When Avalon speaker meet EC Amp

MM622

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2013
19
2
133
I’ve ordered a Avalon Ascendant II speaker last week and I will receive it a few days later (very excited now), a few questions:

1) Does anybody have experience to listen Avalon speaker work with Electrocompaniet amp? How’s the sound quality?

2) In case if I need to change speaker cable, what speaker cable you’re recommend? Appreciated if you can suggest some cables in 3 different price level and each level has 2 different brands:

Example
High (USD2000 to USD2500) = XXXX and YYY
Mid (USD 1000 to USD 2000) = AAA and BBB
Low (Under USD 1000) = CCC and DDD

3) Although many people said Ascendant II is easy to drive, I’m not sure if my Power-amp can fully handle this speaker? What do you think? Here is the spec. of my Power amp and Pre-amp:


Power-amp
http://www.electrocompaniet.no/products/classic/poweramp/AW180.html

Pre-amp
http://www.electrocompaniet.no/products/classic/preamp/ec48.html


Avalon Idea+EC AW-180M.jpg
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
80
1,725
New York City
The old EC amplifiers had a reputation that they could drive anything including THE original Apogees that went down to 0.25 ohms.
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,327
2,707
1,400
Amsterdam holland
I must admit i liked the avalon ascendant with MIT cables , but..... that were about the only cables ive heard them with:D
And i am also not a cable expert as most of the members know :confused: :p

Congrats nice speakers !!
 
Last edited:

MM622

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2013
19
2
133
Thanks, my EC amp work very well with my Avalon Ascendant II (At least I like the sound). I plug all my gears to the CSE Isolation Transformer (CDP, Per-amp and Power-amp), I like the sound from this way more than the Power-amp connected with the Furutech GTX-(R) receptacles directly. Just receive this speaker 2 days, haven’t yet to connect the spikes on it. Many people said Avalon’s original spikes work excellent with Avalon speaker, if you don’t use it, you can’t get the best sound from your Avalon. So I will try and see the difference.

Now, one of my biggest problem is my listening area are very small, my listening distance are too close with the speaker, maybe only has 6 to 7 foot. Supposed I need to move out the speaker at least 1 foot, but for such short distance, I don’t think I can do this. What is your suggestion to solve this problem (expect to buy a new apartment…………).

IMG_0489.JPG

IMG_0493.JPG

IMG_0504.JPG
 

defride

VIP/Donor
Mar 28, 2013
306
196
1,185
Looks to me as though the only thing that may help in this layout is removing the large unit. Is it practical to remove it temporarily and see what difference that makes?

IME congestion between the speakers is usually unhelpful, in particular with regard to soundstage and imaging. The Avalons are ported at the bottom and also generally benefit from greater free space. Should experimenting by moving the unit out prove fruitful you may be able to attach the TV to the wall, run the monos on the floor and use a smaller equipment stand centered between the speakers. This would give you more room to experiment with speaker placement, centimeters can often make all the difference.

It looks as if you would have similar issues firing down the room with the current equipment unit. I presume the space to the right of the listening room is a corridor and it's not practical to place the sofa in this space?

While the nearfield listening position may not be ideal I would imagine the congestion around the speakers is probably more of an issue.

I almost bought a pair of Ascendent about 4 years ago, I heard them a number of times and they were always dem'd in lots of free space, the consistent message I got then is they benefited from being run this way.
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
36
435
Mexico City
EC/Avalon is a great match! - I heard the new Idea with EC at RMAF two years ago and sounded great!
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing