High Efficiency Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Avantgarde Duo Omega Speakers by Peter Earnshaw

Model:	Duo Omega
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	unknown
Description:	Duo with Omega upgrade
Manufacturer URL:	Avantgarde
Manufacturer URL:	Avantgarde

Review by Peter Earnshaw ( A ) on November 14, 2005 at 08:00:51
IP Address: 141.228.156.225

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Iâ€™ve now had the Omega upgrade kit installed in my Duos. Even after only two days of use, the drivers not yet fully run in, I feel compelled to write. Itâ€™s all good news.

Details are nicely documented here so I wonâ€™t bother repeating them: http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/omega/omega.html

I love what the upgrade has done to my system. Every aspect of performance has improved slightly, and mostly improved lots. Even in my current listening room â€“ a change of house forced a new environment on me which did no favours to the soundstage and musical performance â€“ I have never heard the system sounding as good as this.

Big ticket items are:

Number 1 improvement is in musicality. My feet tap all the time. There may be lots of reasons why a system comes together and rocks, some detailed below, but the net effect of the upgrades is the music Iâ€™m listening to just comes together and works. Recordings that were a mash of sound now have individual strands to them that work together to deliver a cohesive whole. It like listening to a band that have actually rehearsed several times before turning up to the gig; they gel. Whatever the musical style, I can respond to that.

Tonal quality is unbelievably better. My Quads need re-strapping to match the input impedance of the revised drivers, but even with a slight impedance mismatch the tone of string and brass instruments is just so rich, pure and believable. Drums have real decay and timbre. Electronic instruments, though clearly electronic, now sound extended without being terribly harsh. Before the upgrade I felt that my system could occasionally sound hard, slightly bright and thin, with an â€œalmost-but-not-quite-thereâ€ feeling to timbre and palpability; now almost completely cured by the Omega upgrade.

I will need to borrow another amp to confirm just how much of the lusciousness I can hear is down to my choice of amp; I know the Quads are an old design without the last word in transparency and bass control, but so much timbre detail is flowing through I am really surprised at the success Iâ€™m getting. Iâ€™m convinced you need the best possible amps with these speakers; certainly, whatever â€œvoiceâ€ you like your amp to have, whether lush or accurate, it will need to be very, very quiet. Mine have been magiced by Graham Tricker somehow to work very well with the Duos, and are extremely quiet. No rushing or roaring, thumps or pops here!

It might be possible that a different amp with greater frequency response will reveal some harshness as you extend into the treble, but nothing like that is happening in my system right now. Despite which, I donâ€™t feel Iâ€™m missing much in the treble at all. Perhaps a bit of air and space, more dynamics and better bass, doubtless to be revealed by the Tron power amps Iâ€™m lusting after, which I fully expect to bring performers into the room with me, instead of just painting a picture of them as I have at present. I donâ€™t feel the speaker is in any way the limiting factor.

Sound-staging and palpability have also improved significantly. The bass, strangely since Iâ€™ve not changed any sub settings whatsoever, is fuller and more dynamic. Micro- and Macro-dynamics are both superb; a change of amp will improve both, it really feels like the speaker is not the throttle when it comes to the attack on a plucked string or the hammer down on a piano key.

In a nutshell: the overall presentation is smoother, richer and fuller with more palpability, detail and dynamism thrown in to boot. I canâ€™t find a downside; this upgrade has moved me more in the direction I want to go than any other I have made short of buying the Duos in the first place. Thoroughly recommended.

Side notes: I use a Lindemann D680 SACD source, Tron Comet preamp, Quad II monoblocks modified by Graham Tricker, and PHY cabling throughout (except to the subs, where I just use some Russ Andrews cables that are long enough to reach).

Product Weakness: You will need a big room and very quiet amps to enjoy
Product Strengths: Musicality, timbre, dynamics, transparency

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Quad II, modified
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Tron Comet
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Lindemann D680 SACD
Speakers:	Avantgarde Duo Omega
Cables/Interconnects:	PHY
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	mainly jazz and rock
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	1kw mains transformer
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	You will need a big room and very quiet amps to enjoy
Product Strengths:	Musicality, timbre, dynamics, transparency