My hifi is a disaster 1 problem at a time .

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Good stuff

[Daniel Quinn]

There is one issue and that is the music as lost a little control and edge of the seat dynamism. A lot of rock music is about the interplay between various instruments and dynamic attack . The moody blues album is as some awesome songs on it with tremendous foot tapping interplay between the musicians. i gained the impression there was an element of realism that I am used to missing .
I am speculating but I put this down to the fact the smaller power supply compared to my Mono amps . Terrybooth always says what you get as you go up the range of NVA is the same but a little bit more , I now think I now what he means .

For the past 2 months I have been enjoying a loan of the diminutive A20* , HIFI Bargain of the year and enjoying it very much. I was well impressed with it , the only issue was possibly what I wrote above . I was enjoying the A20 whilst I manage to stem the flow of my money to my children sufficiently to save up for some A40’S.
So they arrived Tuesday .
First thing to say is they are little black acrylic beauties , you cannot appreciate the beauty of these things until you see them , I adore the integrated , recessed heatsink which forms part of the structure of the amp rather than metal fins tacked on as an after thought . NVA is a small british hifi company and the design of the mk11 amps is a masterclass in functional , simple and beautiful aesthetic that would not look out of place in a design museum or Bauhaus institute . Richard , Imo the MKII amps are a hifi design genius that is sadly underappreciated .

So they look good , but I wasn’t expecting 2 much of the sound after all I had my loan a 20 and I had been using the mk1 a50’s . It was immediately obvious that the power and control I thought I was missing had returned, but it had returned bigger and better. The amps were better in every way .
Joy divisions , atmosphere , the repetitive drum pattern was lower with more scale , the contrast between loud and soft was greater and the drums were easier to pick out in the mix .
hall and oates , “shes gone” , is a joyous song of loss that is so well constructed it is a work of genius ,the voices were awesome , but the way it portrayed the mix of electronic sounds and guitars that all build up to final chorus crescendo was so good , I played it 3 times .
the scale , realism and impact as returned to the music and curiously this is the case even on lowish volumes

I have had them 3 days and they are awesome.

above all what they do is play music , so you can just sit back and listen to it . my record collection is full of muscians whose lives work was to create some of the most awesome rock music and nva amps let you listen to the music and emotion of what they intended . you don't worry about all this hifi bollocks , you just listen and smile .



*The extended loan period was a returned favour , so please do not ask the doc for a 2 month loan

[Daniel Quinn]

DQ as knocked up a rough and ready turntable isolation platform based on a idea I nicked of the web. I cannot find it anymore so I cannot attribute the idea.

anyway it is a wooden box ,with sealant smeared on the bottom , then filled with sand and 10 white tennis balls .

First impressions were it made my system quieter , I had to turn the volume dial on my passive pre amp a good 30% more than before to get the usual listening level , I was and i am somewhat perplexed by this , I even tried unplugging an replugging everything . but nothing changed .

after a listen last nite , I am pleased with the new way it sounds so I will be making a nice once with proper dimensions .

[Daniel Quinn]

DQ's experiments in isolation continue . Wall mounted speakers . The difference is excellent ,more than I anticipated , all due to my bouncy bouncy suspended floor . The room is a lot less energised and the lower frequencies are deeper and cleaner .

[kazam]

Heavenly vibe to that room DQ, nicely done

[Daniel Quinn]

Why thank you . Its the "milkies bot bot" that adds the finishing touch .

[Fretless]

looking good DQ. Interesting to hear how the sound has improved - just goes to show the influence a 'bouncy' floor has.

[Daniel Quinn]

took toddler dq to the timber merchants on sunday to get wood for new plinth , it apparently made his pram ride "not nice".

Anybody got any tips on cutting a 45% degree angle with a hand saw? Had a few goes and lets just say I will need to get a lot better

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

YES - keep your thumbs out of the way

[Daniel Quinn]

top advise as usual