I am thinking of buying the Avalon Osiris.


Any Advise?
hugos7
Rcprince,I currently have the Ascents 8 1/2 feet out,into a 22.5x13 room.The staging is superb,yet Avalon would like them an additional foot out.This won't happen.Not to sound like I'm trying to rationalise something I own(every hobbyist is guilty of this,to some extent),I have been told by Avalon,that they had recently gotten back a pair of Ascent MK 2's,in trade,and "had forgotten how good they were"!I am constantly appealing to myself,not to rationalize these speakers,yet truthfully cannot find any reason to upgrade.I,also,take care of them "to a museum standard".Steve Huntly,of Great Northern Sound,has also recently stated,to me, that these were Avalon's pinnacle product,in his opinion.Obviously the Osiris is a much better speaker, for a larger room,yet I have been able to bridge the gap(a bit) by adding one REL Stentor sub,and bringing it in at 24hz.Very low gain.What can I say,as I do LOVE SO many competing designs,including much of the new Avalon line,yet the Ascents are an incredibly easy load,and are a sealed box(makes a diff).The external crossover is a really nice touch,and the system maxes out at 110 lbs more(mass is a GOOD thing in many speakers)than the newer competing Avalons.They just exude "old world hand craftsmanship".Well I guess I AM rationalizing a bit,but NOT much!!Though I really do believe that these were discontinued in favor of a better marketing version product,by adding the crossover to one box,and not needing to tri-wire.Makes sense,but I'll still keep my "Iridescent Tropical Olivewood Beauties".I'm really hooked,even years after purchase.That's a REALLY good thing,IMO!

As this thread IS about the Osiris,all I can state is that Avalon has admitted to the fact that it was far too expensive a design to produce(Wilson ruled back then,as they do today,and not alot could be sold),and felt the newer Sentinal(I have not heard this,yet It must be superb)was more economically(from a production standpoint)viable!Anyone wanting to trade me a pair of Osiris' for mine?I'll take it!The Osiris' were capable of incredible dynamic range,like many of todays super speakers.Could reproduce inner detail,also like many of todays top designs,yet few of the really mega speakers could DO realistic timbres,like the Osiris!I don't know,but those modded metal domes,in the upper frequencies,seem more natural than the ceramic stuff.Maybe it's just me.And YES,the Osiris will definitely need to be well out into the room.Anyone owning them I automatically HATE(just kidding)!!

While we are at it(and I'm NOT married to one product line),the Isis looks WAY cute too!!

Best regards.
Hi All,
I owned a pair of Osiris speakers for 4 years, until I sold them last year, in favor of Dynaudio Temptations. These speakers can be very difficult to set up. You need a large room, both for the height of them, as well as for thsound. For imaging and soundstage purposes, they need to be out into the room quite a ways.
They need excellent amplification. They are actually a difficult speaker to drive, since their sensitivity varies with the different drivers used. I went through Rowland 9Ti's, Pass 600's and Krell 750 Mcx's until I settled on a Boulder 2060 stereo amp. I spoke at lenght to the people at Avalon and they told me that they had used ARC 300 amps to help voice them, but I believe that tube amps do not need to apply for this job. You may find , as I did, that the Osiris speakers are voiced on the "polite" side as far as midbass and bass are concerned.
To conclude, a wonderful speaker if you have the right room, the right amplification and the right sources, but this is something that you can say about any speaker. It's intteresting, I sold my speakers to a man in South Korea. If you are buying serial numbers 9 and 10, you're getting a good set.

Good Luck,
David Shapiro
You guys are all GREAT , what a wonderful hobby to have,
feel the energy of all these great comments.This is what keep me going with Audio and music..I feel proud to be an audiophile.

Mr. Shapiro you know what? they are serial no. 9, 10s. I just met the guy who had them originally purely by accident who sold them to a dealer who sold me the Wilson Benesch Bishops. I just bought XLO Limited Balanced cables from the guy tonight and he told me he bought the Avalons from US and shipped them to Korea. That guy had more gears then me by far, I mean this guy had 5 sets of Goldmund speakers by almost every generation. FM Acoustics Monos, 2 sets of Audio Research Ref 3,MKII preamps, Jadis , Goldmund transports and Kharma Inter Cables ..and list goes on and on.

Wow, I am actually tracing and finding the family root of "THE" Osiris too. There are only few in Korea...less than 20 probably...

I own Avalon Opus just for AV and have not given them enough attention. I regret and I am going to hook them up in my living room to my Krell 650MC monos this weekend see what they can do as well..

All you guys are absolutely correct in terms of the room treatments and tunings. And of course the SIZE .

My living room is not that big but my roof goes up quite high gradually and that is a plus.
I heard the Osiris at one dealer location with Boulder 2050 Monos and A-B tested it with Wilson MAXX2 side by side couple of weeks ago with DCS front end . BTW, They are the different pair from the one I want to buy...remember serial 9,10
No comparison I though the Avalons were so much more detailed and relaxed where the MAXX2 sounded tangled and compressed. Every voice notes and guitar notes were so clear. I am sure the MAXX2 are great ones too, I have also owned WATT PUPPY 6 s for a while but I had a difficult time brining them to full potential.

After that session I felt Osiris were my dream speakers. I heard the Dynaudio Temtation at US dealers and I thought they were absolute as well but I felt they were too expensive for me.

The current dealer wants US$60K for the Osiris. He said he paid 50K US$ and they guy who sold it to the dealer whom I met tonight said it cost him US64K after tax and shipping cost to bring them to Korea. They are beautiful speakers with almost no scratch on it.

I can only sell my Bishops for US$22K so it is quite a jump for me. I was thinking of driving them with 2 pairs of PASS XA200 Monos...?Am I going overboard here?

5 Speaker 1M short Cables I assume I will need to connect
it to the Osiris. More Audioquest Silver cables...

I am just a guy who had passion for these audio equipments since middle school...went on to study Electrical Engineering in collage..looked up to guys like Levinson, D'Gastino, and Nelson Pass. But I felt making money is easier then designing amps...and instead of making a career out of it ..I made it a hobby..so please I am not a dealer ..I will neve be one..I see better systems and far more exclusive system here which is WW .Korea is a huge market for highend stuff as all of North Asia is..I think the reason ? There is really nothing more better to do other than playing golf in a crowded course. !!!

Sirspeedy, give me some advise on room treatments..I think you are so right...you guys are all experts here...
Hi Hugo,
There is a pair for sale at www.higherfi.com for much cheaper than you are thinking of paying. The Boulders would be a fantastic match to the Avalon's.
Enjoy,'
David Shapiro