Avantgarde Trios, SETs, and Impedance Curves

Gentlemen, thank you all for the additional suggestions.

Tim, you make a great point about Jim Smith and the Audiopax. I will look into these.

Richardmr and Tubes108, I have a local Art Audio dealer who has a PX-25, so I can borrow it just to get a sense of its flavor. Tubes108, since you've listened to both the Audiopax 88s and the Art Audio PX-25, did you actually compare them in an A/B comparison? Do you feel that you prefer the PX, or was your purchase based more on cost?

Charlie, thanks for the pricing info on the Tron and the Tom Evans. Wish I could swing the Tron, but that will have to wait for another day.

Dean

Dean;
You can find second hand Audiopax model 88's running between 5-6 grand.
Jim Smith the former Avantgarde USA distributer could have used ANYTHING to demo his speakers in Atlanta, but his personal choice was the Audiopax. I think there was a few good reasons for this. Synergy is one.
I have Duo/Omega's and the Audiopax Model 88 amps and am One Happy Camper! A bonus with these amps are tube replacement NOT being a financial ball buster. Plus they can be had in matching Avantgarde Laquer.
Good Luck;
Tim

I have Trio 2.2 and tried an Atma-shpere M60 MK.II. The sound was very, very fast. The highs were rolled off and the sound was dead. I got board very quick. I suspect there must be an impedence drop in the top end. I use a pair of Viva Aurora monos. They use the 845. They sound very balanced and extended from top to bottom. They are alot of power for Trios and can play them at an insanely loud volume. I have only tried this a few times for a couple of minutes to impress my non-audiophile friends. I found the sound to be fast until I heard the Atmas. The Atmas I felt were maybe to fast, if that is possible. I will be trying a friends Wavac 300b next week. E-mail me if you would like to know my opinion on how it sounds.
Steve.

Gotta check out the Mactone MA300, 22 watts, push/pull fast, dynamic, 3d soundstage, prefer this over ML2.

The Trio is tricky to set up because the impedance curve is very unusual for a horn- high in the bass and low in the highs, due to the design of the crossover, which is mostly capacitors. A lot of SETs have difficulty with the speaker as a result.

FWIW It is very easy to set up the M-60 to work with the speaker, by using the same technique that the designer used: negative feedback. The speaker is so sensitive that about 6 db of feedback can be employed in the M-60, solving any rolloff issues. This is easy to set up with an external jumper arrangement.

We don't regard the arrangement as ideal, but since the designer's amps used feedback, that's what you have to use. Neither the Duo or the Uno seem to have this requirement.