Avantgarde Horn Speakers

[bonzo75]

Hello at all,
does someone has listening experiences with New Audio Frontiers Amps i.e. NAF Performance 2a3 ? On their Website they state, that "this amplifier was designed to be paired with speakers with a high efficiency type Acappella, Altec, Avantgarde, JBL, Klipsch etc."

Cheers
Stephan

It was better than Jadis JA100, riviera 50w hybrid, silvercore 833c 20 watts, and a 20w German 300b I compared with in the same room on Devore O96. I separately also heard Kondo overture and airtight 300b in other rooms on the same speaker but preferred the NAF2a3 the most.

 

[G T Audio]

It was better than Jadis JA100, riviera 50w hybrid, silvercore 833c 20 watts, and a 20w German 300b I compared with in the same room on Devore O96. I separately also heard Kondo overture and airtight 300b in other rooms on the same speaker but preferred the NAF2a3 the most.

The Devore 0/96 is a very different speaker to the Avantgarde Trio and will therefore respond very differently to different amplifiers. The DeVore 0/96 preferring a good push pull design with some feedback, as well as some power, to be able to control that large 10" cone on the 0/96. The Avantgarde range, as do most high efficiency horns, have always responded very well to the use with Single-ended triode amplification. There is a naturalness to the sound, which once heard, is extremely hard to beat. I am sure the push pull 2a3 NAF amplifier will work well with the DeVore 0/96.

Note: I was also the DeVore UK distributor for about 6 years and had quite a lot of experience, including demonstrating these at UK shows driving the two Orangutan models (0/93 & 0/96), both of which sound very good.

 

[Yellowspider]

The Devore 0/96 is a very different speaker to the Avantgarde Trio and will therefore respond very differently to different amplifiers. The DeVore 0/96 preferring a good push pull design with some feedback, as well as some power, to be able to control that large 10" cone on the 0/96. The Avantgarde range, as do most high efficiency horns, have always responded very well to the use with Single-ended triode amplification. There is a naturalness to the sound, which once heard, is extremely hard to beat. I am sure the push pull 2a3 NAF amplifier will work well with the DeVore 0/96.

Note: I was also the DeVore UK distributor for about 6 years and had quite a lot of experience, including demonstrating these at UK shows driving the two Orangutan models (0/93 & 0/96), both of which sound very good.

Thanks for your input Graham. So you would prefer a SET with my Trios instead of this 2a3 PP concept from New Audio Frontiers?
Cheers
Stephan

 

[morricab]

Thanks for your input Graham. So you would prefer a SET with my Trios instead of this 2a3 PP concept from New Audio Frontiers?
Cheers
Stephan

A good PP Class A triode amp like the NAF 2A3 will sound very good...just not as good, IMO, as a NAF 211 SET, for example.

 

[G T Audio]

Thanks for your input Graham. So you would prefer a SET with my Trios instead of this 2a3 PP concept from New Audio Frontiers?
Cheers
Stephan

Hi Stephan, it much depends on the type of music you are mostly listening too. If you listen a lot to rock, heavy metal etc then a push-pull amp with a little feedback is probably the better choice. However, if you listen to mostly acoustic music, as in classical, folk, jazz, blues, male and female voice and choral music etc, then the sound and purity of a good SET amplifier will be extremely hard to beat. Horns and other high efficiency loudspeakers are very sensitive to the amplification powering them, so the better the amplifier, the better the sound. Having said that, very few SET amps have been designed to drive horns like those from Cessaro and Avantgarde, and these speakers will very easily show up the faults, like noise (hiss and hum) or too much gain in the power amplifier and the amplification chain.

The 2A3 is a nice tube, but it can sound a little lean or light weight in sound balance compared to other good triodes. Also because they are small and only output a little amount of power, you have to use more of them, or put several of them in parallel single-ended or push-pull and run them at their maximum ratings to get them to deliver the power needed to drive the speakers. Apart from the obvious tube life issue running them hard, running more than one triode requires careful tube matching. Filling a room with sound with this sort of amp might not be such a problem in a small room, but in a large room it could be an issue.

 

[Yellowspider]

Thanks for your inputs. As i am listening often to Jazz, there is also a passion to listen to rock and metal. Classical music also is a choice to listen to, symphonic works above choral music.

What i dont want is a lean sounding amp. Should have body and weight. So the 2a3 might not be the best choice due to the description above. Even if it is PP. Dont know if the NAF 2a3 is a zero feedback construction or uses some feedback.

 

[G T Audio]

What i dont want is a lean sounding amp. Should have body and weight. So the 2a3 might not be the best choice due to the description above. Even if it is PP. Dont know if the NAF 2a3 is a zero feedback construction or uses some feedback.

If the amp is push-pull it will very likely have some feedback applied.