Are Avalon Ascents the Classics they seem to be?

THANK YOU "SO" MUCH--Cinematic systems!!I find your comments to be a real eye,I mean ear opener.You clearly have more technical knowledge than me,and I cannot tell you how much I value these recent comments.

Believe me,I don't want to make any mistakes,as quite honestly,I was planning on moving to a super tweeter just out of what I theorized "might" be an improvement.Not based on any problems I hear in my speaker,which have a wonderful sense of extension,and air.Fine timbres as well,but those DARN marketing guys tell me that I have to have a "diamond" or Beryllium,or whatever is next.I think we'll start hearing about "black diamond domes" soon.I have read about this.Maybe I can use some of my wifey's stones!

Yes,these(the Ascent,and Eclipse) were originally designed by Charles Hansen,now owner of Ayre electronics.

I have always felt these titanium domed tweeters(Modded BTW)were superb,with clearly more air than the Esotar(my friend has the Esotar,in his speakers),but maybe I have been affected by industry hype.I'm FAR from perfect!!As I'm sure you know.

Though I must admit that the Esotar used in the Sonus Faber Extremas,where I had heard(and loved)the addition of the Townshend Ribbon add ons,really benefited from the super tweets.So I did some research,and found that Sonus Faber claims the upper freq. limit to only 17khz.Mine are claimed to be ruler flat(+or- 1.5db)to 25khz.My friends felt I'd be taking a risk,and your informative thoughts certainly give me pause for real thought.

I must emphasize the fact that I don't hear any upper freq problems,in my system,as of now,but thought "maybe" I could squeak a bit more of "whatever"!Who knows?I sure don't,and I am willing to play it safe,after your educated comments.

What do ya think?

Oh yeah,and thanks in advance!!

The dude at Sonus is obsessive about modifying drivers, I can't remember which speaker but Scanspeak had to make him like 30-35 versions of the same driver. I had to patch into memory for how the Extrema performed and it seemed that it would be a candidate. Definitely not the same Esotar thats in the Confidence 5!

I was serious about trying a digital eq, even a cheap one just to see how it can affect your system, click it in click it out. A DBX or the Behringer DEQ2496 are good enough to expirement with before you make a serious investment in a Rives Parc, Accuphase or Lake Technology Quad Mesa.

Also downloading Doug P's ETF $399 with mic or True Audio's RTA $250 gives your ears eyes.

It was my pleasure to be helpful.

Sir Speedy and Cinematic systems. The biggest asset of the Ascent is the ruler flat impedance that mates very well with an otl. When you change the tweeter what will happen to the impedance? I have had the Apogee Duetta which had very good resolution and a very good tweeter but music was not very captivating and only a few records were great. Voices and instruments did not have their natural size etc. Avalon (I have also had the pleasure of 10 years listening Radian with really superb solid state amps)did cure this. So please be careful with what will happen to the music

Hodelrecords,

"Voices and instruments did not have their natural size etc."

Apogees in general were slightly bright speakers, which was magnified by the common installation in a typical domestic environement.

You may know the dipole radiation and distance from the rear wall and the frequency response of that reflection off the back wall all factor in to any dipoles sound quality.

The delay in the reflection gives the sound its uncontrollable larger size.

"When you change the tweeter what will happen to the impedance?"

Changing the tweeter will likely do very little to disturb the impedance with a proper crossover solution and the ease to drive the speakers will remain the same as tweeters run on very little power in the grand scheme of the speaker design. BUT! integrating a new tweeter will be no picnic. When a speaker is this good and well designed you have to leave it alone, upgrading an individual part of a well designed speaker SYSTEM is an oxymoron 99.999999% of the time.

Also to clarify the addition of the supertweeter would also not effect the impedance either.

I have decided to leave well enough alone(I've put the kabbash on the super tweeter subject)!Truthfully,and having heard a load of the newer(all fine,btw)stuff,I am still ecstatic about the performance of the Ascents.Though I did purchase a Rel Stentor sub some time ago.The sub DOES blend flawlessly,but took me "eons" to get correct.Very low crossover point,and very low gain setting.Also,in my dedicated room,I have found it performs best just behind,and a bit to the right of my right channel speaker.This places it three feet out,from back wall,and two feet from side wall.The room is a closed off affair.Measures 13x22.5x8.Speakers are actually about 8.5 feet from back wall,as measured from back of cabinets.SERIOUS SOUNSTAGE DEPTH,as well as ambience and great inner details.I guess I'm a happy camper!Thanks,so much for the well intentioned feedback!

Best!