Avantgarde Duos: Omega or Mezzo?

Miguelito,
Placement is critical, first, you have to position for the best bass response in your particular room- could be tricky, since it might NOT coincide with the best position for the imaging. So you will have to experiment in your own room.
I can tell you though, that farther away they are from the back wall. the better the sound stage depth will be (duh!)
Amp matching- I tried a few, and not surprisingly, Lamm ML-2
SET amps are a match made in heaven. And it is well accepted choice from many other owners.
Owners also say, that Art Audio PX25 is another good choice, but comes with a warning- DO NOT deal with Joe Fratus who used to represent (actually to misrepresent) Art Audio, which is a British company, in the US.
I also tried Tom Eavans Linear A amp, which was good, but not as good, as Lamm ML2.
I heard very positive reports on expensive Audio Note amps with the Avantgardes, but this is not a personal experience

I second Maril555's recommendation of the Lamm ML2; magic combination with my Duo Omegas!

Indeed, the speaker position in the room that yields the best bass response will very rarely, if ever, also yield the most natural midrange, and the best sound stage and stereo image. However, that is very very true for normal speakers, i.e. drivers in a box. With horns, because the directivity of the high and midrange frequencies is controlled, the situation is much less critical. Placing the DUOs close to walls (back wall or lateral walls) is less problematic and in most cases will have only minor effects on the midrange and high frequencies. Beside being a natural amplifier, the horn also minimizes the interaction of the sound field with the boundaries of the room. Consequently, the most important thing to do is to move the speakers in the room and look for the position that gives the best bass response. Tilting and/or changing the inclination of the speakers will almost always solve most problems with the high and midrange frequencies.
Paul

Miguel: I agree that it is strange that the dealer in NYC doesn't have the
various models. Perhaps, as an accomodation, the manufacturers- I have
spoken to them- they are very level headed business guys- could send a
pair to that dealer (Rhapsody, right?) for you to demo without obligation-
I have a pre-Omega pair of Duos I bought new, and have posted many
times when people talk about set-up, associated gear, etc. It took a while
for me to get them right, and I did find bass integration with the horns to be
very tricky. I also found that they were ruthlessly revealing of EVERYThing
in the system.
I too use Lamm ML2 amps (mine are a pretty early pair).
As the associated gear upstream from the Duos improved, the sound of the
Duos improved. (Some revelation, huh?).
You are welcome to come up to hear my system (I'm not a dealer). I am
about 25 miles north of the city, near Nyack.
Biil Hart

Whart: Problem w the Avantgarde (which is what I'm looking at) is they come in various finishes so there are a myriad of possible combinations. Plus the Mezzo is $54k (+tax) so they get made to order in Germany. Bob Visintainer from Rhapsody in NYC has been very helpful and we will try and arrange an audition of Duo Omegas (+Jadis tube amps).

BTW... Any Duo owners in NYC that would be willing to give me a listen? I promise to bring a gorgeous bottle of red or white, your choice.

Miguel