Opinions: Avantgarde Trios/Basshorns


Anyone had a chance to audition/own these? How do they compare with other speakers in the same price range? What is the quality and integration of the bass with the Hornspeakers?
Would you consider these to be analytical speakers or on the musical side of the aisle?
audiogoon
I think the basshorns are a supremely elegant match with the Trios. I've auditioned them twice, and with the basshorns the superb speed and liveliness of the upper range horns is preserved all the way down. I heard no integration problems. Both times I heard 'em the basshorns were in the middle of the room for aesthetic reasons; ideally they would be located in the corners, which would work even better.

The Trios with Basshorns are without a doubt among the most stunningly dynamic loudspeakers ever made for use in a home, and are probably king of the hill in that respect. My wife likes a bit more laid-back presentation, but I like their immediacy and excitement. Instead of picking between "musical" and "analytical" (either one having a somewhat negative connotation to some people), I'd rather say they are "exhilarating". And nope, I don't sell 'em.

As far as how they compare to the competition in the forty to seventy grand ballpark, to a certain extent it depends on what kind of presentation you most want. I think the monster Avantgardes are the front-runners for their type of presentation. In a more or less "conventional" format I'd probably pick the Intuitive Design Denali's, designed by Dale Pitcher (of Essence Audio). Among megabuck planars, pardon the plug but I think the Sound Lab U-1's with matching UB-1 subs are the front runner. I could probably live happily ever after with any of these.

Duke
I have heard them on multiple occasions. They are not bad, per se, but not worth the $. Big in-your-face type of sound. Despite the name, the basshorns are not really horns... more like subs with a horn-shaped front end to them. (at bass frequencies, the AG basshorns have way too small mouth, throat and horn length to horn load anything below maybe 150-200hz if that. so, bit of a misnomer, IMHO).

Personally, for top-shelf bigbucks horns, I'd get an edgarhorn Titan system with his sub, and pocket the $30-60k in change. ;-)

Or, go for some REAL horns, using Goto or ALE drivers, where you can get real bass horn loading down to 20hz or more. (need a big wallet and even bigger room). The big-ass Soundlabs are nice too, if you have a lot of coin to drop and like the panel sound.

The best horn stuff (compression drivers, et al) is not something you can buy - it needs to be built/assembled in a DIY fashion and requries more than the normal amount of tuning/tweaking and adjustments to the setup. Generally this requires sourcing somewhat exotic or esoteric drivers, and horns. There are people (companies) who do this, but are more of a one-man-band type of outfit, it's easier to achieve similar results @ a lot lower cost going the DIY route.

-Ed