Mike P ditching the Copland already?

Mike, what was the gripe with it , lack of speed or just not wow enough in basic form?

 

Ditching the Copland, maybe!

Hi WM,

The combination of Copland CD player and Chord amp with the LV speakers just didn't work at all well. The speakers are fantastic, so much so that I am proabably going to trade them in for the R2 versions. The Chord amp, I was not impressed with at all, in fact it has just left this afternoon to go to a new home in Southampton.
I haven't decided whether to try another amp in place of the Chord with the Copland or just to sell that as well and listen long and hard to new CD players and amps as a combination together with the LV speakers. Any amps suggestions that would work well gratefully received!


Regards,

Mike

 

Mike the LV's are very good, Boarder patrol work exceptional well with them, the steinhearts we used at the show would also do a damn good job (100w serious valve that could make decent music), the chord amps humm sorta love/hate thing, I had the 1200c (my dream amp) lastest 2 weeks personaly a serious disppointment
The Lv's are very efficent (94db), so your choice of amp is greater, I find them a bit laid back & can bloom in the bass a bit, I like a more up front sound, but they are damn good without question. I feel valves are really on the cards here, speak to SCIDB he runs them with boarder patrols, manley stingray is a cracking intergrated (valve), maybe A/R ?
Cdp, personally I wait til you sorted the amp, then borrow a few, you may still change the cdp, but at least you'll have tried it with the right gear this time. Wm

 

.....ccccccant resist......mmmmmust post...

BORDER PATROL!

BORDER PATROL !!!

BOOORRRDDEERRRR PAAAATRRROOOOLLLLLL!

yes, get a border patrol.

If budget is tight, I recently borrowed a Mk1 300BSE from the emporium, which was really very very very good. It had a built in volume control too, so if you only have the one source, bang it straight in. It was around 1300-1400 quid.

The Mk1's have choke imput, hard wired - all round very nice. The one at the emporium has had its transformer replaced (the one on mines been replaced too)... the earlier transformers did go POP but when replaced with later versions, youre away.

I went for a later version of the very same amp.

If you've 2,000-2,500 speak to Gary at Border Patrol direct. He told me recently that one of his dealers is returning a 300BSE (mk2 - the newest one) to him, that would be in that price range.

Both models are/were 3,500 new.

If for some bizarre reason you want to try something else (?why?) then I would stick with single ended valves. The LV's lap them up IMO.

As for a source, depends on your budget. A DAC64 into a Meridian 500v2 would be reccomended (by me) or cheaper still a CAL DAC (which I have) into the same transport. cost - 2,000 for the dac64 combo, and about 1,000 for the CAL combo.

You'd have a similar setup to Dean or Myself... and trust me... its for a reason!

Next up some isolda/goertz and an Omega interconnect?

 

Here it is!

....and cheaper than I thought.

BORDER Patrol 300B AMP MK1 1250

Chris

 

Border Patrol

Thanks for that Chris, I will look into it. If I were to stay with solid state, the 2 amps that I have been recommended are Lavardin IT and Sugden Masterclass. Anyone heard either of these?

Mike

 

The lavvy is well respected and it's lack of total balls won't matter with 94db very natrual and real, a few members here have them, RDS, Joolsburger, the sugden m/class mono's I tried very good, but man the run seriously hot, both are quality kit, a Gryphon calisto 2200 int, is also worth an ear wig too
as is the Bow ZZ ref I'd have one in the second system no probs at all
You would be surprised at what somwe of these valve amps can do Mike really. Wm

 

Bow ZZ reference

That would be part of a nice second system! What do you use in your first?

Cheers

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

I run a pair of Living voice Avatars OBXs with a Border Patrol Single ended amp. They work very well together. I use a Tag Transport with a Chord Dac64 as a cd player. This combination is something you could look at but there are others that will work well with the Living Voice speakers.

I have heard them with some Lavardin amps & this is a combo worth looking at. If i wasn't into valves then I would look at the Lavardin IT as a front runner. I understand the cheaper IS ref is nearly as good but at £1000 cheaper. I have heard the Sugden amps sound enjoyable with the Living Voice range. Also see if you can have a listen to DNM amps with your speakers. Again I have heard sounding great with the speakers. Other valve amps I have heard with the speakers include the Canary range of amps. I have also had good results with a few Audio Innovations amps with various mods.

I would try your Copeland with any amp you try to see if it does the job. I also try the Resolution CD player & Wadia players.

The Border Patrol amp that Chris has mentioned is worth a listen but if a Mk2 is on offer at £2000 to £2500, I would tempted to grab it. The price new is more £4300. The difference between the Mk1 &Mk2 are that the newer amp has bigger & better output transformers, seperate offboard power supplies & interstage transformers. These give you better dynamic drive & grip to the sound. Also they offer very good resolution, clarity & low colouration to the sound. All this adds to an enjoyable musical journey.

These single ended amps don't have a lot of faults of a number single ended amps you can get. They have the mid range strengths but offer good performance at the extremes. If you are thinking of spending that sort of money also check out the range of Push Pull amps that Border Patrol.

Look here for more info on Border Patrol amps.

If you want 2nd hand options look at an Audio Innovations Power amp with a Border Patrol power supply added to it . These could give you what you want for less money. Also you could try an Audio Research amp like the one that Robbo (Neil) uses. This sounded very good when I heard it.

A good starting point would be to have a dem. Try getting in touch with Kevin Scott at Definitive Audio in Long Eaton as he stocks a lot of the stuff I have have listed. He is Mr Living Voice. He has produced some of the best sounds at a number recent Hifi shows using these speakers.

I hope this helps.


SCIDB

 

What he said! ^


also echo advice of speaking to Kevin at Definitive..just dont take your wallet!

Emporium have some used Canary stuff, as does Kevin.

...as does audiogon etc.

a drool-worthy list...http://www.definitiveaudio.co.uk/stuff.htm

 

Mike P definitely ditching the Copland!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. It seems as though I need to take a trip to Definitive Audio without my wallet! I have never really considered valves before but I am going to give them a go. The Copland is going, it sold this morning so that will give me a clean sheet to start with again!
Are the people here that are using OBXRs using R1 or R2 versions and has anyone upgraded from one to the other?

Best

Mike

 

Sorry if I am disturbing your debate.
Two years ago a dealer came to my place and gave me a dem about a combination of a very good CD transporter and a Copland DAC which he said would be upgraded in half a year. Does anybody of you ever heard a Copland DAC and how good are they now?
Thanks for an answer.

cheers

titian

 

Hi Mike,

My OBXs are the R1. I have not compared them directly with the R2s. I think the main change is in the crossover. I may have a play around with these at a later stage.

Going for a valve amp may give you what you want. Go have a listen with an open mind. If you end up liking the Border patrol bear in mind that the amp uses 300B valves. These can cost a lot of money depending on which make you go for. Western Electric 300Bs can cost over £300 each. But there are many makes that give very good performance for less money. Also buying from abroad will save you lots of money.

Amps like the Canary range use cheaper valves.

SCIDB