Avantgarde Trio Luxury VS Tannoy Kingdom Royal

[bonzo75]

I've owned Tannoy Reds/ Golds since the 60s/70's and always make point of listening to as many of the Brand that I come across--both in shows and private setups.

My comparison with the Kingdom Royals--I would not bother the Speaker is Ok but just does not seem to come out of its box--sadly it is not winner
in my book.

The Westminster Royals are the real deal in that heritage range now I feel--no contest.

My first introduction to Avantgarde's was in the early 90s when I first heard them -don't recall if they were named Unos though.
I do however recall the sonic presentation was one of the orchestra playing at the end of a tunnel and honking edge to the vocals

Sadly since then I've heard the latest reincarnations --but not Trios with the full Basshorns --only Trios "ua naturel"

Sorry my opinion of the brand has meditated somewhat-and it is a viable horn product--but I still hear the "tunnel Musicians"

Just my own opinion--and please you must hear all and decide for yourself!

Hopefully when this time of strife eases the ability to hear and appraise will be with us--until --

Good Luck,

BruceD

Totally agree with everything. Do listen to trios with bass horns when you get a chance. I actually once got an explanation from a tannoy fan that the kingdom royal were made for those who like Wilson Magico so they were priced high and didn't sound as good

 

[BruceD]

Totally agree with everything. Do listen to trios with bass horns when you get a chance. I actually once got an explanation from a tannoy fan that the kingdom royal were made for those who like Wilson Magico so they were priced high and didn't sound as good

Sheesh-go easy on the chilli sauce Ked--the W/M brigade will be after your hide !

Yes I've heard Big Cessaros with some huge Bassos --will do as you suggest with the AGs--keep up the "lively" posts Matey!

Its all in the fun and games though--this Audio charade for the so called sonic nirvana -- it's a hoot reading some of the

Posts- and as an old fart I can relate--having fallen in many of the Potholes in the Roadway forward

Carry on chaps!

BruceD

 

[marslo]

Hi @marslo , do you know what's different with the LE 26 version? They look amazing for sure, with the chrome frame (compared to my powder metal coated frames), are the parts and internals different too?

@bonzo75 What are your thoughts on going with a single pair of Basshorns, compared with (let's say) something like the REL 25s or JLAudio Gothams (I have the latter)? Right now, I'm finding that the volume on the subs (after adjustment) is fairly low on the Gothams (a few notches below the middle) - so I was wondering if I can get away with a single pair.

Anil

The main improvement - apart from more solid and thus less vibrating frame - comes from special super capacitors ( I heard about 700 g of weight and the price of around 800 euro a piece ) and gold - silver internal wiring plus top binding speaker post.

Mono & Stereo © 2020: NEW AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC TRIO LUXURY EDITION 26 HORN SPEAKERS (monoandstereo.com)

 

[Uwiik]

Bad news from the dealer is that the gold one is no longer available, there is one silver one left up for grab from factory. I don’t normally like gold colored stuff but gold on top of wooden floor would look awesome and for a hair under $100.000 for the set and subs I think I gotta have it with the color that I wanted. My trusted technician from a dealer I mostly buy my stuffs from came and helped me setup the whole thing today. He brought quite a few loaners Jadis Phono entry level DPMC, Accuphase CD player and a bunch of Acrolink flagship RCA IC. The sound was horrid at first even after 1 hour warm up and we looked at each other astonished. Interestingly enough quite a huge improvement was achieved by switching from Kondo’s own flagship RCA IC to Acrolink flagship RCA IC, huge improvement was also achieved by playing around with toe in and distance to back wall and side wall.

After the optimal speaker position was setup, turned out my mancave which I thought was big is actually not that big (4.8m x 8.5m / 15.75ft x 27.88ft). My wife who rarely complains did exactly that today, she hated the look and size of the Canterbury, how those two alone occupied a significant portion of the room and she made it known to me LOL! So Westminster and also Kingdom Royal (also based of reviews about the later) are out of question. My trusted tech also told me that the saying that horns doesn’t need much distance from back/side wall is a myth, horns will sound best with room to breathe and his opinion was that my room is simply too small (long enough but not wide enough) for AG Trio Luxury 26 unless I am willing to get smaller subwoofer instead of the AG Basshorns and even then I will never ever be able to hear the true potential of AG Trio Luxury 26 with my room size after paying an arm and a leg for it and he did actually advised me to just get the Duo instead.

What some said that the Tannoy’s would sound similar to SF/Ktema which I am familiar with couldn’t be any more true. After achieving a setup that would be very close to competing with the one upstairs I came to realize that I essentially was creating a competitor instead of creating something truly different, both systems became a bit too similar. While I like the fact on how easy it was to setup something that get close to the one upstairs system with WAY cheaper cables made me very happy about buying the Kondo amps knowing its potential vs Accuphase, it also made me realize if I get the Tannoy I will essentially dogfight both of my system instead of making them get along complementing each other and that would eventually make me get sick of it. I think I might get the Duo

 

[Hear Here]

Bad news from the dealer is that the gold one is no longer available, there is one silver one left up for grab from factory. I don’t normally like gold colored stuff but gold on top of wooden floor would look awesome and for a hair under $100.000 for the set and subs I think I gotta have it with the color that I wanted. My trusted technician from a dealer I mostly buy my stuffs from came and helped me setup the whole thing today. He brought quite a few loaners Jadis Phono entry level DPMC, Accuphase CD player and a bunch of Acrolink flagship RCA IC. The sound was horrid at first even after 1 hour warm up and we looked at each other astonished. Interestingly enough quite a huge improvement was achieved by switching from Kondo’s own flagship RCA IC to Acrolink flagship RCA IC, huge improvement was also achieved by playing around with toe in and distance to back wall and side wall.

After the optimal speaker position was setup, turned out my mancave which I thought was big is actually not that big (4.8m x 8.5m / 15.75ft x 27.88ft). My wife who rarely complains did exactly that today, she hated the look and size of the Canterbury, how those two alone occupied a significant portion of the room and she made it known to me LOL! So Westminster and also Kingdom Royal (also based of reviews about the later) are out of question. My trusted tech also told me that the saying that horns doesn’t need much distance from back/side wall is a myth, horns will sound best with room to breathe and his opinion was that my room is simply too small (long enough but not wide enough) for AG Trio Luxury 26 unless I am willing to get smaller subwoofer instead of the AG Basshorns and even then I will never ever be able to hear the true potential of AG Trio Luxury 26 with my room size after paying an arm and a leg for it and he did actually advised me to just get the Duo instead.

What some said that the Tannoy’s would sound similar to SF/Ktema which I am familiar with couldn’t be any more true. After achieving a setup that would be very close to competing with the one upstairs I came to realize that I essentially was creating a competitor instead of creating something truly different, both systems became a bit too similar. While I like the fact on how easy it was to setup something that get close to the one upstairs system with WAY cheaper cables made me very happy about buying the Kondo amps knowing its potential vs Accuphase, it also made me realize if I get the Tannoy I will essentially dogfight both of my system instead of making them get along complementing each other and that would eventually make me get sick of it. I think I might get the Duo

I don't think you'll regret getting the Duos. They are MUCH more room friendly and, as your dealer said, Trios may be simply too bulky for your room, although 440 sq ft should be big enough even for Trios but this depends very much on what else your room is used for. My room is 945 sq ft and Duos are fine.

OK, so which Duo - there are 3 models?

The Duo XD has twin 12" drivers but not horn loaded and in my view look a little dated because of the "scaffolding" that supports the mid horn

The Mezzo XD also has twin 12" drivers that are half-heartedly horn loaded but with identical mid, top and amp

The ugly duckling (in my view) Primo XD that uses 4 x 12" driver per channel but otherwise is the same as the Mezzo.

My two pennywoth - go for Duo XD but think about modifying its looks as I've done (before and after photo below) if you're also not keen on the scaffolding and want to slim down their appearance, or pay 10K more for the nicer looking and slightly better sounding Mezzo. This can be ordered with high gloss cabinet I believe in piano white or black, as well as the 3 standard wood finishes.

My Duos have silver horns that are stightly less "silvery" than I'd hoped - they don't quite match my other "silver" stuff - amps, sculpture, candlesticks, etc. The bronze does look good in photos and so does Kalahari Desert Sand.

 

[gian60]

My friend had Kondo M 1000;Shinden with Westinster Royal,but sound was not very good,slow and little dark,Canterbury are worse,and Kingdom need a more power amp than 27 watt of Ongaku.

In my second system i have Thrax Lyra and i love this speaker and sure with Ongaku will be a magical sound
Can also try the Bassus,and for me Lyra plus Bassus,that has an internal amp plus Ongaku is a definitive system for ever

 

[caesar]

Bad news from the dealer is that the gold one is no longer available, there is one silver one left up for grab from factory. I don’t normally like gold colored stuff but gold on top of wooden floor would look awesome and for a hair under $100.000 for the set and subs I think I gotta have it with the color that I wanted. My trusted technician from a dealer I mostly buy my stuffs from came and helped me setup the whole thing today. He brought quite a few loaners Jadis Phono entry level DPMC, Accuphase CD player and a bunch of Acrolink flagship RCA IC. The sound was horrid at first even after 1 hour warm up and we looked at each other astonished. Interestingly enough quite a huge improvement was achieved by switching from Kondo’s own flagship RCA IC to Acrolink flagship RCA IC, huge improvement was also achieved by playing around with toe in and distance to back wall and side wall.

After the optimal speaker position was setup, turned out my mancave which I thought was big is actually not that big (4.8m x 8.5m / 15.75ft x 27.88ft). My wife who rarely complains did exactly that today, she hated the look and size of the Canterbury, how those two alone occupied a significant portion of the room and she made it known to me LOL! So Westminster and also Kingdom Royal (also based of reviews about the later) are out of question. My trusted tech also told me that the saying that horns doesn’t need much distance from back/side wall is a myth, horns will sound best with room to breathe and his opinion was that my room is simply too small (long enough but not wide enough) for AG Trio Luxury 26 unless I am willing to get smaller subwoofer instead of the AG Basshorns and even then I will never ever be able to hear the true potential of AG Trio Luxury 26 with my room size after paying an arm and a leg for it and he did actually advised me to just get the Duo instead.

What some said that the Tannoy’s would sound similar to SF/Ktema which I am familiar with couldn’t be any more true. After achieving a setup that would be very close to competing with the one upstairs I came to realize that I essentially was creating a competitor instead of creating something truly different, both systems became a bit too similar. While I like the fact on how easy it was to setup something that get close to the one upstairs system with WAY cheaper cables made me very happy about buying the Kondo amps knowing its potential vs Accuphase, it also made me realize if I get the Tannoy I will essentially dogfight both of my system instead of making them get along complementing each other and that would eventually make me get sick of it. I think I might get the Duo

Hi Uwiik,
I am sure you are getting solid advice, but have you considered checking with Avantgarde about which of their models would or could work in your room? I am sure they would love to sell you the bigger speaker, but they also don't want to sell you something that won't work in your room and have a disappointed customer and then have to deal with bad publicity. They may also have some ideas on how to get the Trio to work in your room, which is a superior speaker...

But if you go with the Duo, it's an awesome choice also. I have had 3 elite, world-class musicians tell me that all Avantgarde models are the real deal... these guys are not "audiophiles", who swear that their only reference is "live music" by stretching their imagination.

These folks actually listen to music all day. And they also teach very talented kids to play instruments. Some point to studies that it takes one 10,000 to become an "expert" at something, and these elite musicians may be pushing 70,000 -100,000 hours of listening to real, live music in their life. They kinda laugh at the popular Wilson - D'Agostino and Magico - Soulution audiphile systems that audiophiles pay for, but speak highly of Avantgarde - even when driven by SS.

Anyways, Good Luck

 

[Tam Lin]

I purchased my Trios in 2000. They came with 2 pair Sub225 which worked very well in the 1200 sqft great room I had at the time. I have since relocated to more modest accommodations but I kept the Trios. My room is 15ft x 30ft. The Trios, with a single Sub225 per channel, are a snug fit along the short wall. I suppose I could add bass horns by suspending them from the ceiling but I don’t want to insert an A/D/A with its associated propagation delay in the signal path to the speakers.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . the saying that horns doesn’t need much distance from back/side wall is a myth, horns will sound best with room to breathe . . .

+1

At the Avantgarde factory in Frankfurt with Kedar and Tinka I almost got into an argument with the AG people when I inqured about why in the world the Trios with multiple basshorns were right up against the front wall in a 40 foot long room.

 

[Anil Kalagatla]

+1

At the Avantgarde factory in Frankfurt with Kedar and Tinka I almost got into an argument with the AG people when I inqured about why in the world the Trios with multiple basshorns were right up against the front wall in a 40 foot long room.

Interesting, do you remember what their explanation was? They still say so in their marketing materials. I have it a little close to my walls. For me, the supposed flexible positioning and the narrow dispersion angle (to reduce the effect my glass windows on one side) were attractive. Of course, most of their pictures also show all the basshorns stacked in the middle (and in some pictures the tweeters on the outside, with no toe in).

Anil

 

[KeithR]

you might check out Fyne F1-12 and your wife will likely approve - former Tannoy design team. completely different price range than Trios of course (as are Westies). Not sure if SET friendly.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Interesting, do you remember what their explanation was? They still say so in their marketing materials. I have it a little close to my walls. For me, the supposed flexible positioning and the narrow dispersion angle (to reduce the effect my glass windows on one side) were attractive. Of course, most of their pictures also show all the basshorns stacked in the middle (and in some pictures the tweeters on the outside, with no toe in).

Anil

I don't remember exactly what I was told. I do remember that the explanation was not substantive or satisfying.

It was something approximating "this is how they work best."

 

[Anil Kalagatla]

I don't remember exactly what I was told. I do remember that the explanation was not substantive or satisfying.

It was something approximating "this is how they work best."

Got it, thanks

 

[Uwiik]

Thanks for the solid advices gents! Much appreciated. After seeing a few pictures of Trio Luxury with basshorns installed in rooms with similar width as mine I decided to completely backing off from Trio. It’s just will look ugly, I have to put my equipments on top of the basshorns or put the rack in front of the basshorn completely ruining the aesthetic. I could run the system on the side wall but then I will have to run very long speaker cable which is the worst that can happen IMO. My wife also made it clear that she wants Karaoke and Movie too, as much as I want a set of Trio Luxury I just don’t think it’s wise given the circumstances. Duo Mezzo XD seems like a wiser choice.

 

[howiebrou]

Thanks for the solid advices gents! Much appreciated. After seeing a few pictures of Trio Luxury with basshorns installed in rooms with similar width as mine I decided to completely backing off from Trio. It’s just will look ugly, I have to put my equipments on top of the basshorns or put the rack in front of the basshorn completely ruining the aesthetic. I could run the system on the side wall but then I will have to run very long speaker cable which is the worst that can happen IMO. My wife also made it clear that she wants Karaoke and Movie too, as much as I want a set of Trio Luxury I just don’t think it’s wise given the circumstances. Duo Mezzo XD seems like a wiser choice.

How about Diesis. They should sound great with your Ongaku.

 

[marslo]

Thanks for the solid advices gents! Much appreciated. After seeing a few pictures of Trio Luxury with basshorns installed in rooms with similar width as mine I decided to completely backing off from Trio. It’s just will look ugly, I have to put my equipments on top of the basshorns or put the rack in front of the basshorn completely ruining the aesthetic. I could run the system on the side wall but then I will have to run very long speaker cable which is the worst that can happen IMO. My wife also made it clear that she wants Karaoke and Movie too, as much as I want a set of Trio Luxury I just don’t think it’s wise given the circumstances. Duo Mezzo XD seems like a wiser choice.

For many years I use in my main system only Acrolink 7 N RCA cables. 6300 DA mk1 for Pacific DAC , D5000 in my analog rig and Speciale 2090 for Audio Aero La Fontaine sacd player. And some 7N Acrolink PC too.

As for placement of AGs I tend to agree that this is beneficial to leave them some space and air around but from the other hand they are much more tollerant in this regard than conventional speakers.

Mezzo XD plus Kondo looks like very good choice, as I already mentioned Paul from Toronto has the same combo.

 

[jespera]

My friend had Kondo M 1000;Shinden with Westinster Royal,but sound was not very good,slow and little dark,Canterbury are worse,and Kingdom need a more power amp than 27 watt of Ongaku.

In my second system i have Thrax Lyra and i love this speaker and sure with Ongaku will be a magical sound
Can also try the Bassus,and for me Lyra plus Bassus,that has an internal amp plus Ongaku is a definitive system for ever

Agree with that. Ive owned westminster royal se. To my ears they were exactly slow and muddled. Completely embarrassed by my monitor golds (10” and 15”). No contest.
Luckily i was able to find a new home for them.

I have heard other modern tannoys and they seemed to have the same lazy muddled character. Havent heard the kingdom though.

The avantgarde’s ive heard seem like a modern take on the horn speaker. High resolution, slow bass, not a lot of love in the tone, but defn above average.

My order of preference would be

vintage tannoy > avantgarde >> modern tannoy

Jesper

 

[christoph]

What some said that the Tannoy’s would sound similar to SF/Ktema which I am familiar with couldn’t be any more true. After achieving a setup that would be very close to competing with the one upstairs I came to realize that I essentially was creating a competitor instead of creating something truly different, both systems became a bit too similar. While I like the fact on how easy it was to setup something that get close to the one upstairs system with WAY cheaper cables made me very happy about buying the Kondo amps knowing its potential vs Accuphase, it also made me realize if I get the Tannoy I will essentially dogfight both of my system instead of making them get along complementing each other and that would eventually make me get sick of it. I think I might get the Duo

If you want something completely different, have you ever considered a pair of AlsyVoxes?

 

[hogen]

Thanks for the solid advices gents! Much appreciated. After seeing a few pictures of Trio Luxury with basshorns installed in rooms with similar width as mine I decided to completely backing off from Trio. It’s just will look ugly, I have to put my equipments on top of the basshorns or put the rack in front of the basshorn completely ruining the aesthetic. I could run the system on the side wall but then I will have to run very long speaker cable which is the worst that can happen IMO. My wife also made it clear that she wants Karaoke and Movie too, as much as I want a set of Trio Luxury I just don’t think it’s wise given the circumstances. Duo Mezzo XD seems like a wiser choice.

I have a few friends that have Avantgarde Mezzo Duo and Kondo, they are very happy. This seems to be a solid combination.

 

[caesar]

+1

At the Avantgarde factory in Frankfurt with Kedar and Tinka I almost got into an argument with the AG people when I inqured about why in the world the Trios with multiple basshorns were right up against the front wall in a 40 foot long room.

One answer could be is that they know their customers. And their customers are not the crazy, obsessed, and passionate guys we have here...

We can argue about tastes and preferences, but physics (objective reality) tells us that bass collects near walls. if the speakers are too close to the walls, the bass waves "wash over" the speakers and cloud things up... pushing the speakers out into room and properly controlling the bass via room treatments provides greater transparency and dynamics in the rest of the frequency range, and transforms audio systems...

But again, for most of their customers (and most audiophiles), the speaker is great enough. Even when placed near a wall and masking a "good portion" of the experience.

Check out these pictures:Avantgarde Customer Room Photos. Very few of these photos show speakers placed away from the walls.

But it seems like their customers don't obsess, but just enjoy.