Audio Physics Avanti 3 Vs. Joseph RM33si

FOLLOW UP.
I want to add Sonus Faber Cremonas, or a used pair of Sonus Faber Amatti's to the list. To further expand upon what is desired, I would love to find speakers that no sub woofers are needed to compensate for a serious lack of bass, but that still meet the criteria of all of the above post.
John

I've owned Avanti IIIs for two years. They replaced Virgo IIs. Incredible imaging, transparent and excellent bass response. I don't know the Joseph model.

a lot will depend on your taste, room, and willingness to tweek..

the avanti & joesph with the side firing woofers will prefer a wide room placement with lots of breating room around them,...the ap speakers will require a near field position (.8 times the width) and to get bass the seating position near the back wall...both are really high resolution designs and are extremely revealing and will reveal any weakness anywhere ( not a bad idea to have tubes somewhere in the line and will require isolation of components and top quality cables (ic, speaker, and pc's). very, very small changes will make or break. both are fairly inefficent with the ap being the least efficent due to a 4 ohm load and sound really when good turned up... i own the audio physic and auditioned the joesph and really liked them... both are very similar. the ap will do deep bass but it is more detailed than impactful when set up.. i am not sure about the specifics on the joesph bass, since i went with the ap libra ( there wasnt that big of differnce between the libra and the avanti imo). with the joesph and the ap you will more than likely need room treatment to get them to sound their best.

the sonus fabers ( foward firing woofers) are more forgiving in terms of setup and equipment, sound good at lower levels, and "may be" more musical and more bass with your gear and without room treatment..stunning midrange... it is a colored speaker, but musical and easy to listen to..

in regards to finish ( my opinion) -

1. sonus fabers
2. audio physic
3. joesph audio


hope that helps !!!!

As said above the AP Avanti III are great speakers. I've heard them numerous times, and my opinion goes with the rest of the posts: very detailed, transparent, uncoloured, high bandwith, dynamic and the imaging is fabulous.
Never heard the Joseph Audio model, but I must say the AP finish is superior to the JA.
The SF guarneri, IMHO is the best speaker from SF. It's the least coloured of the brand. It has good resolution and is beautiful finished. IMHO sometimes it looks like we are paying more for the furniture, when buying a SF.

IMHO the Audio Physics Avanti III is the best speaker of the three.

I've heard that the AP design works best if set up along the long side of a rectangular room so your room could be a factor here...

I have use the Avanti III's for a number of years. They are great speakers. But there are ways to make them even better.

Adding an AudioPhysic subwoofer like the Minos changes the presentation considerably, not just in lower octave extension, but in spaciousness and ambience retrieval generally.

I also use a Townshend super tweeter, which has the effect of creating a more realistic soundstage and improving palpability, especially to voices.

Finally, each of the speaker footings has a Finite Elemente Cerabase screwed into it, which cleans up effects of cabinet and air borne vibration and leaves a very, very clean window on the musical performance.

I've been fortunate to hear the Avanti IIIs on a couple occassions, on both long and short walls, from fairly nearfield to about 15-20' away. I think they are one of the finest, most musical speakers available. They need a little breathing room but are outstanding with acoustic music of all kinds. (The best Avanti combo I heard was with Herron electronics in a killer demo where, BTW, the Avantis were on the short wall - there was plenty of bass impact with the Herrons.) The Minos sub is a great sub and will raise the performance level of the Avantis, but you don't need it for musical satisfaction/bass impact on the type of music you'll be listening to (and that would also include most rock - really).

The Josephs are also excellent speakers. But for my personal fave music (mostly large scale classical) the Avantis would be my top pick. SFs are lovely but always sound faintly colored to my ears. Gorgeous finish though.

All these are excellent speakers. It comes down to a matter of personal taste and system matching.

But it would be the APs for me.