Tube amplifier for Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD

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essrand

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Hello,
I am posting this on behalf of a friend who is interested in a tube amp (preferably low wattage SETs) for his brand new Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD speakers.

If you have heard or own these speakers, please chime in with your fav amp combo with these speakers.

Currently top of his list is the Luxman MQ-300 which I suggested, has anyone heard this combo?

His preamp is Pass Labs Xp-32 I think.
 
essrand said:
Hello,
I am posting this on behalf of a friend who is interested in a tube amp (preferably low wattage SETs) for his brand new Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD speakers.

If you have heard or own these speakers, please chime in with your fav amp combo with these speakers.

Currently top of his list is the Luxman MQ-300 which I suggested, has anyone heard this combo?

His preamp is Pass Labs Xp-32 I think.
Click to expand...

Have you asked your friend why he is particularly interested in tube SETs? I use Avantgarde Duo XDs and moved away from tubes to SS 3 years ago and no regrets for doing so. I now listen to far more music and the sound is at least as good as from my SETs. He should keep an open mind regarding amplifier type and (this is hugely important) he should arrange home trials of a dozen or so amps of various technologies before deciding which sounds best with his Mezzos. In my own case I borrowed several amps but bought used examples of other likely candidates, so lost little if anything on resale. I doubt he will settle on SETs. If he does, perhaps those with 845 or 211 output tubes will offer excellent sound. Very low power ones (PX-25, 45, 2A3, etc) may sound great (perhaps even sublime) with relatively light music, but may be out of their depth with big orchestral stuff.
 
The strength with SET is how it blends bass and Mids, the jump and speed factor is from that position so if your SET is not doing bass its a waste to me , this was also confirmed when i had the opportunity to hear AG horns with SET and PP toobs and with SS . With Toobs the SET magic was lost and no better than PP Toobs , actually less so due to power output ..


Regards
 
Assuming a proper system-to-room setup, I still recommend Vivas from a fairly large amount of personal experience. Are they the best - in terms of being the most technically accurate - I doubt it.

Where they seem to excel is in a much higher ME factor. In this case, ME = Musical Engagement
 
Using the high-level inputs on the XD series AGs I found the sub-bass took on the character of the main amp very well. You could easily hear the diff in bass character going from a 300B to PP tubes, to SS etc. It was uncanny really. I never tried the XLR inputs for the subs that runs off the preamp output, in which case you prob would hear a discontinuity. After 8 mos. and experimenting with several amps, I found the LTA ZOTL10 to be the best match with Uno Finos and tie for 2nd between the Valvet e2 and KR Audio VT20. The most disappointing match was a 300B amp with 16 ohm taps. the sound was thick, veiled, slow, colored...did I mention rolled off?
 
+1 on the VIVA. Classico 300B Integrated sounds great on my Mezzo's in a fairly large room and I haven't even tried rolling tubes.

The amp section alone can be run with the Pass, but, while not apples to oranges, I found the VIVA's pre- section preferable to using my EMM DAC's built-in Pre.
Parker
 
I used Audio Tekne’s IT 2 integrated amp with my Duo’s. Absolutely no tube sound, very clear opened live sound.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jim Smith said:
Assuming a proper system-to-room setup, I still recommend Vivas from a fairly large amount of personal experience. Are they the best - in terms of being the most technically accurate - I doubt it.

Where they seem to excel is in a much higher ME factor. In this case, ME = Musical Engagement
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,
What are your thoughts on Audiopax vs. Viva sound?
 
I own 2014 Duo Mezzo's non HD. I own Audiopax 88 Mk2s, Nagra VPAs, and am currently running AudioNote UK Shinris.

I've also demo'd in my system, Luxman KT 88 limited edition (not bad, but kind of thick sounding compared to the Audiopax 88s), Dartzeel integrated (SS) (very good) and the Audio Research GS150 (surprisingly quiet and very good sounding), First Watt J2 (Meh midrange, thin sounding, but pretty good bass and highs)

The Nagra's are 60 watt PP 845s, and very good, with amazing bass. They sound however, very slightly tip up on the Duo's. They were really designed for 87 db Wilsons so are kind of overkill with the 107db Duo's. On the other hand, I much preferred their sound over the 8 wat Shinris on a friends 96 DB ANE speakers.

The Audiopax 88 are dead quiet, very good sounding but don't go as deep as the Nagra's. They were one of the favorite combos with Avantgarde back in the early 2000s and are still a very good match especially at their current used prices.

The Shinri's are a very rare and expensive almost top of the AN UK line 8 watt SE 300B Monoblock from Audio Note UK.

I thought i needed more power based on my experience with the 30 Watt Audiopax amps but was simply stunned when i tried them with the Duo's. All the deep bass I could ever want, very extended and silky highs and the most amazing mid range. I routinely listen to 100 plus DB rock and orchestral music and the 8 watt Shinri's have never run out of gas.

I ended up buying them and will be selling my AudioPax and Nagra VPAs (unless I get a second system with lower efficiency speakers).

So while the conventional wisdom is that 8 watt 300B are compressed bandwidth and syrupy, if you can get your hands on the Shinris they are a better match with the 107 DB Duo's than their own 96 DB Speakers. The Shinris are very expensive but still cheaper than the Viva Auroras, and they only weigh about 35 lbs each compared to 100lb Viva
 
Boogieman said:
Hi Jim,
What are your thoughts on Audiopax vs. Viva sound?
Click to expand...

I havnt heard the Vivas but have a friend with Trio's who loves his 20 watt Auroras, He preferred them over my Audiopax 88s that he borrowed. But they are $50k amps new and maybe $15k for older used ones.

I think the AudioPax MKII at $5k used are pretty hard to beat for Avantgardes but Viva Auroras or AN UK Shinris are better if price is no object.
 
mallen123 said:
So while the conventional wisdom is that 8 watt 300B are compressed bandwidth and syrupy, if you can get your hands on the Shinris they are a better match with the 107 DB Duo's than their own 96 DB Speakers. The Shinris are very expensive but still cheaper than the Viva Auroras, and they only weigh about 35 lbs each compared to 100lb Viva
Click to expand...

I had the low-gain (low noise) Audio Note Conqueror which is their stereo 300b on the Uno Finos and wasn't moved at all, albeit it was less slow and flabby sounding than the Allnic 300b I had on hand. The AN rep recommended the Empress, a parallel 2A3 mono which put out 8 WPC. It piqued my curiosity the more we discussed it, the 2A3 tube is supposedly 'faster' and more extended on top.
 
puroagave said:
I had the low-gain (low noise) Audio Note Conqueror which is their stereo 300b on the Uno Finos and wasn't moved at all, albeit it was less slow and flabby sounding than the Allnic 300b I had on hand. The AN rep recommended the Empress, a parallel 2A3 mono which put out 8 WPC. It piqued my curiosity the more we discussed it, the 2A3 tube is supposedly 'faster' and more extended on top.
Click to expand...

Shinris are Mono blocks and completely different designs both from a circuit design and quality of parts than the much lower priced Conqueror. The Shinri Monos retail for $36000 and you'd be hard pressed to find them anywhere used.

Shinri's lack for nothing on top especially with a higher end 300B tube like the AN 4300E, Elrogs
or the Tatsukis.
 
I am using SET Ayon Crossfire - first with Duo Omega G2 and then Duo Mezzo XD - for 11 years.
Now after the upgrade with Mundorf capacitors model III which I have for 7 years is even better and remains the main amp for my setup with Trios LE 26 and REL Special Carbon subs.
As a second amp I have a new Polish brand - Circle Labs A100.
Imho Ayon is a perfect match with AG speakers.
Audiopax is not represented in Poland though.
Crossfire III exists also as a power amp.
 
Marslo said:
I am using SET Ayon Crossfire - first with Duo Omega G2 and then Duo Mezzo XD - for 11 years.
Now after the upgrade with Mundorf capacitors model III which I have for 7 years is even better and remains the main amp for my setup with Trios LE 26 and REL Special Carbon subs.
As a second amp I have a new Polish brand - Circle Labs A100.
Imho Ayon is a perfect match with AG speakers.
Audiopax is not represented in Poland though.
Crossfire III exists also as a power amp.
Click to expand...

Marslo -
Very nice upgrade both speakers and amps!. Wish i had the room for Trios.

Is your Crossfire the stereo version or the mono blocks? I don't think I've ever seen the Crossfire monos for sale used, which is a generally a good sign.
 
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