[mannishjoy]

my CA-1 and I spent some time today at a hi-end boutique dealer listening to Rosso Ferentino Stand Mounts powered by the well regarded 8 grand Canor Virtus I2 Integrated amp, a KT88 tube design.

When I swapped in the CA-1, the dealer's jaw dropped, as the CA-1 was every bit the equal of the Canor. The dealer said, "Wow, I guess I won't be selling you an amp ever! I know a great amp when I hear one, and that's a great amp."

Guttenberg undersold the CA-1 in his review.

The Rosso Ferentinos are fantastic by the way, but I have Q-Acoustic Concept 50s going through UPS for an audition.

After several months of loving the ZU Soul 6, I began to realize I'm getting loads of cabinet resonance distortion that eventually gets fatiguing. Granted, the speaker is largely designed around a desired resonance. Concept 50s about the least resonate cabinet around, so going polar opposite. We'll see if I miss the live dynamics of the Soul...

[TomBo]

Absolutely stunned to hear these comments...(Not) . Steve G makes his living reviewing lots of gear...if he reports an end-game giant slayer, then it's game over right? What a dilemma...bring it on AVA!

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I agree Guttenberg's review was laid back and he really did not say much about the amp.

Frank, if you are reading this and want me to do a review of it, let me know. 

Larry

[mannishjoy]

It's been a great day for the CA-1. Earlier I posted about it's stellar performance driving Rosso Ferentinos vs. an 8 grand KT88 Canor Integrated. This evening I brought the CA-1 to a new buddy's system who drives the SUBLIME!! Pearl Acoustics Sibelius (You must hear these speakers!) with a 6k+ Aric Audio two chassis 300b amplifier. I'm not a 300b expert but the Aric Audio is apparently top tier.

We plopped the CA-1 in....it was doing all that 300b air/silky holographic stage stuff within 10/15 percent of the Aric Audio. On certain tracks we preferred the CA-1. My buddy has no solid state amps and he was blown away by the CA-1 and told me not to bother if I was considering tubes (I'm Not). The CA-1 + the Sibeilus is well under 10k but the combo renders small acoustic ensemble music and vocals better than anything I've heard anywhere. If you've heard the Sibeilus, you would know that it totally destroys all other speakers for jazz...earlier I heard the 3× more expensive Cube Acoustics, which try to do similar things, but they just fall short in elegance...If I could have two sets of speakers, the Pearls would have to be one, but they do show weaknesses on harder music for sure... They are not an all-around speaker, but man on a broad range of softer genre stuff they're so damn dreamy.

[sean619]

Absolutely stunned to hear these comments...(Not) . Steve G makes his living reviewing lots of gear...if he reports an end-game giant slayer, then it's game over right? What a dilemma...bring it on AVA!

It's not a conspiracy with Steve, but a matter of preferences. Steve prefers bright speakers and warm amps. He gushed over the SET 120 and basically said it was much better than Schiit Aegir. Steve has admitted that transparency isn't what he's chasing with amps...he revealed that during his most recent First Watt review. 

[Mary]

I agree Guttenberg's review was laid back and he really did not say much about the amp.

Frank, if you are reading this and want me to do a review of it, let me know. 

Larry

Larry give me a call at AVA and we can discuss availability.

Mary Staples

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I talked with Mary, I will be doing a review of the CA1 and NP1.  I am probably going to pick up the amps on Friday. I can't wait, it should be fun.

[WGH]

I talked with Mary, I will be doing a review of the CA1 and NP1.  I am probably going to pick up the amps on Friday. I can't wait, it should be fun.

Do you have any other AVA amps in house for comparison? Too bad I had to send the loaner pair of Fritz Carbon 7's back to Fritz. I have a feeling the CA1 or NP1/Fritz combo would be giant killer.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Do you have any other AVA amps in house for comparison? Too bad I had to send the loaner pair of Fritz Carbon 7's back to Fritz. I have a feeling the CA1 or NP1/Fritz combo would be giant killer.

No I don't.  I have an older AVA hybrid tube/ss preamp and DAC.  The Ultra SL's I believe.

I will be using the 2 AVA amps with my Magnepan 1.6's, PSB Synchrony One's (which are for sale if anyone is interested) and some Monitor Audio RX1 Silver bookshelf speakers if I have enough time to do all 3 speakers.

[mr_bill]

I talked with Mary, I will be doing a review of the CA1 and NP1.  I am probably going to pick up the amps on Friday. I can't wait, it should be fun.

Looking forward to it!  You have written really good reviews and have great equipment to compare to.

[jmurray61]

I talked with Mary, I will be doing a review of the CA1 and NP1.  I am probably going to pick up the amps on Friday. I can't wait, it should be fun.

Hello,

Forgive me, but I am new to the AVA world and this Audio Circle thread. I'm awaiting delivery on a CA1 and can't wait to swap it in.

Would you kindly provide links to your past reviews and/or site that hosts your reviews. I'm embarrassed to say I am unfamiliar with your login name.

Thanks,
John

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Hello,

Forgive me, but I am new to the AVA world and this Audio Circle thread. I'm awaiting delivery on a CA1 and can't wait to swap it in.

Would you kindly provide links to your past reviews and/or site that hosts your reviews. I'm embarrassed to say I am unfamiliar with your login name.

Thanks,
John

John, here you go.  Just look for the reviews with I.Greyhoundfan

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=48

I did reviews for the 225 amps and the vision SET 400 amps.  I believe I also did a review of the SET 120 amp and a DAC of his.  I am just an audioguy that has owned an AVA preamp and dac and have a couple of audiophile friends locally that have owned his CF preamp and 600 amps.  So I am very familiar with AVA gear. 

I also did a review of the Exogal Comet DAC for them years ago when the DAC came out. 

I compare the gear to my Pass X250 amp, BAT VK51se preamp, Luxman DA-06 DAC.  A friend of mine on this forum calls my system the truth because it is so sensitive to changes in gear and some cables, especially usb cables.

I will post my review of the 2 new amps a week from Sunday or possibly a day or 2 later.  I would like to have some of my audiophile buddies over for a listen and to get their opinions.  I have always done that with the gear I have reviewed even bring pieces over to friends to see how they sound in their systems.

By the way, I do not get paid or any discounts from AVA for my reviews.  I just do it for the fun.

Also, Vista Audio is possibly going to send me an integrated amp to review in several weeks after I wrote a review of one of their phono preamps I recently bought used.  Hopefully, Boris will come though.

Larry

[TomBo]

Larry,
So cool you have agreed to do this. Would be fascinating if Mary could slip in the DVA Digital Preamplifier to evaluate along with the NP1..that may be The Giant Slayer Digital Combo...

Thank you, Tom
p s. Someone reading this already agrees...

[AllanS]

I talked with Mary, I will be doing a review of the CA1 and NP1.  I am probably going to pick up the amps on Friday. I can't wait, it should be fun.

Thanks much for taking this on!  Very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts and those of your buddies.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Thanks guys.  I will ask Mary if she wants me to review the digital preamp.

Larry

[jmurray61]

John, here you go.  Just look for the reviews with I.Greyhoundfan

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=48

Larry

Thanks, Larry.

I look forward to your review of the CA1 and will seek out others you've written.

Hoping to receive shipment notification any day now and so excited welcome AVA into my home system.

John

[dmcmaine]

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.

Hey there! I know this is a very late reply to your post but hopefully it's useful if you're still thinking it over. I think it would do very well. I'm currently driving mine with a Bluesound Powernode 2i (w/subwoofer) in a room that is approx 18'x15'. I just measured between 80-85dB at 10' very comfortably. When I finally buy a CA1 this is the system I'd most likely swap it in to, though I will be tempted to see how it does on my 1.7i's.

[jandrews]

For what it's worth, my SET120 powers my LRS's beautifully.
I just wrote AVA to purchase an NP1 as well.

[mannishjoy]

Ok, I would be skeptical of my just unwrapped Q-Acoustic Concept 50 initial impressions too. Here is my speaker history, most of it powered by Van Alstines:

Maggy .7, Maggy 1.7, Vandersteen 2CE sig III, ZU DW6, Salk HT1-TL, Zu Soul 6...and now Q-Acoustic Concept 50s.

These have the blackest background I've heard...they disappear like Maggy...have a more robust stage, have the Vandersteen composure and smoothness but are more dynamics and engaging. Unreal for 3k...unreal. apparently Q Acoustics below this model are silly good too... obviously seriously engineered. Carry on...

[So Watt]

G'day, all.

I have to say that the CA 1 has piqued my curiosity from what I have read in this thread.   It nice to see a manufacturer producing a solid product with a very reasonable price tag as it does not happen a lot.

I am currently using a pure Class A Luxman L550 AII with a pair of Trenner & Freidl ART II speakers.   I guess the million dollar question is how would the AVA CA 1 perform on the T&A ART's in comparison to the Luxman.   I love the idea of the transparency and clarity of the CA 1 but does it have the "body" of a good class A?   Soundstage and depth are also important to me not to mention top to bottom coherence.   Am I asking too much or can this CA 1 oblige?

Cheers