Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- Impressive midbass solidity
- Remarkable fidelity at lower volumes due to the alacrity of its drivers
- Comprehensive and dynamic sound signature with plenty of detail and clarity
- The newly developed tweeter allows for faster response and a frequency range that easily extends to 28,000Hz
- Features a modular design, offering flexibility with passive, iTron active, and all-in-one wireless streaming versions
Product Considerations
- Integrating the Spacehorn subwoofers requires careful alignment
- High-quality source components are needed to match its performance level
- Some reviewers found that the iTron amplification did not produce the requisite bloom and musicality for classical and jazz music
Takeaway: The Avantgarde Trio G3 speaker is a top-tier audio system known for its exceptional sound reproduction and flexibility with different configurations. If you appreciate high-quality audio performance and aesthetics and want a sound system that sounds exciting and sophisticated, it is an excellent option.
All
Trio G3
reviews
Manufacturer details
- Frequency range: 100-28,000 Hz
- Power handling: 150 Watt
- Sensitivity (1 Watt/1 m): > 109 dB
- Crossover frequencies: 100/600/4,000 Hz
- Nominal impedance: 19 Ohm
- Recommended amplifier power: > 2 Watt
- Recommended room size: > 25 sqm
- Horn diameter low-mid range: 950 mm
- Horn diameter midrange: 570 mm
- Horn diameter tweeter: 200 mm
- Diameter low-mid range: 200 mm / 8 inches
- Diameter midrange: 50 mm / 2 inches
- Diameter tweeter: 25 mm / 1 inch
- iTRON power: 3 x 100 Watt
- Dimensions width: 950 mm
- Dimensions depth: 986 mm
- Dimensions height: 1,694 mm (+/- 15 mm)
- Weight: 140 kg
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Avantgarde Acoustic distinguishes itself by using horn-loaded drivers across the frequency spectrum in many of their designs, prioritizing efficiency and dynamic range over traditional driver configurations.
- They offer a modular upgrade path with their speakers, allowing users to transition from passive crossovers and traditional amplification to fully active systems utilizing Avantgarde's proprietary iTRON current-drive technology.
- A core design principle is achieving seamless integration between drivers, particularly between the horn-loaded components and powered subwoofers, using DSP and careful design to create a cohesive soundstage.
- Avantgarde allows extensive aesthetic customization options, including a wide array of colors for the horns and finishes for the cabinets, enabling customers to tailor their speakers to suit individual tastes and room décor.
Select products
Zero Itron:
- Positioning: The entry-level active speaker in Avantgarde Acoustic's lineup.
- Description: Features a compact design and iTRON amplifier technology, providing seamless integration and ease of use. Unlike the larger models like the Uno SD, it is ideal for smaller spaces and offers a more budget-friendly option while still delivering the signature Avantgarde sound. Its full-active design with a 3-way system and integrated Class D bass amplifier makes it a versatile choice for those seeking high performance without the need for additional amplifiers.
Uno SD:
- Positioning: A compact version of the Duo series, designed for smaller rooms while maintaining high performance.
- Description: Features a compact size and high sensitivity, making it suitable for smaller spaces without compromising on sound quality. It includes a 500mm midrange horn and a newly developed tweeter, offering a natural and clear sound. Compared to the larger Duo GT, the Uno SD is more accessible in terms of space and budget, yet it still provides a rich audio experience with its advanced driver technology and integrated bass amplifier.
Duo GT:
- Positioning: The most advanced model in the Duo series, offering superior performance and features.
- Description: Features dual 12-inch bass drivers and 670mm horn, providing exceptional dynamic range and bass response. It incorporates the same tweeter as the Trio G3, ensuring top-tier sound quality. Compared to the Duo SD, the GT offers enhanced bass performance and a more powerful amplifier.
Mezzo:
- Positioning: A high-end model designed for those who desire top-tier performance without the space requirements of the Trio with SpaceHorn.
- Description: Inspired by classic designs and offers a full-range horn system with a unique bass reflex configuration. It features dual 12-inch drivers and a 670mm horn, providing a rich and immersive sound. While it approaches the performance of the Trio G3, it is more compact and suitable for those who cannot accommodate the larger Trio setup. Its advanced bass system and modular design make it a standout choice.
Trio G3:
- Positioning: The flagship model, representing the pinnacle of Avantgarde Acoustic's speaker technology.
- Description: Features a groundbreaking 3-way horn system with a 109 dB sensitivity. It includes the innovative SpaceHorn for bass, offering an expansive and distortion-free sound. Compared to other models like the Mezzo, the Trio G3 provides the most comprehensive audio experience. Its modular design allows for future upgrades, ensuring long-term value and performance.
Our take on the brand
Look inside the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
Firstly: Most prominently, our spherical horn technology with its precisely calculated wave-launch accounts for a unique appearance, outstanding (typically 104+ dBs/W/m) efficiency, and a favorably controlled sound dispersion in any room and environment. This gives our speakers an objet d'art character and makes amplifier choice a straightforward task: it’s all about sound quality, not about wattage.
Secondly: With launching the G3 series speakers, the range is optionally available in fully active versions, with the horn section powered by a breakthrough innovation regarding the membranes' displacement control: the proprietary iTRON current-drive amplifier technology. Executed in single-ended push-pull, fully Class-A, and zero-feedback topology, iTRON is the ideal and logical choice for offering not just conveniently connectable powered speakers but to consequently provide a musical experience beyond what is possible with customary voltage amplifier technology.
What's your approach to customer support?
Our customer support consists of a network of stipulated regional service providers and a central coordinating office at the factory for prompting the most effective procedures. Standardly, our local instances will be the recommended and most effective support channel (e.g., because of a time zone offset to Germany), while in specific cases, e.g., with "vintage support," our own team of experienced specialists may of course be addressed for appropriate advice and servicing.
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
Showcasing the famous Allman Brothers Band in an astonishingly intimate frame, on stage in a rather small club (while filling stadiums, usually), is the track "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed" from the record An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band – 2nd Set, recorded live in LA around 1992. Listened to by a dynamically capable and highly resolving speaker like from our range, the skillful, fun-driven playing, the vibrant atmosphere, and the cheering public make a "be there" experience par excellence. Ten minutes and fifteen seconds that fly.
Leopold Stokowski's famous Rhapsodies collection from 1960 (on Living Stereo, recorded at Manhattan Center) still holds surprises! While considered to be a "nice recording" anyway by many, especially true for the Liszt "Hungarian Rhapsody No.2," listeners who become exposed to the recording through our speakers realize far greater "ebb and flow" contrast in the orchestra's fantastic playing. At realistic concert level? As you please!
Meraki's "La Fong" track has driven people to tears (of joy…) where one would never think that this is the kind of music they'd fancy. Powerhouse electronic music that combines thrilling dynamics with a wonderful sense of space that does not merely scatter sounds into thin air but makes them glitter. A special, almost limitless trip when listened to by the right set of speakers.
What other products pair best with yours?
Especially in combination with our iTRON amplifiers, the co-branding question does not need an "exclusive" answer. Rather, it deserves an "inclusive" answer, as the high degree of control over the musical result ensured by horns and current-drive has generated feedback from our network that attests many excellent (no matter if praised for a specific strength or for an overall sound balance) source components to make a truly "shining" contribution.
Used
Avantgarde
What if you spend more?
Sumptuous form conscientiously follows function in a visibly remarkable aesthetic that breaks ground beyond traditional cabinet design. The shapely and extremely robust cabinet is built up from scrupulously formed 3D laminates – pushing and exceeding the limitations of ply engineering to construct a fluid front baffle which reaches right around either side of the speaker.
Machined into the 360 Array trim piece are a series of concentric arcs – themselves redolent of the grooves of a vinyl record in a conscientious nod to our origins and the Sondek LP12 turntable upon which Linn was founded. These grooves are set adjacent to a tweeter protector, which draws the eye in with its chrome-plated Linn icon feature. The engineered trim is machined in-house from 5754-grade aluminium, and incorporates ingenious waveguides to help facilitate optimum performance from the drive units which they surround.
Designed expressly for 360, The Glasgow Collection is a range of curated cabinet finishes, that demonstrate pride in our origins and celebrate our Scottish home. These three special finishes are dynamic and complex; colour and texture play off the curves of the 360 cabinet under different lighting conditions and when viewed from different angles.
The Classic Collection offers a more subtle, monochrome palette: the timeless elegance of Piano Black, and the minimalist chic of Alpine White.
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Product Strengths
- Excellent imaging, providing a strong stereo image for multiple listeners due to wide dispersion and Space Optimisation+
- Flexible and capable of playing all kinds of music, getting out of the music's way, and suitable for both large and smaller rooms
- Dynamic, detailed, and can play at a wide range of volume levels, from quiet listening to near PA levels
- Features a new driver array, including a Beryllium dome tweeter, thin-ply woven carbon fiber midrange (used on NASA's Mars Rover), and aluminum-magnesium alloy bass units
- Incorporates new amplifier technologies—'Power DAC' for the lower bass and 'Adaptive Bias Control' for the mid and treble—reducing distortion
Product Considerations
- The midrange dome is exposed, which might be a concern with children
- Owners of previous Linn systems may find the price difficult to accept
- Some audiophiles may prefer Linn to trawl its past rather than building its future, and they will want an Isobarik
- Some audiophiles may not be able to see past the LP12
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The 360 offers significantly improved imaging and soundstaging compared to the Klimax 350
Takeaway: The Linn 360 is a high-end loudspeaker that provides excellent sound quality and flexibility, making it a great choice for enjoying music with friends or for personal listening sessions. Its innovative design and technology deliver a detailed and immersive audio experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Starting as a personal side project, the design and breakthroughs we achieved merged into what is now our frontrunner in our speaker portfolio. The initial idea of the project was to design the best possible bass loading module (basshorn aside), to be used with a new horn design we had in the works. The hybrid open baffle / aperiodic bass loading outperformed my expectations, and lead us to push the company design and manufacturing resources to this project, to be our new main speaker offering. This effort resulted to a new diffraction-less midrange horn, as well as our new horn/dipole ribbon tweeter design. Add some crossover technology borrowed from our top speaker the Contendo, and we present to you the Aurora!
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Surprisingly free of horn colorations
- Very rich, present, and neutrally balanced
Product Considerations
- The reviewer was sitting too close to hear them at their best in the small room
- Looking a bit like something the Borg might have invented
Takeaway: The Aries Cerat Aurora Reference is a unique, horn-loaded speaker that sounds surprisingly good. They were considered the most interesting and novel new speaker at the show.
Video review
Our take on the brand
The Model C speakers is for those who seek the live dipole sound and demand enhanced bass for music and movies. The formula is simple: take the legendary Model D, then scale down the footprint and add powerful boundary woofers. The result is an attention-grabbing statement system that sets a new standard for full-bodied bass reproduction. Dipole speaker The Model C’s compact, floor-standing dipole design emits equal, natural sound from both sides of the cabinet – forward and backward. Thus it produces sound that interacts with the room much like a live musical instrument, creating audio that can’t be compared and a statement that can’t be ignored.
Product Strengths
- Replicates the resonance of live instruments due to open speaker design
- Digital from source to driver, minimizing sound distortion
- Provides audio output so precise you can pinpoint each instrument's location
Product Considerations
- The only weak link might be musical taste
Takeaway: The Model C delivers incredibly precise audio, replicating live instrument resonance with minimal distortion. If pure sound is desired, and taste in music aligns, it is a great pick.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What competes at this price?
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Upgradable from older Model 7 versions, representing long-term value for owners
- Features a 'CounterForce Bass' system with opposing woofers to minimize cabinet movement and improve clarity
- Offers extensive bass adjustments for room integration, including 11 trim pots for precise frequency adjustments
- Time-and-phase coherent design ensures that all drivers move in unison
- Provides a relaxed ease and warmth that fosters musical engagement
Product Considerations
- Sensitivity is relatively low at 85dB, requiring a powerful amplifier to achieve its full potential
- Requires careful rake angle adjustment for optimal performance
- Bi-wire capable, the mandatory HP-7 filter costs extra
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs KEF KC-62 subwoofer: Both use counter-opposing force woofers to stop cabinet movement
Takeaway: The Model Seven XTRM is a technologically innovative speaker designed for music lovers. It offers powerful bass, harmonic beauty, and exceptional tonal realism, making it a worthwhile investment for those seeking a high-fidelity audio experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Superb resolution, incredible mid/low synchronicity, and uncanny bass extension
- Phenomenal, tight, and fast bass, playing below 15Hz
- Great balance, detail, and articulation at every volume level
- Amazing imaging and natural space in the soundstage
- DSP9 is easy to install and place in a room, due to the DSP controls available
Product Considerations
- At £60,000 per pair, the DSP9 is still expensive
- Fairly generous footprint
- Finishes other than piano gloss black are available at a premium depending on cost and complexity
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Meridian DSP8000 XE: DSP9 is smaller, lighter and more svelte, but aims to offer equally top-line performance
Takeaway: The Meridian Audio DSP9 is a sensational loudspeaker with amazing imaging, natural space, and incredibly tight bass, suitable for various music genres and volume levels. The active configuration, design, and range of finishes make it a strong proposition for premium installations.
Video review
Our take on the brand
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