Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Living Voice Avatar Speakers by Don T

Model:	Avatar
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$5000
Description:	Mid level medium sensitivity D'Appolito configuration
Manufacturer URL:	Living Voice

Review by Don T on December 05, 2008 at 11:52:54
IP Address: 68.226.126.8 Add Your Review
for the Avatar

I've had these speakers for a couple of years and it's time to share my experiences about them with anyone who might be interested.

The Avatars were bought with the intention of replacing the Spendor SP-100s in my main system. We had replaced wood blinds with cloth and made other furniture changes in my living room that caused sonic changes that led me to believe a new speaker might be a good idea.

Several speakers were consider including some from local dealerships - Vandersteen, Dali and Von Schweikerts. I couldn't convince myself on the local purchase. I was going to buy Dali Helikon 400s but saw a used pair of Avatars on Audiogon. I fiqured what the heck I can just resell them if they don't work for me.

Of course as usual detective work failed and the speakers didn't really work well in the intended system. Luckily before I sold the SP100s I tried them in my bedroom NAD system where some Vandersteen 1Bs were doing duty. The SP100s sounded great in the smaller room - somewhat surprisingly. I sold the Vandersteens instead.

Since I was doing most listening in the bedroom I moved the rest of the main system into that room. And then I took my second system and put it in the living room and to my surprise the Avatars performance improved to the point of being a worthwhile listen. The second system was on it's second round of upgrades at this point and the Avatars pushed the envelope even further. However this system was not delivering the kind of fidelity I wanted in a home audio system. Based on comments and reviews from other, as well as a desire to get a taste of tubes, I decided to do a third round of upgrades on this second system.

My goal was to have this second system contrast with my main system - ie. delivery close to the same level of fidelity but with a more sonically impressive performance as opposed to a more insightful one. I ended up with the Melody i2a3 integrated amp, the Raysonic CD128 and a Synthesis Onan tuner. In addition an upgrade to the main system facilitated an OL Silver 250 on the Rega and I then added a Dynavector P75 phono section.

I think these speakers have a small window of components that allow them to be shown to be as good as they actually can be. With the Onan and the Raysonic these things are wonderful. At one point the Dynavector P75 and 20xl impressed me to no end in this system but after upgrading both other sources I think I might want to swap carts and phono section for an even better synergistical match - this is not to say I'm unhappy with what's going on with vinyl here at all.

Oh yea upgrading the tubes on the Melody to Electro-Harmonix Gold EH made a world of difference as well.

How do they sound? Well they sound more vivid and more captivating than the Spendors in the bedroom. They deliver a better sense of ambience and have a more forward presentation. Overall I'd say they sound very natural like the Spendors (I think this is a phase thing). They don't allow me to know the performers or the purpose of the performance in the same way as the Spendors. Nor are they capable of providing bombast in the same way as the SP100s. They are more extended on both ends than the SP100s but don't deliver the kind of full bodied sound I get from the Spendors.

I've got the speakers 16 ft. apart toes in about 20%. My listen chair is puts me about 8-10 ft. from the center point between the speakers. Size of sweet spot, fullness of sound, and coherency are most effected by component matching.

Are they any good? I don't know - maybe I'm just learning to get the most out of two pretty crappy pairs of speakers. I really enjoy the heck out of listening to both the SP100s and the Avatars. No doubt about it I'm fortunate to have been able to turn the misguided Living Voice purchase around and I'm glad I did. That being said if I would have bought the Helikons I'm pretty sure the Exposure gear would never have followed the Spendors into the bedroom and the NAD would have been replaced with an AR or VTL tubed integrated amp.

Do I like this Avatar based system more than the SP100 based system? Everytime I think that I do all that's required is for me to go listen to the SP100s. No the Living Voice / Melody combination is great and wonderful and delicious but a quick listen tells me that my bedroom system is still a level above.

Give me rhythm or give me death!

Product Weakness:	lots - not real extended, not flat frequency response, can't play super loud, stupid supports/based, etc. Hard to get to sound good.
Product Strengths:	Can sound really freaky good

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: melody i2a3
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): none
Sources (CDP/Turntable): rega P3, dynavector 20xl, p75, Raysonc cd128
Speakers: avatars
Cables/Interconnects: see profile
Music Used (Genre/Selections): pop
Room Size (LxWxH): 1 x 1 x 1
Room Comments/Treatments: no
Time Period/Length of Audition: 2 years
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): none
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition): see profile

Amplifier:	melody i2a3
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	rega P3, dynavector 20xl, p75, Raysonc cd128
Speakers:	avatars
Cables/Interconnects:	see profile
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	pop
Room Size (LxWxH):	1 x 1 x 1
Room Comments/Treatments:	no
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 years
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	none
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	see profile