Hi guys, long time listener, first time caller here. I picked up a pair of Duo 2.2s last week. I also got the former owners bi wire cable set and jumper (Wireworld Gold Eclipse III).
I’ve had a fair bit of difficulty getting them tuned in right. I currently have toe in where the two outer bars are parallel, the rear bolt method didn’t sound as good. I have the crossovers at 140 and the volume set to about 11 o clock.
On fast orchestral pieces, the mids end up sounding a little muddy. Any ideas on things to adjust to alleviate that? Female voices are slightly nasally as well.
I moved up from Klipsch Heresy IIIs, so I’m still getting used to the huge jump in quality here.
Congratulations on your Avantgarde purchase. I bought used Duos last year following 17 years with Unos.
I think mine are the same as yours but the Duo 2.2 description is not an AG label but one that Jim Smith, the US distributor at the time used after he asked AG to make small mods for the US market. OK, let’s check. I guess yours have 10” drivers with roll surrounds, not 7” or foam – that’s good. The amp may have only speaker-level inputs or both speaker and line level via XLR. The latter is more recent – post about 2006 – as mine are. The drivers are presumably specified as 8 ohms not the Omega ones at 18 ohms. If that matches your speakers they are the same model as mine.
In my room I set the bass level at 3 small clicks back from vertical, so about 11 o’clock and I also find 140 the best XO setting – all as you have with yours. If you set the XO much higher, there’s an overlap that muddies the sound. Your description may suggest a slight lowering of the XO – try 120 although in theory this may leave a bit of a gap, but still worth trying.
What distance apart are your speakers and how far away is your listening position? Do you have both your horns set at the mid-height position and what feet are you using on what floor surface? There are all important, as is toe-in. Distance from side and rear walls is far less important with AGs than most box speakers and much less so than planars. Your room will be the biggest influence on the sound so experiments with toe-in, height, feet, etc all need careful assessment. In my room (very odd as it’s parabolic in shape 945 sq ft, low ceilings and speakers placed mid-room), I find the distance between speakers is best slightly less than distance from listening position. I find toe-in to almost directly towards me is best although aiming them 1 ft in front of and even 1 ft behind your head may well pay off.
I have solid floors (timber boards on screed on concrete) with carpet over 1/3 of the room area including my listening area but not under the speakers. I don’t like spikes but prefer footers such as IsoAcoustic Gaia Is (although I have IIs at present – a bit overloaded) as they improve bass detail in particular quite significantly and bass volume a little too. I’m told that Symphosium Svelte platforms are good with AGs too.
I decided I wanted to get rid of the 3 upright poles as I find them unattractive, so I’ve modified mine so the tubes are now supported by the prongs of an F shaped frame attached to the back to the speakers. All achieved without damaging the Duos and, in my opinion look much better and (with more attention to vibration control) also sound a little better. Drawings available if interested. Good luck with your tuning – don’t rush. Peter
.... As I mentioned earlier, when I augmented my Duo’s with stereo REL’s the bass in my room got a whole lot better - very fast, no standing waves, etc. A single sub wouldn’t time right.
