Ah yes! Viva. Those Italians do have a certain flair, don't they? It seems to permeate everything they do. It's like circuit designers who build amplifiers that end up having a certain degree of their own personality built into the sound. How does that happen?? The million Dollar question.... Roy Gregory (one of my idols) says that speakers by and large sound the way they look. I find that interesting too.

I haven't tried one but a buddy of mine loved his Solista. It's been on the list ever since then. I do however have a Unison Research S2 (same as the Simply 2, which has now been resurrected 3 times). It currently has a toasted cathode bias resistor so I can't use it until I free up time to repair it, but it sounds glorious with the right tubes. It has a propensity for throwing care to the wind, and having a great time doing it! Some would say that isn't accurate, but then again they can't ever convince me that their reference should be any better.

You and I tend to prefer the path less traveled, and Delta Summits fit that bill. They remind me of the Goldmunds and, for a tiny fraction of the price, encompass most of their design concept. If Dale's purported personality comes through in his design, you're in for a treat, indeed.

aball October 01, 2013 00:14

Debussy said that "music is the space between the notes."

Beautifully poetic. Another way to say that is "music is the space between your ears where the notes go...."

It's like those people who have to
do something because they don't know what else to do. Eventually all that
fidgeting gets annoying.

and Audiogon is their parallel universe....

In all seriousness and in the spirit of which you speak (I agree with your sentiments 100%), I recently purchased a Viva Solista integrated 22W SET amp from Italy. Its an experiment I wanted to try since my next speakers from Intuitive Design are going to be 8 Ohm and 93dB efficient. One of the main flag waivers for this amp is a Danish dude who also owns your speakers. Its a great little amp with dynamics, bass and yet with a subtle SET sweetness

agear September 27, 2013 20:09

I often hear that Avantgardes require your head to be "locked in a
vise" for imaging to be right. I want to address this notion now that
I've lived with AGs for years, and have tried a large variety of amplifiers
during that time. My conclusion is that it's, in fact, not really the case.

Having 104dB sensitivity changes things. A lot. Changes in volume are
clearly audible; much moreso than with a normal-sensitivity speaker. Tiny
inflections come out of the background, instead of being the background.
It's all about resolution at the end of the day, and this means that any
difference in sound is clear, in both the time and frequency domains.

The issue is that most recordings do not have a central image. Recording
engineers don't really pay that much attention to it. They're too busy
twisting knobs, adjusting mic's, and pushing slides to realize they're slightly
off balance. When I was a kid, I got interested in making quality recordings
on magnetic tape. It always came as a shock to me how many recordings
were off balance. And some were off a lot! The meters clearly told me so.
Sometimes right, but most often the left channel was the hotter one.

Fast forward to the Nanos. It's as if I was a kid again, except it isn't
presicion VU meters telling me, it's my stereo. Is that a bad thing? I don't
think so - I see it as information, truth, and reality, in equal measure. The
goal after all is to enjoy the music, and I don't find that this information
detracts from the fun -- particularly if you use the right amp.

Debussy said that "music is the space between the notes." The
corollary to this is that not all amplifiers make music. Some are more
interested in making a frenetic stream of sounds. If that's the case, then
there's precious little to listen to other than channel imbalance, treble, bass,
etc.; essentially all the mechanical stuff. It's like those people who have to
do something because they don't know what else to do. Eventually all that
fidgeting gets annoying. You find yourself longing for composed and
thoughtful responses, with natural control, like the ones good tube amps
can offer. When that happens, a shifted central image is no more
concerning than seeing someone off center in your field of vision. It's simply
part of reality. Once that's clear, all that's left to do is listen to the music,
and contemplate its spaces.

aball September 13, 2013 02:10

Thanks!

aball September 11, 2013 20:49

Arthur, your aesthetic sensibilities, both demonstrated in the subject and the photography, are also stellar. Your pics are a pleasure to look at. Ciao....

agear September 07, 2013 15:20

I am although I still dream of tube gear in my weaker moments. Does not work with our inquisitive 19 m/o ....

agear September 04, 2013 02:23

Thanks Andy! I love it. The resolution I have now is so much better than before, it's amazing. Moving to a large room made me realize how many reflections I had in the small room. Imaging has improved dramatically too. Being able to sit back farther from the speakers helped with that as well.

Still enjoying the Neodio?

aball September 03, 2013 17:24

Beautiful new room Arthur. Bravo again.

agear September 02, 2013 16:49

Hi Paul

No not at all. The Nanos fill the space perfectly, the larger ones have no more bass, and the larger models have their drivers too far apart for ideal imaging. Proper driver integration is critical for me.

I see you ended up getting Nanos. That's great! I feel they are the best overall design Avantgarde offers.

Arthur

aball August 15, 2013 13:11

Hi Arthur, congratulations for the new house! Do you have any plans to move to larger Avantgarde speakers (e.g. Duo mezzo/primo or Trio) now that your room allows it?

Paul

nvp August 13, 2013 13:40

Thank you both! That 6N6P amp is quite a trick. If I had the time and gumption, I would commercialize it in a slick little package.

Arthur

aball August 05, 2013 14:36

The new room looks great... Congratulations!

pdreher August 03, 2013 20:19

Beautiful new room. Congrats on the DYI 6N6P iPhone amp!

jetrexpro August 03, 2013 13:27

System edited: Moved into a new house a few months ago and now my
room is 4x larger. It's changed everything, but it's been fun getting a
feel for those changes. But one thing's for sure - the sound is better
than ever.

Hi Lall - Sorry I didn't see your message sooner. You've got yourself a
tough situation there. Sounds like you will have to desolder the
surrounding parts to make room. It's like repairing a car - you always
have to take off more parts than you want to! You may even have to
take the board out to do it.

BUT, if you aren't familiar with soldering, I don't recommend you do it
yourself. Soldering seems so trivial but doing it well is an art form -
and it needs to be done well, with a proper soldering iron. Also, there
absolutely is a direction to the tube! If you put one or both in
backwards, you will have much bigger problems than you have now.
You have to look very carefully at the interior parts of the tube and
match the new one up with the old one. Bend and cut all the pins such
that it mimics the old one as close as possible before soldering it in.
Take your time doing this - it will save you a big headache when you go
to solder them in. And be sure to take lots of pictures of everything
before you take anything apart, so you can remember how it all goes
back.

Arthur

aball August 03, 2013 12:02

Aball
i read in one of your previous posts regarding Audio Aero CD that you offered to give detailed directions on how to go about changing the 6021 mini tubes of the Audio Aero Capitole CD player. I see you no longer have an AA cd player but would greatly appreciate your help and guidance.
I have an AA Capitole Reference (latest version) and when i opened the cover, i was quite surprised to see the 6021 tubes so close to the black capacitors and the connecting wires are almost touching each tube. So how to go about replacing the tubes without removing the capacitor wires and how to desolder and solder on the outer sides of the tubes since the latter are almost touching the capacitors and hence no place at all to place the soldering iron?
Also is there any specific sequence/position each of the 8 leads of tubes need to be soldered or can i just grab anyone lead, solder it and go round the clock one by one until the 8th lead.
many thanks

lall June 19, 2013 13:59

Ah Andy, I didn't know your username. You little prankster!

aball April 25, 2013 21:28

I don’t appreciate the failure to realize that it took
thousands of late nights working very hard to get what I
have today. Getting here didn’t fall from the sky, nor did
it come from illicit gains.

You missed the humor in my jab. Audio is a neutral domain. It does not matter if you are a trust baby or slaved in the coal mines after hours to pay for your equipment. My surgical training lasted 10 years, and I was paid less than $2/hr due to 120+ work weeks. I still managed to "moonlight" in ERs and other facilities to make extra dough which was used to buy my first audiophile grade system. So there....

BTW, did the equipment recycling you benefitted from involve one company in particular? A french company perchance?....yuk, yuk, yuk...

agear April 22, 2013 23:17

From a former Roanoke resident, and a lover of Southwest Virginia, well done! Hopefully I can build my mid-fi system to your level one day.
Jeff

arcamguy April 19, 2013 03:20

Well done Arthur! Even if it had come by well funded parents, I get tired of hearing from jealous people of others good fortunes!

BTW, I sent you an email via AG about a week ago, did you get it? My email can be determined via my user name; the AT goes after the m.

brianmgrarcom April 18, 2013 13:46

Schubert - Ha! Well it all started off cheap and little,
and gradually got built up.

Agear - Sorry to break it to you, but the money came from
very hard work. I got a big scholarship right out of high
school because of my excellent grades. I chose to go into a
technical field that would give me a future. While doing my
BA in mechanical engineering I was a European-collector-car
mechanic and repaired cars in the evenings after classes.
Then as I worked on my BA in electrical engineering I was
hired by a French manufacturing firm that built electric
airport baggage tractors. I took an average of 20 hours a
semester and worked part time on top of that. I finished
both degrees in 6 years, and because of my breadth of
knowledge and GRE scores, I landed three research
fellowships during my grad student years that covered more
than my living costs. During that time, I leveraged my EE
knowledge by buying broken electronics, repairing them,
using them in my stereo and then selling them. This money
was recycled into my stereo while keeping me totally debt
free. My parents never paid a dime for any of my schooling
– I did it all by myself. When I finished my PhD, I was
immediately hired as a senior design engineer and got a
large sign-on bonus. That’s when I bought the Nanos. I
don’t appreciate the failure to realize that it took
thousands of late nights working very hard to get what I
have today. Getting here didn’t fall from the sky, nor did
it come from illicit gains. It simply came from tireless
determination and making the right decisions.

aball April 18, 2013 12:44

Odds are this is the best system ever assembled by a grad student

Touché. Very suspicious for a grad student to be rolling high dollar equipment like that. My father's students had Bose if they had anything at all.....

agear February 24, 2013 18:00

Odds are this is the best system ever assembled by a grad student !

schubert February 24, 2013 17:04

Arthur, you are an audio kleptomaniac. Wonderful system and room where everything looks aesthetically correct. Very elegant and very French. I have always liked the idea of a multiplicity of component or systems to suit the mood.

Your musings on the amp/speaker interface make perfect sense to me. I have owned amps and preamps in the past with extreme bandwidth and you can "hear it" in the ebb and flow of the music.

agear February 23, 2013 17:48

I will be very curious of your results if you do.

brianmgrarcom January 02, 2013 15:43

Hi Brian, thanks for the update. I'm planning on selling one of my amps and replacing its spot in the rack with a Furman, most likely. I've been eyeing the IT20i for years now - it would be about time I finally try one.

Arthur

aball January 02, 2013 14:05