Looking for comments on Living Voice Avatar spkrs


I would appreciate any comments on the Living Voice Avatar speakers. I've done extensive research, but would like to hear recent comments, and I have a few specific questions. I'm not interested in the OBX model due to the outside crossover and the fact that I may not be able to place them optimally to take advantage of all they have to offer.

* Are the Avatars really picky about placement to sound good? Can they be close to the rear wall at all?

* What about off-axis listening? Good?

* I understand they are good at low volumes. True?

* i get the impression they are good with all types of music. True?

* Are they tippy/top heavy? (Concerned about kids around them)

I currently have Tannoy D500 speakers, and I currently have an EMC-1 CD player, though I'll probably trade that in for a Opus 21. I also have Mcintosh tube components, but may downsize eventually. I like most types of music, but generally listen to bluegrass, classical, jazz, and space music. I love to hear solo acoustical instruments as they should sound in real life. A cello should sound like a cello.

Thank you!
budrew

Showing 1 response by joe_stereo

I own the Avatars. They are excellent speakers, particuarly suited for most domestic environments (not to big, not too small) They are easy to live with in a number of ways. They are (very) easy to drive, place, and listen to (never harsh). The overall characteristic to me that distinquishes these speakers from others is their easy going, natural sound. Do you find that everytime you put on a CD you have the urge to get up and change it to something else 3 minutes into the recording? You don't do that with the Avatars, you find that you are listening to the whole CD, start to finish. So, they are not hyper-detailed, tip-ed up, or etched sounding - a bit forgiving up top. Most British speakers are like this. I'll try to answer you specific questions. Placement: mine are about 9 ft from my ears; 1 ft from the side walls, 32 in from the front wall in a 12 ft wide room. The couch is in the middle of the 26 ft long room. (it is a living/dining/kitchen room) So, the room is pretty large. They guy I bought them from new a lot about them and set them up this way. Rather wide placement, with the tweeter axis pointed at your knees, a rather unusual placement he said was recomended by the designer. But, this does help with problems with side wall reflections. After the guy left them with me, I moved them around a bit, but they ended up exactly as he set them up. I haven't had the desire to move them since. I'm sitting at my dining table writing this note on my laptop. They sound fantastic back here as well, the imaging is not as good as on the couch, but the overall tonal balance is the same, and I do a lot of listening from this position while working. There is a sweet spot equi-distant from the speakers, of course, but I do a lot of listening laying on the couch or not exactly in this center position. The verticle dispersion is also very good. They sound fine at low volumes. Another high point to me is that they sound good at high volumes. I like "big" orchestral music and these speakers are easily the best smaller speakers I've heard at conveying the scale of a full symphony orchestra in a small room. (this is also something that some of the reviewers have said, I agree) I like all kinds of music, chamber, classical, jazz. I don't listen to rock so much. They are lighter speakers, so a kid could easily tip them over. But, I wouldn't say they are top heavy. And you'd have to have 100# speakers to avoid that. And, finally, yes a cello sounds like a cello. I've spent a lot of time concert halls, and know what real instruments sound like. A non-audiophile pianist friend of mine was over recently and said that of all of my set-ups I've had since he had known me (and there have been many!!!) this was easily the one that 'got the piano right'. I'll send you a picture of my setup if you want....let me know....feel free to correspond directly if you have other questions.