From Maggies to Avantgarde Acoustic

Adagio

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Jun 8, 2019
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755264CB-C824-4385-BF6B-BB2DB1D11CB5.jpeg After successfull living with Maggies for many years I finally decided to move on into the world of horns. The decision to order a pair of AA Uno fino edition became a fact a month ago. Hope they will be delivered next week!!!
 

the sound of Tao

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Jul 18, 2014
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Brave man... love it. My 20.7s have had to share the room with horns and Harbeths lately. I am conflicted... but mostly playing the horns these days. Think it’s the SET that is the fulcrum of the tipping point.
 

Adagio

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Jun 8, 2019
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Brave man... love it. My 20.7s have had to share the room with horns and Harbeths lately. I am conflicted... but mostly playing the horns these days. Think it’s the SET that is the fulcrum of the tipping point.
Interesting, I do love my Maggies but have become use to the AAs since I’ve been using them on a lot of HiFishows demoing Sonus Concordia cables, I’ve grown more and more found of these horns. But they where just a little bit pricey for me. I definitely wanted the XD version because they are much more easy to use in different rooms. So when the new Fino edition showed up I was very interested.
The bigger AAs have many virtues but the smaller Zero sound maybe even more homogeneous, at least in smaller rooms. The Duo Mezzo of course are the best to my ears, given a really big room. But my wallet doesn’t seem to be big enough.
Not my room either.
Anyway the new Uno Fino Edition, was something new, not as accurate and fine tuned in the bass but more fun and dramatic in another way, due to bass reflex construction.
The usual approach at AA is sealed cabinets, that is a more “adult” and correct but at the same time a little less flirting and fun sound as the bass reflex.
The Fino Editions dimensions and physical appearance are more pleasing to my eye than the Fino. They look more brutal and powerful to me. 9EB69C3F-AD8D-47BD-9584-61201B172434.jpeg
 

the sound of Tao

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Jul 18, 2014
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Just get trios then ;) the finos look nice and fierce, it’s great that you are following your dreams.

The 20.7 Maggies are an education in system refinement, they really reflect totally the quality of the system setup.

I’m loving the horns because I’m now more focussed on playing music for its performance rather than playing a recording for it’s sonics.

Horns seem to me to be the most highly personal of speaker choices so it’s a case of finding the horn spirit that best nourishes you. I’m toying now with building another set of horns... not because what I have isn’t completely satisfying, they truly are, but the outlet to play even further and explore is just too enticing. I see more DHT valves and more horns in my future also. Crystal balls are a wonderful thing. Must get a set.
 

christoph

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Dec 11, 2015
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View attachment 53478 After successfull living with Maggies for many years I finally decided to move on into the world of horns. The decision to order a pair of AA Uno fino edition became a fact a month ago. Hope they will be delivered next week!!!
Aren't those Maggies VERY close to the back wall?
 

Adagio

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A8DE8369-19EF-439A-B032-F490EE3E9DBB.jpeg
 

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christoph

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How much is it? 1 Meter?
 

MPS

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Jun 20, 2016
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Very interesting as I have somewhat similar "background" history.

Having owned Maggie 1.5SE since new and practically for period of "forever". Then moved on to ML which to me were much more clean and detailed. However Maggies always have that pleasant tone that makes them so easy to listen and enjoy. Hybrid Logans while having great properties also introduce a bit lack of coherence which I found again with CLX. This could have been my "grand finale" but various changes in one's life made me look for other options.
AA Uno XD provided mid range tonality and "directness" which wasn't too hard to accept even after that of CLX. I would say Zero TA will give better bang for buck but there was something about the bigger models that just can't be reached. Having the DSP capabilities for matching lower frequencies to that of the layout and room properties, not forgetting one's personal taste, is a huge aid in practically guaranteering good or better end result.
While I was very pleased with the SQ of Unos, I also knew they were not up to that of Duo's.
So went ahead to upgrade and quite as expected got even more of everything out of them. One great aspect of high efficiency speakers with high impedance is that you'll get a great selection of low powered but lovely sounding amps to choose from. While I did love my high powered ARC tube amp, it still was an monster at tube consumption and heat output.
Anyway mostly these things are personal choices and there is no absolute right or wrong, sometimes just having something different makes the difference ;)

PS
Dipoles do like to have 1,5m or more free space behind and from my experience diffraction or combination of diffraction and absorption is much preferred to absorption alone.
 

Adagio

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Jun 8, 2019
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It’s only 106cm but the V-wing diffuser “simulates” yet another 1,5m in time delay.
 

Adagio

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2019
55
58
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50
Very interesting as I have somewhat similar "background" history.

Having owned Maggie 1.5SE since new and practically for period of "forever". Then moved on to ML which to me were much more clean and detailed. However Maggies always have that pleasant tone that makes them so easy to listen and enjoy. Hybrid Logans while having great properties also introduce a bit lack of coherence which I found again with CLX. This could have been my "grand finale" but various changes in one's life made me look for other options.
AA Uno XD provided mid range tonality and "directness" which wasn't too hard to accept even after that of CLX. I would say Zero TA will give better bang for buck but there was something about the bigger models that just can't be reached. Having the DSP capabilities for matching lower frequencies to that of the layout and room properties, not forgetting one's personal taste, is a huge aid in practically guaranteering good or better end result.
While I was very pleased with the SQ of Unos, I also knew they were not up to that of Duo's.
So went ahead to upgrade and quite as expected got even more of everything out of them. One great aspect of high efficiency speakers with high impedance is that you'll get a great selection of low powered but lovely sounding amps to choose from. While I did love my high powered ARC tube amp, it still was an monster at tube consumption and heat output.
Anyway mostly these things are personal choices and there is no absolute right or wrong, sometimes just having something different makes the difference ;)

PS
Dipoles do like to have 1,5m or more free space behind and from my experience diffraction or combination of diffraction and absorption is much preferred to absorption alone.
Great!!
 

Vienna

VIP/Donor
I am considering too to go for Avantgarde speakers.
In fact I am between Gryphon Pantheon and Avantgarde
 

christoph

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Dec 11, 2015
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I am considering too to go for Avantgarde speakers.
In fact I am between Gryphon Pantheon and Avantgarde
After you are from Greece, why not give the Tune Audio Animas a proper listen?
Even though I still prefer the hORNS Universum over all...
 
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bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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I have heard the pantheon with colosseum, burmester, and a Norwegian amp called Adyton. Totally bored me. I would take a 3500 vintage tannoy any day.

Whether Anima, AG trios, or universum, all are great choices but their sounds differ considerably and is a matter of preference.

If you want to stick to cones try Zellaton. Better for that ribbon like midrange
 
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