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Are Avalon Ascents the Classics they seem to be?

I have a mint pair of Avalon Ascent seriesII in a dedicated room of 22x13x8.They are driven by Rowland 8t With a second amp housing containing a new switch mode power supply done up by Rowland.The restof the system is also of high quality'such as Levinson390s and SOTA COSMOS w/Graham 2.2 and Transfiguration temper-V.An ultramodified (by Great Northern Sound) Audio Research SP-15 preamp rounds out the system.Cables are Cardas and Transparent Audio with quality but not insanely rediculous powercords into 3 dedicated lines.Also a REL stentor (in right corner of room)rounds out the set up coming in at 24hz (with corner loading you hear the presence of the sub,but gain is set low for a nice blend that works.I have made an attempt to hear a good deal of current speakers and haven't felt that there is much out there that warrants spending the kind of money to make such a change.I have to be blown away,and although I've heard the Kharma stuff as well as the Eidolons and veritys I still can"t get too exited.I really like the Nova utopias Be and think that the TAD-1 would be killer but I really don't think my room is big enough.It is a closed in space with no venting into other rooms.The Wilson stuff don"t(to me)have the true upper mid detail that I have come to love.I know that it may seem as though I'm answering my own question,however,I know that there are some of you out there that may have the experience and rationale to help me to be sure I'm not rationalizing or deluding myself.Thanks!I also can't help but feel that the sealed box design and easy load that Avalon once marketed as well as external crossovers and the significant mass of the speaker syst. has to be a significant contribution.
sirspeedy
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
The dude at Sonus is obsessive about modifying drivers, I can't remember which speaker but Scanspeak had to make him like 30-35 versions of the same driver. I had to patch into memory for how the Extrema performed and it seemed that it would be a candidate. Definitely not the same Esotar thats in the Confidence 5!

I was serious about trying a digital eq, even a cheap one just to see how it can affect your system, click it in click it out. A DBX or the Behringer DEQ2496 are good enough to expirement with before you make a serious investment in a Rives Parc, Accuphase or Lake Technology Quad Mesa.

Also downloading Doug P's ETF $399 with mic or True Audio's RTA $250 gives your ears eyes.

It was my pleasure to be helpful.
hodelrecords
13 posts
 
Sir Speedy and Cinematic systems. The biggest asset of the Ascent is the ruler flat impedance that mates very well with an otl. When you change the tweeter what will happen to the impedance? I have had the Apogee Duetta which had very good resolution and a very good tweeter but music was not very captivating and only a few records were great. Voices and instruments did not have their natural size etc. Avalon (I have also had the pleasure of 10 years listening Radian with really superb solid state amps)did cure this. So please be careful with what will happen to the music
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Hodelrecords,

"Voices and instruments did not have their natural size etc."

Apogees in general were slightly bright speakers, which was magnified by the common installation in a typical domestic environement.

You may know the dipole radiation and distance from the rear wall and the frequency response of that reflection off the back wall all factor in to any dipoles sound quality.

The delay in the reflection gives the sound its uncontrollable larger size.

"When you change the tweeter what will happen to the impedance?"

Changing the tweeter will likely do very little to disturb the impedance with a proper crossover solution and the ease to drive the speakers will remain the same as tweeters run on very little power in the grand scheme of the speaker design. BUT! integrating a new tweeter will be no picnic. When a speaker is this good and well designed you have to leave it alone, upgrading an individual part of a well designed speaker SYSTEM is an oxymoron 99.999999% of the time.

Also to clarify the addition of the supertweeter would also not effect the impedance either.
sirspeedy70680e509
1,064 posts
 
I have decided to leave well enough alone(I've put the kabbash on the super tweeter subject)!Truthfully,and having heard a load of the newer(all fine,btw)stuff,I am still ecstatic about the performance of the Ascents.Though I did purchase a Rel Stentor sub some time ago.The sub DOES blend flawlessly,but took me "eons" to get correct.Very low crossover point,and very low gain setting.Also,in my dedicated room,I have found it performs best just behind,and a bit to the right of my right channel speaker.This places it three feet out,from back wall,and two feet from side wall.The room is a closed off affair.Measures 13x22.5x8.Speakers are actually about 8.5 feet from back wall,as measured from back of cabinets.SERIOUS SOUNSTAGE DEPTH,as well as ambience and great inner details.I guess I'm a happy camper!Thanks,so much for the well intentioned feedback!

Best!
cenline
238 posts
 
A good friend runs the old Eclipse with a really good tweak that improves both extension and imaging.He uses three Totem beaks on each speaker and loves the sound he is getting.I heard the new opus speaker from Avalon with Cat JL3 and a Wadia GNSC 861se,the woofer was down firing and proved to be problematic from the get go.I thought the old pair of Eclispe easily bettered the new opus in every parameter.I also use the beaks on my Paragon speakers and also on my tube amp next to signal and power tubes with spectacular results in sound.I also listened to the Ascents and thought they were sonic marvels in the imaging dept.,I can't help wondering if there are cabling issues. A super tweeter would only upset the tonal balance as well as the imaging and time alignment.The beaks are a cheap tweak and do wonders for old Hansen based designs,I strongly recommend them over a super tweeter any day! Take care Dennis
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