Simaudio Source, LV Speakers.....amp ?

Hi Folks, this is my first post here. I've had a Simaudio Moon Equinox CD player for some time now and love it.

I've recently ordered a pair of Living Voice Auditoriums and am very excited about that.

My question is, what is the best amp to get for it......I've heard it with the Moon i3.3 which is a serious contender.....but I hear a lot that the Lavardin IS Reference or IT works well with them also.

I listen to a big mix of music.

Thanks

 

hi james, welcome to zerogain, nice to see new faces

dont forget to put some pictures up in the 'sticky' threads.

I had a pair of living voice avatar speakers, and a friend had a moon cdp. It sounded great.

Sounds like you have 2-3k to throw at it?

My reccomendation would be push-pull valve amp, kicking out somewhere in the region of 20-30watts per channel.

I really like the Canary Audio amps, they are well worth a look. They make some fabulous push-pull 300b amps, they sound fantastic.. Kevin rates them too (mr living voice).

Try this link - http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1285179781&/Canary-Audio-CA-330-

Be careful to ensure voltage conversion is possible with US imports, and of course consider freight and import duty.

Also very good, you may find an Ear/Yoshino amp fitting the bill. Ear make some great sounding amps.

My amp sounds fantastic on Living Voice speakers, despite being single ended 300b. It is a 'glasshouse' by hifi collective. I know nick doesnt plan on making any more. Last time I spoke to him about these, he had 'one' left - and that was months ago. You may be shit out of luck lol... It's a fabulous amp, and can hold up to anythign I've heard in the 2-3k valve amp park.

Other kits that are great - check out brian's site - http://www.diyhifisupply.com/

There are a few things that people just dont realize about kits -

1) most places will build them for you for a couple of hundred quid
2) OF COURSE they sound as good as something commercially costing 2-3 times as much. There is no retail, distributor mark up, and they use point to point wiring, a great schematic and really high quality parts. What's not to like?
3) Once you own a good kit, your eyes/view on expensive commercial offerings will change, and change drastically.


So there you have it, I'd personally get a kit made up for me, and a damn fine one too. If I couldnt do that, I'd buy something used in the valve world and resign myself to the fact that the used capacitors and resistors may need changing soon and further expense will probably come.


NB
I think the Lavardin sounds pretty good. You should ask Kevin if he thinks it sounds as good on his speakers as a good valve amp though...

 

Thanks very much bottleneck, I do indeed have £3k or more if I need to to get a good amp. My local dealer is superb and the 2 guys in there both have LV themselves, so will need to ask them what they run them on.

A good friend of mine called me 3/4 weeks back to say he's just heard a Linn Hi Fi set up and was going to place an order next day. I advised and thankfully he took the advice and went along to my dealer with the LV and when he listened to the LV he was sold.....he took the IBX with Moon amp/cd combo and is running them all in now.

I will look into your suggested amp choices and will of course let you know what I go with as well as put up pics.

Thanks again for taking time to respond.

 

Hi James

Yes, please do keep us informed. Lots of pictures are always good

Some other common amps to try -

Border Patrol - SCIDB on this forum uses this amp with Living Voice, and it's a well known combination.

Here is an article to read for fun

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/livingvoice3/obxrw.html

Kevin (living voice) worked on a Canary amp, which he actually designed the speakers whilst using (I have since read). I remember a review in hifi+ talking about the amplifier and how he modified it.

These modifications included the off-board border patrol power supply.

If you google canary with living voice you end up with lots of results - its a great combo

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue4/livingvoice.htm


Of the DIY amps I posted a link to, have a look at the DIY section where I've started a new thread about the 16 watt SET 300b amp. This is the latest DIY amps by this manufacturer. It has been designed at least in part by Thorsten Loetsch. It is quite unusual in its design.

I would be highly intreagued by this model if I were ''amp shopping'' right now.

This is the kit amp I am currently using -

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/kits/glasshousehome.html

If there are any left (production run has stopped), it can be made up for 1/2 your budget, but sounds fabulous and as a kit its certainly going to offer twice or 3 times the value for money.

 

Finally got my hands on new speakers today...and out of the box am super impressed with them, and I still have 197 hours before they are "bedded" in !!!!

 

a lovely finish on them James, I'm sure you must be pleased.

In answer to the PM, I have heard the OBX, IBX etc - and differences are not as great as money spent elsewhere in your system - i.e. on your new valve amp

Hope you enjoy them, they seem nicely spaced out which suits the speaker well, they like to be a long way from boundary walls, in a clear and uncluttered space.

Kevin Scott (living voice) likes to run them with a 300b push/pull amp, and this is a great starting place, and if you want solid state the lavardin you mentioned is known to work well...

border patrol, tron, art audio, EAR, there are many amps out there which will sound great with them.

I'd avoid anything 'lean sounding' which doesn't play to the inherent strength of the speaker which is a generous mid-range.

 

Good choice James. I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

 

Thanks guys, yea I now need to find the right amp for them, no harm using my old Rotel to run em in first though. According to instructions this could take some 200 hours ! Thanks to bottleneck for his suggestions, I'll certainly be finding out where I can get demos from, sure the dealer I got the speakers from will have some of them.

I listen to a big mix of music, so amp needs to flexible too.

Initial impressions of the LV are very good, even out of box I remember the reason why I choose them from my demo...great tone, musical and great resolving power.....only other speakers I liked from that demo was the Focal but when the LV came on, it was no competition for me - the hi-fi sales guy even said to me "you know, you need to learn to hide your body language a little better, because you've already given the game away..." Well I didn't care if I had....for it was the reaction I was looking for when spending that amount ! I know plenty of other peoples pockets are deeper....but for me these do all I want for now.

 

Focal v LV is a bit one sided for me, and IMO you chose correctly.

 

Nice choice. Now get some valves on the end of 'em!