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

[Hear Here]

From a practical side the Mezzo bass cabinet has a larger footprint than the DuoGT. So, if you are concerned with space then the DuoGT will be a little easier to fit.

Thanks for that. In my room, although very large, I want as narrow a speaker as possible, as they are placed mid-room with floor-to-ceiling windows beyond, that offer fantastic views from my 19th floor flat overlooking the harbour and city.

For that reason I ditched the Duo XD "scaffolding" and replaced this with a top-mounted cradle on the lines of the Mezzo one, but with revised measurements provided by Avantgarde. This allowed the base frame to be rotated 90 degrees (as per SUB231) to further slim them down visually. With my earlier Duos, a back-mounted F-shaped bracket was made to support the 2 horn tubes. Both work well, with improved vibration control and the appearance of being considerably narrower. The Mezzos are losing their appeal!

Photos of Duo XD as supplied and as modified, and earlier Duos with F-bracket to support horn tubes

 

[Kozak170]

I’ll take your word on this, as you have far more experience/ expertise with precision speaker set up. But, as a former owner of the Mezzo’s, I can’t imagine that simply replacing the light weight horn would move the speaker. Maybe the driver housing could move a micron if not done with great care?I found that with two people, the big horn screws on/off very smoothly.

From my experience , I would definitely check out and compare the gloss with the Matt finish horn as I think the abs definitely has a sound coloration.

When you had the Mezzo, did you touch the upper horn with your hand during the playback to see if there was any vibration?

IMO, apart from the glossy or matte horn coatings, the type of horn frame construction is very important to minimize the coloration of the horn material itself. the weak and loose frame structure of the previous generations of AGs (especially trios) had a lot of resonance and transferred it to the plastic horns, which made the Avantgarde tend to sound a bit bright or with a bit of plastic coloration especially for those who are so sensitive to plastic coloration like you. It should be mentioned that to minimize these issues in the previous gen of AG, Jim Smith used the tweaks of Symposium platforms and sandbags.

But in the new generation of AG, these issues seem to have been solved, and with much more weight of the speaker (trio g2=53kg , trio g3=145kg) and a much better frame structure, much less vibrations are transmitted to the horns. this Japanese review of trio g3 also pointed out this point..

"The horn with an aperture angle of 180 degrees is made of ABS, but you won't feel any unnecessary resonance or resonance vibrations even if you touch it with your hands during playback."

 

[sbnx]

I did put a 25lb bag of lead shot on the bottom crossbar of the TrioG3 frame. Tightened up the bass a bit.

I don't feel the big horn resonate when music is playing.

Like all speaker companies they learn as they go along. I am sure the "mix" of materials in the ABS has changed over the years to damp and mitigate the vibration of the horns.

 

[Kozak170]

I am sure the "mix" of materials in the ABS has changed over the years to damp and mitigate the vibration of the horns.

How interesting! I didn't know that because Holger and Armin said that the only parts that are exactly the same between Avantgarde G3 and previous generations are the ABS horns of mid and upperbass, so they meant the same dimensions and profile of the spherical horns, but as you said, the combined structure of the ABS material has changed for better vibration damping in the G3 generation.

 

[Tam Lin]

I have Trio Omegas from 2000. To stabilize the wobbly frame I use lead bricks. Three 25lbs bricks on the base of each frame. One 50lbs brick on top, spanning from the single post to the cross bar. One 20lbs brick wedged between the front post and the tweeter. Each frame is coupled to the floor with steel spikes.

 

[nirodha]

The iTron in the Mezzo uses the same parts quality at the iTron in the Trio. If you are going to go passive then this doesn't matter.

Yes, I heard / read somewhere that the iTron in the Mezzos were improved compared to the GTs.

 

[caesar]

Hi SBNX, anything new?

Does the system still thrill your or have you gotten acclimated?

 

[sbnx]

Hi SBNX, anything new?

Does the system still thrill your or have you gotten acclimated?

Hello Caesar,

The only thing new in the Trio room at the moment is the Reiki switch and optical bridge on the network side. I also now use the Raku streaming cables from the switch to the Wadax and the switch to the L10. The Reiki stuff is really excellent and has cleaned up a good bit of noise.

The Trios are just as thrilling today as they were a year ago. I have zero regrets on this speaker.

I have largely been keeping myself busy with the DuoGT system and evaluating changes in there.

Things in the pipeline in the Trio system are a change of cables and power distribution. I am also on the fence as to what to do in the DAC space. I also need to resolve the issue with the floor. Lots of work to do.

 

[sbnx]

Hello, this may be an obscure place to put this information but at lease it is available to those that like to read.

As many know the Avantgarde G3 series of speakers can be ordered either with a passive crossover or with the iTron amp. AG made a switch available to dealers that would allow the speaker to have both the iTron and a passive crossover. This was inteded so the dealer could easily switch back and forth between the iTron and some other (presumably tube) amp in order to demo this for the customer. However, customers then started wanting the switch.

I have a pair of DuoGT's that have the switch option and I considered it a PITA. If I want to just listen to the iTRON the switch has to be engaged and this means the BNC cables have to be permanently attached to the speaekers. Or do they??

If you go to amazon you can get a pack of 50 ohm BNC terminations. All one needs to do is put these little dongles in place of the cable and viola. You can now listen to the iTron without those dangling cables being in the way.