Todd's AG Trio G3 System -- it's about time

[microstrip]

Several people have asked about the size of the sweet spot. I don't know exactly as I have not turned and integrated the right speaker yet. But every speaker i have had has a sweet spot that is one seat wide. The person who would sit to my left will hear mostly the left speaker and the person sitting to my right will hear mostly the right speaker. Each person needs to decide what they want. Do they want a everyone in the room to have listenable music or do they want for their experience to be the best it can be. I personally aim to maximize the sound experience in the main listening chair.

You are writing as if it is a black or white affair. Stereo intrinsically has a sweet spot - it is one of the intrinsic drawbacks of the system. In real life we do not have such sweet spot - we can move in a jazz club or life recital without significant variance of sound acoustics. However the effects of moving vary a lot depending of speaker - in some speakers we need to keep the head in a vice, as side movements make disruptions in sound quality, in others variations are more continuous and although we still have the best in the middle position we do feel locked in position. It is why I asked about the sweet spot.

If someone want a "party" system then go ahead and push the speakers back close to the wall and point them straight ahead. The speakers will then spray sound all around the room. What you would be listening too is mostly the room. I have no idea why anyone would spend money on a state of the art speaker system to do this but different people have different priorities.

Surely this is an extreme case, not typical of high-end stereo. Stereo needs the room reflections and contribution - but the interesting case are just the intermediate situations. BTW, with the proper set up, the SoundLabs have a wide sweet spot and I consider them state of the art.

 

[caesar]

If I look back at the progression of speakers that I have owned over the past 30 years they have become increasingly lifelike and dynamic in their portrayal of music. I have been looking for a presentation with a musical connection that my former speakers (Vivid Spirits and others) were not able to consistently deliver. So, I started on a journey to find what element(s) I was missing in the system and what components would be needed to deliver on my expectation. To make a long story shorter what was missing was timing and micro-dynamics.

I set out to find a speaker that would satisfy my lust for that emotional connection to music that was so hit or miss with previous systems. I had very few speakers on my list of candidates and interestingly the Avantgarde Trio G3 wasn’t originally on the list. I have never owned or seriously considered a horn speaker before because I had never heard a horn system setup in such a way that there weren’t compromises. But as fate would have it, about the time I was getting serious about a purchase the Tio G3 showed up on the scene. I listened at AXPONA 2022 and was not all that impressed with the sound. Sure the speaker looked cool but I was not convinced at that point. Knowing that one should never make strong judgements based on show conditions I contacted a few people to discuss what they thought was so great about the Trios. They said I really needed to hear them in a better location and that the Trio G3 is really a fantastic, world class speaker when setup properly. So, I contacted American Sound of Canada and arranged a visit to her place in August 2022. (I wrote about this visit in another thread.) The speakers sounded much better at her place but still not displaying the greatness I was expecting. What was obvious about the setup at American Sound is that the speakers were not optimized as they were not even on the spikes. But even with them not being very precisely setup they did not sound shouty or overly aggressive. I thought this was encouraging. Again after speaking with some industry experts I decided to take a leap of faith and purchase a pair of the Avantgarde Trio G3’s with the iTron amplifiers and a pair of Dual Spacehorns.

Other system elements are being put into place as well. I am looking for components with as little time smear as possible and are “quiet”. The component has not only the leading edge of the transient but also have lots of decay. With 109dB efficient speakers noise is a huge enemy of achieving realistic music. I spent a good amount of effort trying to understand the impact of the preamp and cables on timing. I purchased and L1/X1 to experiment with as well as playing with a few different cable lines. I will just say that not all preamps and cables are created equal when it comes to timing. I have ended up with an L10 for the preamp. I should get my new cables this week – Nordost Odin2. The digital also needs some work. (Sorry, no analog)

The speakers arrived in late January but there was an unfortunate shipping mishap and I didn’t get the full set of speakers in my room until mid-March. I have spent a good amount of time experimenting with placement and getting to know how the speaker responds to different adjustments. There is really no point in getting everything fully positioned until I get all of the front end settled, installed and broken in.

I am going to eventually post some videos I have done on install and setup of the Trios, but here are a few notes of interest. First, as Avantgarde points out in the manual you need to have your ear on the same equatorial plane as the tweeter. The tweeter sits at 43” off the floor and typical ear height is 36”-37”. In my system, the tweeter is right at 11’ from my ear so to achieve the proper ear to tweeter relationship requires a LOT of rake angle. I am currently at 3.16 degrees of forward rake. This can not be achieved with the provided spikes without putting the rear spike on some kind of thick foot. I had custom spikes make for the speaker that are from grade 5 Titanium and are M12X0.75. I had two spikes made that were extra long to accommodate the extra length needed to get the high rake angle. Problem solved. The second thing relates to what makes the Trio a truly viable speaker in my book. That is the fact that the tweeter distance can be adjusted to maintain driver time alignment as the toe-in is adjusted. I have found that the sound I get is very sensitive to the tweeter adjustment. It is pretty obvious when I have forgotten to adjust this after a small toe-in or azimuth change. The sound can get aggressive and shouty. But when I make a very small tweeter adjust everything gets right back in balance. The third major element is the spacehorn. These things weigh a ton so make sure you have plenty of help when it comes to moving them. I have positioned them on their side and on the outside of the main horns. These proved to not be that difficult to integrate to sound good. The bass is extremely fast and articulate -- no bloat, no overhang. After some adjustment of toe-in and rake they are coherent with the main horns. Of course it has built in DSP that can be used to adjust the crossover point and any EQ that someone might want. It is easy to use and adjustments can be made on the fly while listening.

The Sound so far has well exceeded my expectations and is delivering all the goods. Even with “cheap” cables and no tweaks it is crazy good. Dynamics are off the chart. Loads of low level detail and expressiveness in the music. There is none of this “cupped hands” or shoutyness or anything else I formerly associated with the “horn” sound. When I first moved them into the room I didn’t spend much time with positioning. Really just got them good enough to have a center image so I could begin the run-in process. They honestly sounded really good just like that and I could see how many might just love that sound and call it a day. It was a very “round” sound that you could just bask in its glow. It was still extremely expressive but it lacked in clarity, dynamics and of course the timing was pretty smeared. Once I got the left speaker dialed in with the current “cheap” cables etc, it is pretty much a WOW type experience. One example might be Paganini’s violin concerto No.2 from the album Paganini: Diabolus in Musica. There is no ear piercing going on with this violin. It is just articulate and extended with all of the expressiveness of a musician.

I know there are some out there that have a distaste for horns. I can understand your point as I would not say that I hated them in the past but it seemed there were some compromises I wasn’t really willing to trade this for that. I do honestly believe that a lot of this in any horn system is related to setup. But what Avantgarde has done with the Trio G3 is give me a zero trade off situation. I get all of the greatness of horns – high efficiency, dynamics, low level detail, musical expressiveness… – with none of the bad stuff I heard in the past – shouty, cupped, piercing, etc. The level of setup control is outstanding. Adjustable tweeter position to maintain time alignment, iTron current amp that allows control over spectral balance, adjustable gain to accommodate the preamp, DSP in the Spacehorn. If you have hated horns in the past you might want to give this new generation of Avantgarde’s a listen.

As the setup comes along I will post more and also post some videos of my comments during the setup process. I added the picture below because as the saying goes “It didn’t happen if there isn’t a picture”. As a note, I left the blue foam on while I was playing with the major positioning. The speakers aren’t in the front of the room any longer. I have pulled them back out to the middle.

Finally getting there.

Wow! Congrats!!!! Although not perfect room or setup , I was blown away by the lifelike macro and micro dynamics of this system at last year's Axpona! Nothing I have ever heard in this hobby comes even close.. So many guys in this hobby compare their box speakers to "real instruments", but these guys are fooling themselves. Nothing comes close to Avantgarde in this respect.

Enjoy in great heath!!!!

 

[caesar]

If I look back at the progression of speakers that I have owned over the past 30 years they have become increasingly lifelike and dynamic in their portrayal of music. I have been looking for a presentation with a musical connection that my former speakers (Vivid Spirits and others) were not able to consistently deliver. So, I started on a journey to find what element(s) I was missing in the system and what components would be needed to deliver on my expectation. To make a long story shorter what was missing was timing and micro-dynamics.

I set out to find a speaker that would satisfy my lust for that emotional connection to music that was so hit or miss with previous systems. I had very few speakers on my list of candidates and interestingly the Avantgarde Trio G3 wasn’t originally on the list. I have never owned or seriously considered a horn speaker before because I had never heard a horn system setup in such a way that there weren’t compromises. But as fate would have it, about the time I was getting serious about a purchase the Tio G3 showed up on the scene. I listened at AXPONA 2022 and was not all that impressed with the sound. Sure the speaker looked cool but I was not convinced at that point. Knowing that one should never make strong judgements based on show conditions I contacted a few people to discuss what they thought was so great about the Trios. They said I really needed to hear them in a better location and that the Trio G3 is really a fantastic, world class speaker when setup properly. So, I contacted American Sound of Canada and arranged a visit to her place in August 2022. (I wrote about this visit in another thread.) The speakers sounded much better at her place but still not displaying the greatness I was expecting. What was obvious about the setup at American Sound is that the speakers were not optimized as they were not even on the spikes. But even with them not being very precisely setup they did not sound shouty or overly aggressive. I thought this was encouraging. Again after speaking with some industry experts I decided to take a leap of faith and purchase a pair of the Avantgarde Trio G3’s with the iTron amplifiers and a pair of Dual Spacehorns.

Other system elements are being put into place as well. I am looking for components with as little time smear as possible and are “quiet”. The component has not only the leading edge of the transient but also have lots of decay. With 109dB efficient speakers noise is a huge enemy of achieving realistic music. I spent a good amount of effort trying to understand the impact of the preamp and cables on timing. I purchased and L1/X1 to experiment with as well as playing with a few different cable lines. I will just say that not all preamps and cables are created equal when it comes to timing. I have ended up with an L10 for the preamp. I should get my new cables this week – Nordost Odin2. The digital also needs some work. (Sorry, no analog)

The speakers arrived in late January but there was an unfortunate shipping mishap and I didn’t get the full set of speakers in my room until mid-March. I have spent a good amount of time experimenting with placement and getting to know how the speaker responds to different adjustments. There is really no point in getting everything fully positioned until I get all of the front end settled, installed and broken in.

I am going to eventually post some videos I have done on install and setup of the Trios, but here are a few notes of interest. First, as Avantgarde points out in the manual you need to have your ear on the same equatorial plane as the tweeter. The tweeter sits at 43” off the floor and typical ear height is 36”-37”. In my system, the tweeter is right at 11’ from my ear so to achieve the proper ear to tweeter relationship requires a LOT of rake angle. I am currently at 3.16 degrees of forward rake. This can not be achieved with the provided spikes without putting the rear spike on some kind of thick foot. I had custom spikes make for the speaker that are from grade 5 Titanium and are M12X0.75. I had two spikes made that were extra long to accommodate the extra length needed to get the high rake angle. Problem solved. The second thing relates to what makes the Trio a truly viable speaker in my book. That is the fact that the tweeter distance can be adjusted to maintain driver time alignment as the toe-in is adjusted. I have found that the sound I get is very sensitive to the tweeter adjustment. It is pretty obvious when I have forgotten to adjust this after a small toe-in or azimuth change. The sound can get aggressive and shouty. But when I make a very small tweeter adjust everything gets right back in balance. The third major element is the spacehorn. These things weigh a ton so make sure you have plenty of help when it comes to moving them. I have positioned them on their side and on the outside of the main horns. These proved to not be that difficult to integrate to sound good. The bass is extremely fast and articulate -- no bloat, no overhang. After some adjustment of toe-in and rake they are coherent with the main horns. Of course it has built in DSP that can be used to adjust the crossover point and any EQ that someone might want. It is easy to use and adjustments can be made on the fly while listening.

The Sound so far has well exceeded my expectations and is delivering all the goods. Even with “cheap” cables and no tweaks it is crazy good. Dynamics are off the chart. Loads of low level detail and expressiveness in the music. There is none of this “cupped hands” or shoutyness or anything else I formerly associated with the “horn” sound. When I first moved them into the room I didn’t spend much time with positioning. Really just got them good enough to have a center image so I could begin the run-in process. They honestly sounded really good just like that and I could see how many might just love that sound and call it a day. It was a very “round” sound that you could just bask in its glow. It was still extremely expressive but it lacked in clarity, dynamics and of course the timing was pretty smeared. Once I got the left speaker dialed in with the current “cheap” cables etc, it is pretty much a WOW type experience. One example might be Paganini’s violin concerto No.2 from the album Paganini: Diabolus in Musica. There is no ear piercing going on with this violin. It is just articulate and extended with all of the expressiveness of a musician.

I know there are some out there that have a distaste for horns. I can understand your point as I would not say that I hated them in the past but it seemed there were some compromises I wasn’t really willing to trade this for that. I do honestly believe that a lot of this in any horn system is related to setup. But what Avantgarde has done with the Trio G3 is give me a zero trade off situation. I get all of the greatness of horns – high efficiency, dynamics, low level detail, musical expressiveness… – with none of the bad stuff I heard in the past – shouty, cupped, piercing, etc. The level of setup control is outstanding. Adjustable tweeter position to maintain time alignment, iTron current amp that allows control over spectral balance, adjustable gain to accommodate the preamp, DSP in the Spacehorn. If you have hated horns in the past you might want to give this new generation of Avantgarde’s a listen.

As the setup comes along I will post more and also post some videos of my comments during the setup process. I added the picture below because as the saying goes “It didn’t happen if there isn’t a picture”. As a note, I left the blue foam on while I was playing with the major positioning. The speakers aren’t in the front of the room any longer. I have pulled them back out to the middle.

Finally getting there.

A couple of additional questions: any desire to try SET amps for a different flavor?

Also, some of my buddies find horns like Avantgarde, a bit forward/ strident/ bright/ in your face... what is your take on that?

Did you get setup help from anyone? How many pairs are in North America?

Like I said above, this speaker just grabs your emotions, even when not perfectly setup. I am so happy for you!

 

[sbnx]

Thanks to Todd for answering all the questions accurately and clearly.

Now I would like to know how you deal with the issues of adjusting the rake angel in toe-in mode? which are more critical with this new G3 Trios since they're three legs speakers, and as Roy said when you Drop the front of the speaker to tilt it forward slightly and it also tilts outwards, altering both azimuth and toe-in to a surprising degree.
And you have to adjust middle spike to bring the toe-in back to its proper setting and correct the deviated azimuth, and because of these issues, it takes more time to reach ideal conditions.
But this is not that critical with more conventional speakers like Duo/Uno G3 series with four feet/spikes since four-spike arrangement effectively isolates each parameter so that they can be adjusted independently or at least, with minimum mutual interference.

Hello Kozak,

I shot a video illustrating this but I can't find the @#$! lightning to USB cable to be able to get it off my phone. GRRR. I will try to explain and post the video later.

The Trio does sit on 3 spikes. This makes it nice that there is never any wobble to the speaker as three points define a plane. But you are correct that means that rake and azimuth can't be independently adjusted. I have a digital level that is accurage to 3 decimal places. When I adjust rake I can the check the azimuth angle and then adjust the outer spike to set the azimuth back to the original value. In this way only one thing is being adjusted at a time.

I hope this helps. I will post the videos as soon as I can find the cable. I think that will make it more clear.

 

[sbnx]

A couple of additional questions: any desire to try SET amps for a different flavor?

Also, some of my buddies find horns like Avantgarde, a bit forward/ strident/ bright/ in your face... what is your take on that?

Did you get setup help from anyone? How many pairs are in North America?

Like I said above, this speaker just grabs your emotions, even when not perfectly setup. I am so happy for you!

Hello Caesar,

Thank you for the very kind comments. At this point I am not considering any SET amps. In general, tubes don't do it for me. (I am sure that comment has caused some people to push the "ignore" button on me) Maybe someday some one will show me a SET that does what the iTron does and I will have to buy one. I am not ruling out the possiblitly as it took me 30 years to get to horns. But they better hurry up. I don't have 30 more years.

I really don't know how many pairs are in North America. As you may know horns are really popular in Europe but not so much in America. I have heard of a few people getting them so maybe the tide is turning.

As for "Bright, strident, in your face" sound. Not with the G3. That adjustable twetter is the bomb. I am not getting anything that is bright or strident. As I mentioned, violin is no problem at all. That is usually the thing that will run people out of the room if the speaker is bright/strident. No shouty vocals. It is all Good. This does bleed into your next question.

All of the above is setup dependent. Any speaker can be setup badly and the more resolving the speaker the more unforgiving it can be. If someone just sets these level on the three feet and postions them accordingly then the top end will be chopped out and as i mentioned you do get this "round" sound with a glow to it that is enticing. But if you want the real goods then you have to push to the pointy end of the stick. To your question, I have not received any direct setup help at this point. What are your thoughts on setup?

I agree that this speaker is really what I was looking for -- emotionally engaging.

 

[sbnx]

You are writing as if it is a black or white affair. Stereo intrinsically has a sweet spot - it is one of the intrinsic drawbacks of the system. In real life we do not have such sweet spot - we can move in a jazz club or life recital without significant variance of sound acoustics. However the effects of moving vary a lot depending of speaker - in some speakers we need to keep the head in a vice, as side movements make disruptions in sound quality, in others variations are more continuous and although we still have the best in the middle position we do feel locked in position. It is why I asked about the sweet spot.



Surely this is an extreme case, not typical of high-end stereo. Stereo needs the room reflections and contribution - but the interesting case are just the intermediate situations. BTW, with the proper set up, the SoundLabs have a wide sweet spot and I consider them state of the art.

The comment about pushing them against the wall was really directed at Ked's comment.

I have not heard the SoundLabs so I really can't comment. They must sound really good as you have owned quite a few top end speakers.

 

[caesar]

Hello Caesar,

Thank you for the very kind comments. At this point I am not considering any SET amps. In general, tubes don't do it for me. (I am sure that comment has caused some people to push the "ignore" button on me) Maybe someday some one will show me a SET that does what the iTron does and I will have to buy one. I am not ruling out the possiblitly as it took me 30 years to get to horns. But they better hurry up. I don't have 30 more years.

I really don't know how many pairs are in North America. As you may know horns are really popular in Europe but not so much in America. I have heard of a few people getting them so maybe the tide is turning.

As for "Bright, strident, in your face" sound. Not with the G3. That adjustable twetter is the bomb. I am not getting anything that is bright or strident. As I mentioned, violin is no problem at all. That is usually the thing that will run people out of the room if the speaker is bright/strident. No shouty vocals. It is all Good. This does bleed into your next question.

All of the above is setup dependent. Any speaker can be setup badly and the more resolving the speaker the more unforgiving it can be. If someone just sets these level on the three feet and postions them accordingly then the top end will be chopped out and as i mentioned you do get this "round" sound with a glow to it that is enticing. But if you want the real goods then you have to push to the pointy end of the stick. To your question, I have not received any direct setup help at this point. What are your thoughts on setup?

I agree that this speaker is really what I was looking for -- emotionally engaging.

Excellent to hear.

Although I love tubes, I am not fanatical about using them for all applications... I use solid state with MBLs, despite positive feedback from CAT and HVAC fans with my speakers...

My comment came from hearing so many people's perspectives on Avantgarde.... most frequently they say things like "they are so revealing... .everything must be perfect... must use tubes". At least 2 or the 3 are true from your experience.

As for setup, of course, people like Jim Smith's name and setup skills always comes up, and the experience of the distributor... If it were me, I'd consider flying either of them in, or at least consult the blonde german guy, who frequently runs the shows and does the Avantgarde videos. But that's just one perspective..

My approach for my systems has been to hear as many different setups of the speakers as possible (hence I asked how many in NA), and discuss setup with experienced owners and manufacturers. And then to experiment based on all ideas in my rooms.

How many of their subs did you get?

 

[Germanboxers]

Does the passive crossover come as installed even though you bought itron version?

As Todd already mentioned, one can purchase the Trio G3 with a passive crossover, the active iTron version or both. I purchased both and included the switch that allows an instantaneous switch from passive to active.

The iTron electronics makes sense to me on an engineering level applied to a speaker system like the Trio G3; however, I have what I consider an "end game" amplifier in the Thomas Mayer 300B with silver wound transformers on FineMet cores.

I struggled with what to order on my G3. I know the TM amp will be exemplary as I already use it on my Duo Mezzo XD's. If I only bought the iTron version I would be taking a leap of faith that it would be clearly better than the TM amp. If I bought the passive version only, I'd always be wondering if the innovation of iTron, really only applicable and integrated with a speakers such as the Trio G3, was truly groundbreaking.

My decision on which way to go was set when I realized I wouldn't be able to travel to Toronto to hear the G3 before purchasing. As I dug out my passport a week before my planned drive to Toronto I realized that it had expired. I wasn't willing to wait 12+ weeks to get it renewed before making the decision so I took a leap of faith and made the purchase in April.

Adding the passive crossover costs ~$5k, but considering the overall price of the speaker with a pair of twin spacehorns, for my situation, it was the optimum choice for peace of mind.

Look forward to sharing my thoughts after they are set up and settled in. Also really looking forward to Todd sharing his journey of fanatical setup with the G3's...I'm sure I can learn a great deal from his experiences.

 

[spiritofmusic]

What is the price of iTron G3 Trios, and each pair of SpaceHorns?
What is the effect of doubling and tripling SpaceHorns?

 

[sbnx]

I believe there was a 20% price increase at the first of this year so add that to the below. I took this from Roy’s review. But you should contact a dealer for a price quote.

Prices: Trio G3 (passive), $91,000 per pair plus $4000 for Nature Cap passive crossovers; Trio G3 iTron electronics package, $38,000 per pair; single-driver SpaceHorn, $65,500 per pair; dual-driver SpaceHorn, $88,000 per pair.

 

[adyc]

For such a high price, Avantgarde should send someone to help the new owner for setup

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

if the new Trios are like my 1 gens with respect to rear chambers on drivers, they were ventilated and soundstage depth would greatly benefit from a good distance to the rear wall

 

[spiritofmusic]

I believe there was a 20% price increase at the first of this year so add that to the below. I took this from Roy’s review. But you should contact a dealer for a price quote.

Prices: Trio G3 (passive), $91,000 per pair plus $4000 for Nature Cap passive crossovers; Trio G3 iTron electronics package, $38,000 per pair; single-driver SpaceHorn, $65,500 per pair; dual-driver SpaceHorn, $88,000 per pair.

In the grand scheme of high end pricing, flagship horns, horns subs, all power amps to these, money saved on not needing power amps interconnects and isolation/footers, all in for $200k, is pretty competitive.

 

[Germanboxers]

In the grand scheme of high end pricing, flagship horns, horns subs, all power amps to these, money saved on not needing power amps interconnects and isolation/footers, all in for $200k, is pretty competitive.

And with a DAC such as the MSB which has an outstanding low impedance line stage with good drive, DAC direct to Trio G3 is a tantallizing proposition…assuming, of course, that iTron is an improvement over a top end amplifier driving the passive crossover.

 

[spiritofmusic]

And with a DAC such as the MSB which has an outstanding low impedance line stage with good drive, DAC direct to Trio G3 is a tantallizing proposition…assuming, of course, that iTron is an improvement over a top end amplifier driving the passive crossover.

Lampi Horizon has a volume control as well?

 

[Germanboxers]

Lampi Horizon has a volume control as well?

I’m assuming it has volume control like the GG Gen1 that I had about 6 years ago; however, I am not sure how challenging it is to drive the iTron input. Another member mentioned that the output impedance of his Horizon was around 250 ohms. That might be on the edge if iTron‘s input is transformer coupled at 600 ohms. The MSB Ref is 150 ohms and the Select is 75 ohms. Both MSB models were able to easily drive my Thomas Mayer amps which are transformer coupled at the input.

 

[sbnx]

The input impedance of the iTron amp is 10K Ohm.

 

[Germanboxers]

The input impedance of the iTron amp is 10K Ohm.

Good to know, Todd. BTW…I applaud your patience and fanatical attention to setup. I know I won’t be able to delay the reward of listening for very long as I get a first go “good enough” setup. I probably won’t really dial mine until after I’ve put a great many hours listening.

 

[caesar]

As Todd already mentioned, one can purchase the Trio G3 with a passive crossover, the active iTron version or both. I purchased both and included the switch that allows an instantaneous switch from passive to active.

The iTron electronics makes sense to me on an engineering level applied to a speaker system like the Trio G3; however, I have what I consider an "end game" amplifier in the Thomas Mayer 300B with silver wound transformers on FineMet cores.

I struggled with what to order on my G3. I know the TM amp will be exemplary as I already use it on my Duo Mezzo XD's. If I only bought the iTron version I would be taking a leap of faith that it would be clearly better than the TM amp. If I bought the passive version only, I'd always be wondering if the innovation of iTron, really only applicable and integrated with a speakers such as the Trio G3, was truly groundbreaking.

My decision on which way to go was set when I realized I wouldn't be able to travel to Toronto to hear the G3 before purchasing. As I dug out my passport a week before my planned drive to Toronto I realized that it had expired. I wasn't willing to wait 12+ weeks to get it renewed before making the decision so I took a leap of faith and made the purchase in April.

Adding the passive crossover costs ~$5k, but considering the overall price of the speaker with a pair of twin spacehorns, for my situation, it was the optimum choice for peace of mind.

Look forward to sharing my thoughts after they are set up and settled in. Also really looking forward to Todd sharing his journey of fanatical setup with the G3's...I'm sure I can learn a great deal from his experiences.

Wow! Congrats, GermanBoxers! I’m thrilled for you!!!!

 

[bonzo75]

As Todd already mentioned, one can purchase the Trio G3 with a passive crossover, the active iTron version or both. I purchased both and included the switch that allows an instantaneous switch from passive to active.

The iTron electronics makes sense to me on an engineering level applied to a speaker system like the Trio G3; however, I have what I consider an "end game" amplifier in the Thomas Mayer 300B with silver wound transformers on FineMet cores.

I struggled with what to order on my G3. I know the TM amp will be exemplary as I already use it on my Duo Mezzo XD's. If I only bought the iTron version I would be taking a leap of faith that it would be clearly better than the TM amp. If I bought the passive version only, I'd always be wondering if the innovation of iTron, really only applicable and integrated with a speakers such as the Trio G3, was truly groundbreaking.

My decision on which way to go was set when I realized I wouldn't be able to travel to Toronto to hear the G3 before purchasing. As I dug out my passport a week before my planned drive to Toronto I realized that it had expired. I wasn't willing to wait 12+ weeks to get it renewed before making the decision so I took a leap of faith and made the purchase in April.

Adding the passive crossover costs ~$5k, but considering the overall price of the speaker with a pair of twin spacehorns, for my situation, it was the optimum choice for peace of mind.

Look forward to sharing my thoughts after they are set up and settled in. Also really looking forward to Todd sharing his journey of fanatical setup with the G3's...I'm sure I can learn a great deal from his experiences.

so you will be running the trios with the Mayer? Interesting