Acapella vs. Avantgarde

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.

Amfibius - You did an excelent jon at describing the Avantgarde main sonic characteristics (all fixable) - just a couple of things IMO.

The sub settings will help you integrating the AG sound a lot, it takes time, but well rewarded, and also, check your cable options (AC, interconect and speaker) since they also play a major role here.

As I said, Siltech worked for my system, but I have also heard that Nirvana works well.

From that point, you can play with upgrades, better frames, subs as time/financlals allow - these are keepers for sure.

Regards,

Fernando

Sounds like most of your issues are set-up issues. I don't know what Jim Smith's view of the following would be, but I heard a pair of the big JBL K2s a while back where the speakers were literally in the corners of the room, on the long wall, toed-in pretty significantly, to aim at a listening position that was about as far away as you are describing, and they sounded wonderful (using my turntable and a small ViVa integrated, which I think is more euphonic than my Lamm set-up). Taking a look at the pics of your room, and how you describe it, I'm wondering if you could experiment a little to get greater effective distance by spreading the speakers farther apart and toe-ing in more.
I would think that the 1.5 m distance that the dealer had between the speakers was not enough, and I agree that the image coheres at a listening distance greater than 9 ft, which I barely exceed in my set-up. My biggest tuning issue was not placement, though, but the right settings on the woofs, once I had the electronics and cables to my satisfaction.

If you want to read more of my thoughts on this speaker, I have posted them in another forum. Here is the link:

http://www.planetaudio.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=2422

Fernando, I noticed that the dealer was using what appeared to be normal electric lamp wire rather than proper speaker cable to wire the sub to the mid/tweeter horns. Of course I could be wrong, but when they are that thin and have multistranded copper and no spade/banana plug terminations, you have to wonder. I'm not a big believer in speaker cables (having never heard much of a difference in my system) but i'll keep an open mind on this one.

Whart you are right - mostly setup issues. But I am very careful about how I select my speaker! It is easier to just buy the right speaker than to have to demolish walls and extend rooms!

Just a couple more questions.

1. The Duo's might be too big for my room. What do people think of the Uno's? Are they just like a Duo, but smaller? If I order a pair, i will probably get them with the optional SUB225 module.

2. What about the Uno variants, like the Uno Nano?