MikeUnderWater

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from ebay

Summary:
Stonking amp, real beauty, have to agree with the other guys on this amp. Took a punt on this from ebay based upon reviews and havent been dissapointed. Deep, tight bass, tons of detail and a wonderully "musical" - cliche i know, but it really is. Was running a Naim 202/200 setup before this, compared to the Naim the NVA background is inky black and instruments can be heard for what they are. So surprised this integrated is outperforming the Naim setup for a third of the price too. Ok, the case is made of plastic but that is supposed to assist in lowering noise, but under the hood this baby has 2 transformers per channel - this thing weighs a ton!! I listen to mostly rock, indie but for some reason after owning this amp for 6 months im now starting to enjoy classical music, this amp really does open up your musical horizons. I must admit that I was worried about losing PRaT by moving away from Naim, but no fear, the NVA has it in spade. Really fine amp.

Strengths:
Fast, dynamic, detailed and.... musical as hell.

Weaknesses:
God it's heavy!!!

Similar Products Used:
Naim Nac202/NAP200

Summary:
This amplifier is one to audition to listen to the control, rythmn, openess and ambience of a recording situation. It has rythmical drive in spades and detail retrieval is truely coherent (i.e. the details you hear are all part of the sound of the instrument not just added on to impress the listener).

It is also open, unflustered and smooth (silky) in its presentation of sound and very addictive. But be warned it doesn't suffer fools gladly if your CD player isn't top notch it'll make it sound exactly as it is. This amp adds nothing and takes nothing away and is the first amp (at any price) to present the music cleanly without being hard or glassy.

It presents all the excitement of the music and allows a good musician to show how better he is than just an average one. At 1000 GBP for the kit or 1380 GBP fully built this is truely a steal at the price. Worth searching out to be amazed at how smooth and yet exciting a well designed amplifier can be.

Strengths:
Beautiful clarity without hardness or glassyness

Weaknesses:
bass control is not on the Naim 135 level but bloody close and it costs half the price

Similar Products Used:
Naim CDX / XPS with Royd Doublets

Summary:
Given the sort of audio equipment I've been auditioning recently, I've completly surprised myself by choosing an amplifier (as well as a cd player) from NVA - a company I almost forgot existed. I was truly astonished by the performance produced by this amplifier, and accompanying cd player; I bought them as an interim measure whilst I finish saving for a more exotic system (Golmund digital frnt end, Final Audio Research pre-amplification, Pass Labs amps, Sonus Faber or Audio Physic loudspeakers), but the more I listen, the more I wonder whether the GBP35K I plan on investing will be worth it.
The sound is best described as crystalline; clean (but not cold), superbly dynamic (in the way that best complements the impressive transient capabilities of loudsepakers like Audio Physic Virgos or Sonus Faber Amati Homages), tuneful and wonderfully coherent.

I kept listening out for just a little grain, that hint of harshness that betrays moderately priced electronics in the company of super-high end equipment, but I was to be disappointed: It remained crisp and clean all the way to the top (the design permits the AP80 to amplify signals right up to 100kHz). And yet, synthesised with all this clarity was a mucial involvement that one would usually associate with the best 0f single-ended design.

Yes, amplifiers like the Pass Labs Aleph 2 mono amps are 'better'; excellent purity of tone, virtual reality sound-staging, the most subtle micro-dynamics, producing fine textures and portraying the real substance and body of instruments/voices in space; but I feel that an NVA AP80 gets 90% of the way there - without muddying its sound with filtering effects, or making half-hearted/compromised attempts at demonstrating audiophile qualities that many products in this price band fall prey to.

So the question for me remains, is that remaining 10% worth that extra GBP 4 - 5,000? Couple an NVA CD70 with an NVA AP80 with, say, Nordost Blue Heaven cabling, and speakers of substantial quality (ATC SCM20, Sonus Faber Electa Amator II, Audio Physic, Proac Response 1SC, or any other highly capable design) and you're in audiophile nirvana, and where you always wanted to be. Where? Right at the heart of the music.