Had a listen to a pair of duos a few weeks ago and they sounded very nice.but for the price I was expecting more.
Avantgarde Horn Speakers
- Thread starter Big Dog RJ
- Start date
My first Avantgardes - Duo Omega G2 costed around 19 k euro in 2010. Now Duo XD price is 35 k euro . In the meantime all hifi and hiend gear went up , sometimes even more than Avantgardes.
But I can understand that for nearly 40 th euro the expectations are higher as well.
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Streaming is not the best source to use to judge a speaker like the Avantgarde Duo, however I do agree that prices have escalated greatly in the last few years...
Yes agree.when he switched to vinyl with the same music as streaming it was definitely better.
Graham has I believe a pair of Duo Omega for sale with full ‘trimmings’. A very nice pair and probably the best version made. Grab yourself a bargain if they’re still for sale.
cheers
Blue58
cheers
Blue58
My first Avantgardes cost me £6k and they’re still here. Thanks Graham.
Ypsilon Phaeton is a great amp for somewhat sensitive conventional speakers (Like my Dynamikks Athos 10s at 91 dB or Ypsilon’s own speakers (not commercially available) or something like Goebbel Divin series... not so great for ultra high sensitivity horns, IMO. I have only heard Duos sing with really good tube amps.
When I heard Duo XDs they sounded very forward and aggressive...but this was with Avantgarde’s own SS amps. Do you think the new XD is really an advance in sound quality? FWIW, I have never heard an Uno I liked. I hear more horn coloration from it than other AG models...something wrong in the mid-horn design or XO frequency? The Zero though for the money is very good...especially the part active model with good tubes on the mid/high.
I only heard the Ypsilon integrated (Phaeton) once and that was with Ypsilons own speakers and that was quite good.
Even though I would always pair AGs with SET amps
It was most probably over 10 k usd under this time thoughMy first Avantgardes cost me £6k and they’re still here. Thanks Graham.
I have not so much experience with Unos, I have heard them only during audio shows in Warsaw.
A also liked Zero for money , I intended to buy them for our holiday house but finally decided to get speakers of similar concept from Poland - Fram Maxi active speakers ( Jarek Waszczyszyn, the designer of Silver Grand Monos is behind the project ) for much less money. I use them with Aries Mini and Tomanek linear power supply, a decent hifi for 2,5 k euro all together.
I think XD series excels in bass tuning and control capabilities, the DSP is a big advantage compared to G2 series.
I had Duo Mezzo XD for 5 years after Duo Omega G2 and to be honest I miss with Trios/ 26 LE and Rel Carbon Special subs DSP from my former Duo Mezzo XD.
I tried Avantgarde amplification with Duo Omega at home (pre plus power amp XA series, also integrated XA ) and found Crossfire SET a better amplification. A new integrated Circle Labs A100 ( hybrid design ) was a real discovery last year and I have it as a second amp for sunny month. My powerful PV installation ( 30 kWp) increase during the summer the voltage up to 250 V ( still conform with Polish norm which is 230 V plus minus 10 % ) but very bad for Crossfire . I also upgraded my Cross quite havily , it's a keeper.
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How is the Crossfire coping with the Trios? You know , I heard somewhere that Trios don’t work well with SET...
Btw., I have an Ayon Helios that is sounding damn good...I actually prefer the sound of it to the Crossfire III I used to have...something about the sound of amps with a 6c33c resonates with me (I also had Wall Audio M50 monos that used this tube in parallel SET...like Helios. Christoph describes them as “silky”).
Yes, Gen I with the 225 subs though I did upgrade them to the Omega drivers when they became available.
Anything larger would be overkill in my room.
@morricab
Well , I was not aware that Trios do not work with Crossfire
I am quite pleased with both amplifiers, Crossfire is more palpable and saturated, Circle Labs is quiter and more precise but a bit brigther.
But the upgrade of my Crossfire 3 was important with Mundorf Silver Gold Evo and Nichicon caps, and a new regulators in power supply section.
I also purchased red metal NOS valves for pre section , I expect another improvement.
Well , I was not aware that Trios do not work with Crossfire
I am quite pleased with both amplifiers, Crossfire is more palpable and saturated, Circle Labs is quiter and more precise but a bit brigther.
But the upgrade of my Crossfire 3 was important with Mundorf Silver Gold Evo and Nichicon caps, and a new regulators in power supply section.
I also purchased red metal NOS valves for pre section , I expect another improvement.
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