Stereophile

Aug 2005

by Sam Tellig

... "But I was serious. All the Lavardin IS Reference offers is superbly transparent sound - the kind of sound audiophiles kill for and pay tens of thousands of dollars to get. The IS Reference illustrated Tellig's Law: you can have great sound for a modest amount of money; you just can't have a lot of it."

... "The Lavardin amps may surpass most tube amps, being quicker, cleaner, clearer, quieter, not to mention more reliable. I don't get the feeling that Lavardin is trying to emulate the sound of tubes - the IT and IS sound like solid-state amps. I don't hear the extra richness and warmth of tubes, or the tubby bass that's typical of many tube amps."

..."The resolution of the IT is extraordinary, placing this amp among the finest I have heard, without regard to design philosophy or price."

... "Don't tell your audiophile friends - they won't listen - but the Lavardin amps are bargains.  Pour moi ? (webmaster's translation - "For me ?")  The IT is it - and now a reference chez nous (webmaster's translation - "in our home") - my wife Marina hears the difference, too."

For more details, check out Stereophile's Aug 2005 issue, or Email Us! / fill up Enquiry Form for a full copy of this review.

HiFi+

Feb 2005

by Roy Gregory

I-Audio Magazine

Singapore

Volume 3 No. 3

Terence Wong

"My first impressions of the Lavardin is a mixture of admiration and despair.  Admiration with the overall fit and finish of amplifier is first class, despair when I tried removing the top, no matter what I tried, some of the alien screws refuses to come off.  How am I suppose to know what is going on inside of this amp ?"

"Source is the new SACD player from Lindemann.  Speakers varied from PSB Platinum M2s,  Wharfedale EVOs."

"Lavardin is an exceptional amplifier.  Partnered with appropriate speakers, it exudes the very qualities that you would immediately establish its pedigree.  ... You discover layers of music that you never realized were there ..."

"The sound stage of the Lavardin is wide with excellent layering.  Within the sound stage were excellent placement of instruments."

"What took me by surprise is the sense of scale and its proportion.  I always thought this is a quality reserved by the best amplifiers with humungous power output."

What HiFi

July 2000

Temptation Column

Verdict   "This is a terrific integrated amplifier that is good enough to worry the very best that's out there - irrespective of cost.  Rarely have we come across an amp that conveys such realism and dynamic expression"

"Now 40 watts per channel is hardly a lot of power, but you'd never know that from the way the IT slams out the hard-charging beats from Missy Elliot's Supa Dupa Fly album.  There's punch-a-plenty, combined with lightning fast responses and superb timing."

"It also copes with complex musical mixes with ease ..."

"So talented is this amplifier that it can challenge the likes of our £13,000 reference Krell pre/power."   

(Webmaster's note:  coincidentally, one of our customers also replaced his Krell KAS-2 monoblocks + KRC preamp with a Model IT)

"While £ 3200 is an awful lot of money to spend on a feature challenged 40-watt integrated, in high-end terms the IT is impressive enough to rate as a steal of titanic proportions."

"Quite honestly, if we could give six stars to this product, we would.  IT is really that good."

Click Me! to read the full review.

6 Moons.com

Edward Barker

"How does it sound? Like a very good, very transparent, un-valvy valve amp. I've spent several years with Lavardins and haven't found any serious discernable faults apart from being really ugly and not sexily valved. At £3400, that's pretty amazing - another piece I'm going to have a hard time parting with. I'll go out on a limb and say that in my experience, the OBX-R / Lavardin IT is one of those spectacular combination that, once heard, will never be forgotten. They just seem to love each other. Why get in the way?"

Click Me! for the full review

HiFi+

August 1999

Roy Gregory

"The Lavardin IT is perhaps best understood as a technology demonstrator, shorn of every extraneous facility and intended by the company to showcase the fruits of its research. It's understated appearance, moderate power, and hair-shirt facilities make the £3200 price tag something a shock - until you listen to it ! That's when it moves the goalposts."

"The Lavardin's dynamic capabilities extend beyond simply telling you whether something is louder or softer. It scales the changes precisely which creates an incredibly natural sense of instrumental presence, integrated into a complete acoustic. And that sense of holistic correctness encompasses overall dynamic range. The IT shades dynamics just as precisely at either end of the dynamic spectrum, and irrespective of volume. Let me say that again; irrespective of volume."

"I keep stressing the delicacy and precision of this amp, but make no mistake, it's quick, and that means it really rocks. Wide range dynamics are really explosive, and well recorded snare drums go off with a real crack. The pitch, shape and impact of bass notes is especially impressive, and they really propel music like Steve Earl's 'Copperhead Rd'."

Click Me! For the full review

HiFi World

April 1999

Jon Marks

"Jon Marks discovers transistors that sound like valves in Lavardin Technologies' Model IT Reference integrated amplifier."

"The ESL 57s are renowned for their pollution-free midrange and treble, which makes them a great yardstick of what an amplifier is doing to vocals especially. The answer with the Lavardin was very, very little indeed. When you compare what 'normal' transistor amps do to the signal next to the impact of the IT, Lavardin's assertion that they've succeeded in eliminating transistor nastiness has a ring of truth to it."

"Running from its four lead/acid batteries, the DPA 50S and the X-A200s are smooth, detailed performers by standards of most transistor amps, but the IT made them sound coarse, grainy and very coloured. These aberrations stood out like sore thumbs on vocals, harpsichord and cymbals, which all had a tonal naturalness through the Lavardin which made sitting back and listening to the music an addictive activity."

"Other areas where this skilled integrated pulled well ahead of the pack were imaging and soundstaging. Where the DPA and MFs can produce an image of a vocalist which would cover about three pages of A4, the IT's focus was roughly twice as precise, as Tori Amos' head and shoulders hung lifesize between the Quads."

Click Me! to read the full review.

STEREOPHILE

December 1998 Page 35

Paul Messenger

"Over at Absolute Analogue, I met the boffins behind the Lavardin Technologies amplifiers from France, which have become a personal obsession since I first heard them last summer and got to try one at home (for review, see Dec 98 Hifi Choice issue). Mindful that I might be getting carried away, I sent several friends along for second opinions, and all agreed they had heard something special."

"One, who managed to get hold of the prototype phono stage and take it to a room with serious vinyl replay, was still gibbering about it days later..."

HiFi Choice December 1998

Paul Messenger

Editor's Choice

"Editor's Choice AWARD"
Sound : * * * * * 5 out of 5 stars
Build : * * * * * 5 out of 5 stars
Value : * * * * * 5 out of 5 stars

"Whatever the explanation, the valve-meets-transistor sound of the IT has knocked Paul for six."

"The midband has the delicacy and transparency normally associated with valve-driven designs, while the bottom end has the sort of power and authority attributed to solid-state electronics. In a very sense, you can have your cake and eat it."

"It's music making is not only uncommonly "tidy" and delicate, but also unusually informative.  Previously undeciphered lyrics on "parental advisory" rap albums became intelligible, while the usual unwanted intrusion of vinyl surface noise was notably diminished."

"Timing is right on the button, the bottom end is deep, firm and even, while tonal colours sound uncannily "right", and the balance is reassuringly neutral."

"But what on earth can a 40-Watt, four input integrated amp offer, that Naims finest cannot match?"

Click Me! for the full review ...

Prestige Audio Video

Nov 1997

Patrick Vercher

Le Monde de la Musique

June 1997

P. Venturini

HiFi+

Issue 13

Sept 2001

Lavardin Model IS Reference

Pete Christie

On the Model IS Reference - "The detail was stunning - on everything! From simple arrangements for a few instruments (Debussy Cello Sonata, J.S. Bach Partita played on solo flute, Chopin Sonata No. 3), right up to massive orchestral pieces (e.g. the finale of Mahler's 2nd Symphony), the overall effect was enthralling.  Every instrument was identifiable. The soundstage was presented in front of me as clearly as if the musicians were in the same room. And with Lyle Lovett, the results were just as extraordinary, only more so!"

Click Me!  for the HiFi+ full review

hi-fi+

UK

Issue No. 7

Jul / Aug, 2000

Lavardin PE Line Stage And

MAP Mono-blocks

Roy Gregory

* Model PE is now known as  PRE 6/2

"Comparisons with a Lavardin amplifier make just about everything else sound cluttered and clumsy. The French amps sound clear and clean, but they manage not to sound clinical or sat-on. I described this in terms of transparency, but not just in the conventional hi-fi sense, although that certainly applies."

:

"But the really neat trick is the way that the Lavardins' offer insight into the minutiae of a recording without pulling it apart or distracting from your enjoyment of the whole. They'll extract full musical value from even the worst recordings, and what's is more, because of their outstanding musical and dynamic coherence, they are capable of remaining convincing even at low levels."

"In the year or so since I first met the IT integrated amp, it, and now the PO phono stage, have become both essential tools and a source of constant pleasure. Do I like them? Could I live with them? Do I covet them?

Yes, yes and absolutely! With a wider operating envelope and even fewer deficiencies the PE line-stage and MAP mono-blocks offer Lavardin's exceptionally satisfying musical performance to a broader audience. As a reviewer, their versatility makes them even more attractive than their smaller brother. "

:

Model IS and IS Reference

"... what the IS has got is phenomenal sound for the money and a story to back it up."

"As far as I’m concerned, these amps have redefined what is musically possible at the price. They might also have finally delivered on the promise of affordable, fuss-free performance that solid-state made, lo those many years ago. They are certainly all the amp that many music lovers will ever need."

Click Me! for the TAS full review

hi-fi+

Product Of The Year 2001
  

Model IS Reference

"As you have probably guessed, I'm quite keen on this French masterpiece, and to sum up, I will re-write one of my closing paragraphs from my previous review:

I have listened to an awful lot of hi-fi in the last 17 years. I have had the pleasure to review a lot of hi-fi in the last three or four years. This is the second time I have ever been so completely and utterly impressed with any single piece of equipment. I like minimal. I don't care that it doesn't have a remote control thingy. As far as I am concerned, lack of facilities equals lack of problems, and I can live with that. Four inputs is one more than I need, so that's no big deal. If you think I am going to readily give this amp back to the editor, you are making a big mistake. You want it Mr. Gregory - forget it, I'm already packed and moving away to adopt a new identity in a far-off land where you and your swarthy henchman will never find me!"

Click Me!  for the HiFi+ full review

hi-fi+

Product of the Year 2000

Model PE & Model MAP

* Model PE is now known as  PRE 6/2

"Comparisons with a Lavardin amplifier make just about everything else sound cluttered and clumsy. The French amps sound clear and clean, but they manage not to sound clinical or sat-on. I described this in terms of transparency, but not just in the conventional hi-fi sense, although that certainly applies."

:

"But the really neat trick is the way that the Lavardins' offer insight into the minutiae of a recording without pulling it apart or distracting from your enjoyment of the whole. They'll extract full musical value from even the worst recordings, and what's is more, because of their outstanding musical and dynamic coherence, they are capable of remaining convincing even at low levels."

:

"In the year or so since I first met the IT integrated amp, it, and now the PO phono stage, have become both essential tools and a source of constant pleasure. Do I like them? Could I live with them? Do I covet them?

Yes, yes and absolutely! With a wider operating envelope and even fewer deficiencies the PE line-stage and MAP mono-blocks offer Lavardin's exceptionally satisfying musical performance to a broader audience. As a reviewer, their versatility makes them even more attractive than their smaller brother. "

:

Lavardin IS Reference

From:

Audio Asylum

"Purist design, exceptionally clean and transparent. Sound equal to some mega priced separates."

Click Me! for the full review.

Lavardin IS

From:

Audio Asylum

"The Lavardin is a beautifully balanced, natural sounding amplifier in my opinion. By that I mean it's true to the musical instruments it presents. It does not seem to introduce too many attributes the instruments don't have."

"It did, once and for all, cure me from my prejudice against integrated amplifiers."

Click Me! for the full review.

Lavardin IT

From:

Audio Asylum

"Really there is not much else I can say about the Lavardin Model IT. The bottom line is that I used to be a drummer and play in live bands, so I think I can reasonably claim to understand the experience of live music. I have never heard an audio system which completely captures all aspects of that experience, but in my opinion the Lavardin IT captures the most important emotional aspects while sounding believable, natural, coherent, and entirely involving. To my ears this is a superb product. I could not ask for any more, and if more is available from (much!) more expensive products then I’d not be willing to pay for any trivial incremental improvement over what I hear from the Lavardin Model IT. "

Click Me! to read the full review.

Lavardin IS Reference

From:  RS, Soundscape HiFi And Music customer

March 2003

"It fills the room in a sense that it creates a soundstage somewhat bigger that your listening room, it surrounds (again, not in HT surround term) you with music.  You might be reading this so many times, but the sounds is like emitting from a fixed point source somewhere in space, and it stays there throughout the song. The voice, the vocal is close to holographic effect. I am sure with better room acoustic, the effect could be holographic. The presence is wonderful."

Click Me! for the full comments by our customer.

Our own comments after listening to the above system:

"We've finally heard the Epos ES14 speakers sound very good, even if the ES14s retained their unique strong character. Moreover, in an untreated room at that.  The IS Reference drove these 87db speakers well  to extract the potential out of these speakers, compared to other amps in the same watt category.  The entire system (speakers alone don't make a system) had deep bass, correct timing (not erring on slow or fast), was refined yet detailed, big-sounding, had clear instrument separation, with excellent piano reproduction.  Best of all,  highly musical.  Male and female vocals, as well as rock  shone through."