UNO

Entering the world of Avantgarde

If you're considering entry into the world of the spherical hornspeaker, the UNO is just right. The UNO can be placed even in small rooms. It offers what a normal loudspeaker does not have 100% emotion. With an efficiency rating of 100 dB, the UNO is a rocket among conventional loudspeaker systems! This amount of high efficiency and high dynamics means more musical detail, and most importantly, lots more fun.

The UNO's reputation is truly international in scope:

"The way the UNOs reproduce music is so exciting and full of life that soon I forget the loudspeaker and just enjoy the musical event. Anyway, the coarse dynamics of this system are dashing, and furthermore the UNOs are able to image large rooms and then follow even the slightest detail of the musical oeuvre with absolute ease. Connected to low-power electronics they produce a sound potential that other loudspeakers only reach with significantly more expensive amplifiers."

M. Eichelsdörfer, Stereo, Germany

"Separation between the instruments is spectacular, with the UNOs presenting the members of her band singly so you can follow each instrument with barely any interference from the others, or let the focus of your ears glaze over and enjoy the whole track, coherently presented. And these speakers can play rock at unfeasibly loud levels without missing a beat, and can recreate an orchestra in full swing, conjuring up golden performances."

D. Houston, What Hi-Fi?, UK

"The UNO was superb in its ability to unleash the music's emotional content. And to my surprise the UNO was able to generate a wide (I mean from one side wall to the other) and deep soundstage that convincingly flooded the front of the room. Image outlines were tightly focused in space with excellent palpability."

Dick Olsher, Fi, USA

"I'll never forget my first exposure to an Avantgarde Hornspeaker. It was in Gainesville, Florida, at a
former client's home. Since I had sold and installed his high-end system, I knew what it sounded like.

Through the grapevine, I heard he had replaced the 'location-monitor' satellites and the matching woofer towers on which they sat. Those expensive, beautifully lacquered speakers had been the ultimate audiophile standard for years. I wondered what could possibly have been good enough to replace them.

The tales were so tall, I decided to go to Gainesville to hear what was happening. I found out very quickly. The Avantgarde UNOs stood defiantly in place of his former speakers. Unexpectedly, when the music started, I was overwhelmed!

Immediately, I was totally involved in the music. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was like that special feeling you get at a concert, with a wonderful 'it's live' energy and emotional impact I had never heard (or expected) from high-end audio!"

Jim Smith

"On an old mono Decca of Kodaly's Cello Sonata, the unaccompanied instrument was incredibly gutty and realistic. The instrument seemed to fill the room as it might in life, with no sense of strain and without distorting the apparent size of the cello itself. Tiny key-clacking and breathing noises were suddenly crystal clear, and it was possible to feel that you were hearing details that the original producer had not intended you to be able to detect, and in fact was probably unaware of himself."

S. Harris, Hi-Fi News, UK

UNO Description

The UNO includes a two-way Hornspeaker satellite, provided with the integrated active sub-woofer SUB217BR PRO (making it a 3-way system). Optionally, it can be ordered with the SUB225 CTRL PRO (the standard DUO and TRIO Subwoofer).

The M1 is a 4-inch midrange driver with a 2.5-inch dome especially developed for this system. The design of the dome ensures a phase-neutral radiation of the sound waves into the midrange horn SH 5702 and ultra-wide bandwidth of the extended midrange. The large, linear movement of the M1 allows a very low cut-off frequency. To its low end the M1 runs without being slowed-down in full-range operation, e.g. is not limited by any passive frequency filters. The CDC (Controlled Dispersion Characteristic) system features a controlled roll-off at 3,500 Hz and allows the use of a phase-correct passive frequency crossover.

H1 is a high-frequency tweeter providing an extremely wide frequency range capable of reaching down to 1 kHz. Based upon the same design principle of the nearly "legendary" TRIO tweeter H3, the H1 offers very low distortion and excellent transient characteristics. The over-dimensioned magnet structure of the tweeter, weighing 6.5 lbs., results in a sound pressure level of 100 dB (1Watt/1m), yet specified at a very high power rating (over 100 watts).

Subwoofer

The UNO includes the active sub-woofer module SUB217 BR PRO. This bass module is driven by two powerful 7-inch bass units. The 8-ohm drivers run in parallel mode. These two PRO drivers were exclusively developed for us and are manufactured in small custom runs only. The membrane has a hemispherical shape in order to avoid harmonic distortions and colorations in the higher frequency range.

The enclosure of the SUB217 BR PRO is constructed symmetrically. Due to the central location of the bass-reflex port, the box construction is very rigid, avoiding resonances. The drivers are not mounted on a plane front but in a defined angle to each other. Higher damping results in controlled excursions of the cone and minimizes distortions. The bass reflex port is located in a funnel shaped horn throat. A very dynamic reproduction of the upper bass range is achieved, contributing to the excellent interaction between bass and horn section.

P3, the active module, is integrated in the back of the sub-woofer. It consists of an active frequency crossover and a powerful 150-watt amplifier. The P3 is driven via high power input terminals for direct connection to integrated amps, power amplifiers or receivers. The signal take-off is not only at high impedance, but is also balanced and transformer coupled. This floats the subwoofer ground, avoids hum loops and eases connection to balanced and bridged amplifiers. Musically, it allows the sonic presentation to be more cohesive, since the same amplifier is the primary driver for all units. The musical result is like hearing all Steinway, rather than Steinway mid/treble with Bosendorfer bass.

The active crossover allows the adjustment of a number of parameters thus ensuring a very easy and fast installation of the system even in acoustically critical situations. The subwoofer level and the crossover frequency can be adjusted by the means of a potentiometer. A phase switch copes with circumstances where a local standing wave exists at the crossover frequency.

Construction Characteristics

Both the midrange as well as the tweeter horn are mounted into circular housing tubes. A three pillar steel-tube frame is used to support the horns on adjustable lateral fixtures. The midrange and the high-frequency-horn can be installed at various heights. This enables optimal positioning of the system to different listening positions.

The vertical steel-tube frames are joined to the bass module via semi-flexible rubber-metal couplings. Due to this specific construction the bass unit is acoustically separated from the horn section and the ground floor of the room. Thus box resonances of the bass unit do not interfere with the midrange and the tweeter.

As the entire loudspeaker system is placed on three height adjustable feet, the sub-woofer is freely-suspended above the ground. This free-floating design enables an ideal decoupling from the floor boundary.

The standard version of the UNO comes with polished white horns and rear covers. Optionally, the system can be ordered in various automotive metallic lacquer finishes.

For 3-D images of the UNO, click here.