Avantgarde Duo set up.


Genltlemen(and gentle women), I have a question.

In the manual, Duos require a set-up whereby the midrange horn is one hole higher than the tweeter horn (in their respective hole sets). Making the gap between the horns in the vertical axis larger and keeping the mid/high horns the correct distance apart from an acoustic perspective.

The manual also explains a "bead and ????something" method where you tilt the speaker front to back to get the bottom of the midrange horn visually touching the rear of the tweeter horn to get the correct position on the vertical axis.

I simply cannot get this to happen. With the reccommended horn position I have no chance of making this happen from my seating position. I'm much to low. Even with both the horns in the same holes, ie both two holes from the bottom, I cant get this " bead and ?????" method to line up. This is probably a function of my seating position being too low and being a faily long way away.

So I suppose my question is which is the best compromise ? Having the Horns in the Manual reccommended position. Or getting close the the "bead and thing" principal and having the horns closer together in the vertical axis.

Looking at various Gallerys on the web it looks like many people have their duos set up with the horns closer toghether than reccomended in the vertical axis.

I'm told that setup is critical with Duos so I'd like to get it as right as possible.

In your vast, collective experience which would be the best way to go ??

If you read this far...... thanks very much.

Myron.



borg7x9

Showing 2 responses by triode

Cmo's suggestion #4 is right on, for toe-in. But you need to be at least 12 feet away for best integration.

I'm tall and simply mount both horns in their highest positions.

The distance between speakers (measured to top dead center of tweeter horn) should be precisely 83% of the distance from each tweeter horn to your respective ears.

Be sure to reverse tweeter polarity (unless you have the Omega upgrade) and test both positive & reversed woofer polarity using a test CD track at the crossover point you're using (greater SPL is the way to go). Be sure to experiment with crossover point, in my room better integration comes at a higher setting (about 180 Hz), and don't bump the bass volume too high; in my experience, criticisms of the SUB 225s as "slow" or "wooly" are often related to poor setup (too low a crossover point and too high a volume setting).

Jim Smith of Avantgarde-USA is THE MAN when it comes to getting the best from these magnificent speakers.
Borg, until the Omega version/upgrade, the Duos were wired with negative tweeter polarity, so the jumper s/b reversed. Also, do not go from your amp to the tweeter - go direct to the most important driver, the mid horn...where the music lives.

And Whart is spot-on about toe-in.