bencat
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Post by bencat on Jul 6, 2023 11:05:14 GMT
Thought I would start this thread as there did not seem to be one for this company . In the past due to the rather testy nature of the owner Richard Dunn there was some resistance shall we say . However Richard dies a few years ago and the company is now in new hands . Firstly I have to say that I am big fan of this companies power amplifiers and as my systems are all digital I do not use a pre .
Currently I have three NVA Power amps 2 x S30 and 1 x S20 which power a stacked quad of KEF 103 Reference speakers actively the S30 doing right and left bass and mid while the S20 does both sides treble . Sound is very natural and has real life to it . Used as they are in a very narrow band they perform so well it is difficult for me to pick out any faults . I have and can listen to this system for hours with no listening fatigue and often the music just stops you and makes you listen .
I also have another S20 in my kitchen system which is connected to a Passive Pre with stepped attenuator fed from a Khardas Tone board attached to a Raspberry Pi 4 with Moode Audio distro . Speakers are old Rogers 1957 flat mounted on the wall and it sounds very good indeed for music while cooking or just sat at the table .
Lastly is the NVA in my main music system and this started life as an S60 bought used which developed a fault . NVA not only repaired the unit even though i had bough it used but have also upgraded this on to the current S300 in their range which is a very different amplifier . Now my music system is quite a strange mix but here goes . Firstly is a Raspberry Pi 4 with Allo Digione Signature fitted this connects to a Mutec PM3 USB Reclocker which is fitted with a Leo Bodnar external Clock . This then feeds a dCS Purcell upsampler which in turn is connected to a dCS Delius DAC . This then feeds directly to the NVA S300 which are driving QUAD ESL 57 speakers . Now Quads are a very difficult speaker to drive well as they have a very tricky crossover which at one point in the treble presents a near short circuit . Lots of SS amps find this difficult and I have tried a number of amplifiers which have done good but not great jobs this includes a Krell KSA 50 , Leak Stereo 20 , Croft 3 OTL , Quad 405 Netgear uprated , XTZ A100 . All have had issues either with getting enough volume or just sounding musical . I found out out when researching my first NVA used buy that Richard had used Quad ESL 57 speakers when he first designed this amplifier and made sure that even the 20 watt starter amp was able to do this . So what I use now the S300 does a very good , no that is a little too lukewarm does a superb job ofgetting music out of the Quads . It does not have or add any colour of its own it just gets out of the way and lets the music pour out in to the room and in to your ears . The sound is very natural with real voices and instruments sounding as they should and placed in fixed spaces unless they are moved in the mix . Bass from the Quads is the most surprising using this system while it does not have real weight it is fast and does have impact and some call this slam . What I like about the Quads is that they have everything in balance and proportion it just sounds right and real I think the NVA amp has this as well and the two work very well as a pairing .
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Post by Slinger on Jul 6, 2023 12:42:37 GMT
Firstly, let me say I'm an Admin (and have been for almost 12 years) on the Hi-Fi Subjectivist forum, which is the "home" of NVA, so you're at liberty to assume my words are tainted by that. Hopefully, you know me well enough to know that's not "me" though.
I've owned a NVA system (Yes, it's "A" NVA system, Nene Valley Audio, Richard always insisted.) for years, 12 years in fact - you can see the details in my user info here - and I still love it. It's my main system, and I've never felt the need to upgrade it to anything else, and tbh I couldn't afford to "improve" it.
Bencat is correct about the lack of colouration. Richard [Dunn] always maintained that NVA cleaned the window on the music, and the further up the range one went the cleaner the window became. Paul, who purchased the company from Richard's widow, Nadia, has continued the with NVA legacy ethos, and incorporated even higher quality components in his new models. Sadly, I have no direct knowledge of how the new ranges sound other than reading user-reviews etc. However, if they really do sound even better than my, 12-year old fairly basic, bi-amped setup, they must sound pretty good.
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Post by julesd68 on Jul 6, 2023 15:32:24 GMT
Have any of you chaps got any experience of LS6 speaker cable?
I thought it might be worth a try at some stage.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 6, 2023 16:13:08 GMT
Have any of you chaps got any experience of LS6 speaker cable? Yes, I tried both LS6 and the then-new LS7 (now called TSCS) when Richard was still talking to me. Both are very fine cables, no downside whatsoever. LS7 sounded incrementally better at the periphery frequencies (bass and treble) but both communicate very nicely in the midrange. |
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bencat
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Post by bencat on Aug 24, 2023 12:48:46 GMT
Well as I have NVA amps all over the house I have to mention that the three I use in my active system are doing sterling work at making the best music I have heard from this set up ever . As always I am just having a brief muse on things and wondering if getting all of the interconnects three sets of course matching and NVA SC would act like the cherry on the cake . Currently they are just three cheap Lynx audio items which work well but considering a change and matching NVA makes sense .
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Post by Slinger on Aug 24, 2023 13:20:01 GMT
Well as I have NVA amps all over the house I have to mention that the three I use in my active system are doing sterling work at making the best music I have heard from this set up ever . As always I am just having a brief muse on things and wondering if getting all of the interconnects three sets of course matching and NVA SC would act like the cherry on the cake . Currently they are just three cheap Lynx audio items which work well but considering a change and matching NVA makes sense . As you know, Richard always designed everything to work in concert, I doubt anything has changed drastically under Paul's stewardship. Like the amps, the further up the range you go, the better the reported quality. Personally, I'd have a conversation with Paul, and let him guide you. One thing about NVA is that, to the best of my knowledge, the owners past and present have never deliberately sold anyone something that wouldn't actually improve their system just to make a sale. |
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bencat
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Post by bencat on Aug 25, 2023 12:13:59 GMT
Slinger I did have a brief exchange with Paul and he has been very generous . I have tried the full range of the NVA cables and in my systems and for my ears have always preferred the sound of the SC cable compared to the others . I have to consider that I am a philistine and do not appreciate the finer things but it is the truth . I have decided that i will do this change now before NVA are VAT rated and the prices will rise accordingly . No idea if this will make any difference at all but it is the right time to make the change and get things nicely balanced with the same cable for all the amps . As I am writing this the system in question is playing and sounds excellent with wonderful and realistic voice and instruments just playing and being together as they should . I suppose if this change only keeps that going then it is still something worth doing but if by chance i can get even a little improvement then I will be very content with that . I already use the SC with my main music system in to the NVA S300 with NVA Speaker cable as well and that works so this should as well .
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bencat
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Post by bencat on Oct 16, 2023 13:13:02 GMT
Well there is good news and then of has less good news . The really good news is that the NVA S300 I use has shown itself to be the best sounding and matching amplifier for my Quad ESL 57 against quite a few amps that should on paper have been a better match . The hum I have had to contend with has gone now and the music just plays . Now the slightly controversial part , I know that NVA would much prefer me to use their speaker cable due to the absence of any speaker protection and the need to ensure the load the amp sees stays within certain parameters . However about two months or so ago a pair of Audioquest solid core speaker cables appeared on e-bay at £30 plus postage . Could not resist I used DNM cable years ago and have liked all of the solid core cables I have tried . So bought them and fitted solid copper banana plugs and then used Tara Labs track to burn them in . Good news is the NVA and system sound better than ever the music just keeps pouring out . Bad news is I will be seeing Paul of NVA in a couple of weeks and will have to tell him .
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Post by MartinT on Oct 16, 2023 13:16:45 GMT
I'm sure Paul will be understanding.
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