Reviews
Updates and reviews of our product ranges from the world’s specialist audio press.
With all of the music I sent their way during their 2-month+ Barn stay, the R80 sang with authority, weight, and a deep, rich voice while sounding light on their feet, nimble, with a silky smooth resolution that offers a clear view into music’s finer workings without ever sounding etched or overly lit up.
In many ways, the Living Voice R80 OB-X are a dream come true, combining a rich earthy full range voice with real in-room impact and grace without the need for gobs of power. A combination of strengths that offers a deep physical connection to our cherished music.
The Auditorium R25A is so consummately capable and confidently superior that you can forget more affordable alternatives; this baby shows many more ambitious and much more expensive speakers exactly how it should be done as well as unlocking a world of affordable system options.
Roy Gregory’s in-depth of assessment of living with the fourth-generation Auditorium OBX-RW4:
The Living Voice Auditorium speakers have been in continuous production for over quarter of a century. (They must be doing something seriously right!)
Twittering Machines’ main man listens enthusiastically to the R25A, concluding:
What I’m after, what I crave, is the ability to fall into music as the bottomless pit of enveloping beauty it is without the mechanics of reproduction or the voice of the gear getting in the way. The Living Voice Auditorium R25A offer a fast pass to just this kind of experience and their easy to drive load means you have a big wide world of wonderful amps to choose from. I enjoyed, relished, our time together and just remember that when it comes to listening to music on the hifi, there’s nothing wrong with pure pleasure.
Martin Colloms finds there’s rather more to the Auditorium R25A than perhaps first meets the eye.
For recording after recording, this Living Voice design manifestly conveyed the sense of performance, drawing in listeners and firmly holding the attention. These first impressions didn’t fade: at first things did sound a little too good to be true, and yet it carried on like this throughout the auditioning. Every time I powered up the system there was that fresh, communicative enthusiasm, reinforced for almost every piece of music sampled. If you ever tried to read the record liner notes, the speakers were dragging you back to the music.
Roy Gregory revisits and offers an insightful analysis of the Auditorium R25A in the context of two and a half decades of evolution.
If the object of budget esoterica is to deliver the appeal and attractions of high-end audio on something approaching an entry-level budget, then the Auditorium R25A qualifies with honours.
HiFi Plus’ Roy Gregory is mightily smitten by the fourth generation ‘entry-level’ Auditorium, the 25A.
Bargains don’t come much more elegantly packaged or musically compelling than this – and make no mistake, the latest (at the time of review) Living Voice is a very serious bargain indeed.
Part-Time Audiophile pen a review of the OBX-RW3 in their ‘Occasional’ magazine.
These loudspeakers are indeed special in every conceivable way – like the finest components, they form an emotional bond with the listener that cannot be overestimated.
The Ear’s assessment of the Living Voice Auditorium R25A 25th Anniversary model.
This is what makes the Auditorium so appealing, it’s not as incisive as is fashionable with more mainstream brands but makes up for it with a musicality that means any type of music is easy to access and enjoy. This comes down to high intrinsic coherence and some painstaking effort in the voicing process by someone who values musical fluidity above maximum definition.
6 Moons review of the third-generation Living Voice Auditorium Series OBX-RW3.
I thus think that it properly represents why Kevin Scott became an auteur speaker designer in the first place and why these 25 years later he’s still at it. Exploring inner spaces, eyes closed, body fully relaxed, a CD playing through to the end without interruption to get very deeply lost and thus found… that’s his core purpose. If it’s also yours, wouldn't it make sense to check out his speakers?
Germany’s Image HiFi magazine finds the R25A very much to their reviewer’s taste.
I can't stress enough how well Kevin Scott has succeeded in combining the lively nature of the R25A with a sculptured sound that is hard to reconcile with the physical presence of the speakers.
6 Moons review of our 25th anniversary Auditorium R25A loudspeaker.
Yet tech specs would miss what makes Kevin Scott’s modest 25th Anniversary box stand out. In demonstrable fashion when preceded by aiding and abetting ancillaries like no-feedback triode-type amps, this smallest current Living Voice is a very soulful loudsinger not speaker.
That’s because no matter how eloquent, articulate and crisply enunciated, a speaking voice will always feel clipped compared to song. If that difference and these music examples convey to you a special appeal, the R25A will broadcast on your wavelength.
Roy Gregory’s in-depth assessment of living with the Vox Palladian & Palladian Basso Loudspeaker System.
It’s not just about what happens within the soundstage but also the rare ability of these speakers to reach forward and include the listener in the same space as the performers. It’s a combination of dynamic projection, focussed energy and bandwidth – and there are few systems that manage all three.