Avantgarde UNO Opinions

caveat emptor.

what amp are ya usin'? i heard some duos sound real nice, when driven by a pair of home-brew 1.5wpc toob-amps; not sure, but i tink they were 2a3's...

I heard the DUOS on two seperate occassions. The first time I heard them, they were in a poor room but I was extremely impressed at how effortless they were. I came very close to buying them but decided to wait. I then got the itch again a few months later and went to hear them a second time at a different dealer who had them set up in a much better room. Upon critical listening, they had a very skewed midrange and absolutely no quality imaging. They became even less impressive to me when we fired up the Avalon Eidolon in the same room and the Eidolon's blew them away in every aspect. Had I not heard them the second time, I probably would have made the mistake of replacing my B&W Silver Signatures 30s with the Avantegardes.

Oatalay, try driving your Uno's with a relatively inexpensive SET amp. If your still unhappy with the presentation, take Slartibartfast's advice and try the Eidolon's. They are far and away better than the Uno's. Of course you'll need to spend at least $6000 on amps to drive the Avalons, but there is no comparison between the two products. You'll be much happier with the overall presentation of the Avalons and I don't think you'll even find anyone to argue that point. Plus the Avalon setup only costs appx. $28,000 compared to $13,000 for the Unos. Definately worth every penny.

I am listening to the UNO since few days, and, altough I have still not optimized the set up, I have been very positively impressed. Now, with my poor English it is hard for me to describe them, anyway, the dynamic contrast, the details, and the bass response are very good. I almost don't find the typical defects of other horn systems. But you have to listen them quite far away. The first time I set up them the listening position was too close, and I didn't like them too much. I think they should be listen from at least 16-20 feet. And, in my opinion, it is recommended a low power amp, with few output devices, and not too cold. At their price (at least in Europe) I don't know if I could find something I would like more. Obviously, nobody should expect too much from a speaker. Each speaker can excel in some aspects, but alwayshave some weakness. It all depends on our taste. If one buy a Ferrari, cannot expect too comfort, and if he buy a Mercedes limousine, don't have to pretend to make races.