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Leviathan Signature Monoblocks -- What is the vir

The review just published on Stereo Times of the Red Dragon Leviathan Signature Monoblocks amps reminded me all of a sudden that the temperature outside my home in Austin is over 100F, and that turning on my beloved Jeff Rowland 7M twin furnaces for the simple purpose of making music will once again turn my loft into a dry sauna. What can I say, the darling old girls are just not Texas friendly. If I ever get around retiring them, what shall I replace them with? The ideal candidate will need to be both Texas friendly, and be able to drive planar speakers having 83 or 84DB efficiency with aplumb. So, how are these new contenders in the high efficiency monoblock market? Are the Red Dragon Leviathan Signature monos as stellar as the reviewer claims, or are these merely competent 'me toos' in the fast crowding ICE marketplace? How do they compare to the Rowland products (501, 302, 301)? Or the Newforce amps, or the Bel Canto Ref 1000? Do they sport the dramatically low 8K Ohm impedance that would limit their use with 600 Ohms fully balanced linestages like the ARC Ref 3?
And ultimately, how do they compare with more expensive traditional designs, like Theta Citadel, Pass 600.5 (I know I know this one is also a furnace), or even my own old Rowland 7M monos?
Finally, before I forget, here is the link to the Red Dragon Leviathan review on Stereo Times .
guidocorona
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Guidocorona, you of all people, do really believe that the Red Dragon amps are at the same level as the Pass Labs .5 or XA series? Based on discussing Pass Lab amps with you on past threads, I find this somewhat surprizing.

Many of the ICE and other digital designs offer quite good performance for the money, some of them are not as inexpensive as they use to be, but do not offer the sonics of the higher end solid state designs, in my opinion.

I justed posted a comment on a recent review of the Pass LabsX-350.5 by Martin G. DeWulf that I think you will find both interesting and relevant to your thread.

Finally, I have heard a few of the most highly regarded ICE amps and thought they were ok, but their sonics did not come any were close to either the 350.5 or XA-100's performance, so I just be keeping my XA-100's at least for a little while longer.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
A lot of people think they have heard ICE amps, when in reality they were only hearing everything that was being fed into the ICE amps. I can prove that to anyone. You wouldn't believe the difference in sound I get from each front end, every wire, and how the wrong preamp will absolutely kill the sound.

I could plug anyone of these components into a solid state, and the change will be minor, if anything. It will also be a darn-sight off the mark in sound from what I am enjoying.
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Oh Teajay my friend, why is it that when something looks too good to be true. . . 'tis always just because is truly too good to be true? Is there really no reprieve from the thermal purgatory I am In. . . at a reasonable price? Oh yes, The Citadels are nice, and running cool to boot. . . but at what price? I suspect there may very well be an X.5 or an XA of some sort in my future. . . but does that mean I need to move to the Pacific North West to enjoy my rig year round?
Alas yes, I did suspect the review was mostly hyperbole, but I was still hoping, beyond all hope. . .

Guido
cmo
471 posts
 
Guido,

Do like me and turn on your freakin AC....

See you in a couple of weeks.

Chris
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