vassago - I would really like to have the Isis at some point, but I think they are quite large for my room, hence my preference for chasing a pair of Indras - what differences you hear from this two?
My time with Avalon speakers
- Thread starter flez007
- Start date
I would say, the best avalon you can buy where you get the most for your money is Indra, it is open and has a bass control not found in the price range.
A Indra should preferably be close to the backwall the you get more baslam....
Since the last post I have heard three different speakers on my quest to replace my Ascents and get a better synergy with the EAR 861 amp, none has pushed me to take my checkbook out yet, which is a good sign 
- maybe the route is pointing to a more powerfull amp. Not in a rush.....
- maybe the route is pointing to a more powerfull amp. Not in a rush.....
Gosh!...this is literally canceling the option of using the EAR amp with the Indra - thanks for sharing the link A.wayne.
Flez as you are also hovering between SS and tubes like me , my advice would be try a boulder 1060 and combine it with a nice tube pre , you can then get any avalon you want and drive it into heaven
Best SS ive had and detailretrival is up there with the best SET s ( i still dont know which one is bettter actually ) the krells were less revealing , with lesser bass control /overall control
If you apriciate neutrality this is the real deal , combined with absolute control over any loudspeaker ( apart from some extreme designs )
Only caveat , on classical and unamplified sounds tubes might win , but the margin is very small.
Best SS ive had and detailretrival is up there with the best SET s ( i still dont know which one is bettter actually ) the krells were less revealing , with lesser bass control /overall control
If you apriciate neutrality this is the real deal , combined with absolute control over any loudspeaker ( apart from some extreme designs )
Only caveat , on classical and unamplified sounds tubes might win , but the margin is very small.
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Flez as you are also hovering between SS and tubes like me , my advice would be try a boulder 1060 and combine it with a nice tube pre , you can then get any avalon you want and drive it into heaven
Best SS ive had and detailretrival is up there with the best SET s ( i still dont know which one is bettter actually ) the krells were less revealing , with lesser bass control /overall control
If you apriciate neutrality this is the real deal , combined with absolute control over any loudspeaker ( apart from some extreme designs )
Only caveat , on classical and unamplified sounds tubes might win , but the margin is very small.
I agree 100% andromedaaudio...have you heard the 800 series amps?
No i did not , i did hear the 2060 / 2010 on kharma refs , it sounded a bit glazy (could also be the diamond tweeters ), my gut feeling was that the poweramps are the real stars (but i could be wrong)
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Change of amp.
I decided to upgrade my amp but stay with tubes now, I had the opportunity to listen a pair of Jadis JA50 at home and just loved their sound (I have had some Jadis gear in the past but never a JA-series). With just 45 watts class A this amps sound much more powerfull, images appear all at the back of the speakers, tone is just right and dynamics are lifelike.
I would not say that the Jadis amps are better than the EAR, but for my power-hungry Ascents it looks they are just a far better match.
I decided to upgrade my amp but stay with tubes now, I had the opportunity to listen a pair of Jadis JA50 at home and just loved their sound (I have had some Jadis gear in the past but never a JA-series). With just 45 watts class A this amps sound much more powerfull, images appear all at the back of the speakers, tone is just right and dynamics are lifelike.
I would not say that the Jadis amps are better than the EAR, but for my power-hungry Ascents it looks they are just a far better match.
I have heard 2060 before, thought they were truly sota, did not hear the glaze but did not obsessively listen to them after the first audition and decided to go with Gryphon.
Change of amp (again).
Sold the Audio Note Conquest and got a ReVar power/pre combo from France - lost a bit in midrange magic but gained more punch, dynamics and control. 180 W/ch SS design, pre is tubed so as my DAC and Phono stage.
Still amazed on the Avatars potential and ability to show the best as one upgrades the audio chain.
Sold the Audio Note Conquest and got a ReVar power/pre combo from France - lost a bit in midrange magic but gained more punch, dynamics and control. 180 W/ch SS design, pre is tubed so as my DAC and Phono stage.
Still amazed on the Avatars potential and ability to show the best as one upgrades the audio chain.
Portugal - i would place coherence and soundstage recreation at the very top - no matter what Avalon model one listens it is seems you are listening to an almost full range-single driver speaker, as for soundstaging - very few speakers image like Avalon IMO.
They are also very smooth, but without getting moody or loosing transparency. They may not impress you on the very first, short listenintg, but those are a kind of speakers that grow on you the longer you listen. The recreation of soundstage, especially soundstage depth and layering is probably the best in the biz, and it is kind of Avalon hallmark
I had a pair of Eidolon Visions and I loved them. A friend of mine is demoing a pair of Avalon Time as I write and I think he will keep them. We have also auditioned at his home Magico Q3, Alexia, Vivid B3, MBL 101Emk2 and Rockport Aviors. IMO, in his system, the Time was the best sounding speaker of the lot - by far.
I had a pair of Eidolon Visions and I loved them. A friend of mine is demoing a pair of Avalon Time as I write and I think he will keep them. We have also auditioned at his home Magico Q3, Alexia, Vivid B3, MBL 101Emk2 and Rockport Aviors. IMO, in his system, the Time was the best sounding speaker of the lot - by far.
Interesting. A good friend of mine just replaced his Time with an S5. After many years in the Avalon family, he finally made the move. That was after he spent a lot of time listening to my set up. We both use Spectral electronics
Some friends here have moved from Avalon to other speakers over the time, my take is that some are getting better dynamics, a bit more extension and/or the ability to get more detail along the spectrum - but at the cost of loosing in some cases a more coherent sound reproduction, warmer and holistic soundstage and the sensation of hearing more "music" and less audiophile "tricks". Again, it is a mater of tastes and system synergy in my opinion....
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