Avantgarde Uno Loudspeakers: Comments?

Hello. I have heard one, two and trio model. The model i prefer is Duo. In the one model you can easily heard the differance between drivers. The Trio is too much brilliant with a nasal midrange, mid bass almost nonexistent.Duo is the best compromise. Imho.

they're horns. they honk. and they're butt-ugly.

hi cornfedboy, the only honking i associate w/avantgarde acoustics speakers is *your comments*. they are *very* musical, not all those folks who love 'em are deaf. no arguments w/their appearance, tho. i *do* respect that ewe don't like their sound, i guess that's why there's many different speaker brands & designs... regards, doug

I have Duo with Wavelength Triton amp. Best ever, so natural, not great for symphony, but great for jazz, piano, strings, and voice.

With all the fuss over the Avantegardes I arranged an audition from a dealer of the Duo 2.0s. They are very good speakers and certainly well positioned for their price point. However, they possess an upper midrange coloration that can only be described as "cupping" to my ears. I listened with SET and push-pull tube amplifiers and found the coloration with both. I also found the subwoofer to be somewhat incongruent with the horns. People who like upper midrange emphasis via coloration (like electrostatic hybrids) should like these speakers. Strangely, I found these speakers make most female vocalists sound like Barbra Streisand, and make Barbra sound like Ethel Merman with a cold. On Sudafed. With a megaphone.