Lavardin IS Reference or IT - anyone heard?


The Lavardin integrateds have been the subject of several strong reviews and only recently found North American distribution. Has anyone heard them and had a chance to compare with other high quality integrateds? The reviews hit all the right buttons for me; fully musical and detailed at low volume, approaching the air and resonance of good tubes etc. Any experience out there?
panderso

Showing 2 responses by david12

I recently bought a 2nd hand but nearly new IT, only, I am afraid, because I could'nt cope with the heat from my 845 SET in the Summer. I was expecting it to be good, but it is quite as good, though different, than the 18watt SET. The latter has more drive but the IT more air and delicacy. I plan to keep both and can't see myself changing either. The SET will be for winter use. The family can gather round it and toast marshmallows.
The IT seems a bargain to me, its a minimalist design and the output is only 50watts, but that is enough for a lot of speakers these days
"Another boutique brand with very little bang for the buck".
Any evidence for that?, experience of using it in your system? I agree it is'nt the most powerful
amp out there, but anyone can build a 300watt SS amp on the cheap, the question is, would you want to listen to it. The Lavardin appears to have none of the SS grain that people talk about. It is fast, dynamic and detailed. The only other amp that sounded as good was my old Pass Labs Aleph 3. To me the IT sounds as good, though different, to a quality SET at twice the cost. Many other users and dealers will give a similar report. Perhaps we are all deluded, but I am in the camp that believes Lavardin make some quite special amps.