I would expect it would be the same on Duo 2.0 and 2.1. I remember when I first bought my Duo 2.1s that Jim Smith called me up shortly thereafter and told me to experiment with reversing the polarity on the SUBS because, according to AG, some may have been wired in reverse polarity.I will experiment with this upon my next listening session. Thx for the heads up. |
Acresverde,
Yes, I would expect it would be the same for the Duo's. So keep the same wiring you have right now (reverse on the subs and normal on the horns). Just reverse the positive and negative on the leads to the speakers from the amplifier. |
Try it both ways, with a test CD track at the adjustable crossover frequency (mine's set a bit over 140Hz on Duo Omegas) - whichever has higher output is the way to go. |
No harm in trying it both ways. But, it is not necessarily the case that the best orientation is all drivers in phase. For MANY speakers, the best integration is with a driver out of phase with respect to the other. This is dependend on the design, particularly the crossover.
I like the Duos myself, but I too find there are problems with the woofer. I doubt that it has to do with the woofer being out of phase. Woofers are quite hard to integrate with horn upper frequency drivers. Many horn systems eschew really deep bass in favor of faster drivers that can keep up with the horns. Perhaps driver transient response is an issue, perhaps something else. I found the bass on the Duo a bit uneven, such that certain notes seem to be a bit overemphasize and bloated. But, like EVERY speaker, compromises have to be made; on balance, the Duos are quite nice speakers. |
Hi Bmwmcab
I asked you this very question last year and didn't realize you answered it, been a while since i've been on audiogon since i bought my Uno's. I guess i will try to reverse the polarity on the horn side and see if that sounds better. I was confused after buying my horns about the reversing of polarity since everyone had a different opinion. I did find that the subwoofer didn't integrate seamlessly with the mid-drivers but lived to deal with it. Thanks for the heads up i have something to test now.... |
Guess what??? I tried the polarity reversal on my horns and it definitely was NOT the better solution for me. However, while futzing around behind the speaker I noticed that my subs were NOT hooked up in reverse polarity (an oversight, probably, from the last time they had to be moved to accomodate hurricane repairs on the living room roof). So I made the swicheroo and BOOM (or is that BAM), better bass definition and spatiality and increased intelligibility from top to bottom. So, whether they were wired in reverse polarity during assembly or, as Larryi pointed, simply integrate better in my particular room with polarity inversion, believe me...whatever the reason, one way is audibly superior to the other and I would encourage all Duo and Uno owners to experiment. |
Runmeshaw,
Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. |
Acresverde,
Ok. Now try just reversing the positive and negative leads on the speaker wires from the amp. Let me know how that is. |
The problem with bass integration has to do with time delay. the subs starts around 2 ms behind the horns. Look at the last stereophile review of the uno nano (in particular the step response).
Only way to fix it (besides removing the subs from the frame and moving them closer to the listening position) is to bi-amp them and put a digital delay on the horns. that's what I'm doing on my omega duos |
Locational time delay might be a factor in integration, but, having experimented with horn systems, it is usually a minor consideration. You can move the bass driver much closer to the listener and if the bass driver is not well suited to the task, it will still sound slow or lumpy or whatever. The particular signature of horn drivers is quite hard to integrate with woofers, particularly where an emphasis has been placed on getting really deep bass from the woofer. Most decently integrated horn system have woofers in bass alignments that don't really allow for deep bass--e.g., horn loading or onken bass reflex--unless truly giant cabinets are used.
Like all systems,Avantgarde speakers reflect a particular set of tradeoffs, the best one can do is optimize performance--particularly placement of the speaker. |
I was charmed with the horns but disappointed with the poor bass of my UNO G2, and I was not aware of reverse polarity trick, but I have simply replaced the internal amplifiers with cheap ClassD Hypex modules... and they now ROCK ! |
I was charmed with the horns but disappointed with the poor bass of my UNO G2, and I was not aware of reverse polarity trick, but I have simply replaced the internal amplifiers with cheap ClassD Hypex modules... and they now ROCK ! |
