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Lavardin amp rip cremated ----what now ?

JOHN VAN BAVEL

pfm Member
My much loved Lavardin IS ref amp self destructed and I need a similar but not necessarily identical replacement . Suggestions welcomed . Speakers are quite sensitive Living Voice Avatars .
 
Sugden or a similar high quality low powered class A amp that can be repaired if a fault should occur.
 
Photo's online of the internals suggest that a fix should be reasonably possible, depending on what has died, there looks to be plenty of space in it too, to be able to access things.

They aren't common, used, but fixed, it would probably be worth around £1k
 
Why can this Lavardin thing not be repaired?
From a review posted on Lavardin's own website:

"Look inside the IT and it's obvious there's something a little out of the ordinary going on here electronically. For a start, many of the transistors and some of the ICs have had their numbers filed off to protect their identities. Then there are the parts potted inside the four mystery black boxes, each about 1.5in. square, a pair of which sits in each channel."

I mentioned this on the right to repair thread and the response was crickets. They obscure their parts, and some circuit assemblies are cast into black resin. To me, that's unacceptable. They want to be the only source for service/maintenance apparently, and if/when they go belly up someday, you're absolutely screwed.
 
So - it is either that there is something revolutionary in there that they want to keep hidden (Have they got any patents or applications for such, does anyone know?) or the circuit is really primitive and they could be embarrassed and don't want anyone to know.
 
So - it is either that there is something revolutionary in there that they want to keep hidden (Have they got any patents or applications for such, does anyone know?) or the circuit is really primitive and they could be embarrassed and don't want anyone to know.

Patents are the very best way to tell everyone what you are doing, and subtle variations upon a theme are hot patentable anyway.

They are looking to stop the normal thing happening these days - cheap copies being made in China - even Avondale boards are copied FFS.
Unfortunatley, that makes their kit all but irreparable by anyone but themselves.
 
They are looking to stop the normal thing happening these days - cheap copies being made in China - even Avondale boards are copied FFS.

Sorry, but that review that mentions black boxes and filed part numbers is from 1999. They have been repair-proofing their products for at least 2 decades.
 
From a review posted on Lavardin's own website:

"Look inside the IT and it's obvious there's something a little out of the ordinary going on here electronically. For a start, many of the transistors and some of the ICs have had their numbers filed off to protect their identities. Then there are the parts potted inside the four mystery black boxes, each about 1.5in. square, a pair of which sits in each channel."

I mentioned this on the right to repair thread and the response was crickets. They obscure their parts, and some circuit assemblies are cast into black resin. To me, that's unacceptable. They want to be the only source for service/maintenance apparently, and if/when they go belly up someday, you're absolutely screwed.

Yeah, I remember reading the review of the IT in Hifi+ , that quote may have been lifted from it. After reading it I wouldn't have considered the amp amy further as it would mean a return to France in the advent of a failure and if the company went bust then it could end up being an expensive doorstop.
I assumed when the OP used the word 'cremated' that the amp had went on fire or let out some magic smoke and therefore was toast and was beyond repair.
 
From a review posted on Lavardin's own website:

"Look inside the IT and it's obvious there's something a little out of the ordinary going on here electronically. For a start, many of the transistors and some of the ICs have had their numbers filed off to protect their identities. Then there are the parts potted inside the four mystery black boxes, each about 1.5in. square, a pair of which sits in each channel."

I mentioned this on the right to repair thread and the response was crickets. They obscure their parts, and some circuit assemblies are cast into black resin. To me, that's unacceptable. They want to be the only source for service/maintenance apparently, and if/when they go belly up someday, you're absolutely screwed.
Why is it unacceptable? They want to protect their secrets to stop the competition. If you don't like it, don''t buy it!

To my knowledge, Lavardin DO repair their products. Perhsps the OP should chat to John Roberts, he is Mr Lavardin in the UK. John posts here often too.
 


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