How to contact Avalon Acoustics for support?

[BMCG]

I think my perception of sound differs from Ack.
I love the sound of my Ascendants in combination with Spectral.
Very lifelike if setup is done correctly!!

+1...but I still enjoy / respect enormously the meticulous nature of ack's deconstruction of system changes..

 

[Adimon]

Sure.
No doubt about the audio knowledge of Ack.

 

[ack]

which models and systems (I mean which Spectral/MIT/Avalon chain) you heard?

Quite a few, and the sonic results have been all over the map. For example, the original Eidolon and Eidolon Diamond I never cared for - unresolving for my tastes, dark (newer versions I hear are different). The Compas that I heard last year with the 400s was nowhere near the level of performance I get at home; overall, I felt it does not compete with anything I have heard with anything from Magico or Rockport at the same price. The Radian HC was subjectively by far the best of them all, and I was craving it for some time - back then, it sounded much better with ARC tubes than Spectral. The flagship back then, the Osiris, has left me with a permanent sonic imprint in my brain, very clean and dynamic, but way too expensive and very euphonic (at least as a system); some would call that sound just beautiful. The newer top models are rumored to be exceptional speakers, like the Time, but I have not heard them. Then, another Avalon, the limited edition Mini Monitor (I think the new Mixing Monitor is meant to replace it), was just great with Spectral, but not exceptional. And unfortunately, the worst ever speaker I have ever heard was yet another Avalon, but I forget its name - a two-way Ceramic from the mid 90s; it was as bad as the Wilson WITT. This wild variation in performance is what led the local dealer to give up on Avalon in recent years, after not having sold a single pair for over 2 years.

 

[ack]

+1...but I still enjoy / respect enormously the meticulous nature of ack's deconstruction of system changes..

Thanks, just my opinion on Avalon, nothing personal.

 

[BMCG]

Thanks, just my opinion on Avalon, nothing personal.

Oh the last thing i'd considered it...was personal. All in the pursuit of better music reproduction is how i see it

FWIW..the best speaker I've heard with Spectral/MIT was Rockport's Altair at Goodwins...superb. simply superb...

there was just the slight problem at the time of how to gain support from a key stakeholder for the $100k

And when the Lyra appeared...i have a new problem ...or at least based on reviews...i suspect I do..

 

[Adimon]

No problem Ack
But your experience were all extremely negative.
I wonder if you ever heard a good setup.

 

[ack]

No problem Ack
But your experience were all extremely negative.
I wonder if you ever heard a good setup.

Goodwin's website has a picture of the Osiris setup on their main page, as if it's their flagship (?) setup ever -frankly, that demo was jaw-dropping with its three-dimensionality, but try to picture Jose Carreras as big as that room. I was really entertained, but at the end of the day, nothing to do with realism

 

[ack]

Oh the last thing i'd considered it...was personal. All in the pursuit of better music reproduction is how i see it

FWIW..the best speaker I've heard with Spectral/MIT was Rockport's Altair at Goodwins...superb. simply superb...

there was just the slight problem at the time of how to gain support from a key stakeholder for the $100k

And when the Lyra appeared...i have a new problem ...or at least based on reviews...i suspect I do..

Ah, those key stakeholders; they squeeze my cojones hard when I make an audio "move"

 

[microstrip]

I have listened to Avalon sounding excellent, both with conrad johnson or Audio Research electronics, but mostly at demos. Every time I read about Winston Ma listening room - and we find a lot of opinions about it - I found references and praise to its excellent sound quality, always using Avalon with diverse electronics.

Many years ago I almost got a pair of used Isis - but someone was faster than me!

 

[Adimon]

I like this kind of discussions

Several years ago I had the opportunity to attend a recording of a combo.
Afterwards they played the recording on Avalon setup (near the studio).
This sounded lifelike.
And certainly not bigger.

 

[caliaripaolo]

Quite a few, and the sonic results have been all over the map. For example, the original Eidolon and Eidolon Diamond I never cared for - unresolving for my tastes, dark (newer versions I hear are different). The Compas that I heard last year with the 400s was nowhere near the level of performance I get at home; overall, I felt it does not compete with anything I have heard with anything from Magico or Rockport at the same price. The Radian HC was subjectively by far the best of them all, and I was craving it for some time - back then, it sounded much better with ARC tubes than Spectral. The flagship back then, the Osiris, has left me with a permanent sonic imprint in my brain, very clean and dynamic, but way too expensive and very euphonic (at least as a system); some would call that sound just beautiful. The newer top models are rumored to be exceptional speakers, like the Time, but I have not heard them. Then, another Avalon, the limited edition Mini Monitor (I think the new Mixing Monitor is meant to replace it), was just great with Spectral, but not exceptional. And unfortunately, the worst ever speaker I have ever heard was yet another Avalon, but I forget its name - a two-way Ceramic from the mid 90s; it was as bad as the Wilson WITT. This wild variation in performance is what led the local dealer to give up on Avalon in recent years, after not having sold a single pair for over 2 years.

Quite different by my personal taste and results into my system. Eidolon is a loudspeaker very complex to positioning. I spent a lot of time to find the final result, and every time I upgrade a part of the system I have to reconsider their position.
IMHO, unlike you I find that my Eidolon in my system is capable of playing much better than all the MAGICO's speakers I've ever heard. (M5, M6, V3, Q5...)

 

[microstrip]

I like this kind of discussions

Several years ago I had the opportunity to attend a recording of a combo.
Afterwards they played the recording on Avalon setup (near the studio).
This sounded lifelike.
And certainly not bigger.

From http://www.stereopal.com/HomeVisit/WinstonMa.htm

"On Winston’s system, the position of Jacintha’s mouth is pin point precise; I had to open my eye several times just to make sure Jacintha isn’t right there in front of me. The beautiful and emotional vocal of Jacintha stands out from pitch black background, and I get to hear impressive details after details. I expected some normal harsh “S” ending sound throughout the song, which I found none on Winston’s system. At 2:39, the drummer starts to brush gently, along with bass and piano. It sounds absolutely warm and relaxing as it expands the sound stage from solo vocal into a well 3-dimension level. The proportion of its instrumental is in the right size; there is no exaggeration, but a pure delivery of studio-like environment. "

SoundLabs can easily make voices sound bigger than life - but with careful set-up and ancillaries you manage to make them sound just life-size. But they do not have the pin point accuracy of XLF's or the Quad ESL63.

In general terms, I have found that shop listening rooms privilege the spectacular sound - large scale and dynamics - I have been told that it is what sells.

 

[bluedoor]

No I never liked Avalons. I never understood that much touted Spectral/MIT/Avalon triumvirate. Sorry, but they are not my cup of tea, and oftentimes, I thought their sound was so wrong in so many ways, and never realistic

It's wonderful this mixed ideas about the "house sound" of speakers and how our perception of what we hear is so different.
I've had in the last 6/7 years maybe 5 or 6 speakers models, ie Monitor Audio; Xavian, Vivid, Evolution Acoustics, Gryphon (monitors and floorstanders) and then I stopped when I got an Avalon speaker (the entry level IDEA),
To me, of all of them, Avalon has the most realistic sound reproduction, timbre, soundstage, imaging, etc, etc...they completely disappear.
Maybe you didn't hear them properly driven, they are quite fussy about amplification and take ages to be burned in.
For example I've paired them with a SOTA integrated (Gryphon Diablo 300) and also an Accuphase E470 and I didn't like it (which is kinda strange since the Gryphon is a great amp IMO),. With the Accuphase it was more to my taste but not breathtaking.
A friend has a pair equal to mines paired with Jeff Rowland and it's a fantastic combination (Colorado joint venture) .
Then I've tested at home the Nagra Classic amp and I couldn't believe what I was hearing, the speakers literally opened up in a way absolutely magic. I was surrended with this pairing and stopped looking and searching other speakers or amps. Sinergy is fundamental.
Im diverging, you could have heard them properly amped and didn't like it, period.
Ah...this hobby of ours is really marvelous!
Just sharing my opinion.
And sorry to resuscitate such an old post
Cheers!

 

[Eidolon 2]

Hello All,

I live in Germany and have a support case on my Avalon Eidolons.
I called the local distributor "Active Audio", but they mentioned they cannot help me.

When I call Avalon directly, I only get the voice that the company is not taking call right now.


Here is my issue:
One of my Avalon Eidolons is leaking a black substance thru the tube at the bottom.
The speaker still works.
Not sure if a capacitor broke.

Any hint on how to get hold of someone from Avalon who could let me is welcome.

Thank you and regards,

Eidolon1

Hi Eidolon 1,
When I read about your Problems, I checked my Eidolons... and yes, below the speakers I had this ugly stuff on my floor... aaaargh! I wrote to Avalon and a Mr. Brokken should have replied to me, but did of course not. I ask myself how they can dare not to reply to somebody that have given them money for the speaker that is equal to a nice car! That is simply not acceptable.

So I wait for answers...

Best regards
Eidolon 2

 

[johnsonlwu]

If you have a Daiso Japan shop close to you then you can buy soft transparent 2" x 2" silicone squares of the same texture and improvise from there.
Scrape the oozing black goo away as much as you can from behind the woofer.
Wipe with disposable cloth (not paper) the goo inside the bass port.
Then attach the Daiso silicon pads on the back of the woofers so they sandwich nicely between the brace inside and the back of the woofer.
And dont forget, look behind the midrange and take care of that too.
While you are at it. Have you been trying everything in the world the make the midrange a tad warmer in tone?

 

[Eidolon 2]

Trank you for your kind answer. Well there is no such Shop in ja area. But I think I will try that. A Dealer offered to repair the speakers for around USD 1000 each. I think that is by far too much.
I think you know quite a lot about how to repair it. Did you do it before? Is it complicated? Something special to care about?
Warmer mid tone: I changed from hard core transistor amplifiers to hybrids and now to ear tubes. Thats so far the best modification. But is there a possibility to modify something on the midrange woofer?
Best regards and many thanks

 

[johnsonlwu]

$1000 is highway robbery, those silicone pads can be had for USD 1.50
Its not just me who is using this trick:

http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=54488.2355

Cleaning up the mess requires a lot of patience. Use small spatulas and disposable chopsticks.

EAR tubes will get you the warmth at the expense of accurate bass.

The only way to deal with it I have found is to use a combination of an 18 ohm shunt resistor and a 1.5 ohm series resistor on the 079 midrange forming a Z equivalent LPad that doesnt shift the crossover point. My room is prone to brightness so a combination of a 22Ohm and 1.25 Ohm might work for others. 25 Watt to 40 Watt resistors will work. Easy job, might as well try it as you are cleaning up the midrange enclosure if you choose to do so..