AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Audio by Van Alstine => Topic started by: Mary on 12 Mar 2024, 06:47 pm
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(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=262269)
https://avahifi.com/collections/power-amplifiers/products/ca1-control-amplifier
https://avahifi.com/collections/power-amplifiers/products/np1-power-amplifier
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Are you serious? A new control amp with a MM Phono circuit and remote control? WOW! Congrats AVA!
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Can't wait to see and hear them at AXPONA! :wink:
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Sound quality, is this a big upgrade to the SET120 or more of a side grade with a different sonic signature?
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Very interesting
Congratulations on launching a new product line
Mary are these units essentially replacing the SET120 and SET120 Control Amp?
Or will they both be offered going forward?
Can you speak further about the Nested Architecture ?
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They provide actual jaw dropping musical improvements over the already excellent SET series small amplifiers.
You won’t believe it until you hear them. Experience them at Axponia in april.
Frank
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One question about the CA1 - will plugging in the headphones shut off the signal to speakers? I noticed that there's no toggle switch on the back to turn off the speakers.
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Yes, plugging in headphones turns off speakers.
Everything about the new control amp is improved. New phono section, new headphone driver, new power supply, remote on/off capability, and more, all standard. Musically astonishing new audio circuits configuration. Hard to believe how much you have been missing until now.
Frank
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Any plans to add the new technology to your DVA Digital preamp or the M225/ M750 Monoblocks?
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At this time the needed new semiconductors are not available at a voltage rating high enough for a high powered amplifier.
The M225 and M750 amplifiers are pretty special already as many of you know.
These new very high tech devices bring the best of our differential bridged mono amps, but in an affordable stereo two channel package designed for best quality sound for those with medium to higher efficiency speakers.
The new amplifiers take the cost of no holds barred absolute sound down to a very affordable level. No need to dream for a $50,000+ audio system. With either the new CA1 or MP1 you will get this, probably even better.
Hey you guys who have been consecrating on very expensive cables and parts. How about auditioning one of these new superamps from some of the funds from your cable budget? You will be surprised.
Frank
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Is the phono amp on the CA1 adjustable in anyway? Is it MM only?
Jason
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Cool stuff, Frank!
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I just noticed the addition of this new product to the AVA website today and thought what's this? Anyway, I noticed right away it had a built in phono preamp which is nice. I'm wondering if it's similar to the set 120 control amp I bought a couple of months ago, only with the phono preamp added or is it something entirely different. It states somewhere I read "up to" 55 wpc which I assume means 55wpc? Is the CA intended to replace the set 120 control amp or sit along side because there's apparently a 5 wpc difference. Can't wait to see pictures of it with the cover off.
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I just noticed the addition of this new product to the AVA website today and thought what's this? Anyway, I noticed right away it had a built in phono preamp which is nice. I'm wondering if it's similar to the set 120 control amp I bought last month, only with the phono preamp added or something entirely different. It states somewhere I read "up to" 55 wpc which I assume means 55wpc? Is the CA intended to replace the set 120 control amp or sit along side because there's apparently a 10 wpc difference. Can't wait to see pictures of it with the cover off.
They are not the same as the 120 control amp. It is new tech.
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I just noticed the addition of this new product to the AVA website today and thought what's this? Anyway, I noticed right away it had a built in phono preamp which is nice. I'm wondering if it's similar to the set 120 control amp I bought last month, only with the phono preamp added or something entirely different. It states somewhere I read "up to" 55 wpc which I assume means 55wpc? Is the CA intended to replace the set 120 control amp or sit along side because there's apparently a 10 wpc difference. Can't wait to see pictures of it with the cover off.
I bought a used black SET 120 Control Amp off US Audio Mart last week and it's a huge upgrade from the Insight(?) control amp I had before. Also got the MK5 DAC from someone else on US Audio Mart. My previous Control Amp and EC DAC should be up on the used/demo/quickship page shortly.
<;tldr:
Although I first learned about the DynaKit mods from the Jensen's ads in (I think) Stereo Review I did not actually buy any of Frank's products until around 2008 or so - a used PAT-5 preamp that I bought from Frank. I had always assumed that any upgrade to my system (Fisher, MacIntosh, Marantz, Pioneer, Scott, NAD... over many years) would be wasted on me because of my hearing loss (long boring story). Man was I ever wrong!!! I ran the PAT5 into the power amp section of a super cheapo "hifi" receiver and I was amazed at the quality. At the time I was listening to music from either a Sony stereo tape deck (TC-765?) and a Denon turntable with a Grado black cartridge. Both were about 30 years old. I've gone through several upgrades since the PAT5, always used except for the phono preamp. Since that first PAT5 I've always - with a couple of exceptions - bought the best used AVA equipment I could afford.
;tldr/>
A long-winded way of saying that the I expect the CA1 and NP1 to be the usual (at the very least!) significant upgrade from the previous generation.
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Yes, plugging in headphones turns off speakers.
Everything about the new control amp is improved. New phono section, new headphone driver, new power supply, remote on/off capability, and more, all standard. Musically astonishing new audio circuits configuration. Hard to believe how much you have been missing until now.
Frank
Hi Frank, does the new CA1 use a passive or active preamp?
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MM phono plus 3 sets line level inputs and passive volume control. Remote volume, mute, and on/off functions. Active headphone drivers.
Frank
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Very interesting
Congratulations on launching a new product line
Mary are these units essentially replacing the SET120 and SET120 Control Amp?
Or will they both be offered going forward?
Can you speak further about the Nested Architecture ?
Hello jandrews,
For now we plan to offer both the SET 120 and the new CA1. This option will be reevaluated in the future.
Mary
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So...would the NP1 be able to handle the Magnepan LRS+ basically played at an 85 db absolute peak level. The question is because these speakers seem to hover around 3.2 ohms on the Stereophile test with a benign 20 degree phase angle...and because generally people throw tons of power at Maggies...BUT you also hear that they can sound great with much lower power.
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Not in the market, but curious as to whether the phono section could be omitted to save non-spinners (or those with external phono pre's) a little?
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Costs us (and you) less for us to standardize on just one configuration then to build with options. Newest phono section is all surface mount parts.
If you don’t want the phono section, go for the Vision RB preamp and the basic NP1 power amp.
Frank
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Hello jandrews,
For now we plan to offer both the SET 120 and the new CA1. This option will be reevaluated in the future.
Mary
Thanks. Oops, Wrong post........never mind.
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Frank....what do you think about the NP1 driving the Maggies?
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Driving small Maggies should work, but not the larger ones. The amp is rated at 55 Watts with a minimum recommended speaker impedance of 4 Ohms. Overall one of our preamps with one of our bigger amplifiers would provide better results.
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The speakers I am buying (Epos 14n) do not go below 4.3 ohms and stay around 6 ohms for most of their range, are roughly 86 db sensitive. Your new NP1 interests me, but I'm curious as to why you do not list a 4 ohm output.
Thanks in advance.
Tom
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The description from the NP1 Web page:
Specifications
Power output: 55 watts per channel into 8Ω. Suitable for nominal 4Ω loads and higher.
Note this specification is the same for the CA1 Control Amplifier.
Best regards,
Larry
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I think it’s reasonable to ask if the power essentially doubles into 4 ohms as other AVA amplifiers do.
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Hello,
The engineer who designed the NP1 and CA1 hasn't provided us with the 4 Ohm power rating yet. It's likely, however, to be less than double the 8 Ohm rating due to thermal (heatsink) limitations. Once the engineer provides us with the specifications we'll update the Web site.
Thanks,
Larry
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I am currently running a wonderful pair of Philharmonic BMR towers (86 db efficient 6 ohm impedance) with no issues at all. The amp does not even get warm and will play as loud as I want and more. Over the top resolution and transparency. Probably better than what you have heard at any price. I typically listen to dedicated hi end tracks extracted from u-tube.
Frank
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... I typically listen to dedicated hi end tracks extracted from u-tube.
Frank
Do you get the tracks with u-tube premium?
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Yes. I use u-tube premium which has tons of hi-res music content and no commercials. Using voice commands and my big LG smart TV, I can bring up any artist and performance I want and port the optical digital output from the magic TV to our Digital preamp and on to our brand new CP1 Control Amplifier.
Pretty amazing.
Frank
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Yes. I use u-tube premium which has tons of hi-res music content and no commercials. Using voice commands and my big LG smart TV, I can bring up any artist and performance I want and port the optical digital output from the magic TV to our Digital preamp and on to our brand new CP1 Control Amplifier.
Pretty amazing.
Frank
This and other similar online services are truly amazing. It may be a bit of an exaggeration to say that listening to music I first heard over 60 years ago in HD using your equipment has been truly life changing.
The only thing that bothers me about streaming is that living artists who created the music in the first place are getting less and less of the revenue that their work generates. I don't know how the revenue generated from sites like hdtracks is distributed, but I can't afford to buy a lot of tracks or albums from them. That said I still use the streaming services on a regular basis.
I've veered off into an entirely different topic than the subject of this thread.
I can't wait to get my hands on a CA1, though. Each upgrade has been a real eye-opener.
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Well, order placed. See you soon, CA1. Frank, this is quickest I’ve purchased any piece since I got into this hobby. No brainer and if it’s even a quarter as good as you’re claiming, I know I’ll love it :)
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Well, order placed. See you soon, CA1. Frank, this is quickest I’ve purchased any piece since I got into this hobby. No brainer and if it’s even a quarter as good as you’re claiming, I know I’ll love it :)
I might be right behind you. But I love my SET120's so I'm not sure if I want to part yet :)
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How was Axpona? Saw the mention in PTA, but would love to know how room attendance and reaction was. That show seems like a bear to catch everything, so many rooms. Maybe there’s a trip to CAF in the future ;)
Eagerly awaiting CA1 delivery :)
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Driving small Maggies should work, but not the larger ones. The amp is rated at 55 Watts with a minimum recommended speaker impedance of 4 Ohms. Overall one of our preamps with one of our bigger amplifiers would provide better results.
Maggies dip down to 2 ohms. Is this a problem for the amp?
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Maggies dip down to 2 ohms. Is this a problem for the amp?
Hi Larry,
The NP1 and CA1 work great with nominal 4 ohm speaker loads, including nominal 4 ohm speaker loads that drop to around 3 ohms in parts of the spectrum. The primary constraint with loads lower than this and above two ohms is thermal, not electronic. We expect the amp to be electronically stable into these low loads. However, the thermal capacities of the parts used in the amp, including the output heat sinks, are not sized to support long-term use into these loads.
I hope this helps.