Hi all,

Currently enjoying my recently upgraded system – AVI Lab Series CDp, Integrated amp and Duo speakers but think maybe I could improve things further. Music can sound a bit bright at times and there isn’t as much bass as I’d like. I have already contacted AVI about the bass issue and was told that it was a matter of my ears adjusting to a better quality of low frequency reproduction, my last speakers having been “boomers” and exaggerated the bass notes. This is fair enough, the speakers are fairly dynamic but I’m not sure the system is performing to its optimum.

I am fully aware of the debates regarding system running-in times, and the arguments that electronics need time to reach their best (not an idea I subscribe to) and speaker drivers take time to loosen up (this makes more sense as it’s a mechanical issue) however there are three areas where I feel I might be able to make improvements, any comments/recommendations would be welcome –

1)      My speaker cable is a generic ofc multi-strand type – is anybody else using one of the more expensive cables successfully with this system? (eg Chord Odyssey 2) – again I am aware of the raging debates regarding cables and the ridiculous “burn in” issue.

2)      My hifi is sitting on a shelf which at the moment is not as stable as it could be – I am in the process of sorting this out – could this make much difference to the sound quality in respect of vibration, isolation etc?

3)      My speakers are sitting on granite plinths spiked to a suspended timber floor and there are a lot of hard surfaces in the room, the ceiling is 3.6 m high – would this have an affect also?

I have also toyed with the idea of buying a subwoofer (Velodyne Microvee) but not sure if it will be overkill for music only duties.

I hope to borrow some cables so that I can decide myself if there is any merit in an upgrade to Chords.

Thanks

I bought my AVI Int. amp and CD player a year ago with, at the time, some Spendor S5e which I thought sounded great: a quick listen to the Duos in the listening room showed them to be lean by comparison. 6 months later I borrowed some Duos form my dealer and listened to them alternately with the Spendors. The difference was stark and once I was used to the Duos there was really no contest and the Duos I kept. The Duos, I think, play only what's there with no embellishment to the sound.

I have to say that since putting just seven feet between the Duos the sound is brilliant.The dealer supplied pretty standard Naim speaker cable and a Chord Cobra linking the amp and cd player: AVI say don't waste money upgrading from that. The amp and cd are on a solid cabinet, there's a Laura Ashley unit that they fit in just perfectly available in two or three woods and there are two sofas in the room which is 14x16 feet. The Duos have some anti-scratch pads stuck on the bottom of them and are then sitting on a wood suspended floor, ceiling is 8 feet 6". On AVI's website they show their speakers just sitting on carpet as they're on their own wooden plinths anyway, they're 8 inches fron theback wall but as they're front vented it doesn't really matter I understand.

I think that listening to th Duos you can hearthe bass line with much pop for instance and really that's all the bass you should hear: it just doesn't manufacture bass that isn't there. I'm sorry you're not enjoying your system as much as you'd hoped and hope this helps.

Thanks for your response John (had forgotten all about my posting!!) Enjoying my system more now, took a while to get used to it, it seems to be a very honest sound - no embellishments as you say, bad recordings are certainly not enhanced!

 Your room size, ceiling height and floor construction are very similiar to mine.

 You say you have your Duos 7 feet apart (mine would be at a similar spacing) - do you have them toed in at all or firing straight? Mine are the latter.

 My kit is now sitting on a 3" thick piece of solid reclaimed timber which does the trick.

 Still toying with the idea of getting a sub to gently augment those sub bass frequencies, a BK XLS300 is beckoning.

Firing straight. I wish you luck, John Ross