This is one for the purists
Lavardin ITx Amplifier £7399
We first came across Lavardin’s IT integrated amplifier back in the late ’90s. That original was a simple, low-powered unit that somehow contrived to deliver a musical performance so exquisite that the memory of it remains emblazoned in our minds to this very day. We have tested thousands of products since that review, but few of them have left such a marked impact on our collective psyche.
Fast forward to the present day and on our test rack sits the latest version of the IT, the Lavardin ITx. It looks utterly familiar, despite a few things having changed in the intervening decades.
Over the years the IT’s insides have been tweaked to improve performance; the main ingredient of the amplifier’s secret sauce has always been the way the electronic design reduces the effects of a phenomenon the company calls ‘Memory Distortion’. This is the idea that as electrons flow across silicon (used in transistors) they leave a residual path, and that path affects the way subsequent electrons move through the material. Lavardin claims that this effect causes traditional transistor-based designs to sound harder and less musical than valve-powered alternatives. In valves, electrons (essentially) flow through a vacuum so the ‘Memory Distortion’ effect doesn’t exist.
Elsewhere, the ITx remains a modestly powered Class A/B unit with an output rating of 55 watts per channel. It is neatly made, with a carefully shielded mains transformer. But there is little here to suggest this amplifier is anything special, let alone something worthy of carrying such a hefty price tag.
Lavardin is a very small French manufacturer and the ITx feels like a cottage industry product. Given that the unit still feels solidly made, we have no issue with that. Just don’t expect the slickness of build delivered by any of the industry majors.
The ITx’s connectivity is limited but adequate for most stereo set-ups. There are four single-ended line-level inputs, a lone tape output and a pair of modest-looking speaker terminals. If you play records or use headphones, make sure to budget for extra boxes.
FAST AND FLUID
The Lavardin ITx is one of the most uncluttered and self-effacing sounding amps we have ever heard. Its presentation isn’t warm or rich in the manner of some valve designs, but it is incredibly sweet sounding, in all the best ways. This is also a fast and fluid performance, one that is immensely precise without sounding clinical in any way.
We listen to Arvo Pä
