Ever since my friend Stew heard the Whispers at DUP's, he's been on a mission to replace his JM Lab Nova Utopia speakers with something at least comparable for less money. He was seriously exploring purchasing Legacy Whispers, when I saw an ad on Audiogon for a pair fo Avantgarde Duo's, which were offered for audition literally a few blocks from where Stew lives.
I suggested that it would be worth his while to listen to the Duos to see how they stack up against the Legacy offerings and since used Duos are about $2k less than used Whispers, if they sounded as good as the Whispers, it would be a tremendous purchase. It didn't take much convincing and we made an appointment to listen to the Duos.
The Duos are absolutely beautiful. Whereas the Whispers look like two caskets, the Duo's sensual curves and automotive finishes make them look exotic and awe inspiring as no other speaker I've ever seen. Of course, none of that matters if they don't sound good.
They sounded good. The midrange and the highs were delicate. The voices sounded real and seductive. The bass was good. However, it wasn't as good as the Whisper's or as Nova Utopia's. Whereas the Duo's bass was good, it didn't go nearly as deep as the Utopia or Whispers and it didn't have nearly the same articulation. Another thing that bothered me about the Duos is an ever so slight metallic quality in the upper midrange. The Duos also suffered from bass driver integration issues. It wasn't bad, but it was there. All of these shortcomings weren't major, but when comparing the Duos to the Whisper at the same price (new), the Whisper is a better speaker.
Whereas Stew has decided to purchase the Whispers, this still leaves me with a dilemma of whether it would be better to go with the Focus at $5k or Duos at around $7-8k. This is a really tough decision. The Duos are better in every respect except for bass. The Focus' bass is much deeper and much more articulate. However, the mids and highs exhibit the kind of delicacy on the Duos that the Focus can't touch at $2-3k more.
Decisions, decisions...
Ever since my friend Stew heard the Whispers at DUP's, he's been on a mission to replace his JM Lab Nova Utopia speakers with something at least comparable for less money. He was seriously exploring purchasing Legacy Whispers, when I saw an ad on Audiogon for a pair fo Avantgarde Duo's, which were offered for audition literally a few blocks from where Stew lives.
I suggested that it would be worth his while to listen to the Duos to see how they stack up against the Legacy offerings and since used Duos are about $2k less than used Whispers, if they sounded as good as the Whispers, it would be a tremendous purchase. It didn't take much convincing and we made an appointment to listen to the Duos.
The Duos are absolutely beautiful. Whereas the Whispers look like two caskets, the Duo's sensual curves and automotive finishes make them look exotic and awe inspiring as no other speaker I've ever seen. Of course, none of that matters if they don't sound good.
They sounded good. The midrange and the highs were delicate. The voices sounded real and seductive. The bass was good. However, it wasn't as good as the Whisper's or as Nova Utopia's. Whereas the Duo's bass was good, it didn't go nearly as deep as the Utopia or Whispers and it didn't have nearly the same articulation. Another thing that bothered me about the Duos is an ever so slight metallic quality in the upper midrange. The Duos also suffered from bass driver integration issues. It wasn't bad, but it was there. All of these shortcomings weren't major, but when comparing the Duos to the Whisper at the same price (new), the Whisper is a better speaker.
Whereas Stew has decided to purchase the Whispers, this still leaves me with a dilemma of whether it would be better to go with the Focus at $5k or Duos at around $7-8k. This is a really tough decision. The Duos are better in every respect except for bass. The Focus' bass is much deeper and much more articulate. However, the mids and highs exhibit the kind of delicacy on the Duos that the Focus can't touch at $2-3k more.
Decisions, decisions...