This is kind of a romantic movie style love story. I listened to R80's in High-End Munich 2023 and was head over heels. Among all the rooms I had visited, with all the lovely sound, this room was maybe not the "best" but made me fall for the most. I took pictures of everything, the names, the brands but a little bir broken heartedly hearing the supposed price range, which was above my limits back then. Time went by, things changed, got some unexpected extra cash and asked the distributor. He was also eager on importing one of the first ever commercial R80's and saved me from some cumulated gear through years and dices rolled. Mine is Serial number 10 and as far as I know, the second or third commercially available pair.
I also wanted to have the SJS 300B integrated along with R80's but the importing procedures, all the documentation, lab tests etc. was a big burden so the distributor proposed a Kondo Ovation PM2i along with it. First came the PM2i, used them with Harbeth 40.2 40th year specials, which sounded lovely. Then came the R80's. After the first days of euphoria washed away, I wasn't very happy with the sound I had. Talked to the distributor about it. Knowing I was in love with R80's, He proposed to return the PM2i without loss but due to economic restraints, could not cash back but only switch the amp with His brand gear and that was CH Precision L1 + A1.5. Once the CH duo arrived, I realized what was what.
These are the most transparent speakers I have ever heard. They play whatever is before and after them even the slightest change in the cabling and more importantly, the room and the positioning. With CH duo, I spent some time for speaker positioning and even changes in centimeters / fraction of inch made difference. Since this system is in a rented home, I didn't want to apply too much sound treatment on the walls. I found a solution of diffusers with stand alone feet. With all these the sound was very very good. But is was 'only' very very good because these are very transparent speakers and CH is known for their very transparency. What most people complain about CH gear came into life doubled; compared to system my ears are used to, this system sounded "lifeless". The system became extra revealing. Everything is there, like under a microscope but they weren't coming all together easily at all times. The main source had to be perfect to begin with and not all songs are recorded or distributed equally.. One more problem, I realized later as below was that the A1.5 power amplifier was under--working. Most of the time the power was 1 - 3 Watt due to relatively small (30 sqmt / 320 sqft) room and near (230 cm / 7.5 ft apart speakers) listening position and relatively high (92 dB) sensitivity of the speakers.
I evaluated my options. I thought I needed either a speaker with more "character of its own" or a more "romantic" tube amp. Was looking at both directions when I came across a pair of Jadis SE300B powers. 10 Watt, 300B sound (as the SJS 300B integrated I had listened during High-End Munich 2023). So finally this has solved my problem. I'm back with the lovely, warm, musical sound I fell in love with during the show at that room. I still have some work to do with the speaker positioning, some minor movement. The Jadis powers worked lovely with CH - L1. Might be a more "romantic" pre would do better but L1 is in a league of its own and L1 being revealing balances the total sound character of the system. The system makes me want to dance to the music (which I'm no good at) and sing along (which I'm terrible at).
So the speakers: repeat - summarizing above; as You can see from their web page, R80 is not under Atrium speaker family, it is a family of its own and I attest that. No regular bass drive, but two mid-bas drives and a lovely tweeter drive. Never was short of bass in my room, for my listening levels, not only in the listening position but throughout the room, never needed a sub. I went for the OBX (outboard crossover) model since this was once in a lifetime purchase. The crossover is designed bi-wire input and the jumpers for the inputs and between the OBX & the speaker are not included. LV leaves these to the listener to chose and tweak as per their taste. It fills my room easily with 3 - 5 watt daily listening level, 7 - 9 watt high volume with peaks of 12 - 13 watt (once or twice momentarily during months of listening) thanks to CH A1.5 digital power meter. They are the most transparent, most revealing, least forgiving speakers I have heard both before them (gear) and after (room & positioning). They love smooth sounding, low level output tube amps. With the Jadis, I realized that they perform better at low volume levels compared to CH A1.5. Most probably due to CH A1.5 wasn't "moving" (below 1 watt) with low volume levels enough due to high efficiency of r80's and Jadis perform better here. Also a final note for future buyers; R80's do prefer standing firm on the ground. So I recommend playing them with their original spikes before trying dampening feet for reference point. I tried Isoacoustics with them but luckily after I tried the original spikes and R80's didn't like them at all. Now they stand on the original spikes.
I also wanted to have the SJS 300B integrated along with R80's but the importing procedures, all the documentation, lab tests etc. was a big burden so the distributor proposed a Kondo Ovation PM2i along with it. First came the PM2i, used them with Harbeth 40.2 40th year specials, which sounded lovely. Then came the R80's. After the first days of euphoria washed away, I wasn't very happy with the sound I had. Talked to the distributor about it. Knowing I was in love with R80's, He proposed to return the PM2i without loss but due to economic restraints, could not cash back but only switch the amp with His brand gear and that was CH Precision L1 + A1.5. Once the CH duo arrived, I realized what was what.
These are the most transparent speakers I have ever heard. They play whatever is before and after them even the slightest change in the cabling and more importantly, the room and the positioning. With CH duo, I spent some time for speaker positioning and even changes in centimeters / fraction of inch made difference. Since this system is in a rented home, I didn't want to apply too much sound treatment on the walls. I found a solution of diffusers with stand alone feet. With all these the sound was very very good. But is was 'only' very very good because these are very transparent speakers and CH is known for their very transparency. What most people complain about CH gear came into life doubled; compared to system my ears are used to, this system sounded "lifeless". The system became extra revealing. Everything is there, like under a microscope but they weren't coming all together easily at all times. The main source had to be perfect to begin with and not all songs are recorded or distributed equally.. One more problem, I realized later as below was that the A1.5 power amplifier was under--working. Most of the time the power was 1 - 3 Watt due to relatively small (30 sqmt / 320 sqft) room and near (230 cm / 7.5 ft apart speakers) listening position and relatively high (92 dB) sensitivity of the speakers.
I evaluated my options. I thought I needed either a speaker with more "character of its own" or a more "romantic" tube amp. Was looking at both directions when I came across a pair of Jadis SE300B powers. 10 Watt, 300B sound (as the SJS 300B integrated I had listened during High-End Munich 2023). So finally this has solved my problem. I'm back with the lovely, warm, musical sound I fell in love with during the show at that room. I still have some work to do with the speaker positioning, some minor movement. The Jadis powers worked lovely with CH - L1. Might be a more "romantic" pre would do better but L1 is in a league of its own and L1 being revealing balances the total sound character of the system. The system makes me want to dance to the music (which I'm no good at) and sing along (which I'm terrible at).
So the speakers: repeat - summarizing above; as You can see from their web page, R80 is not under Atrium speaker family, it is a family of its own and I attest that. No regular bass drive, but two mid-bas drives and a lovely tweeter drive. Never was short of bass in my room, for my listening levels, not only in the listening position but throughout the room, never needed a sub. I went for the OBX (outboard crossover) model since this was once in a lifetime purchase. The crossover is designed bi-wire input and the jumpers for the inputs and between the OBX & the speaker are not included. LV leaves these to the listener to chose and tweak as per their taste. It fills my room easily with 3 - 5 watt daily listening level, 7 - 9 watt high volume with peaks of 12 - 13 watt (once or twice momentarily during months of listening) thanks to CH A1.5 digital power meter. They are the most transparent, most revealing, least forgiving speakers I have heard both before them (gear) and after (room & positioning). They love smooth sounding, low level output tube amps. With the Jadis, I realized that they perform better at low volume levels compared to CH A1.5. Most probably due to CH A1.5 wasn't "moving" (below 1 watt) with low volume levels enough due to high efficiency of r80's and Jadis perform better here. Also a final note for future buyers; R80's do prefer standing firm on the ground. So I recommend playing them with their original spikes before trying dampening feet for reference point. I tried Isoacoustics with them but luckily after I tried the original spikes and R80's didn't like them at all. Now they stand on the original spikes.
