[I.Greyhound Fan]

I like your ideas.  I asked Frank about having knobs like the Mark Levinson gear from the 1970's, and he gave me some info about a website that offers those.  I wonder what Frank would end up charging for offering all these changes?  Might be cost prohibitive, especially if he invests in it and gets no repsonse or orders.

I bet people would much prefer a brushed aluminum or SS face plates and knobs with a more attractive power button or light, especially a blue light since many of todays equipment has gone the blue route.  It would be a nice tweak for great equipment.  He might sell more.  I talk to a lot of people on other forums and when they see I have VA equipment they complain of the 1970's generic look.  A lot of people want the eye candy appeal as well as good sound.  And they pay for it too!

[gregmav]

I bet people would much prefer a brushed aluminum or SS face plates and knobs with a more attractive power button or light, especially a blue light since many of todays equipment has go the blue route.  It would be a nice tweak for great equipment.  He might sell more.  I talk to a lot of people on other forums and when they see I have VA equipment they complain of the 1970's generic look.  A lot of people want the eye candy appeal as well as good sound.  And they pay for it too!

Well I don't think the knobs I was talking about would really make the unit have a generic 1970's look.

[charmerci]

It would also be nice if there was a 20 or 24 bit 96K upgrade to the existing line of DAC's for a reasonable price.  But I'm sure its limited to the circuitry design.

Read - ANNOUNCING THE NEW AVA VISION DAC ! ! ! - first entry.

Or maybe you already saw it, given your "reasonable price" as that is open to interpretation.

[turkey]

I bet people would much prefer a brushed aluminum or SS face plates and knobs with a more attractive power button or light, especially a blue light since many of todays equipment has gone the blue route.  It would be a nice tweak for great equipment.  He might sell more.  I talk to a lot of people on other forums and when they see I have VA equipment they complain of the 1970's generic look.  A lot of people want the eye candy appeal as well as good sound.  And they pay for it too!

Frank tried silver faceplates. I have an older AVA preamp with one, and I prefer it over black. However, hardly anyone bought them. Everyone wanted black. End of story.

As for fancy faceplates or switches, or silly blue lights - I don't want to pay for them. I just want durable, reliable equipment that sounds good and doesn't require that I take out a second mortgage to pay for it.

In addition, the craftsmanship of the faceplates and cases that Frank uses is excellent. Yes, the look is simple and conservative, but there's a beauty to that kind of thing too.

Finally, I don't give a good god damn about the way the things look while I'm using them. I listen to music, not gaze lovingly at the sexy curves of my amplifier that 9 out of 10 slick magazines recommend.

[turkey]

Well I don't think the knobs I was talking about would really make the unit have a generic 1970's look.

I like the knobs Frank uses. They're solid hunks of aluminum, machined precisely, and perfectly anodized. They feel good, they look good, and they work.

[MarkD]

I have to second Turkey's comment.  As the former owner of some equipment that had decidedly shoddy controls (a Phase Linear 4000 preamp, and a Sony V-FET amp), switches that work, and keep working are what I want.

So far, the AVA controls are up to the job, and my preamp is going on its second decade.  I've been fairly successful at fighting the urge to upgrade constantly, so the matching black is a feature, not a demerit.   

[mathgeek97]

I bet people would much prefer a brushed aluminum or SS face plates and knobs with a more attractive power button or light, especially a blue light since many of todays equipment has gone the blue route.

I like the black faceplate, but I do think a black, non-glowing, power button along with a small, not too bright, blue power indicator would make it look more modern (yes, I like the look of my Oppo BluRay player).  However, I wouldn't want to get too fashionable, since I'm noticing a lot of posts about people keeping their AVA for 20+ years.

[avahifi]

How about this one?  It just dawned on us that we can do a bit of a have your cake and eat it approach with the AvaStar preamp by simply putting it into an EC chassis (complete with 8 sets of inputs, EPL loop, and even the "filer" and "low gain" functions) for $100 extra.  The tone control knobs and pushbutton switch simply would not do anything.

Or how about a 300+ W/Channel Insight power amp (an Insight 650)?  I think we could do this with simply a much bigger (and much more expensive) power transformer and upping the ratings of a lot of capacitors and a bit of re-biasing.

Any interest out there for this?

Regards,

Frank

[aln]

Could you put that larger transformer in the FET-Valve Ultimate?

[rollo]

  As a Non AVA owner looking in, buyers of this gear should understand that they are music machines and not eye candy. They are not ugly. Basic functional design.
  Really what benifit sonically is there ? Pretty yes but that wears off if it does not sound right.
  Franks rep is quality of design and parts not art work. Mr V. stay put. If you want to "Pimp" the piece check out DIY supply for all those knobs and thingies.
  Kinda reminds me of a Toyoya with a vinyl top and spinners on the wheels oh and a hood scoop and a Fox tail on the rear view mirror.


charles
 

[martyo]

Could you put that larger transformer in the FET-Valve Ultimate?

If you mean the FET-Valve Ultra 550, I believe it is already there. The Double 550s put out 300+ wpc already.

[aln]

I was not sure if this is a new transformer or a current one.  BTW thanks for your remarks on the Double Ultra.  I'm saving up!

Now how about using Two transformers in the Ultra?

[avahifi]

The power transformer for a much higher power Insight series solid state amplifier would be a completely new one.

It is not interchangeable with that in the Ultra series hybrid amplifiers which have three sets of custom secondary windings: one for the high current high voltage output devices, one for the low current high voltage B+ tube power supplies, and another winding for the high current low voltage tube heater supplies.

The Ultra supply voltages are already running as reasonable close to device limits as is prudent, simply stepping up the high current high voltage supply would not be very useful.

In contrast, there is some voltage headroom to spare in the Insight series solid state amplifiers and appropriate higher voltage necessary parts are available (but expensive of course) so the power could be increased as mentioned in my previous response herein.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

P.S.  Perhaps we can even make 400w/ch in a really strong Insight amplifier.

[Listens2tubes]

  How's this for some sexy knobs?




Got them from a buddy. I like the way they pick up the AVA logo line across the bottom.




Not exactly audio porn but a nice touch without a complete make over, don't you think?.

[Tone Depth]

I would be interested in increasing the power in my Insight Double 440H power amp once I have the speaker performance that can benefit (i.e. new speakers) to justify the upgrade. 

It was apparent to me that the existing Insight power supply had been optimized, when the Double increased the rms power from 220 (standard 440H) to 225 (Double 440H) wpc, and that improvements gained were more headroom and clarity in the transients.  I concluded that the power supply is the limiting factor in the Insight Double 440H.

This is compared with the increased power realized in the Double Ultra 550 (over 300 wpc) versus the standard Ultra 550 (250 wpc).

Or how about a 300+ W/Channel Insight power amp (an Insight 650)?  I think we could do this with simply a much bigger (and much more expensive) power transformer and upping the ratings of a lot of capacitors and a bit of re-biasing.

Any interest out there for this?

Regards,

Frank

[avahifi]

Tone Depth, the power transformers have different applications in the solid state Insight and hybrid Ultra series amplifiers.

In the Ultras, just increasing the raw B+ voltage would not make much difference in output power as there are other circuit parameters that would require substantial changes too.  This is not an easy project as the systems interact.

In the solid state units it is much easier, higher transformer voltage provides more power, up to the limitations of the active and passive devices in the circuits, which must be scaled up as the power rating goes up (which scales then up in cost too).

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[Tone Depth]

Frank, thank you for your enlightening comments, as always!

[Mountain-ear]

Frank -

I have an OmegaStar 260EX that I was considering for an Insight upgrade.  Are you looking for a candidate for the transformer upgrade (i.e., Insight 650)?  Let me know how much more that would be.  Thanks.

Steve