Mods for Avantgarde speakers


I have had Avantgarde Trios for about eight years. They play music with the types of amplifiers that I enjoy, in a way that I like more than other speakers that I have heard. I would like to hear from others that have modified their Avantgarde speakers, what they have done, and with what improvements. Damping, x-overs, cabling, etc. are things that I am interested in.
sdrsdrsdr
chadeffect, if this clever unit got 8 separate analog or digital out you still need 4 dacs and 4 stereo or 8 mono amps. there is NO way around it.
I have a tact rcs since '99. I'm not a fan of room correction at all. don't use it since several years. when you change the response in the digital domain the sound becomes a bit hard/ digital sounding. using dsp only in the bass to cut peaks. do not touch the response at mid and high frequencies at all. in my millennium I can switch dsp like a digital filter on and off while playing music per mouse clicks. this way you can hear in seconds the nasties produced by dsp!!
My advice to you is to get some separate stands for the mid and highs buildt!
Check out this system. User name Herman. He's using a digital x-over tri-amping his duos that look far from factory. It sounds like he's getting the results that he likes.

Chadeffect, can you borrow the gear without putting out the money. If so, definitely give it a try. I'd like to hear about your results.

Personally, I'm stuck on vinyl kept in analog only passing through tube amplification. If digital source was more important to me, then converting back to digital to manipulate the signal might be a good option. It's worth a try, let us know.
sdrsdrsdr, digital filters may sound better than the analog ones they are replacing, depending on the quality of the analog parts. I was shocked when I replaced the Mundorf silver/gold a few years back with the v-caps. Could not imagine how much music get lost in those mundorfs. With the mundorfs a digital filter might be the lesser evil.

The point I wanted to make is that digital xo is also not perfect. I once tried to put a 4th order high pass filters on my main channel. the duos fall off below 300 hz so with that filter I did not change the response at all. once I engaged that filter everything sounded a bit hard. I immediately removed it.

There are different ways to time align the avantgardes. one is to use a box with digital filters, several dacs and amps and the other is to built separate stands for the horns. Would like to hear from you about your experiences with the stands and about chadeffect's experiences with the digital xo route using several dacs and amps.

I any case both of your trios will sound a lot better. A good tool for time alignment is is to download audacity software, play 1 hz square waves and measure the step response with a high quality mic
Duomike,
It sounds like you've done your homework. I think Chadeffect needs to hear it for himself. Maybe be will come accross something that works the way that is good for him. I also heard the Tact many years ago. I thought it was amazing for about 10 minutes. I have come to learn for me that less digital anything is always better. I have enjoyed a digital source very much, but always wished it sounded more like my TT. I am still open to any insight to what digital offers to be beneficial. From my experience digitals benefits from cheaper costs of storage and playback equipment, and convenience. I assume digital x-overs to be the same, from hearing your opinion about this.

The tweeter stand and v-cap? I haven't had time yet. I will let you know. Thanks for the tips.
Jim, what is the recommended distance to move the tweeter back - 20cm? Seems like it could be easily accomplished by drilling 3 new mounting holes in the tweeter tube housing, then filling the old ones with rubber grommets.

I understand this might cause an issue with reflections off the rear of the mid horn, but if there's a clear net gain in coherence...also, my horns are all in the highest mounting holes, so perhaps tweeter housing could be vertically dropped one position to increase vertical distance to mid horn housing, thereby minimizing such reflections.

PS - thanks for all of your continuing helpful tips to the faithful!