Any experience with the different LV Auditorium model?

Great speakers all through the range; best IMO at respective price points. Nonetheless, for once agree that with the Kondo bit of a let down but easily the worst room of a whole pile of ghastly rooms in which to dem a hi-fi system.

 

Tony really doesn't appreciate the Kondo gear. To me, there is nothing that comes close to it's internal speed and naturalness. It's the best in it's field. Of course it's not worth £30K for a preamp but then is a Bugatti worth £750K?

 

YOU are changing gear quickly, Garmt....

 

I moved from the Auditoriums to the IBX version. Both share the wide soundstage and ease of musicality, but the IBX gives loads more treble detail, and a real fluidity. It also presents a far tighter bass, which at first sounds a little bass light, but in reality is just less boomy.
As has been mentioned elsewhere the IBX is an OBX witout the external crossover.

I use the speakers with a Wadia 6, and through Proceed AVP2/AMP5 AV amps, the only AV amps I have heard which can also do justice to music. Class A solid state, so far from Kevin's ideal, but I think they give a really rounded and tight sound

 

I just helped someone choose Sugden CD21/A21 and Auditoriums - a really nice system, truly engaging and no boom at all.

 

In fairness, you only notice the boom in the auditoriums when you have the IBX's to hand. I lived with the Auditoriums very happily for 5 years

 

Late reaction...

This is very true with my current speakers (WB Arc) as well!

I almost play vinyl exclusively, as my digital (CEC + Ack) was not up to my Gyro SE DC + TecnoArm + Benz ACE L + Lehmann SE.

Thanks.

 

I now have the OBX-R2's playing! What magnificant speakers!

 

Any advice on a good digital source to go with my Lavvy IT and OBX-R2s? I now have the Lyngdorf CD-1, which is good, but dry.

 

have a word with Kevin Scott at Definitive Audio in Nottingham. He designed the speakers

He regularly sells:
Wadia
Opus 21

so that might be a good start to a short list.

No need to stick to the tried and tested, other great cd players are plentiful depending on budget...

Sim Audio
Marantz CD7
ARC CD3

The choice is massive..

 

Hi Garmt,

Glad you are enjoying your Living Voice. I have a pair of the OBX R1s and enjoy using them.

As for the cd player, it seem that you have not had the Lyngdrof for long. If it is very new, how about see if you can swop it for something else from the place you got it from. Worth a try.

You could look at using it as a transport and add a dac. Depending on how much you want to spend there are some interesting items. Try an Audio Synthesis Dax Decade or a Dax 2. These are two fine dac that should suit your system. The Chord Dac64 may be another one to try. I have had good usage out of one of these items. Another one to look at are the NOS dacs which can produce the right effect.

As Chris as mentioned, Kevin of Definitive Audio likes the Resolution CD Player. This retail at £2850.

SCIDB

 

Glad you like the OBX. I love my IBX's.
As for Cd player, I would also recommend the Wadia/Resolution Audio route.
As an alternative, I've heard the Ayre, and the Advantage sounding pretty good in shows.
W-M swears by the Teac
And then there's the Levinson 390S
All probably worth listeneing to

 

By the way, my system now also includes the Resolution Audio Opus 21, a brilliant CD-player and great match in my LV OBX-R2 + Lavvy system.

 

Very nice system, Garmt. Having lived with the OBX-R2-and-a-half for about a year I can confirm that they need plenty of space whilst the Auditoriums don't seem to need as much and that they show up the congestion of an A21a in ways the Auditoriums don't.

They are not perfect speakers - driver and box size constrain air movement and they only pretend deep bass but they are a pretty open window onto the music and excell where it matters most.

IMO they need a power amp with more grip than the Kondo to really control the bass, working nicely with the BP control amp and the 90W of Velleman push pull. They worked extremely well with the SS Dynavector 1.2 but not x10 better so I sold it.

 

As a bit of a wild card can I suggest Cabasse. I just bought a S/H pair of Java's to use with my Lavardin IS reference which is less powerful than the IT but obviously shares some of the same qualities. I have found the sound absolutely fantastic. They have proprietary drviers made from a super light compressed foam and are very dynamic, detailed and quite rich certainly not strident or too dry. Mine are 93.5db sensitive and although a tricky load I cant get past 11 oclock on my volume without going deaf. I'd reckon Bahias http://www.firstclasshifi.de/framset1.2.html?SHOWROOM=Cabasse_bahia.html could be good with Lavardin. I've heard quite a few speakers in my time and there is something quite special about these cabasse things also they seem great value.

Anyway hard to hear over here as there's no distributor but never the less I'm glad I bought mine really bring out the best in my amp.

 

Interesting! I might give it a spin once!

 

Thats interesting, makes me think the Auditoriums or Avatars may be a better bet for me than the OBX

 

My experience now with the three models:

The OBX-R is utterly revealing. It will really make you listen to vinyl more, because of it's superiority given a good pressing.

The Avatar will not show you as much what is wrong with the equipment and will provide a less open window. It has fuller, less refined bass and less open mids, although the balance of the sound is remarkebly similar to the OBX.

The Auditorium is really a different animal, with an exciting presentation that puts even more emphasis on the music, less on the presentation. It is with this speaker you can enjoy music in a very pure form, although when you tear yourself away from the music, you will notice it is coarser and less controlled overall than the Avatar.

I have yet to hear the OBX-RW...

 

Hi Ant

I'm covering old ground here, but when I auditioned the Avatar against the Auditorium I could hear no significant difference between the two.

I bought the Avatars because I liked the finish better, and I didn't want the entry level one (something about pride I guess).

The cabinets are all the same size - just a few differences in the crossover (not much), negligable differences in the cabinet and slightly improved drivers in the posher speakers.

Listen for yourself, but put your hands up and smile if you can't hear much of a difference between them... it's your wallet that will thank you.