Avantgarde..... Still a contender???

I just auditioned some Avalon Eidolon Diamonds, I know this item was not mentioned but I can not think of a better speaker that I have heard in the $20K used price range. They would work well in your space too.

I owned Duo 2.2 nice loudspeaker but it suffered from poor driver integration and the bass wasent up to snuff.I went with Oris horn to me much much better.But as always YMMV

Iv've never had the A/G's in my system but have heard them sound mediocre (at a NoCal dealer) and I've heard them sound tremendous (SoCal dealer). Ultimately, I bought Zingali as they were much less expensive and a "first step" into horns.

One thing I have discovered, these speakers do not need a large room. Horns have limited dispersion and seem to (to an extent) take the room out of the equation. My guess is that the A/G's will be fine in your space provided you can get the subs happy.

Actually, the lack of driver integration is part and parcel of the AG Duos and the rest of the line. It's just that not everyone is equally sensitive to this phenomenon. Fine tuned to the nth degree, with perfectly matched associated gear, the characteristic remains and in fact, to me, the more finely tuned an AG system is, the more obvious the lack of driver integration. It is least noticeable when other things are wrong. However, I know not everyone hears this or if they do, they don't care about it. It is an intrinsic quality of the AG series however that makes them unlistenable to me.

Phil

Johnk, per your comments about the old 2.2 version of the Duos. I never heard that older model, but what you mentioned seems right on. A large portion of the difference between the 3.2 Duos & that old model addressed the very issues you mentioned. The crossover changed, there were subwoofer changes, and the cables and power cords changed. Currently, a new version of the Duos is available which no doubt provides further improvements.

For those who knock the speaker, I respect your opinions. No audio product fits everyone’s priorities and goals. I do maintain that the objections people made are mostly if not entirely due to artifacts of setup and system matching issues. As with any high performance product, imperfect results readily occur if one but has few listening auditions & if respectful attention is not given to the setup and matching of components. And sometimes it takes living with a product a period of time in order to get the entire system in sync. Just one case in point. If I based my opinion on Quads from but hearing them at shows or at Quad retailers, I’d critique them to no end. Yet, when properly set up and matched with synergistic components, we are talking about a legend.

The Avantgardes have the potential to perform in ways that other speakers cannot. Although this performance is not for everyone, it has brought significant pleasures to many users. For many of us, the AGs provide the sonic performance that ends our quest for the last speakers we’ll ever purchase.

Chris, there is something about Avantgardes that caught your attention, and thus it seems worthwhile to audition them. Although you will have to travel a ways to listen to them, they or any other speaker in their class represents a considerable investment. Maybe making said trip a practical thing to do prior to spending the $$$.