avalon ascent to avalon eidolon

i've owned 3 pairs of avalons over the past 10 or 12 years: eclipses, ascents and eidolons. i've also listened extensively to the radian and several other avalon models. before purchasing my eidolons, i did several weeks of critical comparisons between that model and my prior ascents, played in my system (i have a very good dealer, who's also a good friend). the eidolons better the ascents in every way. they have considerably lower bass output, more life-like mids and smoother highs. the eidolons are also slightly easier to drive than the ascents, tho they love high power/high current amps. the radians don't come close to the eidolons. indeed, if i were considering a lower priced avalon model, i'd look to the opus. it shares some of the same variety of drivers as the eidolon and comes much closer to the sonic attributes of the latter model than do the radians. these are, of course, only my subjective opinions. YMMV. -kelly

Hello Jet, I owned the Radian HC and upgraded to the Eidolon almost a year ago. The Eidolon to my ears is by far the better speaker. Both bass extension and speed in the bottom octaves is quite improved over the Radian. As good as the Radian are at soundstaging the Eidolon takes this to another level. Images have an uncanny presence because of the correctness of timbre and texture of tone. This high resolution comes at the cost of needing to mate the Eidolon with quality components upstream though. It surley will let you know if something is colored in the system. If that's the case, you would get better overall results with the more forgiving Radian. I never heard the Opus myself, but from what I've read Cornfed is correct that it also would be a better choice for you. It's my opinion to go for quality over quantity for a power amp, especially with the Eidolon. Of course your personal taste in music, room size, and the volume levels you listen at come into play choosing an amp for the Eidolon. Good luck in whatever your choose and if decide on the Eidolon I hope their "magic" is as profound to you as it is for me. Best wishes, Tom

I went to one dealer and compared the Maggie 3.6s and the
Avalon Eidolons. I could not understand the furor over the
Eidolons. They were good but not 25,000 dollars worth. I called them salon fluff in another thread. Confedboy was
not happy with my assessment but that is what I heard.
I respect Confedboy's opinion even though he was pretty
hard on me for my statements. So I gave the Eidolons a
second chance at another dealer in New England. This time
they were set up properly. They sounded much much better.
The soundstaging/imaging were almost perfect. They presented
a three dimensional picture of the musical event that I have
not heard before. They bested the Maggies in every facet
except what I call transparency, but it was very close.( I
think transparency is related to stored energy). There
are a few buts...1. The room acoustics have to be near perfect to get the best possible results 2. The electronics
must be the best possible(ie Spectral or ARC), no inferior
stuff here or I believe it will kill the system. So if
someone goes the Eidolon route they must be prepared to lay out close to 100k dollars to bring out the best this system
is capable of producing. If this is the system of your dreams go for it!!!!

shubertmaniac: i appreciate your thoughtful post. while i agree that eidolons need high quality electronics, cable and ic's to bring out their best, i think your $100k assessment for a system that includes them is a bit high. even if you bought everything new and paid full-bore, you could get by nicely for under $60k (cd only). (BTW, if anyone is inclined to do as i posit, please send me a private email--i've gotta a lot of stuff i'll sell ya.) one last thing, the MSRP on the "standard finish" eidolon is $21,520; it's the premium finish that goes for $25,090. --kelly

Hi Shubertmaniac, I would like to make some comments about your post. To my ear the Eidolon is remarkably transparent. Before owning both the Radian HC and Eidolons, I had ML CLS2z and the Quad USA 63. Some would argue that within its range the CLS is the most trasparent speaker ever. The Eidolon IMO is every bit as transparent except for in the mid-bass. As with most things in life there are tradeoffs, and decisions to be made. Dynamic woofers give you the extension, weight, punch and authority in the bottom octaves, while panel speakers do have the speed. I guess everyone has to decide for themseleves what gives them the illusion of reality best. I think what you might be confusing for transparency, is that panel speakers breathe. The fact that you mention the magical soundstage you heard when you listened to the Eidolon can attest to its remarable resolution and trasparency. The better component will always give you greater insight into the recording venue along with more palpable images within the soundstage. While the Eidolon is expensive for most of us, compared to some other speakers that I've heard that were much more expensive, I think they are a bargin. As always no two people hear it the same and we all have to decide what sonic virtues are most important to us. Thanks, Tom