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Need help in search of Living Voice sound

Hi all,

I've been looking for a new sound system for almost two years now. A couple of weeks ago I had the Living Voice IBX/R2 speakers in my home and quite loved them. They are dynamic, up front, forgiving yet detailed, on the warm side of neutral and give a great live feel. This is what I want from my sound system. But... I'm also no great fan of their looks, their build quality leaves somewhat to be desired and their overall looks are just not what you expect in this price range. So, does any one has some suggestions for an alternative, preferably something in the line of the Sonus Faber Cremona (looks and build quality). Budget is around 10K US Dollar.
I listen to all kinds of music and want to be able to hear bad recordings as well, so too analytical speakers are out of the question.

I've already tried:

- Thiel CS 2.4 (too harsh and analytical)
- Sonus Faber Cremona M (too laid back, too reserved)
- Audio Physic Scorpio and Virgo V (bass problems, no side firing woofers in my room)
- Focal Electra 1007 BE (too colored, not enough weight)
- Wilson Benesch Discovery (too analytical)
- Wilson Benesch Arc (too dry and boring)
- Master Contemporary C (also analytical)
- Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M (not hefty enough and cannot play loud)
- Volent VL3 (too analytical)
hulskof
hulskof OP
70 posts
 
Thanks all for your input. Maybe I should have said I'm from Europe, because many of the suggestions just aren't available here, and the ones that are, usually are way more expensive over here than in the US. Avalon Indra for instance cost close to 30,000 euro's, which at the moment is about 40,000 US$, whereas Sonus Faber Cremona M cost 7,800 euro (10,400 US$), which I believe is cheaper than in the US.

Since the rest of my system is all gonna be replaced, I'll keep every option open (tubes, solid state, hybrid...)

Anyway, I like the Silverline Bolero, very Avalon-like, but I'm afraid no dealer here will have ever heard of them.
Dynaudio C2 and/or System Audio SA7K might be a better option, though these are both pretty tall...
No horns, electrostats, Vandersteen, Harbeth, Deadalus, Proac, Audiokinesis or Parsifal (mostly due to looks).
These Gemme speakers really look awesome, but again, I wouldn't know where to start looking for them over here :-(
Audio Note could be an option, I'll look into that.
Art Deco and Ohm are also very nice, I hope I can find some to audition...

Thanks again, I'll be busy for a while :-)
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,582 posts
 
OHm now advertises a distributor in Germany

Are they taking on MBL and German Physiks?

Here's a link to the webpage translated from German to English:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.audibleemotions.de/&ei=HU0DStfpO5CgM_b6iaMD&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=4&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daudibleemotions%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3Dk7
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,110 posts
 
It's too bad that you feel that you need to eliminate several of the brands that would really fit your needs sonically, just because of the way they look. Several of those brands are actually not bad looking at all. I think that you are really cheating youself.
loftarasa
171 posts
 
Hey. Living Voice are some the most natural speakers I've ever heard. Music just sounds so real coming out of them.

I'd also ask if living with their looks would be less problematic than trying to find an alternative that may not exist.

Though obviously an oversimplification, if you note that the LVs use Scanspeak Revelator drivers in a D'Appolito array, you might want to look at Gamut, cause the dude there, Lars Goller, designed those drivers, I believe.
guppy
133 posts
 
Merlin makes great speakers and the VSM's are around your price range.
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