Avid 330's

[Norm]

Just picked these up recently.  The surrounds are gone so I haven't tried them out yet, so I don't know if the crossovers need work.  That may be out of my lead.  I am hoping the mid range and.  treble drivers are OK.  I saw the. original literature posted online showing some stands for them. Any ideas of what stands might work?  Thanks for any and all recommendations.  BTW I was a member here years ago but had. to reregister so I am a newbie again.    Norm

[FroJay]

Hi Norm:

I've owned AVID Speakers since the late 70's.  My first pair were 110's and I still have them, and they still sound amazing for their size.  I've since acquired a pair of Model 230's and a pair of 330's and wouldn't part with them.  They never fail to impress visiting guests who listen to them.  Folks cannot believe they are some 40 years old!  I think you will enjoy yours once you have them serviced.  I've never had the cross over's in mine rebuilt, just had the woofers re-foamed, and they've sounded just great all these years and continue to not disappoint.

I was fortunate enough to acquire two pairs of the original AVID stands over the years.  They are hard to come by, but if you keep an eye on EBAY you may get lucky.  Still, any speaker stand that will lean them back a few degrees will likely work just fine for you.  As the literature you've read explains, the leaning back design of the stands alters the timing of the sound waves so they reach your ears at the same time.   High frequencies travel faster than low frequencies, so the stands lean the tops of the speakers backwards, positioning the high-end drivers a bit further away from your ears than the woofers.  This way the low-end sound waves "get a head start" on the high-end sound waves on their "journey" to your ears.  This helps with sound-stage imaging and was actually a very simple but effective idea on AVID's part.

The main recommendation I can give you is to be SURE to connect them to an amp with sufficient power.  Although these speakers are very efficient and produce plenty of sound even at lower volume levels, they really shine overall (especially in the low-end) when hooked up to an amp with PLENTY of head room.  I'm running my 330's on a Realistic STA-2100 receiver, 120 watts per channel and they just sing, and the bass is incredibly vibrant but tight too.

I hope you'll enjoy yours, or have done so by now since your post is several months old.  Hopefully this message will get to you. :)