I own the IS reference and use them with Devore Gibbon 8's and currently using an Ayre CX-7e as a front end(also considering the RA Opus 21).
The lavardin replaced a pair of welborne drd 300b' mono's and a Korneff pre. It goes without saying that you lose some of the harmnic warmth of the 300b(the welbornes are fairly clean btw), but I picked up an octave of bass, pace, and finer detail. The music lifted off the speakers and just flows. Similar in feeling to my PS Audio HCA-2, but better at low volumes, and clearer.
Pretty much a no brainer if you can find one used as they sell VERY quickly when they come up.
My only nit to pick - lack of remote.
The lavardin replaced a pair of welborne drd 300b' mono's and a Korneff pre. It goes without saying that you lose some of the harmnic warmth of the 300b(the welbornes are fairly clean btw), but I picked up an octave of bass, pace, and finer detail. The music lifted off the speakers and just flows. Similar in feeling to my PS Audio HCA-2, but better at low volumes, and clearer.
Pretty much a no brainer if you can find one used as they sell VERY quickly when they come up.
My only nit to pick - lack of remote.