Living Voice Avatar

FYI chaps:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3052260162&category=295

 

Yesterday I bought a pair of these http://www.audes.ee/new/frames.htm (model Jazz)

Give all the sub 2k speakers I've been listening to a pasting.

Very good value for money indeed.

Worth a listen for anyone looking between 1-2 k imho.

 

I use to own a pair of active 50s about 2 years back. Had them for 5 years. Kept them for so long as at that time I was (wrongly) conviced that maximum information retrieval and studio neutrality was the key and that if anything was wrong it was the components ahead of them in the chain replay which were wrong. It was very much a love hate relationship I had with the 50A's. Awesome in the areas of dynamics and scale (due to the active design), but there was always this nagging doubt in the back of my mind that they were always wanting to tell me about "what's wrong" with a recording rather than "what's right". With the right recording I found them really rewording muscially, but with the wrong recording all I could hear was the technical flaws in the recording which I wasn't interested in. I'd heard ATCs at hi-fi shows and to my ears they always had a undesirable dry "studio monitor" quality to them, but when I got home I was very much more satifisied with the results I was getting - I could live with my ATC set-up but no those at the shows (which almost always used to use a certain front-end which I do not favour especially with ATCs). In the end I gave up and changed over to a domestic "hi-fi" speaker which I found a much more all round rewarding experience for my particular tastes.

 

Hi Ya-Boo,

What speakers are you using at the moment? When you heard the Living voice setups, were these at shows or at your home or at dealers?

Maybe a trip to Definitive Audio is needed to statisfy your doubts. The range of speakers have had a lot of very good reviews but means nothing if you don't like them.


Hi Data,

quote:
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Originally posted by wadia-miester
You need 'Proper valve amps then' see under Border Patrol that makes em work proper
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The Border Patrol amps were devolped using Living Voice speakers along with others. The design of the Border patrol amps have a number of features that gives it very good speaker control & drive.

Living Voice & Border Patrol do have a working relationship. Many moons ago Kevin Scott (Living Voice & Definitive Audio) & Gary Dews (Border Patrol) run hifi busineses. Definitive Audio (North) in Nottingham & Definitive Audio (South) in Brighton. These busineses were ran from their homes. They sold mainly Voyd/ Systemdek turntables, Audio Innovation/ Audionote amps valve amps and Snell speakers. The also dabbled with hifi design. Kevin with Loudspeakers & Gary with valve amps & power supplies.

The Living Voice speakers were developed to work well with valve amps. First development were a big pair of horn speakers then the Auditorium/Avatar range which is based around the Dali 104.

This has lead to Kevin running Definitive Audio & Living Voice & Gary running Border patrol.

Living Voices work well with a range of amps. I have heard good music from them using DNM, Sugden, Lavardin, Audionote, Michello Alecto, Worldaudio stuff, Border Patrol & Canary to name a few.

I understand that the current cabinets are now made by Castle. A D'Appolito speaker is hardlly a basic design.

So what's the problem? Just because something has cheap drivers doesn't make it a bad speaker. It depends more on the quality of the components & how you use them and design of the speaker. All drivers have strengths & weaknesses. Expensive components are no gurantee of better sound quality.

I have no idea how much the cabinets cost but if you are saying that the total cost of parts are £850 then £1700 for the Audiotoriums is excellent value for money.

Cost of the components may only account for between less than 10% & less than 20% of the cost of the item. When you sell anything, you have a load of overheads to take care of.

Careful setup will pay divdends. This is the case with all speakers. Like HenryT has mentioned, get them away from the walls.

To be honest, I don't know how much better the OBX is to the Avatar. External mounting of crossover allows for better isolation from vibration. I think the cabinents have better bracing.

I picked up my OBXs a few years ago & these were ex-dem. I got them at a very good price that made it worth the gamble.


SCIDB

 

Hmmm. Well I originally had the SIA2-150 at home with a pair of ATC SCM12's. They were a bit of a mixed bag. Very accurate and insightful but not all that musical. Some stuff sounded slow through them (e.g. The Coors, Dido). Made me want to fall asleep. Didn't grab me and pull me in. Other stuff sounded plain odd. Pink Floyd's Animals sounded like it was being played at the bottom of a swimming pool. Very strange.

I haven't heard the active ATCs so can't comment on those.

As for the Alpha 9, it's a wolf in sheeps clothing. One of the hifi bargains of the last decade and definitely a classic in the making (and it tramples all over the TAG DAC20 ). Hee hee

 

Hi Tone,

Yes I'm aware of this. Is this near you? Not surprised they moved from Brighton as it seems to be an expensive place. My brother used to live in Brighton (He still works there), but he went to live in Crawley because it was cheaper. Having said that the prices have shot up there as well.


SCIDB