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Avantgarde Duos - right for me?

I just wanted some opinions on the Avantgarde Duos as an upgrade path for my system.

My system currently consists of Manley 300b monoblocks, Manley Shrimp preamp, Acoustic Zen speaker and interconnect cabling and Omega Superhemp single driver speakers.

Overall I have been pleased with this system and just love the strengths of an SET/single driver system. Very intimate, great speed and tone, fabulous midrange, etc.

What the system is unfortunately lacking still is big dynamics and deep bass. I have read good things about the Avantgarge Duos but I cant find a local place to audition these speakers first hand. At any rate, I would certainly be looking to buy these pricey speakers used on Agon.

Any opinions on how the Duos would sound with the Manley 300b monoblocks? How small is the "sweet spot" on the Duos? I ask this because I do a lot of entertaining and would ideally like a speaker that has a decent sized listening area. What sized room do the Duos need to sound right? My living room is 18x24. Are there any other high sensitivity speakers that would be better than the Duos?
latinsamba1
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,853 posts
 
Two things I would consider before switching to a high sensitivity design like the Avantgardes:

1) Sensitive horns are finicky beasts and may require other significant tweaks to your system afterwards to sound right. In other words, be prepared to have to tune your system to the horns more so perhaps than other designs.

2) For creating a large listening area, wide dispersion or even more omni-directional designs are needed. I'm not sure that these horns fit the bill for that. I could be wrong though. I'm sure others will correct me if so.


latinsamba1 OP
74 posts
 
Thanks Mapman. Your first point is something I have read about in several reviews. You also need amps that are totally quiet with the very high sensitivity of the horns. My Omegas are 96db efficient and are silent up to about 12 inches away so I think horns would be fine in that respect.

The second point is interesting though. Sounds like a very small listening zone? While 90% of my listening is just me, it would be nice to have a speaker that could fill an entire room for when I entertain. Its all a tradeoff I know.....

What other speakers should I consider in the under 10k (used) range? I have read good things about the higher end Coincident speakers but havent heard those in person.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,853 posts
 
BTW, if I could afford another pair of speaks and had another room big enough, I would love to audition a pair of Avantgardes to add to my collection!
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