Acapella vs. Avantgarde

Jim, are you agreeing with my sub placement as an acceptable trade off. How do you set your subs and horns in your room. Could you please include dimensions. As others have stated earlier I really appreciate hearing your recomendation and opinions. Are you enjoying the audio world at the user level more now than you did at the business end of it. What a crazy fun hobby. Couldn't go without it.

Steve.

Jim, are you agreeing with my sub placement as an acceptable trade off.

Unfortunately, I can't agree or disagree. Without being in your room, and seeing what placement works best, I can't possibly know.

Have you tried inverting the polarity on all 4 subs, to see if that's an improvement? Sometimes with them located behind the horns, it'll help.

If you can't run pink noise with a 1/3 octave RTA, then play some recordings with simply miked solo vocals. If female vocal, use one that's fairly low. The ubiquitous Diana Krall can work.

Listen with all of the subs in one polarity. Note how present the vocalist is.

Then invert the subs. Without adjusting the volume control, play the same recording again.

Very often, one way will sound a bit hollow, and the other way will sound more palpable and present. Hollow is phase cancellation, so you don't want that configuration.

If you're using a jumper to go over to a pair of subs per channel, just invert the polarity at the amp end. It'll take care of both. Obviously, do this for both channels.

How do you set your subs and horns in your room. Could you please include dimensions.

What happens in any room is only a function of that room, and usually will have little bearing on another installation. So I'd prefer not to introduce any potentially confusing tips that may likely cause more trouble than they solve...

Incidentally, this technique is not at all unique to Avantgardes. I remember going through a similar process with the Mark Levinson HQD (Hartley subs, Quad mids, Decca tweeters) system in 1978. And countless systems since.

A lot has changed since then, but the basic laws of physics still have to be obeyed... :)

Best regards,

Jim Smith

Thanks Jim, I'll try that. My pre went back to the factory for some up dates. My system will be down for a while. I'll give that a try as soon as it gets back.
Steve.

I own a pair of AG UNOs and agree with many here, specially regarding proper placement, top-notch electronics (no - you wont save on amps if you get AG - I have been there) and the sub-horn alchemy.

i) AG is quite directional, I am still fine tunning after six months!
ii) AG cables make a difference in the subs, I have tried a dozen, Siltech worked for me.
iii) AG are addictive, whatever I hear, including a friends pipedreams or Avalon Eidoleons, sound boxed and laid back in comparison - (eg. yes, there is an AG "sound").

My next step is to try Magellan VIII subs (thanks for reading this post) - A good friend of mine is comming tomorrow to compare my system with his (Acappellas involved) - will post his remarks shortly after.

Enjoy!

Fernando

As the OP of this thread I would like to thank all of you for the help you have given. Since I posted the thread, I have had a chance to listen to the Avantgarde Duo's. In a couple of weeks I will be flying to Sydney to listen to the Acapella's.

I lugged by heavy Cary 805AE monoblock's to the dealer to have a listen. I was very impressed with the but with a couple of caveats.

Firstly, the dealer was unable to find a bass setting that made me happy. Either too boomy, or too hollow, or too little or too much. He told me that it takes quite a bit of time to set them up and i'm sure he's right.

Secondly, the horns do not integrate well unless you have the luxury of a large room and you can sit far away from them. Just walking back from the horns, I can hear them just about to start to come together at about 2m. 3m is better, but at 4m they sounded fantastic. The trouble is, I don't have that much space in my listening room. They would have to be flat up against the wall and that introduces its own problems.

Thirdly, the soundstage projected was too tall and not wide enough. I experimented with toe-in which cured the width issues somewhat, but I think the speakers had to be placed further apart than where the dealer had them (1.5m apart). I mentioned to my friend that it was like watching a movie with the wrong aspect ratio.

Apart from these caveats, the speaker really impressed me. I liked the easy sound, the incredible dynamics, and the subtlety they are capable of. I think that all the above concerns of mine would disappear with the "right" listening room and careful setup. Unless the Acapella's in Sydney do better, I will be looking at buying a pair of these speakers.