But therein lies the challenge. Active systems have struggled for market acceptance, especially those that integrate the electronics and the speaker cabinet. Traditional systems comprise a number of discrete elements – source, pre-amp, power amp, speakers. In theory, traditional audiophiles shuffle those components, mixing and matching them to achieve their own, specific goals. In practice, it’s a process that is significantly less successful than we tell ourselves – although each subsequent disappointment simply leads to another round of ‘upgrades’. By combining the amplifier and speakers into a single ‘block’, active systems are perceived as limiting choice and flexibility, locking customers into a single solution. This despite their easily demonstrable performance benefits.
You don’t always want what you need…
In one sense, the Duo GT takes that argument and doubles down. It does lock owners into a single solution, but not for the reasons traditionally cited. Given the way in which the iTron amplifier and the Duo drivers dovetail, given the way in which the improved subs integrate with the rest of the range, the notion of ‘improving’ or ‘shaping’ the sound by using a different or ‘better’ or preferred amplifier is nonsense. Given the unique situation presented by the Duo’s hybrid horn topology, there IS no amplifier that will match or better the iTron’s strengths in this situation. Instead, the challenge faced by any Duo GT owner is where do you go from here? Yes, there are amplifier/speaker systems that can outperform the Duo GT – not least Avantgarde’s own Trio set up. But they are all bigger, more complex and vastly more expensive. In fact, the Trio G3 at around three times the price of the Duo GT is arguably the most affordable, viable alternative. As I’ve already pointed out, whatever it’s apparent advantages, anything more affordable than that is simply going to be crushed by the Duo’s combination of bandwidth and dynamic range.
What that does is make the Duo GT an endgame product – a system cul-de-sac. This is a speaker that you buy to live with. Not one that you buy as a stepping-stone on some endless quest for audio nirvana. In turn, that defines the potential customer. While we all pay lip service to the primacy of musical performance, for some the equipment and the process, its acquisition and application is at least as important – and there’s nothing whatsoever wrong with that. We just need to be honest about where our interests lie. The Duo GT is demanding of set up and rewarding of effort, but thereafter it’s a done deal. The opportunities it offers for switching or churning partnering equipment are strictly limited to source components. The demands it places on the noise performance of the pre-amp are such that even there the choices are strictly limited.
If you really are in this for the music; if your goal is to get as close as you can to the original performance; if your response is as much emotional as it is cerebral – I doubt you’ll find a more satisfying speaker than this. If you approach your audio system as a one-time purchase – as opposed to an ongoing odyssey – I can’t think of a better investment than the Duo GT. If your goal is simply to access the energy and emotional intensity of great musical performances, look no further than this Avantgarde. As such this may not be every audiophile’s cup of tea, but like other products that break new ground it is a product that every audiophile should hear, if only to appreciate what’s possible. It isn’t – and will never be – all things to all men. But to the right man, it will be hard to resist – love at first listen! And before I get branded as sexist, I used the term ‘man’ intentionally. In my experience, every woman who has seen or heard the Duo GT has got it instantly. Maybe – just maybe – that’s the most telling observation of all…
