josh2486

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
One of the most involving speakers I have owned. Very transparent and dynamic and organic.. The Avatar obx may not be the best that I have had. but it is the best match for my current system. The mid-range is magical and it is one of the most musical speakers that have graced my listening room. I am enjoying them more than speakers 5x their retail price.
they replaced a $45,000 Westlake tower speakers that was a great speaker but way too large for my room. I have also had Sonus Faber Amatis,which , I have equally enjoyed and Tannoy Churchills that were magical. All these speakers are considered world class speakers . The obx certainly belong with them . Don't let there smaller footprint fool you , they are capable of filling a room with full sound. They can be powered with low powered amps...I am using Jadis 300B mono Blocks that has 10 watts !! Coupled with Western Electric 300B tubes the mid range is unequalled. They benefit from top quality associated gear. The best bang for the dollar by far...for my limited experienced. If you have the opportunity try them , well worth your extra effort (double wiring required due to outboard x-over) you will be rewarded , as I have.

Strengths:
Musical, involving , small footprint ,big sound...understated...resolution...detail , but, not in a bad way.

Weaknesses:
Extra bire wire speaker cables needed , so , if you are using premium cables it is twice as expensive.

Similar Products Used:
Proac.2.5 3.5, Sonus Faber Amatis ,and amators ...Churchills , Westlakes...opera quintas b&w various...on and on and on....

lenmax

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Just bought a demo pair of Living Voice Auditorium.But after I received the speakers,the upper woofer of the left speaker is not working properly,it makes some static noisy.I contacted the distributor Bluebird Audio,but he said it won't be covered by the warranty,because he said it might course that problem during the shipping.But I don't see any damage at all on the driver.And he told me to contact the local dealer to replace it.And it cost me BIG $300 canadian for just one driver.I am so disappointed with the feedback.I am the first owner,and the speakers have 4 yr warranty,but they won't replace it.So,if you are on the market and looking for a Living Voice.Think twice before you buy,they might give you some excuses not to response for any defected items.And the parts will cost you arms and legs.
I wish there is a minus rating star.

Strengths:
none,can't tell with one driver is not working

Weaknesses:
all,because of the terrible service,terrible components,terrible warranty.

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RMcLeod

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.88 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $3500.00

Summary:
This actually a 2004 product, and it's the Living Voice Auditorium Avatar. I actually had the opportunity to taste test the Avatar vs. Wilson-Benesch ARCs vs my Paradigm Studio 100 v.2s on the same weekend in my own home. I use AR tube equipment (VS55 amp, SP16 pre). The Paradigms were quickly eliminated from the competition: they aren't in the same league. Both the ARCs and the Avatars have huge soundstages, which I love. Both are incredibly detailled. Both have specs that show their bass rolloff at around 35MHz. The ARC ports downwards, the Avatars to the rear. About the ARC: This is a remarkable speaker. It's small, but I found the bass to be very good. I tried them with my REL Strata III sub on and off and found I did prefer them with the sub on. With the sub off they beat AVs on bass, but not by much. With the sub on, they were equals. I did find the ARCs to be very airy and boxless. Great harmonics and transients. The treble was very detailled and they didn't need a lot of fussing around with placement to produce great rock, jazz and classical. The vertical soundstage was excellent. Which is important because my wife and I like to dance from time to time. Now the downsides: The ARCs seemed a bit dry and bright to me, though not unpleasingly so. They wanted more power than the Avatars, but nothing excessive. I didn't find them all that great at lower volume levels. They were much better at moderate volume, and very comfortable with the volume up. And, while I could see where some people would just adore their highly detailled sound, in the end it wasn't my cup of tea, especially at higher volume, because of the slight dryness in the mids and treble. The Avatars don't sound radically different than the ARCs, but there were some differences that mattered a lot to me. They have a bigger soundstage than the ARCs, a major plus for me, and it felt like there was more air around instruments. Once they are positioned right (about 2.5 feet from the rear wall for me) the bass is quite good (though not as tight as the ARCs) and with the sub on they were wonderful. Like the ARCs they seem at their very best with the volume up. They are great at moderate listening levels, but like the ARCs, they aren't impressive at low volume. Frankly, I think the Paradigms were better than both at low volume. But since I rarely listen to anything at low volume, it's a non issue for me. The Avatars are definitely a warmer speaker, fantastic with vocals and guitars or strings. The harmonics are superb, so much so that sometimes it sounds like the music is coming from slightly behind me! A touch less as detailled than the WBs in the upper end, but their spacious sound more than made up for that. And the Avatars definitely produced something more easily than the WBs: toe tapping. These speakers are vivacious. It's the only term I can think of to connote what they did in my room. They seem to have been made for tube gear, and they were. Now that I've owned them for a few weeks, I find that as they break in they are even more spacious and detailled. They handle all music well, from Zeppelin to Bach to Jazz. I look forward to full break-in, which I'm advised takes an long time, like 400 hours. If that's true it's hard to imagine just how awesome these speakers will be.

Strengths:
Astounding soundstaging and harmonics. Relatively compact. Nimble with any kind of music. Beautiful appearance.

Weaknesses:
Positioning matters and they need some room between them and the rear and side walls. You NEVER want these close to a rear wall for you will get unwanted bass resonance if you do.

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch, Paradigm Studio 100 v.2s, Wilson-Benesch ARCs

Price Paid:  $3000.00 from 2nd hand

Summary:
I supplied an earlier review for the bottom of the range Auditorium and have now moved up to the Avatar. I thought an update was in order. I still love the philosophy and detailed, but laid back sound of the whole range and have carefully listened to all 3, Auditorium, Avatar and Avatar OBX. They all have a "house sound", for want of a better word and that is quite different from many other speaker ranges. Am I the only person to find most modern speakers harsh and fatiguing, step forward BandW. Superficially exciting after a prolonged listen I feel my ears are being assaulted. But each to there own and I am not criticising other ranges, I am merely reporting the LV's easy to live with. Laid back, but not bland, the Avatars image well with a deep rather than forward soundstage.They do'nt seem to favour any particular style of music. Accurate across the frequency range, the junior version, the Auditoriums do have a slightly muddled base. The 2 Avatars are clearly the better speakers and I would urge you to go for either of the Avatars, I have to say I did'nt find a great difference in quality between them. The sound was different, the OBX have a bigger soundstage and better base, but am I the only one to hear a slight upper midbase lift on the OBX. Plus , where do you put those external Xovers. So I am a fan of the Avatars and see no reason to change, they need room to breathe and they have such potential, they deserve decent ancillaries. As you may know, Kevin Scott their designer is a bit of a tube fetishist, thus there high sensitivity. I think they deserve tube power amps or high quality Class A solid state such as Monarchy Audio or Sugden. I use them with Pass lab Aleph 3's a magical combination. Any Aleph users out there looking for new speakers, look no further. System: Shanling CDT100 Creek T43 tuner Linn LP12/Origin Live Silver Taper/Ortofon Kontrapuknt B Graff WFB pre Pass Labs Aleph 3 power Living Voice Avatar Acoustic Zen Matrix/Silver Ref/Hologram cables

Strengths:
Detailed uncoloured smooth unfatiguing but detailed sound, good imaging and soundstage

Weaknesses:
You got me, need room to breathe, not the deepest base available, but a very clean base

Similar Products Used:
Quad 57, Monitor Audio, Dynaudio, LV Auditorium

Price Paid:  $4000.00 from Definitive Audio

Summary:
Model OBX-R2.These are simply the best speakers I have owned and heard in my 20 plus years of trying to get a sound I could be completely happy with.They are incredibly musical.Unbelievably dynamic- something no other speaker that Ive owned has been able to acheive.The mids are beautiful,so effortlessly real to life .The top end is the best Ive had ,including ribbons.The Scan speak revelator tweeter is way better than the Dynaudio Esotar,revealing loads more detail with incredible decay.This tweeter adds realism to the voice ,with no sibilance.The bass is transparent -again something Ive never experienced before.Its a shock when you hear bass as it should be for the first time,with real weight and scale,and none of the usual overhang.Speed and timing is impeccable.I owned the Merlin VSM Millenium with battery B.A.M for a year ,with reference JPS cables /Audio Aero cd/M.F NuVista amp and couldnt have been more underwhelmed -Harsh ,thin ,poor transparency,limited bass,dark on the vocal presentation-never palpable.These Living Voice speakers are so many leagues above the Merlins ,its plain embarrassing. Im using a Sugden class A Masterclass integrated amp, 32 W.P.C(£3200),with the Audio Aero Capitole CD and once agin JPS speaker cables in and out of the external x-over boxes,and I couldnt be more happy with the sound .The sound is alive,and involving .The closest Ive come to this sort of sound before is with the Triangle Antals-But they had far too many short comings for genuine comparison .Get to hear a pair -You will end up saving youself alot of time and money.

Strengths:
Everything -Genuinely!

Weaknesses:
Locating external x-over boxes

Similar Products Used:
Wilson Benesch Act one .B&W Nautilus 803/Nautilus 805 Signature.Proac Future 0.5. Melin VSM Millenium inc B.A.M. Proac 2.5. Mordaunt Short Performance 860.etc etc