Avantgarde Duo - position in listening room


Greetings from Croatia.
I am new owner of Duos. I would ask Duo owners for few exact informations.What is your prefer position for:

- exact distance between speakers/tweeters
- exact distance from tweeter to listening position
- sub cut frequency position
- level position on sub
- do you prefer to connect speakers cables on tweeter or on sub
- what amplification do you use
- how long did you take burning

Think, answers on this questions will help all Avantgarde owners.
Thank you
planetfax
Congratulations on your new speakers, once you get them dialed in you will be very happy.

These questions are easy.

-do you prefer to connect speakers cables on tweeter or on sub: I am using Stereovox HDLS cables, a 3 meter run to the mid horn, then a 1 meter length from there to the tweeter and another 1 meter length from the mid horn to the woofer. Since the majority of the music comes from the mid horn it makes sense to make the most direct connection there.
- what amplification do you use: a highly modified AudioSpace 300B SET integrated. Even though they are highly efficient and will run on a few watts, I've tried a lot of amps and feel they open up with an amp that has some headroom.
- how long did you take burning: Can't say, mine were a dealer demo so they had a lot of hours when I got them.

The rest of your questions about placement and levels are highly room dependent and are impossible to answer but here are a few guidelines.

If you sit too close the drivers won't blend together. I sit about 12 feet away and wouldn't want to be much closer.

Setting them up symetrically from your chair is critical. Check out this Eighth Nerve review for a good method.

In my 14 ft wide roon my tweeters are about 3 feet from the side walls and the back of the woofer is about 3 feet from the rear wall, toed in pointing directly at my chair. They are directional and slight changes in toe in make big differences. This may be too bright if your other equipment/cables tend to be bright and you may need to toe out slightly, but you will sacrifice a bit of resolution. You also need to find the right height for the horns in relation to how high you sit as they are also directional in the vertical plane.

One thing that makes a HUGE difference is treating your room with 8th Nerve products. The sound is less congested, more relaxed, and better focused. I am using their latest version (soon to be released) and it is amazing what they will do to. The current line is great and cheaper but the new ones are better all the way around.

The ideal settings for the woofer depends on the room, where they are placed, and your personal preferences so you need to figure that out yourself. I use a Phonic PAA2 analyzer to get them close to flat and then fine tune by ear.

As with any high end speaker you can't just plop them down and expect to get good results. Taking the time to dial them in yields big rewards.