Your choice for SET amp?


If you could choose Von Schweikert DB99 with the ribbon tweeter upgrade or Avantgarde Duo 3.1 for the same price to mate with a pair of Lamm ML2 which one would you take.

I am looking for the right speakers in my system which is EMM Labs front end and Lamm ML2. Any advice or first hand experience would be great....Thanks
delancey

Showing 1 response by larryi

I am not familiar with the VS speakers, but I have listened to the AG Duos fairly extensively. I like the sound of the AGs. The AG's have a direct and lively sound that I prefer in speakers. I am surprised at how many much more expensive speakers sound so lifeless and constipated, by comparison.

The AG's, like all speakers, are far from perfect so you must give them a careful audition and you MUST have some kind of dealer or other expert help (perhaps yourself?) in set up. They are quite sensitive to location, and in each location you must experiment with bass balance and phase, etc.

Even in an ideal location, the bass and upper-midrange may not be integrated perfectly. Also, the system I heard had some sharp peaks in the upper-bass/low-midrange that made some notes at the peak seem to suddenly jump out. Just mentioning this as something to look for to determine how much that bothers you. Considering how peaky most horn systems sound, the AG's are remarkably free of such problems.

I heard the horns driven by SET and low-powered pushpull triodes with much less power than the Lamm that you have, so power should not be a big issue.