alex:

you might consider something used. some might consider this heresay, but many people who upgrade have lovingly cared for speakers they need to sell. my dealer took back a pair of Aerial 6 that had been used as the rear speakers in a surround sound system for about 3 years. he ran a full battery of tests and pronounced them fit. with the finish on them and the tax, they would be $4,000 new. i bought them for $2,000. that was a lot more speaker than i thought i could afford at the time and that i would have gotten for that same amount. they came in the original boxes and look completely new.
just a thought. good luck.

tom collins

How many watts you got, Focus for $2500? That's CHEAP!!!! Do they work? What shape are they in? Not 20/20's the earlier versions? Still cheap....but they sound best with lotsa watts, even though they are kinda efficient. Had em, traded up to Whispers....Get FOCUS then you keep em, and don't want teh other speakers. they sounded good with just a few hundred pc, when I bi amped'd em, they really got better, more defined bass, they can take a lot of power, great stuff

The Focus are a great speaker, have you tried em out? Fit and finish are fine furniture also, sound GREAT. I sold mine for about that price I think, when I went to the Whispers. i had mine for about 9 years.

Hi,

If you have your heart set on the Avantgardes, then anything you buy will never truly satisfy you in the interim.

I'd vote not to buy anything in order to save up for the Avantgardes as quickly as possible.

However, on the pro buying side, if you buy any of the speakers you mentioned on the used market, you may be able to recoup almost all the cash you spent when you go to sell them.

In that case, by the pair you find most intruiging!

When I think about all the little marginal things I bought over a period of time and how if I had just saved the money to get that one significant item that I deemed too expensive at the time, I could've actually bought it. I say save for the Duos if that's a speaker you feel will give you what you crave.

Amen, Jeff. It's amazing how attractive a ~$100 speaker cable upgrade can seem when you have your heart set on an $1100 turntable.

Hold out for the Duos, AlexO! Good things come to those who wait.

(Will you bring me a P3-24, Santa? I've been good!)

Avantgardes, +1

Nothing else I have heard sounds like these speakers. They are both great and distinctive.

As you are saving most of your play money for the speakers, perhaps treat yourself with the occasional extra CD that you would not otherwise have explored.

Focus (HD) is on it's 2nd gen since the pair I had, now they have changed from 20/20 to yet another bunch of IMPROVED drivers. new ribbons, new tweeters, new mids. It's always a slow steady improvement, as dirvers get better. The 20/20 wasn't as big a change. For $2500 the FOCUS will certainly do a great job. I have not heard the other, Advantgarde. If you are going for the. The goal is not FOCUS, the goal is HELIX!!!!! If the Legacy or Advantgarde sound "different" which one is REAL? LIVE? Here we go......

Find out how many watts are used driving whatever Legacy you listen too. It does make a difference. I've used teh Focus on a single amp, then bi amped, then bi amp X4, each time it just got better and better, not louder, BETTER. and they areall the same amplifiers. Just kept adding more, through phase inverters from AVA. Now 4 P500 OmegaStar EX P500 which are slighly mo' potent , actually a lot more potent than Hafler DH500 OmegaStar AVA ckts. Much larger transformers, much bigger, it matters. If you hear a Focus on a small amp, they ain't doing what they are capable of.