Avant-garde speakers

reminds me of Siemens Bionor with huge baffle
reg the Avantgarde I agree with JK after having lived with the Trio and different custom bass systems for years
what A did for the resurrection of commercial horn interest is great, but you need to look elsewhere to get a seamlessly integrated fullrange hornsystem
probably some level of DIY which is a long and narrow path...

For horn based systems I prefer updated vintage. I have a few complete examples of the best designs in horns.  RCA MI Shearer horn is a amazing thing to hear and behold its in a complete different level of performance over AG designs. AG is nice since you can just check book them but if wanting the best in horns you need hands on and a good bit of experience    http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/lmco/shearer.htm

john. Are you talking about a speaker or a driver?  I could not find a reference to Altec RCA

@russ751 - Whilst auditioning a Bluesound Node 2, I had the sales person hook it up to a system with the Duo’s - just for fun :-)

They wowed me from the get go...
- extremely articulate and detailed
- very balanced sound
- superb imaging - even in the showroom (as opposed to a talored auditioning room)
- they ticked all the boxes and more

From what I have read I believe the Uno Nano would sound very similar

They have a larger "footprint" than most other speakers , but I will bow to rocketII’s opinion that 15 x 15 will suffice - however I prefer more space around my speakers - especially behind them.

They were driven by a very good 1 watt amp and had very expensive speaker cables, so perhaps that will be something to consider going forward.
Also, because they have a powered woofer - quality power cables would contribute to an improved bass performance.

Their appearance is not to everyone’s taste - but once you close you eyes and listen - their looks are of no consequence - I think they look stunning and they are certainly a conversation piece.

Avangarde have left a distinct and very favorable impression on me and is the one speaker I would buy tomorrow if money were no object :-)

Hope that helps

Owned AG horns prefer Altec  RCA etc

I agree with czarivey that Avantgade speakers can sound harsh but, in my experience with Duo’s, that will be with the associated equipment rather than the speakers.

My Duo’s have sounded awful with a high powered SS amp, very good with an older Avantagde Model 5 SS integrated and really excellent with Atmasphere OTL valve amp.

They also REALLY benefit from time spent in setting up the listening position and siting of the speakers. Get Better Sound from Jim Smith was invaluable in getting my setup from sounding good to being a brilliant musical event.

My Duo’s are now 10 years old and have not changed since I bought them. Avantagrde speakers sound really good at both low and high volume levels. Before Avantgarde speakers I used to play my system much louder, however, the efficiency of the horns allow the dynamic rage of the music to be captured, even at low levels, that I’ve not experienced with other speakers.

Some people have complained of poor bass integration but that hasn’t been an issue for me. The size of your room shouldn’t be a problem, particularly if you play at low/mid volume. When they go really loud and shift a lot of air then you may neeed to calm down the crossover/gain settings on the speakers.

Hope that helps.

I was tempted to buy Uno and went to well set up listening room of authorized dealer. 10 min of listening to these speakers of randomly picked recordings gave me same fatigue as if I would listen loud live concert for few hours.

They look very cool though, but too pricey for souvenir 

@cbozdog used this very combo.