Since last year, I have replaced the power amp (from Rotel RB-991 to ADCOM GFA-585) and the CD player (from ARCAM CD72 to Sony CDP-XB740, believe it or not), but the Kolektor remains in my system. Still love it. Lexington truck repair

None . .

Unbelievable reality, musicality, detail. Accurate, deep, real imaging and bass. Great sound either in bridged or unbridged mode. | Broomfield Towing Company

none so far

Highly accurate, transparent, big dynamics, subterranean bass. One of the worlds Best 50 W tube amps Made my friends 96db AN-E speakers and 89db Wilson Watt 7.1s sound amazing. Never runs out of headroom, even on complex orchestral music Great looks, small footprint mono block towers, Swiss excellence, Patek Phillipe of amplifiers

2 845 tubes per amp run really hot - heats up the room. Benefits greatly from Tube upgrades. Psvanne WE replicas at a minimum, and preferably NOS WE,Cetrons or RCA if you can afford/find them. Pricing a bit on the high side, (but not for a world class amp). A little strident with ultra high efficiency horns - too much of a good thing? You need really good cables, and the amps will ruthlessly reveal weaker parts of your audio chain

Totally neutral 3d sound. (no hint of certain sound signature)

If you want laidback and gentle, overly sweet amp, which is gonna sing "everything is gonna be alright" then buy something like Mcintosh.(because this amp does not dictate, it listens)

This thing really wants to impress you by making every single recording sound different in it´s own way.

there is alot of stress on effects and channel isolation plus precision and space. (it will use your entire room on painting an audio picture)

It´s totally ready to adapt to what you are listening too and will in most cases need a really serious cd and preamp.

I find that it has the exact same sound as the Nagra cdp and preamp pl.

Everytime you listen to a piece of music, it sounds different and fresh almost as if it constantly educates you of what is going on.

It´s the total opposite of dull,monotonous,lacking of ability

I used to be a huge Mcintosh fan because of their general big,wide,controlled and relaxed music style.
But found that even the best 1200 and 2000 amps, simply did not have the same depth and evolved top,middle,low sound that Nagra has with most of it´s product.

They are both fantasticly good in their own way.

If I had ½ crap cables and speakers I would go for Mcintosh because they are generally more forgiving and comforting, while if I had a good amount of money to use on other components, there would be no doubt that I would like the more 3d and dynamic nagra sound.

The music is just, sooooooo alive and organic!

Throw the normal tubes that come with it, out immediately.
They don´t have anything to do with the Nagra sound.

One of the best 50w Tube amp in the world
Go and listen to this ampli.

I had the opportunity to listen for one hour to this unbelievable good and transparent sounded system.
This is the typical Switzerland build and designed Tube amp that will drive you crazy.
A system for life. I will start to spare money for it.

Natural

Input, price

The Nagra VPA, particularly when coupled with their matching PL-P (full featured) or PL-L (line only, simplified) preamps, must be some of the most natural amps ever produced.

Twin triodes, but no "triode sound". Push-pull, but with the delicacy of small single ended amps. Smooth when required, hard when needed, as fast as the best silicon based amps. No apparent colorations when used with the right ancillaries. I could keep on and on... The VPA's are *that* good when used inside their performance envelope (they can become slightly hard close to max power).

Drawbacks? Yes, there are a couple: their price is on the high side, even considering their impeccable pedigree and top notch Swiss manufacturing, and the symmetrical input is a joke considering that the matching preamps are single ended. Oh, yes, another one, very system specific: the VPA's aren't the best when used in an hybrid high fidelity/home theater configuration, as their 845 output triodes turn a dark room into an illuminated one...

Similar Products Used:

Various

3 dimensionality and spaciousness

Chinese 845s tubes cannot do them justice

Nagra VPA is neither warm nor powerful. However, when matched with a reasonably efficient speakers, they can be extremely musical. They sounded reasonably good when they came from the factory. However, when I replaced the in-house Chinese 845s with Cetron 845s, the sound raised to another whole new level. However, if Nagra selected to use Cetron tubes, it may raise another $5K to its price tag.

Similar Products Used:

Cary 805, VAC 70/70