Nva?

[Mart Mccall]

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You've made a lot of changes at once. Interested to hear what your ultimate conclusions will be.

Nice work on the review.

Thanks Mike

It may seem I have made a lot of changes but the only new things I have introduced are the power amp and speaker cable. The NVA interconnects and pre-amp were already in the system.

Prior to the NVA amp arriving I tried a Linn LK100 power amp and the power amp section of a Harmon Kardon 930 receiver. The NVA comfortably outperforms both.

Making a lot of changes at once is the worst thing to do if you really want to evaluate a particular item of kit or make a decision on what is working right and what isn't. Hasn't stopped me in the past though!

I'd rather have kept the speaker cable I was using (Chord Odyssey 2) since I feel it is relatively 'character-free'. But the circuit the NVA amps use is not unconditionally stable and will not perform well with certain designs of speaker cable (such as twisted pairs like the Chord) and in fact using these types may actually damage the amp. So the NVA speaker cables are mandatory with NVA integrated or power amps. Otherwise, the warranty is invalidated.

 

[frperdurabo]

I'm also reading. Had forgotten about NVA (or never heard of it?) but love quirky, minimalist British hi-fi. Thanks for your report(s).

 

[Mart Mccall]

Yesterday I swapped out the A30 and KEFs and put in the Linn Lk100 still using the LS 1.5 cable with the Akais.

Interesting how the cable tamed the slightly overblown, blousey nature of this amp compared to the same set=up but with the Chord Odyssey 2 cable. Trying different speakers and different amps with the various cables has given me a bit of an idea as to what is going on.

Firstly the cable - neither the LS1, LS5 or the LS 1.5 really suits the Akai. It would appear that when I got them I was just lucky I was using the Chord cable since that seems to be an ideal match. to them - Likewise the XTZ power amp. None of the other combos come close to this, although I must stress I have not once had a bad sound or a boring one - I have always been able to listen at length without losing interest in the music, so my comments should be interpreted in that light i.e I am being picky.

The LS5 with the KEF Calindas was a revelation - they prefer this cable to the Chord by a mile - quite astonishing how they opened up the bass.


Secondly the amps: Both the Linn and the NVA are slightly uncouth but in different ways. Listening again to The Doors doing Riders on the Storm the Linn is a slightly easier listen, slightly cleaner. But it did not have the same solidity to the image as the NVA, the NVA was more 'real' for want of a better word. Trouble is neither is really satisfactory, neither is up to the level that I want in terms of opening up a 'window on the recording'.

So I have decided to keep the LS5 cable as a second option to the Chord should I decide to change speakers. I'll also keep the LS 1.5 since that was a special and not really fair to return it. The amp and the loaner LS1 I will post back this afternoon.

So I still need an amp to match the Akais. That means either get the XTZ fixed if possible or try something else that will give similar results to the XTZ. Suggestion as to what that might be would be appreciated. I am thinking of something Japanese from the 1970s, maybe a Hitachi or a Yamaha. Has to be very open and very smooth sounding at the same time. What some might term 'boring' since the Akais impart the excitement themselves.

I'm disappointed that this did not work out with the A30 but hey, I tried.

I should also say that NVA have been incredibly patient and helpful through-out the process. Very good customer service indeed.

 

[TimF]

Nice to know how NVA is handling things here, good deal to be able to return with no questions. Means a lot these days!

As to amps, wow, not sure what to say here, as the Akai speakers are just an unknown to me thing. Maybe a nice Yamaha integrated would be good here, again, nothing takes the place of you listening to it in your setup. Nothing like good vintage amps on vintage speakers though, just depends on what sound you really are listening for, and again, tough one to help with.

Keep listening, you will get there! Have fun though along the way too!

 

[Mart Mccall]

Bit of a postscript here. Got the okay from NVA to try my Chord Odyssey 2 cables with the A30 power amp. For whatever reason they Akai are very fussy about speaker cable.

In short this is a whole different ballgame now. The uncouthness has totally gone and the mid is now clean and clear. Will have to do a bit more listening but am starting to think this may have cracked it.

I should point out that this is not a blanket recommendation to try Chord speaker cable (or indeed any none-NVA speaker cable ) with NVA amps since it may damage/fry the amp with speakers that draw a lot of current. Clear it with NVA first!

The Akai are a 6 driver 4 way design using paper drivers with huge ALNICO magnets. Similar to JBL from the early 1970s. They crop up from time to time on Canuck Audio Mart and U.S eBay but are very rare in the UK. Like a lot of vintage JBL in the UK these were probably bought at a USAF PX and sold to a local when the airman rotated home.

 

[OllyM]

Hi Mart. Bit of time passed now since your last post on this thread. Wondering if you had any updates, whether you've moved on entirely or whether you went back to the NVA - looks like you've kept the P90SA? I'm seriously looking into building an NVA-based system having been loaned an NVA integrated by a friend which has been driving my Mission SX1s beautifully the last couple of weeks.

*this will be the first serious upgrade to my hifi considering that until now I've been running a Cambridge Azur 351A...