2. amps-preamps
  3. 182799-20132

SET amplifier (for AvantGarde Duo's-original) recommendations

Hello all,
I inherited the above speaker and I have been really enjoying them.  I also have a pair of Thiel 3.7s- paired with pass labs xa60.5's (and it works!) which I also love albeit they are very different animals from the DUO's as you can imagine.

Right now I am focusing on the Duo's and have used them both with Pass Labs and a Mastersound Compact 845- both are great but there is something about the DUO's driven by this 845 SET that is magical.   The problem is that the 845 was dropped and developed a hum.  A technician went through it and managed to reduce the hum but it is still there and it bugs me- I am not sure if one of the transformers itself may have been damaged and that isn't really repairable at reasonable cost, though I will speak to Mastersound to hear their thoughts. I should add that the amp used to be dead quiet and generally Masetrsound makes superb amps- and are renown for their transformers.

So I am now starting to think about alternatives solutions- I would like to either stick to a SET of comparable quality (that is known to be relatively quiet with efficient speakers)- maybe a 300b type just for a change, or even an OTL.

There's a lot of stuff out there at the moment, take the Line Magnetics that are floating around (but would they compare to Mastersound in terms of build quality etc?) and I was hoping to get some insights on what you think would work well.  I have read a lot of reviews and while helpful at times I feel they are almost always positive and a little too generic  when comparing similar products.  I'd like to stick to a $5k or so budget (therefore I would look for something used).

pgastone

Showing 1 response by jonwolfpell

jonwolfpell
444 posts
 

I owned & very much enjoyed first the Uno's purchased in about 2001 & then upgraded to the Duo's in 2003 which I kept for about another 6 years until I decided to try a pretty high end surround sound system based on Dynaudio Contour line of speakers.  I was watching a lot of movies at that time as well as listening to music & only had room for one system.  I know the Avant Gardes pretty well & they are very special & great in many ways. 

I used an Art Audio PX25 SET power amp & an Aesthetix Calypso preamp w/ excellent results w/ a very good Basis table/ arm & a nice Naim CD player. The amp is 5 watts per side & more than enough power to drive the Duo's to loud volumes in a big room & sound great!  It uses a special tube that not many have heard of (the PX25) which has a beautiful midrange & high end & w/ the powered subs of the Duo's, I don't really know about the bass. I think they are now very expensive ($17K) but might be in your price range for a used one? I would suggest that whatever amp you get, try to find one that is fully point to point wired so it can repaired by any good tech w/ a schematic years from now if needed. 

Here's a few thoughts on the Duo's that might help regardless of what amp you wind up with:

1 - They are not easy to set up & get dialed in & expect this to take a while. Distances form boundaries, from each other, from you, toe in angle etc. all can have enormous effects on the sound!

2 - Getting the subs dialed in also takes patience w/ both volume & frequency selections. I sub's amps are very susceptible to hum & ground loops as I don't think the power supplies in them were that great. The original versions of these speakers had different subs which got improved after a few years, not sure which you have & I don't recall what the different sub models were called. I didn't have a power conditioner back then but one might help if this is an issue. 

3 - The stock jumper speaker wires that go to the different drivers aren't great that came w/ the speakers & I had some custom ones made by a wire maker friend of mine that greatly improved the overall sound. I think even a decent wire from Audioquest would help out a lot.

BTW, I have since realizedI can't live w/o horn loaded speakers if I really want to enjoy music that sounds close to live as opposed to good "hifi" sound so I sold my surround sound system & got back into horns & tubes w/ Volti Audio Rivals & a Rogers High Fidelity integrated amp. Both are really good! Still have my Basis turntable set up (new cartridge) & now stream w/ an Innuos Zenith. Music is fun again!!

 

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