Amp to match Avantgarde Uno G2 horn speakers

wavac 845. Heard these in an AV system in NYC years ago. Louis Armstrong was in the room with me, breathing and performing. THE best sound I've ever heard!

The amps you suggest would probably do fine.

mus_1

Boy, I would say good luck! Those speakers are the most amp sensitive I have ever heard. They sounded plain awful with an Audio Note Oto SE, and acceptable with a Graaf OTL. I have also heard the Duo's with the Cary CAD-805AE SET, which was a combo which worked very well. Magical top end with a full midrange.

It seems that despite the claims of high sensitivity, the Avantgardes benefit from a bit of power.

Just my limited experience from auditioning the Avantgardes. I was going to buy them, but chose something else instead.

At this year CES Avantgarde were using their own Class A solid state Model 3 integrated amp. 1.1 Wt/Ch. with G2 Duo.
The sound in that room was one of the best. I kept coming back all 4 days of the show.
The speakers play rock like there is no tomorrow- the best of the show. And I'm not talking about James Taylor or Eagles- they played AC/DC, Rammstein.
Of course, they play all kinds of music extremely well- very open, live, dynamic and completely free of any box colorations sound, with abundance of detail and nuances.

A friend has a pair and uses a custom Brazilian made tube amp with BAT preamp, he likes the combination very much. Sorry I don't know the name of the amp.

the brazilian amp should be Audiopax.

The Audiopax and the Viva Audio SET from Italy are the best matches I've ever heard with Avantguard speakers.

Hi Jtein,

I owned Avantgarde Duos for four years and have owned Duo Primos for the past four years. I must have owned and/or demoed a couple of dozen amplifiers with Avantgarde loudspeakers. Amplifer noise is the main issue with Avantgarde loudspeakers. Many amps are just too noisy to be used with Avantgarde loudspeakers. Tube amps that sounded good with Avantgarde's were: Cyrus Brenneman Cavalier Plus, Audiopax Model 88's, Art Audio PX-25, Wyetech Sapphires, and BAT VK-75SE. Solid-state amplifers that sounded good with my Avantgarde's were: Pass Aleph 3, Red Wine Audio Signature 30.2, First watt F3, Resolution Audio S-30, and Avantgarde Model 3 and Model 5+. I love the way tube amps sound, but can't stand the maintenance and reliability issues associated with them. I'm currently running a Great Northern Sound Reference modded Resolution Audio S-30 with my Duo Primos and it sounds fantastic! Good luck!

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts....very helpful!

I've never listened to Avantegarde's but I've listened to (and own)Modded Klipschorns and Belles w/ about the same sensitivity and characteristics. They sound great w/ Mcintosh solidstate and especially Mcintosh tube amps. I've run mine w/ Mc2102'as Mono Blocks (200w perchannel) and Now 2 MC2000's. My 02cents, don't know if you thought about Mac or perhaps not interested?? Regards...

Thanks Tjnif. Wow, why do you need to run your Klipsch with 200wpc since they have about the same sensitivity rating as the Avantgarde?

It takes 200 watts to achieve a stable orbit. Seriously, K horns with that much power should have to be registered as a dangerous weapon.

Well I first ran my Belle's with 1 MC2102. I thought they sounded "soft" and lacking in definition.... I borrowed another MC2102 from audioclassics and WHAT A TRANSFORMATION!! Even at lower volumes it sounded better (much better) of course I did the usual mods then went to khorns (more mods)... Sometimes I like to "feel" the music and I like it loud! But with the macs it just doesnt seem loud,,,,thats what everyone else says who hears my system to.

Dealer post.....but I would like to suggest that for anyone who has NOT heard the G2 Avantgardes they might try and do so. The G2 version is SO DRASTICALLY different than the original speakers, that unless you hear them for yourself, your perceptions based on hearing the original Avantgares is really not accurate. So at least if anyone has an opinion, good or bad, it might be helpful for everyone if they qualify there perceptions based on the original Avantgare horns or the G2 model. Once you personally hear the G2 I am sure that you will agree. They still might not be someone's cup of tea, but the G2 retains the "alive" quality of the original horns but now there is an uncanny "real" presence to the instrumnents that wasn't always there with the prior Av's. Additionally the soundstaging now competes with the best dynamic speakers. The speaker frame and all hardware has been dramatically improved and the overall aesthetics have been taken up several notches, IMO anyway.

The G2's also sound incredible with SS now. I sort of prefer good SS with classical music on them now. I like tubes for everything else, but you can listen to classical with tubes and everything else with SS and it's pretty amazing as well.

Sorry for the discertation, but I am as excited with the new G2 as I was when I first heard horn speakers. Being a musician I love "alive" sound so nothing else does it for me like horns. But the "realness" of the horn sound always left much to be desired.....not anymore!

Avantgarde does the "new" G2 have the same head in a vise sweet spot or has it expanded in the G2? Also where can you hear them?

Seadogs1, Hi, Good question.....two part answer. 1) If you are sitting in the sweet spot and you move your head to the right or left a foot or so, then yes the center image will shift....pretty much the same as before. 2) If you sitting of axis as in four or five feet off center, then the entire soundstage is present with acurate soundstaging.

Unfortunately, what I have been told by Avantgarde in Germany is that I have the only pair of G2's here in the states. I am in NYC at Rhapsody Music and Cinema, 24th street, off 5th Ave. If I can answer any further questions or if you are in the NYC area or are going to be visiting give me a call and come and visit....and bring cd's or LP's that you know...212-229-1842....bob

A few months back I went to an Avantgarde demo show in The Netherlands. The dealer choice for amplification was Audio Note, but he was very nice and switched (at my request) the Audio Note for Accuphase, i.e. the E-560 class A integrated (30 watts into 8 ohms). I have requested this amp because I own the Accuphase E-550 (the predecessor of E-560).

The Accuphase-Avantgarde combination was just marvelous. I could not find a single fault. I have listened only to the UNOs. The dealer bagged me to listen also to the DUO Omegas. He assured me that the DUOs will sound even better than the UNOs (driven by the same Accuphase of course). Unfortunately, I could not stay any longer, the time just flu by spinning one disc after another and I was late to an appointment.

Apparently, according to the dealer, it is well known that Accuphase-Avantgarde is a match made in heaven. The demo I have attended has certainly proven that indeed that was the case.

My Duo Omegas have mated best with Lamm ML2s - synergy defined, and hailed as an excellent match by none other than Vladimir Lamm himself. Previously used Cary 300SE 8wpc mnons, and (with better results) Wright Sound 3.5 monos (2A3 with 3.5wpc). The Lamms are staying.

Best matches I've heard:

-Lamm 2.1
-Audiopax 88
-First Watt F3 and J2
-Viva

The nice thing about First Watt is that you can have an in home trial from Reno HiFi. The F3 was wonderful but not a great match with my Hovland HP-100.

I heard the big Avantgardes in the NYC show a few years back with B.A.T. amps and I was very impressed. There was no shout factor, tinnyness, or bass boom. It seemed just right and very involving. I forgot if tubes were involved.

The UK importer of Avantgard, Graham Tricker, is a great enthusiast for the speakers and of course, is Tron Amplifiers also. I don't know that Tron amps were voiced with Avantgard in mind, but they did sound very good together, when I went to pick up my turntable.
Tron are well respected anyway, try googling the name or GT audio is his UK website

You may want to check out the Serious Stereo 2A3 amps. These amps sound incredible and should be a good match. I am using with 101db sensitive speakers with great results.

Can anyone here read Greek? Some years back a Greek reviewer bought an S-30 from us, for use on his UNOs, and he sent us this:

http://www.atma-sphere.com/reviews/eav/index.html

We always assumed that it was a good review, and he did comment to us that it was an excellent match for the UNO.