What cables/speakers/sources do you Lavardin fans use?

Hi!

I am new to this forum, but I am loving it already. Good stuff!

I just acquired a Lavardin IT amp and I am loving it to hell! It is the most musical amp I ever heard, is extraordinarily detailed to musical nuance and imaging and has a 'rightness' that has to be heard to be believed! I am using it to drive (at this moment) a pair of Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor with a CEC TL-2X CD transport into an Ack dAck v1.2d as a source.

I was just wondering what my fellow Lavardin users use as interconnects/loudspeaker cables, ancillary equipment and speakers and why.

Looking forward to your responses!

 

Hi, Welcome to ZG

Ive no idea what Lavardin users prefer, but i cant help wonder, after you praised it so much (good your happy!!) why do you feel the need to change anything?

 

err...how about lavardin's own cables?

 

I have heard the amp at a friend's place with better cables and that was a whole different story to what I hear at home at this moment with my low-budget v.d. Hul Cables... I KNOW it can get much much better.

Lavardin's own cables... Might work very well, but very hard to demo, they are not sold in The Netherlands, although I might try getting hold of them.

 

When I had the Lavardin IT, I used vdH 2nd interconnects, and LFD Spiroflex II speaker cable, into a pair of AudioPhysic Tempo III and later a pair of Quad 988.
I never felt any need to tinker with the cables.. had the same ones for about 5 years.
Tried a few mains cables but never heard any difference.

 

Thanks. For me, the next step is to indeed 'tinker' with the cables. I might come to the same conclusion, it sure would save me money... Lavardin are pretty strict in their recommendations for their own cables. As it seems the other claims they do on their website also seem to be true...

 

Hi Garmt,

Welcome to the forum!

Have you tried your friends interconnects at your house?

Im wondering how much of the difference is the alternative room acoustic, and how much the cables.. ?

 

Owned an IS Ref for a while - lovely. Tried Lavardin power and i/c cables on extended loan. Found the crystal-like clarity of the amp spilled over into a sound that was just too crystaline - like the effect that silver wiring seems to bring - clarity becomes just too much. Yes the detail is amazing at times, but seemed to remove some of the body and earthiness.
I wouldnt be surprised if their i/c is silver wire.

 

I use a PC-OCC interconnect from a guy on ebay. Same for speaker cables Furukawa BSP20 PC-OCC's. Very cheap (£20.00, bargain!) and very good. I really don't buy into the whole £1000's for cable thing. I reckon a decent bit of copper cable is as good as anything. I remember that PCOCC cabling was well regarded in the early 90's and now only a couple of manufacturers make it and it's bloody expensive.
I did notice a very slight improvement from the VDH CS122 speaker cables... I think I did anyway but frankly it was not an obvious improvement.

I'd suggest borrowing some speaker cables from a dealer and trying a few out. Lavardin seem quite adamant that you should connect bare wire to the amp at right angles to the posts.

 

Interesting... I think in my system, I can use all the clarity I can get, because my speakers are not bright, so I don't have to 'compensate'. In fact, I like my cables to pass as much information as possible. What did you use for cables at that time? What speakers?

I am now trying Nordost Blue Heaven i/c and l/s cables and it is a big improvement over my v.d. Hul Bay C5/Royal Jade.

At my friend's place, we used Kimber KS-1030 interconnects (LOVELY!) and 47 Labs 4719 (great as well).

 

Hi, thanks for welcoming me!

Of course, a lot has to do with acoustics and different speakers (he uses Tannoy TD12, I use Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor), but I am at this moment trying to optimise my own situation trying different cables. I will use the Kimber + 47 Labs and see how that works. It worked a charm in his setup, but in audio, these things are not always predictable... :rds2:

 

Hi Garmt.

Try sending a PM to 'Wadia Meister' (see members list).

WM has his own cable company and posts here on Zerogain. You wont find someone IMO who has heard more interconnects.

 

Thanks! I will!

 

Then as now my i/c's are Ecosse Maestro Reference, I've compared them to quite a few and nothing has compelled me to change yet. S/cables are Isolda DCT. Speakers are Kef Ref 107/2 which, to my ears anyway, are really quite revealing.

Source is Sony SCD-1 player which is pretty detailed, which I liked through the IS Ref, but the Sony tends to paint a fairly clinical picture and this didnt suit the detail and transparency of the the IS Ref and 107's in combo. You heard the player's strengths and faults very clearly. The argument would be to replace the source, but I have plans (if I ever get the cash together) to get mods done and I just dig the Jap battleship. So the french amp was sold.

The reason was mainly that I want to keep the Kef's (for now anyway) and the Lavardin just didnt have enough oomph, especially lower frequency oomph, to do the 107's justice. They are reasonably sensitive at 90 DB/1watt, but nevertheless.

On the other side of the coin the Krell KAV 300i I'm using at the moment delivers good control and is pretty good in a number of ways but it just lacks the flow and musicality of the Lavardin, so I'm on the lookout for the amp that does it all. I would have liked to keep the Lavardin for a second system, but couldnt afford to.

I like the idea (from what I've read) of 47 Labs amps and "feel" the Nippon angle on the world but havent auditioned anything by them yet.

 

greg

bel canto or moon (i-5) for krell control and lavardin musicality. 47 labs IMHO falls down on the boogie side of things. dark horse - krell 400xi.

 

Candidates to my mind are: Moon P5/W5, bridged Bel Canto EVO4 (Gen I) (pre opinions?), Gryphon Callisto 2200, or valves of course!

I hadnt really considered the 400xi

 

Hi, I also own the IT and just love it. I'm using both Acoustic Zen cables and Lavardin cables. For my speakers (Jean Marie Reynaud: Orfeo), i`m using AZ Satori Shotgun, and for my Rega Saturn CD i`m using AZ Silver Ref ll with great results. An finnaly i`m using Lavardin cables between my Riaa (Rega Eos) and the IT, again with great results. If youre speakers are a bit to the warm side, great perfomance is in seath with AZ cables and also Lavardin cables. I`m trying out the AZ matrix Ref ll between my Riaa and IT at the moment, so that I'm using all AZ cables for mys system, but this all new for me, so i would`t review it yet, bur will put a tread later on!

 

Hi....I'm having getting good results with trying both their speaker and interconnect cables. It depends on wich speakers u got. If your speakers are bright, great results will happend with Lavardin speaker cables. I think they are made of a combo silver/cobber, but don`t not know exacly! I'm using Lavardin interconnect between my Lavardin IT and Rega Eos riaa.
My speakers are Jean Marie Reynaud: Orfeo`s

 

Hi...I think their I/C cables are a mix of silver and cobber. I have great results with their I/C cables between my Riaa and the Lavardin IT, but again i think it depends on wich speakers you got.....

 

Try the IT out....i know it`s only 47 watt, but who cares when it can deliver such great punch that i heard with my Jean Marie Reynaud: Orfeo`s.....