By Juan C. Ayllon Most audio aficionados reserve their most prized equipment for a media or living room while their bedroom systems, if any, are a mere afterthought. But, not this guy! Yesterday, I visited a friend (whom I'll call Pete for anonymity sake) who keeps a pair of Avantgarde Duo Mezzo loudspeakers ($63,000) flanking his king sized bed in his master bedroom! Standing about four feet tall, each sports a 26 1/3" midrange horn, super tweeter, and two 10" bass drivers (an online site listed them at 12", but these appeared 10") in an enclosed cabinet. At 107 dB efficient and packing plenty of bass, they really dominate that corner of the room. To be fair, it also doubles as his home office, however, there are better acoustically optimal spaces in his house -- like his spacious living room, for example. Turns out a friend of his is relocating across the country and, apparently, didn't have space in his moving truck. Either way, Pete is immensely enjoying their presence in his abode. So, how do they sound? Given their less than ideal placement with a large bed in between them, and a smaller sized room with a mirror on one side and a window on the other, they still manage to sound stunning! Driven by a Schiit Audio Aegir amplifier with a Cypher Labs Prautes tube headphone amplifier/preamp and sourced with a Roon Nucleus Plus, they present a surprisingly large soundstage with immense clarity. Vocals are very natural and instruments are large and rich in their timbral presence. If there's anything lacking, it's a certain lack of depth and perhaps a little dryness. However, that may have more to do with the room; the hard, reflective surfaces of the window and mirror don't help, nor does the wooden headboard, the bed itself, or the lack of acoustic treatments. Now, Pete mentioned that he was considering moving them to his living room, but ran out of time before I visited. Nevertheless, in the bedroom, it still outperforms many prime home systems and, with AXPONA around the corner, no doubt it sounds better than a number of the showcased presentations held in the smaller hotel rooms there! All things considered, that's a big win for Pete, whom I'm putting on notice here and now: If you or your buddy ever tire of the Duos, I'd be more than happy to sacrifice and store them at my house. I mean, what are friends for?
2 Comments
Wes Dumalski
4/16/2022 09:36:58 am
That’s amazing to see! I bet they sound pretty darn good in that location. The mattress likely helps acoustically and the horns should offer very focused directivity which may help with first reflections on the side walls. Would love to have heard the system and thanks for sharing.
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4/16/2022 10:21:50 am
They were amazing sounding and your comments are on point. And you're very welcome. Thank you!
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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