Avalon Transcendent Speakers in Cherry
A few light scratches on top of one speaker, but overall a lovely set, with wooden crate.
The Avalon Transcendent is the next step up the ladder from the Idea in the Avalon range. As you can see from the image they retain that classic Avalon ‘swept back’ appearance, with the faceted corners of the baffle at both the top and bottom (not just the top like the Idea). This is to help minimise diffraction and side wall reflections and also to reduce standing waves inside the cabinet, the elegant swept back look is there to provide time alignment which is what makes the speaker so musically coherent.
Having these lovely angled baffles doesn’t do Avalon any favours when it comes to the finish on the cabinets, lots of awkward angles/corners and the last thing you want on a pair of speakers at this sort of level is peeling veneer! Thankfully the quality of the finish of the cabinet and the veneering is just as good as the performance and any decent furniture maker would be no doubt impressed with the result.
The Transcendent is a 3 driver-2 way design comprising of a 1 inch Concave Ceramic Neodymium Tweeter and a pair of 7 inch Nomex/Kevlar bass drivers. The 2 bass drivers work together in tandem, they are not a mid-range driver and bass driver.
As with all Avalon models the Transcendent is vented underneath the cabinet to the floor; this vent is not tuned to a specific frequency liked many ported designs are, as a result the bass is cleaner with no overhang or ‘port-chuffing’.
As with all Avalon speakers correct set up and installation is critical to ensure you are getting the very best in-room performance from them. You cannot simply put a pair of Avalon down where your old speakers were sited and expect amazing performance from the get-go. This is obviously where the knowledge and experience of a a good dealer comes into play.
The Transcendents are not difficult to drive, but they obviously appreciate a good amplifier and front end behind them to show them off to the best of their ability. With many people purchases are often made with the full realisation that a component will not be heard to its very best until another upgrade is done and this is very common, but the Transcendents will still sound fabulous, you just know there’s more to come, which is part of the fun! Upgrades done this way allow you to spread the cost and really appreciate what happens each time you change something. What fun would it be if you did the whole system in one hit!?
They work brilliantly with a Vitus RI-101 although an SIA-025 really does elevate them up to another level altogether. A pair of VTL MB450’s although works wonderfully well with the Transcendents as well delivering a liquidity that is hard to live without once you’ve heard it.
How do they sound?
Endlessly detailed and transparent without ever sounding harsh or aggressive. They have a wonderful mid range, the speaker can unravel awkward recordings and unlock detail and difficult vocals with consummate ease. Everyone has an album or 3 in their collection that despite owning for years they may struggle to pick out the vocal track word for word. Play that same album on the Transcendents and you just may get a shock. They are brilliantly articulate!
Bass response goes low and is tight and punchy, these are equally adept playing Gorillaz as they are playing Mozart’s 40th.
Get them right in the room and they will simply disappear, which is surely what eveyone wants from a pair of loudspeakers?
Priced at £21000 per pair. A few light scratches on top of one speaker, but overall a lovely set.
