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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
herman
2,267 posts
 
It sounds like you may be sitting too close. Try moving back if your room permits. You could also try varying the tilt of the speakers front to back to get the gap you desire,

"In the manual, Duos require a set-up whereby "

I think the key word in that sentence is require, which I would view as a suggestion rather than a requirement. It may be true that they achieved what they considered to be the best results with that set-up, but I would suggest that your room and equipment might require a different configuration.

That said, it is true that optimum performance requires optimum placement and that may well be different than what the manual says. Unfortunately that can only be determined by experimintation.
borg7x9 OP
91 posts
 
hi Chris/Herman,

Thanks for your Advice. Its very good to know that the set up in the Manual isn't critical for great performance with these speakers. I'm happy to experiment with positioning etc and from your comments I've got some good things to try.

Thanks for taking the time to help, I really appreciate it.

Myron.
triode
263 posts
 
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.
borg7x9 OP
91 posts
 
Triode,
I've just been revisiting this thread and I'm interested in your "Be sure to reverse tweeter polarity" comment. I plug my speaker cables into the lower teminals on the tweeter. Should I plug the positive into the negative and Visa versa from my amp and then reverse the jumpers into the Mid and Sub(unless of course I need to also have the sub out of Phase which means that It'll be either in phase with the reversed polarity of the tweeter or in phase with mid . Is the Duo designed to run with the tweeter out of phase or does it sound better in phase in some cases.

Thanks for your thoughts.
whart's avatar
whart
3,059 posts
 
Yep, I was a little confused about the reverse polarity comment as well, since it sounds like, to invert polarity on the woof, you'd need to change both the mid and the tweets relative to the woof.
One suggestion that Jim Smith makes, aside from hooking up at the midrange, and going from there (and there is a HUGE difference in sound between the stock jumpers and the Cardas Golden Reference- no exaggeration here) is on toe in-
seated at the listening position, look toward the outer rear bolt. Its head should line up visually with the inside of the front upright rail on the same side. Sonically, the speakers seem to snap into focus. I didn't find a need to change the recommended height of either horn.
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