Avantgarde UNO's 2.2 advice needed


Hi,

I wanted advice from avantgarde users regarding the UNO’s 2.2.

I recently auditioned them and was astounded by the clarity, resolution and the low level detail of these speaker’s they were miles better then my Dynaudio 1.3SE(which I think are bloody bland when compared to the UNO’s) the UNO’s to me threw a massive soundstage with pin-point imaging, the presentation was in your face right there, not the laid back sound I’m used to but in no way fatiguing, these were one of the most involving speakers I have heard.

I heard the UNO’s with the Nagra’s and the Jadis amps and metronome front-end, with the nagras the high’s were cold close to harsh but the mid-range was something I had never experienced before. With the Jadis the sound was more balanced the highs were sweet but at the expense of the mid-range(not bad sounding at all but not the same as the nagras).

Now I have been offered a fantastic deal on these speakers which has got me thinking if I should take the plunge and buy them, but there are a few things that are holding me back;
My room size is 12*24 and my listing position is about 7 1/5ft from the speakers and the speaker’s are placed 6ft apart with a RPTV in between(soon would be getting rid of it thou). To me I think this would be rather too close to listen to the UNO’s correct me if I’m wrong.

I’m planning on using a 300B amp to power them with my Audio Aero Prima DAC MKII running direct into the amp, would this setup sound good in my room? Or I’m better of waiting and buying something else.

I have been offered this at almost half the retail.(Demo)

Thanks,
Satyam.
sbfx
I have the Duos, and have been through all the trials and tribulations involved with setting them up and getting everything to sound just how I want it. It took a long time and a lot of hard work especially with respect to speaker positioning. I must have moved the speakers at least 50 times before finding the right position where things got sounding really good. I use mine in a 15x19 room (dedicated) and have the positioned about 9 ft apart and am sitting about 11 to 12 ft away. If you are listening to a very well setup pair and think that you will be able to put them where you want them to asthetically go you may end up being very dissapointed. If you don't have some real flexibility in regards to placment it will be very unlikely that they will sound great in the place you want them to be.
Your room is plenty big but you will have to be flexible on it's arrangement to get the Unos to do what they are capable of. Ejlif is right, if you plop them down where your old speakers were and sit in the same spot you will likely be dissapointed. I think 7.5 feet is too close, I have Duos and you have to get far enough away for the sound to come together. Too close and you will be more in line with one horn than the other. They have a bit more flexibility than some speakers in that they can be closer to the back wall than many. Since the woofer level is adjustable you can get by with placements that won't work with a lot of speakers.

Your electronics should be fine although I prefer a little more powerful amp. Even though they are very efficient they seem to open up with an amp that has some breathing room. The matching Model 5 integrated is a great choice but I don't think you will be dissapointed with a good 300B amp either.

Go for it, they really are something special.
If you could arrange your room so that they can be placed on the 24' wall, and place your seat near the rear wall, you might be pleasantly surprised.
If you can do this, place them each 6'(center of the drivers) from the side wall, which gives you 12' (center to center) between the speakers. Try playing with the positioning front/rear with them about 1/2 way (front of drivers( into the room and move them back from there to what sounds best. Toe in being correct (there's a simple "site", like properly aiming a pistol or rifle) makes a big difference. If you put the seat all the way against the wall, move your head into the room and find the spot that sounds best to you. Probably about 2' off the rear wall to your ear.
This setup takes a lot of the room effect out of the equation.
As mentioned above, your ears need to be at least 10' away from the front of the drivers for them to blend properly.
If you try this, and you like it, let us hear back from you?
Good Listening!