Duo GT -
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Hi there, the attachment says it all really. But some key points. The Mezzo goes much deeper, the integration between high/middle and the bass is much (!) smoother. I will go for the non-iTron because I have an opportunity to get those. I simply LOVE the way they look. I hesitated answering you when you use “spoil my view” when talking about the GTs….
The Mezzos are built better than the GTs. I have not heard both models in the same room. The iTron is apparently a newer generation than the GTs if you go that way. The 207’s are going to leave me after 12 years. Still marvelous loudspeakers.
It's the Mezzos that would spoil my view because my speakers are placed mid-room with floor-to-ceiling glazing beyond.
3 or 4 years ago I was considering a change from my original Unos to electrostatics. I bought a pair of used Quad 2905s to see how they sounded, knowing they couldn't stay for long. They sounded good and this prompted the purchase of more visually acceptable Martin Logan 13As, but sadly they didn't like my room so had to go. I kept the better-sounding Unos, soon to be changed for Duos and now Duo XDs. This photo should explain why I don't want "fat" speakers such as Quads or Mezzos! These are my XDs with their non-standard mid-tube supports in place of the scaffolding that added unnecessarily to their corpulence!
3 or 4 years ago I was considering a change from my original Unos to electrostatics. I bought a pair of used Quad 2905s to see how they sounded, knowing they couldn't stay for long. They sounded good and this prompted the purchase of more visually acceptable Martin Logan 13As, but sadly they didn't like my room so had to go. I kept the better-sounding Unos, soon to be changed for Duos and now Duo XDs. This photo should explain why I don't want "fat" speakers such as Quads or Mezzos! These are my XDs with their non-standard mid-tube supports in place of the scaffolding that added unnecessarily to their corpulence!
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What a lovely space , light , airy , especially on a clear day as in that particular photograph , I can feel my serotonin levels rising from merely looking at it :0
That said , do you not find that your music playback tends toward the ‘brighter’ end of the spectrum , in the auditory sense rather than the optical . You appear to have quite a lot of fairly hard reflective surfaces comprising the structure of your room with little in the way of softer surfaces or objects to counter balance the former . How do you fair with simple sonics tests such as hand clap or vocal for reflection and reverb ?
I enquire as your AG horns do tend to put out a lot of higher frequency energy into a room which can sometimes exacerbate those frequencies and upper octaves ? … Hopefully all is well in that regard .
I can fully appreciate your reasons regarding the Quad’s in your room , in the course of my last planar phase I went from the somewhat oppressive and monolithic Sound Lab A1’s to the relatively see through , opaque , bare aluminium Martin Logan CLX Anniversaries for the same reasons .
I do rather like the new Mezzo G3’s btw .
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Thanks. When I first moved to this new-build flat, the acoustics were dire, in particular the reverberation you have mentioned. However, adding carpeting to 2 large areas (about 35% of floor area), more soft furnishings and hanging curtains (that are very rarely closed) has pretty much tamed the problems and there is no false brightness or reverberation. One advantage I have is that, with no parallel walls, there is very little reflected sound and horns are probably the best type of speaker to mitigate these problems. I have experimented with Dirac Live filters to take care of room anomalies, but I prefer the sound with No Filter.
I recently bought a pair of subs because lots of forum posters claimed these would reduce peaks and troughs in the bass response if placed away from the main speakers, but I've had little success with these subs. Although there is perhaps deeper bass, there are times when the subs appear to argue with the main speakers' bass and I get a booming sound. I'm inclined to ditch the subs as the AG's provide ample bass.
Unfortunately, my Martin Logans just didn't work in my room, despite great reviews and a convincing showroom demo. Even with Anthem doing its best, everyone considered the sound from my old Unos was better. The reason I concluded is that the MLs require a wall behind them to harvest some of the 50% of their energy that's projected backwards. Certainly, when I'm at the kitchen or dining areas, the MLs sounded far better than the horns, but not so at my listening chair. And their semi-transparent panels were far more acceptable than Quad barn doors!
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Thats Grand that you have tuned your space to your liking without having to resort to commercial audio sound products and without compromising the view … Yup the old problem of mating additional non horn loaded subs with the velocity of the main AG’s , Shame about the Mezzo G3 as I rather suspect that they would deliver sonically what you are striving to achieve in just the pair of units.
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