More power for my Duos?

You ask about Art Audio's Jota. I believe that for use with Duos, Art Audio recommends their fine PX-25 amp, either the stereo or the monoblock versions. Your specific requirments would determine whether the monos or stereo version would work best for you. I talked to Art Audio a while back and they use Duos in-house, so for sure they would be a great resource for you if you contact them.

I have a pair of Duos at home (paired with Tron Meteor and Quad IIs). The Duos are so efficient, you don't need more than 4-5 watts. However, whatever you use must be quiet and good as the Duos are very revealing. I have heard the Duos with the Tron PX25s (5 watts) - sublime. I agree with Ejlif - play around with positioning and subwoofer setup. that's crucial. Mine were set up at home by Graham Tricker from GT Audio (UK distributor for Avantgarde and manufacturer of Tron amplifiers) - that's part of his service in the sale price.
In my room (35 x 20 feet - 12 foot ceilings), the subwoofer crossover freq is set at 170 and the volume at the 12.30 clock position.

edjlif

I didnot say the duos did not sound very good, I was merely indicating that it has some of the typical traits of horn speakers. One of these there is an overall 'sketchy' feel to its presentation. A lightnesss and speed that is common more or less in many horn designs but probably less so in the Avantgardes. I have played around with the duo set up plenty hence the advice regarding supports to give the musicians more body and warmth.

Ultimately compared to the hyperions their faults become obvious, especially in the region of musicality, clarity, transparency and bass. Read comparisons steve rochlin makes with his reference avantgardes with other speakers, on enjoythemusic especially when he compares it to the Galante rhapsody at a fraction of the price. I have heard the duos and trios in various settings and the sound is characteristic, a lightnesss of touch which takes them away from a truely realistic reproduction.

They were one of the best speakers in the world a few years ago, but I now have evidence that they are being overtaken by several of the price breaking newcomers.Only when directly compared with these in ones own set up can the weaknesses truely become apparent.

There is a German DIY site which tries to address this one failing with the Avantgardes. They inform us that the metallic carriers for the horns can be filled with deflex material and the crossovers upgraded with warmer sounding Jensen Caps. I have not tried these yet, but even if this did improve the sound, the subwoofers still need an awful lot of work to get to sound anywhere near as good as a passive integrated one. Having to use solid state amplification in the actives is certainly degrading in my opinion, and judging by the very poor quality of the supplied cables I would be suspicious about the amount of thought that went into the design of the subwoofer.

In my exprience the difference between amplifiers can be considered minimal when compared with the differences between speakers. Hence the advice to the original author of this thread.

Luke

This may be a dumb question, but if horns are sketchy at reproducing the clarity, transparency and musicality of a recording, then why are they used at every live performance? Or in movie theaters? I'm not asking this as a challenge. I really don't know the answer. I just know that I've not heard any speaker match the immediacy of a horn.
Thanks in advance for the education.

Luke

In a nutshell it sounds like you were saying the Duos don't sound good, which is fine. I don't think they sound lean, in fact they can have as much weight as you want with the controls. Obviously these speakers have their weakness which is the bass and integration. So far I'm not as bothered by it as some. It's the dynamics and the ability to connect to the music as in a live acoustic event that makes the horns awesome. I've not heard a box speaker that can match the horns for dynamics and that is where the energy and excitment comes from. Those Hyperions must be something worth checking out if they can match the Duos for dynamics.