[zach915m]

It should sound fantastic with your speakers.  It does say this on the Taboo page:
 

I D E A L   S P E A K E R S 

When using loudspeakers with the amplifier, 8 ohm speakers will play slightly louder than 4 ohm speakers.  Desktop use works with virtually any small monitors, larger listening room use is best suited with speakers that are 94dB or higher.
 
So it seems you should be fine, may not be able to blast your neighbors out but I heard the Taboo on Steve's speakers when I visited and it sounded absolutely fantastic.

 

[ToTje]

  It should sound fantastic with your speakers.  It does say this on the Taboo page:
 

I D E A L   S P E A K E R S 

When using loudspeakers with the amplifier, 8 ohm speakers will play slightly louder than 4 ohm speakers.  Desktop use works with virtually any small monitors, larger listening room use is best suited with speakers that are 94dB or higher.
 
So it seems you should be fine, may not be able to blast your neighbors out but I heard the Taboo on Steve's speakers when I visited and it sounded absolutely fantastic.

Excellent, thanks!

Actually I really have to see if I'm going to use the taboo for my speakers, since I roughly listen for 12 hours a day to music. I don't think that's too healthy for the tubes in the long run.
However, I'd throw my center- and rearspeaker and my Onkyo receiver to the attic if it would work decently and let all the sound run through my dac that's connected to the Taboo then.
Saves a lot of space in my living room, plus I am really sure the sound will be much better.
 
If I could sell my entire set for a decent price, I would and would only get Decware gear back.
But 2nd hand prices for my gear are terrible...

 

[zach915m]

  Excellent, thanks!

Actually I really have to see if I'm going to use the taboo for my speakers, since I roughly listen for 12 hours a day to music. I don't think that's too healthy for the tubes in the long run.
However, I'd throw my center- and rearspeaker and my Onkyo receiver to the attic if it would work decently and let all the sound run through my dac that's connected to the Taboo then.
Saves a lot of space in my living room, plus I am really sure the sound will be much better.

Worst thing that can happen is you'll have to change the tubes.  I've only had my Taboo for a couple weeks but I pretty much leave it on all day and then just turn it off at night.  It sounds a little more cohesive after a little warm up.  I asked Steve and he said the only thing that will ever need replacing is the tubes, the amp will last forever.   So burn those tubes up!
 
One thing is for sure, your LCD's will sound absolutely stunning with this amp.

 

[ToTje]

 
Worst thing that can happen is you'll have to change the tubes.  I've only had my Taboo for a couple weeks but I pretty much leave it on all day and then just turn it off at night.  It sounds a little more cohesive after a little warm up.  I asked Steve and he said the only thing that will ever need replacing is the tubes, the amp will last forever.   So burn those tubes up!
 
One thing is for sure, your LCD's will sound absolutely stunning with this amp.

Yeah but those tubes can also be kinda expensive! 

 Fortunately the amp I'm going to buy comes with a lot of different tubes, and a friend here on head-fi who I also have bought gear from, also has a bunch of extra tubes that he doesn't use.
 
Ah and thx for that last bit! Yeah that's also what I understood. I've been reading a LOT about the Taboo and I really can't wait to hear the difference between it and my current Little Dot with Voshkhod tubes! 

 
I'm also looking for a decent upgrade cable for the stock balanced one from my headphone. Unfortunately the best cables are made outside the European Union and import costs insanely much in taxes.

 

[Argo Duck]

You say active speakers? Speaker amps like the Taboo are designed for passive speakers.

AFAIK I don't think - ideally - you would use the Taboo as a preamp either because the output impedance is geared to see 4-16 ohm speakers, not another amp input (in this case, the one built into your sub). Doing this, you would probably not achieve benefits such as the Taboo's transparency, holographic imaging or dynamics.

Of course the above is null and void if you are able to detach your studiospeakers from the sub and run them from the Taboo instead?

Regardless of all this, with the LCD-X hps you are good to go!

 

[ToTje]

You say active speakers? Speaker amps like the Taboo are designed for passive speakers.

AFAIK I don't think - ideally - you would use the Taboo as a preamp either because the output impedance is geared to see 4-16 ohm speakers, not another amp input (in this case, the one built into your sub). Doing this, you would probably not achieve benefits such as the Taboo's transparency, holographic imaging or dynamics.

Of course the above is null and void if you are able to detach your studiospeakers from the sub and run them from the Taboo instead?

Regardless of all this, with the LCD-X hps you are good to go!

I've read somewhere that someone also had speakers that weren't very high performance, but because they were active, it shouldn't be a problem.
I realise that the amp of the woofers will influence the bass in a negative way, but the tweeter and the other speakers are passive. I'm not really sure if the signals get separated in a very transparent way though.
The mids and highs still should sound lovely, I think.
The subs are the woofers of the speakers themselves; they can't be detached. Well at least you can give them an EXTRA sub signal, but the woofers themselvs are powered by an integrated amp.
 
I'm talking about this model: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/79235/Jbl-S412p.html (The last page has the most important information.)
 
Right now they're connected to an Onkyo TX-DS696, on the regular speaker outputs and sound really good this way. But if the taboo can drive them enough and the sound does improve, then the Onkyo is going upstairs and I probably only will use the Taboo.
 
Anyway, that's all secondary; of course the Taboo + LCD-x combination is what it really is all about! I use the JBL's only for background music or when I'm not behind my computer. If I really want to LISTEN and to feel the emotion of the music, I always put the LCD-x on. The JBL's have a powerful bass and a good, warm sound, but the LCD-x goes much deeper and the whole spectrum of the music is astonishing!

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Great. Had a look at the manual. All looks good.

I use Triangle Scalene 2-way speakers of similar efficiency, about 91-92dB/W/m (4-6 ohms). Like you I only use these occasionally as background. They sound very good and get louder than expected with the Taboo (mk II).

Enjoy

 

[ToTje]

^ Great. Had a look at the manual. All looks good.

I use Triangle Scalene 2-way speakers of similar efficiency, about 91-92dB/W/m (4-6 ohms). Like you I only use these occasionally as background. They sound very good and get louder than expected with the Taboo (mk II).

Enjoy

Thanks! Well I'll just try it out when I receive the Taboo. Nothing can go wrong I guess. I'll still have to work a few things out with my setup here, but all in all I think everything will be okay.
I'll post the results here but I think it will take a week or 2 before I receive the Taboo.

 

[ToTje]

Ah and another question: is it really worth it to get a balanced XLR cable for my LCD-x when I get the Taboo?
I understood that the Lucid mode requires such a bable and that Lucid mode affects the soundstage dramatically.
However, although I absolutely love my LCD-x for its sound, it almost has no soundstage at all compared to the AKG K712 that I had.
Will the lucid mode be audible on an LCD-X, making it worth it to buy a balanced cable?
 
Edit: Oh I now understand that Lucid Mode especially was designed with Audze headphones in mind?
Then I guess a balanced cable indeed could be a good investment.

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Although I have the mk II (which has only single-ended output or balanced if you tap the speaker terminals) I found even here Lucid Mode extended the dimensionality of my LCD2 rev 1 a lot. The rev 1 is known for an intimate, closed-in sound-stage yet Lucid mode - even with the SE output - made such a difference I kept it all the time. (In fact, from the SE jack the other 'option' is mono, so..! From the speaker taps my options were stereo or lucid and I preferred Lucid here too).

Considering the mk III has two levels of Lucid as well as balanced hp outputs, I think you will probably hear a positive difference for your LCD-X

You may have noticed in this thread some mk III owners found 'super lucid' too much, or too much with some tracks. I don't recall but this may have been with non-Audez'e hps, such as the Senn HD800.

 

[Argo Duck]

I have a question about the meters for mk III owners now that some time has passed...do you find these useful? Have they alerted you to a dying tube? Other benefits?

Or are they just good to look at?!

 

[jhljhl]

I have both Taboo mkII and mkIII and I would say that one is not better than the other.  The Taboo mkII is more transparent to me but the mkIII stereo separation imaging is much clearer using LCD 3f.
 
Also tube tip Cifte gz32 sounds really good in the mkII great midrange vocals and classical very smooth.
 
I think the meters are helpful for matching tubes in mkIII.

 

[abvolt]

This amp looks really nice and I'd like to ask if anyone has compared this amp to the woo wa6se, sorry if this has been asked before. Also have any of you guys had a listen to the decware dm946 speakers with this amp, Thanks for any of your impressions on this gear..

 

[longbowbbs]

I had the Taboo MK III and the DM945's. I was also using the CSP2+ as the Pre-amp. It was a sweet combination. The 8" woofer in the DM945's is bigger than the usual bookshelf speaker and they we deeper than what you normally get. Very transparent and very holographic. I really enjoyed the combination.

 

[Llloyd]

If anyone could give me a tube recommendation I would be grateful.  I'm a fan of the signature of the stock tube.  My dac (concero hd) is very analytical so something too sharp will likely fatigue my ears very quickly.  
 
Looking for something that will give me a similar sound to the stock tube or even just a touch warmer but with a step up in detail.
 
I don't like the 'tubey' sound which I'm sure most people don't if they own a taboo.  As I said I find the concero very dry and analytical (it's too much with my bakoon amp and he-500).  Thanks for the help.