My Avantgarde Duo XD - simply incredible....

joeinid said:
Ah, the big guns for cables.
Click to expand...

These were not keepers (though I should have, considering how many rabbit holes I’ve been down since). Threw me for a loop when Mike declared Shunyata (looks like Jock seconds that emotion) superior for AG in his room/system and Justin reacted kinda Meh to the same loaners in his room/system.

Ears are weird.

Parker
 
Jerome W said:
Congrats Joe !
I did not come here for some time and when I come back I see so many members with Avant Garde speakers, I can hardly believe it ! Including Mr. Harbeth ( Paul ) in person !
Compared to conventional speakers,
High Eff speakers bring "life" to music.
I can still listen to some mid efficiency speakers in some of my systems ( Rega RS10, Falcons LS3/5a, ProAc Super Tablette) but both of my main systems use only high efficiency speakers ( Altec and Audio Note ) and it will stay that way.


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Thank you so much Jerome.

I still cannot believe what a wonderful difference the Duo speakers do to the music. I’m losing sleep like everyone else but I’m so happy now.

Mr. Harbeth is on life support. :) The world is going crazy.
 
pdub said:
These were not keepers (though I should have, considering how many rabbit holes I’ve been down since). Threw me for a loop when Mike declared Shunyata (looks like Jock seconds that emotion) superior for AG in his room/system and Justin reacted kinda Meh to the same loaners in his room/system.

Ears are weird.

Parker
Click to expand...

It’s funny, I didn’t think to ask about cables. Don’t make me crazy now. I was blissfully unaware, now I might have to experiment :)

My Duo are stunning.
 
I love Kubala Sosna power cables (Realization) and interconnects throughout. Yes, it seems we all have different preferences with cables. I had a clear preference after trying out a bunch. It wasn’t close for me.


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Joe, do these take what you love about your JBL 4367’s to the extreme, or are they fundamentally different in their presentation?


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joeinid said:
It’s funny, I didn’t think to ask about cables. Don’t make me crazy now. I was blissfully unaware, now I might have to experiment :)

My Duo are stunning.
Click to expand...
Didn’t mean to be a buzzkill. Saw your description of the effect of the music in your room, saw Siltech in your sig, and thought your experience might have mirrored mine. I will add that I strongly suspect that the internal wiring of my integrated may share some Siltech DNA, which may explain why the cable demo had such a profound effect in my system.
Parker
 
nile49 said:
Joe, do these take what you love about your JBL 4367’s to the extreme, or are they fundamentally different in their presentation?


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Click to expand...

It’s everything great about the 4367 and more but fundamentally a little different. The 4367 are amazing in their own right but sill had a bit of a boxy sound. The horn on it doesn’t spread like my Duo and don’t feel like they are as fast as my Duo as well.

Bass on 4367 is not as fast and tight. I could easily live with the 4367 but not with the Duo, it’s a little bit of step back. The soundstage is taller, bigger, wider and so right there. Also sweeter and more natural I think because of the magnet structure in the Duo. There’s more clarity as well, maybe because of the horn structure. The Duo are in no way forward or aggressive. Quite the opposite. The Duo are so dynamic. It’s easy to add or subtract bass because of the DSP control.
 
pdub said:
Didn’t mean to be a buzzkill. Saw your description of the effect of the music in your room, saw Siltech in your sig, and thought your experience might have mirrored mine. I will add that I strongly suspect that the internal wiring of my integrated may share some Siltech DNA, which may explain why the cable demo had such a profound effect in my system.
Parker
Click to expand...

No buzzkil. Actually I’m using a siltech 550i between amp and pre and cardas clear to my dac. I do need and want to experiment once I sell some other speakers and build up some cash. Don’t laugh but for a while I was using a Bluejean LC-1 rca and liked it. I had forgotten that it was in between amp and pre for a while. I guess expectation bias is real :)

So you love Shunyata? I’m going to have to try it. I’m reading Audience SX is supposed to be great for Avantgarde. I think speaker cables not sure about interconnects.
 
Justin said:
I love Kubala Sosna power cables (Realization) and interconnects throughout. Yes, it seems we all have different preferences with cables. I had a clear preference after trying out a bunch. It wasn’t close for me.


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Click to expand...

I’ve always heard great things about Kubala cables. Never tried them but want to.
 
Thanks for the info Joe! I really enjoy reading about your experiences as you seem so open to gear of all types regardless of the cost, technology, brand, etc. and focus primarily on the enjoyment/satisfaction factor.

And just a clarification on the quote below, do you mean that you could have lived with the 4367 but not now that you have the Duo’s?


joeinid said:
Bass on 4367 is not as fast and tight. I could easily live with the 4367 but not with the Duo, it’s a little bit of step back.
Click to expand...




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Yes on that quote. I hate to say it but the Duo are so much more.

The night before last I was playing some New Age music stream and in one song, there was a woman whispering. I swear she sounded like she was right next to me in my ear. Oh my goodness what a strange and wonderful feeling. No other speakers gave me anything remotely close.
 
joeinid said:
Yes on that quote. I hate to say it but the Duo are so much more.

The night before last I was playing some New Age music stream and in one song, there was a woman whispering. I swear she sounded like she was right next to me in my ear. Oh my goodness what a strange and wonderful feeling. No other speakers gave me anything remotely close.
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That’s awesome!


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nile49 said:
That’s awesome!


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Thank you so much for your kind words before. I really appreciate it. I think I’ve reached a point with my Duos that I cannot exceed. I need to work around the edges with cables and maybe a new/different preamp.

What I’m hearing now is so profoundly better that I never knew it was possible. I use music as an escape and a way to wind down after work. When I’m home, I almost always have music playing whether streaming or better. I am forever grateful for what I’ve been able to finally assemble. These speakers are like a drug. But without any bad side effects.
 
Once you get used to with horn sound you just can’t hear the cone and dome speakers anymore they all sound compressed. That box sound is so noticeable. Well... it’s too late now ...
 
Paul said:
Once you get used to with horn sound you just can’t hear the cone and dome speakers anymore they all sound compressed. That box sound is so noticeable. Well... it’s too late now ...
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

The beauty of Harbeth speakers lies in the supreme naturalness of vocals as you know. In this field imho they just have no competitor. But music is not only about vocals. And for the whole of the performance, well made high efficiency speakers give a much better result imho than other designs.
That's why high eff speakers are so popular in Japan while they have often small living rooms which is somehow contradictory.
They use big horn speakers, from Altec, JBL, Avant Garde and so on... they are extremely sensitive to the "real life sound".


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Jerome W said:
Hi Paul,

The beauty of Harbeth speakers lies in the supreme naturalness of vocals as you know. In this field imho they just have no competitor. But music is not only about vocals. And for the whole of the performance, well made high efficiency speakers give a much better result imho than other designs.
That's why high eff speakers are so popular in Japan while they have often small living rooms which is somehow contradictory.
They use big horn speakers, from Altec, JBL, Avant Garde and so on... they are extremely sensitive to the "real life sound".


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Click to expand...

Yes, the Harbeth vocal is hard to beat but I call its a superb voical that mixed with MSG :) ( if you know what I mean )

Look at this man with his AG in a small room

tera_title.jpg
 
Keep in mind Joe when comparing bass of Duo vs 4367, one is passive and the other powered. The passive would be subject to the amp used.

I have to say your enthusiasm is enough to make us all lust for AG, LOL It would be cool to have four 12's in my room and if the compression driver is better, so much the more.

What does the DSP do, is there a microphone or some way the speaker compensates for the room?
 
joeinid said:
So you love Shunyata? I’m going to have to try it. I’m reading Audience SX is supposed to be great for Avantgarde. I think speaker cables not sure about interconnects.
Click to expand...
Mike and Jock swear by Shunyata. I haven’t allowed myself to try it (yet). I’ve been using Audience — pretty happy with it. Also happy with some Kubala Emotion RCAs that the dealer “pulled out from under the couch” to give me when he found out I didn’t have any single-ended IC’s on hand when he sold me a SE-only integrated.
 
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