Avalon speakers,redux

I previously owned a pair of Avalon Eclipse before buying a pair of Opus.If you've ever seen any pair of Avalons up close, I think that you'd agree that they have some of the finest finishes available anywhere. I had considered buying a pair of Radians, but after speaking with others including Avalon, I opted for the Opus because I thought that I would be happier in the long run with the more advanced speakers. In speaking with the Avalon dealers, many thought that the Opus were a better choice for the "average" buyer, the fact that they would perform better with less than reference electronics and would sound better in smaller rooms. Some feel that the bass presentation of the Opus was more satisfying. I'm very, very pleased with my Opus and expect that I'll own them for a long time. In regards to the sellers of the Eidolon, maybe their search for the ultimate transducer will never end. Only they could tell you that...Skip

I am an Avalon owner, and the thing I can think of is the Eidolons are hard to place in a room. They are very accurate transducers. The product lines below Eidolon are easier to place. I have had mine for 3 years, and I was at a dealer yesterday, and I know mine have not degraded over this time period, and I have about 6000+ hours on them. It might just be a phase people are going through...

A bit confused, Shubertmaniac. I see three listings for Eidelons on Audiogon, two of which are demo sales and one appears to be the liquidation of an entire system. I located none on Audioweb. Where are you finding these Eidelons? Four Audiogon listings are for Radians and three for Ascents. I believe both products are discontinued; the Ascents, for sure, with improvements from Opus and Eidelon. The few people I personally know, once enamored with the Avalon sound, have difficulty parting ways.

I own eclipse and they are freakin old like 8 years or so and the only thing I have done was a few years ago replaced the drivers, other then that no problems at all with anything, dare I say a good value. I would like to upgrade to the opus but not too soon, I think I can get another 10 years out of these, hahahaha. I think you will find that avalon has a very high rate of return customers, as others have stated above once your hooked there is no looking back. As far as the Avalon's for sale now....buy them, they are great speakers but everyone needs change, hell I nearly traded someone the eclipses for a set of 3.5 maggies(oh soooo glad I did not do that). Cheers:-) Tim

Agree with Siddh, Skip. You don't see current Avalons on the block much; older series such as Radians and Ascents, yes, and even then, not in the numbers you see in other brands. We've had our Arcuses for three years and wouldn't let go of them, except for the Eidolons--maybe the Opus. However, we're talking some very serious money here, and since we're building a listening room and are trying to budget for a c-j 16LS, the Eidolons will always be our favorite audio fantasy.