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LFD Advice?

I've been auditioning a 20 year old LFD Mistral integrated in my system and am absolutely amazed with the sound -  has a nice presence, glorious mids, and is really easy to listen to.  Not a lot of conveniences (goodbye, remote!) but I could see myself happily living out my years with it.  But, of course, the upgrade demon (who won't be satisfied until we're both impoverished) is perched on my shoulder and is lobbying for a newer LFD; I've got a line on a LE VI (current version, midline). 
Has anyone been down this road before that can offer comparisons or advice on this O.G. Mistral vs. a newer Mistral or LE series?  Thanks for any help. 
philiptamarkin
tom6897's avatar
tom6897
1,484 posts
 
Have only listened to LFD in a show or demo setting. Truly a special integrated in any form. I came really close to purchasing the VI LE mkii in July. Ended up getting a new DAC instead. Purchase delayed but will not be denied! Need to adjust to the dac first. 
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,914 posts
 
i run some LFD wire now and then and have heard some gear maybe 6 years ago, sounded excellent then. @mr_ m Tim has a modern LFD integrated and may weigh in here….
ryder
1,690 posts
 
My single experience with LFD Zero LEIII. Glorious treble and midrange with a fast, tight and tuneful bass. Very good integrated if you like a very open sound and illuminating treble which has a certain tube like quality to it.

Drawbacks include below average build quality and no remote facility. The bass doesn’t go to deep and fleshed out in comparison to larger amps. I am not sure if the NCSE resolves the power and bass issue of the smaller Zero LEIII.
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
agree with other assessments expressed

sonically very good to excellent

ergonomically quite challenged

not sure how much a step up it will be sonically from a mistral into an 'le' series unit
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,270 posts
 
I’ve auditioned LFD integrated amps over the years at my dealers.

My take:

(1) LFD makes a great unit that was on my short list as a strong contender and no pretender when I last upgraded . It was only bested IMO by the REGA OSIRIS integrated amp that I bought new.

(2) Q : ideally Which LFD model to choose?
A: EZ: the very best you can afford.

(3): If you are indeed married to the LFD signature sound, then the very top model LFD silver cables (ICs and speaker …) are a critical upgrade path in lockstep to max out their performance and system synergy.

FWIW ….

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