Avantgarde Trios too loud with my amps

Zd542,

You make some very good points if keeping the BATs, but the very quality these speakers show so clearly can only be found in flea power. Otherwise you may as well go back to low sensitivity speakers.

We are in pretty specialist waters here. Obviously you can use anything to drive Trios. I even had 1,000w monos on them!

The list of power tubes I mention in an above post (and other tubes of course) but especially those I mention will take the OP to places I'm sure he didn't know existed.

These low powered tubes present Timbre, organicness, soul, layering, dynamics, sweetness, beauty, image size etc in ways I have never heard in any other forms of amplification. Each tube bringing more or less of the above traits. So the ability to tune the sound to your own taste is almost infinite.

Those powerful tubes used in the BAT are for another problem these speakers do not have. You will miss some rare sonic virtues that are available.

I rarely recommend what I personally use, but the Lamm SET amps are very synergistic with the Avantgardes and will allow you to hear why both products are highly regarded.
You should probably get some help from some one who knows the speaker in setting them up properly. I've had the Duo for six years, and there are significant differences with small changes in set-up, wiring, and adjustment of crossover to woofers. They can deliver life-like sound, sound lackluster or make you run away screaming, depending on small changes in set-up.

What Whart said - the Lamm SETs are a match made in heaven with Avantgardes. OP also might consider a preamp (like Cary SLP-05) with L&R gain controls, plus a master volume control.

The speakers are worth the effort!

It's not the amount of power, it's the gain structure of your system when listening to your digital source. Contact BAT about lowering the preamp's gain. Alternatively, SMC makes a device that reduces system gain by 12dB that works in either balanced or single ended systems. You could insert it before your preamp.

Onhwy61,
I agree that system gain reduction is certainly a viable choice(especially if he wants to keep the BAT components).

If he`s interested in exploring a 'different'type' of sound and musical perspective with lower power SET amps,he has the ideal speaker to take advantage of their special qualities.These speakers provide significant flexibility.
Regards,