ATLANTA COMMENTS

From music lovers who visited Avantgarde-USA in Atlanta for a personal presentation in importer Jim Smith's home/showroom - contact us at 770-777-2095 for your appointment!

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Hi Jim,

I wanted to thank you again for the time you spent ...

The demonstration was really eye opening ... The sound was just amazing, and I believe you are right about the hangover effect.

It was much like the two or three best concert experiences I've had (Peter Gabriel and Joni Mitchell-with Weather Report backup). I keep having flash backs - very energizing.

Phil K.

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6moons.com publisher and audio reviewer Srajan Ebaen visited with us in Atlanta in mid-November of 2002. While evaluating our personal setup to gauge how his personal DUO/AUDIOPAX system compared, he conducted an extensive interview with Jim. It is published in two parts on his website. Click here for part I. To get to part II, take the arrow at the bottom of the last page, then click on the red moon of the page header. This returns you to 6moons' main navigation menu. From there, select "industry features", their monthly column for interviews with audio designers and industry personnel. Once in industry features, chose Part II of our dialogue from the options offered.

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Jim,

I came to your house with Julian a couple of weeks ago (thanks for letting me tag along!!), and was totally blown away by the DUOs! Thanks for opening my ears to the most incredible audio experience I've ever had!

It comes from the heart when I say how moved I was to have experienced the Duos, as well as our conversations about...everything! You were so right on target about the "afterglow" - I can still feel it!

Even now, after what, a month and a half, I still get goosebumps when I think of the first song you played for us - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." That hauntingly realistic female vocal still reverberates in an amazing way when I think about it...

Thanks again for allowing me to experience such amazing audio magic! I wish you, your family and Avantgarde all the best in this new year and beyond.

Bill G.

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Dear Jim,

I absolutely cannot thank you enough for an experience that I will not forget. To say that music speaks to you sounds like a simple concept, but when it happens, the impact has immense power.

The demo session that you gave me was a reflection of your expertise derived from many years in the audio business. The selection of music and the presentation were masterful. Obviously, I had never heard that kind of quality in audio reproduction, but I had also never been given such a thoughtful and thorough demo.

Many thanks,

Ken M.

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Last week, I had the opportunity to visit with Jim Smith at his Avantgarde Studio in Atlanta. Besides "WOW!", the word that most describes my visit and listening experience is "insightful". I have over 20 years of experience putting together high-end audio systems utilizing many of the high-end components and speaker systems that were available during that time. During my professional career, I have traveled all over the world and visited more high-end audio stores than I can even remember.

Visiting with Jim and listening to his Avantgarde DUOs driven by the gorgeous AUDIOPAX amplifiers opened my eyes to what truly can be accomplished with a correctly set-up -- and I deliberately stress this fact -- "music" system. Jim's system really is a "music" vs. "sound" system. When goosebumps are generated multiple times in a single listening session, you realize that the experience is very special indeed.

I feel sort of silly because due to living circumstances, I have owned two pair of Avantgarde Duos over the last two years and was very happy with them. Unfortunately, I have to honestly say that I had never heard what the Duos could really sound like. This is where the insightful part comes in. I was enlightened, and not by super-expensive electronics, but by attention to detail in speaker set-up.

Without going into details (Jim can do that for you), I can tell you that the DUOs or any other Avantgarde speakers are not overly tweaky. You just have to know their phenomenal capability and make sure that you take the time to set them up properly to realize their astounding potential. (And trust me, I already knew how to set up speaker systems - including Watt/Puppies, Quads/Entecs, Apogee Divas, Magnepans, Genesis, Martin-Logans and SoundLabs.)

I say that Avantgardes are not very tweaky because I was able to come back home and implement what I had just learned within a short amount of time. Because I knew what the DUOs could truly sound like, and from listening to Jim and observing his system set-up, I was able to recreate the same type of transcendental listening experience in my room that I experienced in Jim's Avantgarde room. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Jim!)

I could go on and on -- I am a believer -- but what I would like to leave you with is that if you can currently sit down with your "music" system and become totally engaged, with inner detail beyond belief, amazing dynamics (both micro and macro), vivid soundstaging and an intimate attachment to your music, leaving you breathless EVERYTIME you listen, then you have arrived. If this is not the case... well, you really need to call and make arrangements to visit Jim in Atlanta.. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Regards,

Bob V.

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Jim,

Thank you for two things. First, in all the 53 years of my life (30 of them as a musician, music lover and evolving audiophile) have I ever come away from an experience more musically satisfied. Not wowed with equipment, or jazzed by looks, but touched by the wholeness and realness of the sound. I will soon own Uno v.3 with the double subwoofer.
Also, thanks for sharing your house, music room, stories and philosophy. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you, and hope we meet again in the future. Of the hundreds of high end speakers I have auditioned, none has made me as happy and interested as did the Avantgarde Duos. What a treat!
A believer,

Tom B.

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I mentioned that I would hear the Avantgardes at Jim Smith's. Whoa Baby! The most robust sound, most expansive soundstage, and greatest, most natural resolution of detail on intimate passages that I've ever heard. What a goosebump generator! Overall, my best sonic experience ever, with the exception of some live events with "unplugged" music in ideal acoustical venues -- that's right, Jim's best CDs sounded better than most live events. And I hear live, unamplified music regularly. Thought you'd like to know!

Tim N.

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Needless to say, they're awesome. I totally agree with your premise that the music's message comes through! Two quite obvious events comnvinced me:

1) I constantly tapped my feet while listening - even to music I normally wouldn't listen to.

2) When it came time to leave, I really didn't want to go. It was leaving the music that was traumatic.

They are certainly everything you said they were. I don't ever recall listening to any speakers that were more totally satisfying.

Dr. Ron S.

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I have never experienced anything that seems to so closely tie the listener to the emotions the artist is expressing. It was as if you were wiring your preamp to my brain. Soundstaging, timbre, speed, dynamics are all there, but these horns do something else to the listener that I have never experienced. I was overwhelmed, especially with the sad, emotional music we were playing at first. Indeed, I found them powerful - emotionally...

Dr. Patrick C.

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