YG Hailey 2.2, Magico M2 or Avantgarde Duo XD ?

Hi all,


I am considering to upgrade my speakers and I would like this upgrade be “significant”.
I am currently using Avantgarde Zero TA XD that I am enjoying very much. It’s a fantastic value for money speakers ! Now I would like to keep their main strengths ( dynamics,transparency,difficult room “friendly”) and improve in terms of subtlety, decay and layering .
My room is small / medium , pretty “bright”, speakers will be relatively close from the front and rear walls and my listening is distance is pretty short (2.5m/3m).
So I am looking for a speaker with a “limited” footprint.
In terms of music, my taste is very eclectic so I am looking for speakers able to be very good “all rounder”.

I have preselected 3/4models :
- YG Hailey 2.2
- Magico M2
- Avantgarde Duo XD
- potentially TAD CR1 + subs

Duo XD would be the logical upgrade path but I feel those relatively big horns need space to breathe...
YG Hail 2.2 : was not considering them initially but after a superb (and totally random ) listening session I couldn’t exclude them any longer ! and I really like the possibility to upgrade further on ( but the 2.2 model is anyway just updated)

Also my current front gear is Accuphase C2850/A70 (have also a 300B SET amp ) and given the significant investment ahead of me, if those new speakers could be compatible with them ( even if not THE perfect match) it would help !

What do you think?

Thanks
Alex

PS : there are many other very good speakers/ brands but for many different reasons those 4models are my short list

 

Avantgarde speakers are still in my head but I believe they need a very careful setup and a longer listening distance that I can give them to enjoy them at their max.
I might give them a try as I know the dealer pretty well.

 

AG DUO XD offers far more enticing music experience than any Magico or YG.
Long term Duo XD will provide much more music bliss and with more kinds of music.
Your existing gear is a good match also.

 

Wish I could hear the Duo XD.
George - Could you expand on your experience? It sounds like you have been able to compare all 3 speakers in a similar setup?

 

After another listening session(s) and a final attractive offer from my dealer, I swallowed the pill and ordered the Sonja 2.2 ! So be it, we die only once but we live everyday !
Cherry (ies) on the cake,
1) as the Sonja 2.2 was finally no longer in stock , I got the Sonja 2.3 on loan ! Those are huge , but after spending several hours we managed to position them properly in my medium size non dedicated and reflective living room and they sound superb with absolutely no bass issues or harshness ( which were my two main concerns).
My dealer is « secretly » hoping that I will change my order from Sonja 2.2 to 2.3 but I reminded him that I was initially targeting the Hailey...

2) got the Soulution series 7 preamp and power amp on loan as well! Will compare with my Accuphase gear and then swap them vs Luxman gear . Gonna open a new thread on the Amp sections very soon !

 

Congrats on the purchase
Enjoy
I'm curious about your amp findings

 

Always curious about accuphase vs luxman. Can’t wait for your finding

 

Always curious about accuphase vs luxman. Can’t wait for your finding

Sure will let you know but comparison against Luxman won't occur before early October.
According to my dealer ( and he is not selling Accuphase) ,Accuphase should be better or on par.
What I can say is that after several hours of listening today and yesterday I prefer by quite a margin the Soulution combo to my Accuphase combo but I need much more time to reach a proper conclusion.
Also I will make some mix and match ( preamp Soulution/Amp Accuphase and vice versa).

 

Congratulations!
The Accuphase preamp might be a better bet there, with another amplifier. Unfortunately your amp, being mostly Class A biased, doesn't have the grunt required to drive the YGs to a satisfactory level, even though its tone is good (same can't be said of the Soulution)
Anyway, enjoy!

cheers,
Alex

 

Congrats!

Hard to believe you can make a decision without months or years of agonizing...

 

Fantastic! Congrats!
Curious as to the size of your room and the approx distance you managed from side and back walls? Enjoy!

 

Congratulations!
The Accuphase preamp might be a better bet there, with another amplifier. Unfortunately your amp, being mostly Class A biased, doesn't have the grunt required to drive the YGs to a satisfactory level, even though its tone is good (same can't be said of the Soulution)
Anyway, enjoy!

cheers,
Alex

Alex, what other amps will you recommend for YG?

 

Enjoy, I had the pleasure of an extended listening session of the Sonja at Alma and I thought it was a phenomenal speaker. It was just a little above my pay grade. I am checking out the Avantgarde Duo XD in October.

 

Alex, what other amps will you recommend for YG?

It really depends on what you're looking for, as the speakers are extremely transparent, and will truly show what the amps are doing.

For small rooms, and if you must have tubes, an Audio Research REF160M will do.

The Luxman works great, even in our large space. But it does benefit from a warmer preamp, the ARC or perhaps Luxman's own tube preamp that's coming out later this year.

The D'Agostino is just about the best we've heard with the YGs. It just does everything and is unflappable. Paired with the Audio Research preamp, it's able to please even the folks that were not traditionally fans of SS or Dan's amps.

darTZeel is the other obvious choice tied at #1, if you like the luscious midrange (I do!). With the mk2s, it's another solid choice, and should work even in the biggest of rooms.

On the obscure side of things, we've had great success with the LinnenberG amp, out of Germany. His Widor 200W stereo amp was an absolute revelation, so much that we've taken it to Axpona this year, and we got a "Best in Show" out of TAS/JV. Truly amazing amp, for less than $20k.

For brands that we don't (yet?) carry, I can mention Gryphon and Nagra. Every time I've heard YGs with them, it sounded rich and full, really couldn't fault it.

As usual, you're always welcome to PM me to chat more

cheers,
Alex

 

Fantastic! Congrats!
Curious as to the size of your room and the approx distance you managed from side and back walls? Enjoy!

My room is 4m*11m*3.2m so not small but as I have no other choice than to put the speakers on the long wall , the 4m is challenging... We put the back of the speakers at 50 cm from the back wall, I am sitting at around 3m of them and the distance between both speakers is also around 3M. Having 50 cms more from the back wall would be better but then I would have sit too close from the speakers ( the Sonja 2.3 are deep and tall! Sonja 2.2 will be more convenient on that aspect)

 

It really depends on what you're looking for, as the speakers are extremely transparent, and will truly show what the amps are doing.

For small rooms, and if you must have tubes, an Audio Research REF160M will do.

The Luxman works great, even in our large space. But it does benefit from a warmer preamp, the ARC or perhaps Luxman's own tube preamp that's coming out later this year.

The D'Agostino is just about the best we've heard with the YGs. It just does everything and is unflappable. Paired with the Audio Research preamp, it's able to please even the folks that were not traditionally fans of SS or Dan's amps.

darTZeel is the other obvious choice tied at #1, if you like the luscious midrange (I do!). With the mk2s, it's another solid choice, and should work even in the biggest of rooms.

On the obscure side of things, we've had great success with the LinnenberG amp, out of Germany. His Widor 200W stereo amp was an absolute revelation, so much that we've taken it to Axpona this year, and we got a "Best in Show" out of TAS/JV. Truly amazing amp, for less than $20k.

For brands that we don't (yet?) carry, I can mention Gryphon and Nagra. Every time I've heard YGs with them, it sounded rich and full, really couldn't fault it.

As usual, you're always welcome to PM me to chat more

cheers,
Alex

On my wish list, ( like for speakers I want to keep it short) I have:
- Nagra : more the preamp than the amp. Seems it is very frequently associated to YG in most of audio shows (but in Asia where the usual combo is Soulution/YG.)
- CH Precision: more their amps than their preamp but might be a bit too much on the dry side for YG?
- Dan D Agostino: more their amps than their preamps. Maybe too “meaty” for my taste.
- Luxman
- Accuphase: their upper combo pre C3850 with A75 or their class AB

The (big) issue is that for Nagra, Dag or CH Precision home audition will be almost impossible and pricing-wise I will get a much better deal for Soulution, Luxman or Accuphase ...

 

Ah, a tip if you're sitting close, with 2.3: ask your dealer for YG to provide a different front spike. There's a very, very small one, that will make the speakers tilt aggressively down, and thus providing the adequate soundstage height. Actually this small spike might come with the speakers now (it didn't use to in the Sonja 1 days).
As far as amps go, most of what you've written there are my impressions as well, so you might be on the right track there. But one thing I gotta tell you: you don't listen to "deals", you listen to good, solid products. So don't let the "deals" fool you.

 

On my wish list, ( like for speakers I want to keep it short) I have:
- Nagra : more the preamp than the amp. Seems it is very frequently associated to YG in most of audio shows (but in Asia where the usual combo is Soulution/YG.)
- CH Precision: more their amps than their preamp but might be a bit too much on the dry side for YG?
- Dan D Agostino: more their amps than their preamps. Maybe too “meaty” for my taste.
- Luxman
- Accuphase: their upper combo pre C3850 with A75 or their class AB

The (big) issue is that for Nagra, Dag or CH Precision home audition will be almost impossible and pricing-wise I will get a much better deal for Soulution, Luxman or Accuphase ...

Nagra is used a lot with YG because the UK distributor who also owns SME and Garrard is the same. It horribly under drives YG. Nagra pre into Luxman power into YG Hailey sounded excellent.

Luxman is high value. Dagostino is a better power amp though I have not heard it with YG won't be surprised if it's the best.

I haven't been impressed by Soulution power amp so far buttl their pre is my favorite in SS preamps though I prefer it on other systems into valve amps

 

Nagra is used a lot with YG because the UK distributor who also owns SME and Garrard is the same. Nagra pre into Luxman power into YG Hailey sounded excellent.

I don't see how you can make the UK distributor have any bearing on what a US and a Swiss company do...
Nagra is used with YG because it's a good combination, period.
It was shown in Germany because, guess what, the distributor for both companies is also the same.

 

Some European YG dealers very much like to pair NAGRA preamp with D'Ag amp(s) to drive the Sonja 2.2.

Maybe you can also try a NAGRA pre + LUXMANN amp. ;-)

I love NAGRA front-end unit (DAC's & preamps). Unless on very easy load, I'm less fan of Nagra's amps.

 

Congratulations on your new speakers. I believe that among the rest is the best choice. I don’t think that Nagra (pre + power amps) will be a good match, although this combo is demonstrated often. I had auditioned this system before and the Nagra equipment had failed to impress me.