I have recently gone from the Eidelon Diamonds to the Times. With the additional woofers, the speakers required extensive experimentation in placement to bring the bass under control. I also use room treatments. I have no experience with the Isis, but I believe my room, which has low ceilings, would have been overwhelmed. I had much desire to get into the Isis, but the cost plus size made it unrealistic. The Time have proven to be fantastic performers. I owned the Diamonds for over 10 satisfying years, and likely could have remained with them. That being said, the systems refinement and frequency extension has been taken to a new level with the Times.
It would really depend upon your room and whether your components are of sufficient quality that they will show what the Isis is capable of. If your room is small you probably don’t have a choice, but make no mistake the Isis is a vastly superior speaker. The Time is a very good speaker which reminded me very much of my previous Focal Scalas in terms of what it could do, but the Isis is on a whole other level, reminding me very much of what my current Focal Maestros can do.
I have heard/read the same as bar81 offered. Although, the Time crossover technology is close to the Isis, the Isis drivers and cabinet are reported to be a realized improvement, especially on orchestrals. I am fairly certain that my listening space would be overwhelmed by the larger woofers. You could consider the Sagas...according to some, the most advanced real world speaker Avalon has produced. Big bucks, though. Let me know if you opt for the Saga. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thought I would share my experience with you. This coming Oct. will be 2 years for me with the Isis. *WOW* I also had the Eidolon Diamonds for a little over 10 yrs. Like siddh I thought my room wouldn't be able to handle the Isis and would have bass issues. Surprisingly the Isis is more controlled, tighter, and more defined in the bass than the ED. When it's called for in the content the larger woofers of the Isis just supply that extra low extension and weight. This added low extension pays off big time on large orchestral works in the way of the soundstage & sound-space. The hall dimensions just sound so much larger and images within in the soundstage have more room to breathe within the space.
Some Avalon speaker have very hard to drive impedance/phase angle loads, (good to see the graphs on these) Then it will depend what amp you have, to look at those loads to see if it will work out.
This was another concern for me when going from the ED to the Isis. The Isis turned out to be an easier load for my Bat Rex amps than the Eidolon Diamond.
Thanks for the congratulations. I am very impressed with the Times. Never having heard the Isis, but having read the numerous reviews/owner feedback, I would very much want to experience these speakers. A fellow audio-guy and long time Avalon owner felt certain the Isis would overwhelm my limited space. The Time required lengthy placement experimentation and room treatment to tame the lower end...dissimilar to the Diamonds, which integrated more easily. The mid-range, upper frequency, bottom end slam, and soundstage are degrees better than Diamonds. I can only imagine what the advanced technology and larger drivers of the Isis bring to the reproduction.
I think with your ceiling being too low it kind of rules out the Isis for you. This is from word of mouth and from what I remember reading about the Time in a review, but the Times actually has more mid-bass energy than the Isis and it's harder to tame in this regard. I did a lot of research and contacted quite of few people with direct hands-on experience before making the decision to go with the Isis over the Times. I'm confident for me it turned out to be the right choice and I'm very happy the Times worked out so well for you.
We're both very fortunate to being enjoying our favorite music with these speakers. Too bad they're so difficult to audition. I think a lot of music-lovers/audiophiles are missing out on the joy of hearing the music they love on these masterpieces! In fact I sometimes wonder if Avalon only wants to sell so many speakers.
Steve, are you still using the CAT amps? I'm pretty sure you had them way back with the original Eidolon.
I continue to appreciate the energy the Times exude. CAT JL-2, upgraded to Black Path is driving the speakers with greater ease than with the Diamonds. Times disappear as well, if not better than the Eide's, with no hint of ever being overdriven.
Did you end up with an Avalon speaker? I wish to add a comment regarding the Times lower register. I had an REL S-5 sub in tandem with the Diamonds, but avoided using with the Times. After reading a number of threads on Paul McGowan's site I raised the sub off the ground, rested it on a solid stand and played with the volume and frequency controls. Surprisingly, the midrange added some bloom and the Times are imaging deeper and wider. Something to consider.
If only I could contribute to this thread beyond my standard Eidolon experience. Color me green but content.
My experience with a REL Studio III using their speaker (high) level connection affected the Eidolons sound stage slightly and I found slightly unacceptable. Using the Studios low level inputs allowed for optimum room placement and eliminated the sonic interference.
With a crossover point established reducing its volume was the only way to improve integration. Compared to two other DSP subwoofers the Studio was clearly integration handicapped. Feeding the Studio a DSP equalized low level signal helped a great deal yet it was still outclassed in my room.
I find I use much less sub with most analog playback compared to digital sources. Most likely a personal subjectivity.
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