[Rocket]

hello,

i'm not as articulate as some of the other posters on this forum but would like to post my impressions of the aksa 100 (stock) and a comparison of the n.e.w. a60 which a friend bought around recently.

firstly i had the n.e.w. dc-66 amp ($3000us) prior to obtaining the aksa kit.  as usual hugh was very helpful and gave excellent service, something which you don't always obtain these days.

i've had my aksa 100 completed since january this year and i have been very happy with it.  anyway a friend of mine has an n.e.w. a60 (60 watt class a amp) which originally cost $1500 us, his amp has been modded quite a bit which has significantly improved the performance of the amp.

the rest of my system includes the following:

pioneer pds 507 (with g&d clock upgrade)
perpetual technologies p3a dac
n.e.w. p3 preamp
aksa 100 (stock) amp
war audio speakers (raven 1 tweeter and 7 x inch 7k4211db focals in mtmt)
axon cables.

i initially had the aksa 100 running and warmed up when my friend came to my house, we immediately connected his amp to let it warm up for an hour.  i hadn't heard an n.e.w. for several months and was interested to hear the differences.

after an hour of warming the amp we switched them and i immediately heard differences in the 2.  

soundstage:  was smaller compared to the aksa and had less depth as well.
dynamics:  the n.e.w. was significantly less dynamic than the aksa
bass:  the aksa had more authority in the bass region.
transparency:  the 2 amps were similiarly both transparent although i think the aksa was slightly more transparent.
midrange:  both amps had a nice sounding midrange.
top end:  this is where the n.e.w. came into its own this amp had a slightly improved top end being more refined compared to my aksa.

whilst comparing these 2 amps it was evident to both my friend and i that the n.e.w. had a more tubey sound compared to the aksa which was more neutral.  i actually found this comparison very interesting because at the end of the day my friend and i both preferred our own amps.  it really boils down to what type of sound you prefer.

basically my friend really preferred the n.e.w. because he likes a tube sound and this amp definitely displayed this attribute.  the n.e.w. was smoother compared to the aksa.

i've had an n.e.w. for a couple of years and really liked the sound of it, however i would occasionally think that the amp was a bit too smooth and soft sounding.  the reason i now know is that the amp lacked dynamics,  the area that i preferred the n.e.w. to the aksa, was the top end which sounded a little more refined in the n.e.w.

i still prefer my aksa as it has all of the attributes i like as it is dynamic, has a killer bass and midrange and the top end is quite good as well.

i'm planning on buying the nirvana upgrade shortly and i am interested in hearing the improvement it brings to my system.

regards

rocket

[AKSA]

Rod,

Interesting review;  my sincere thanks for this feedback.

I don't think I'd disagree with anything you've said here;  very fair, even handed, and objective.  I do agree that the strong points of the AKSA are bass, midrange, dynamics and sound stage.  These are all quite tricky to achieve from a design viewpoint, and I'm well pleased with the result.

The top end is often a criticism of many SS PP Class AB amps.  It is very difficult to rid the amp of the switching disjunction at crossover which is notorious for the production of the 'grain' sounds;  the hard, brittle high order harmonics.  The 100W AKSA goes a long way to eradicating this problem, but a little remains, and this is what you are hearing.  The Nirvana upgrade specifically addresses this issue, enhances the sound stage further, and further strengthens dynamics.

Incidentally, a Class A SS PP amplifier, like the N.E.W., uses brute force to eradicate the switching disjunctions at crossover.  This gives them wonderful top end, but introduces very low efficiency into the equation.  There is a downside, however.  I have never heard a moderately sized Class A amplifier which had really good dynamics, and I confess to not fully understanding why.  Anyone else here had this impression?

Thanks again, Rod.  Great review!

Cheers,

Hugh

[JohnR]

Nice writeup Rod!

I'll be curious to hear your impressions of the changes wrought by Nirvana.

BTW is it raining over your side? It's cats and dogs here   How about Melbourne, Hugh-san?

[DSK]

Hi Rod,
Nice review. Yes, definitely go for the Nirvana upgrade. Smoother & sweeter mids/highs with less grain ....very nice indeed. You'll wish you had done it sooner  

I don't know the E.A.R gear (is the P3 pre-amp tube or SS ?) but the combination of a top class tube pre-amp like the GK-1 and the AKSA Nirvana SS amps is something very special. I have listened to this combination at Hugh's on several occasions.  I currently run my GK-1 into a Plinius SA100/3 Class A power amp (a very nice amp BTW) but would be *very* interested to compare it to the AKSA 100w Nirvana in my system and room. I know of another Plinius SA100 owner who prefers the mids & highs of the Nirvana'd AKSA 55w to the SA100. Hmmm, perhaps bi-amping with a pair of AKSA 100w Nirvana amps (the ribbons of my modded Ambiences pull as much current as the woofers) ...perhaps built as 4 monoblocks .....


Hi JohnR ....yes, we are getting showers over here in Melbourne but not as heavy as you by the sounds of things. Hopefully those areas that need it most are getting some.

Cheers,
Darren.

[Rocket]

hello hugh, john r and darren,

i had another listen to my amp last night and i find it interesting that i like listening to my system at night in the low light, it always sounds better to me   .

although i quite liked the sound of the n.e.w. i couldn't go back to that type of sound.  initially it seducts you with it's smoothness but over time leaves you feeling dissatisfied and wanting more.  i don't have this feeling anymore as the aksa is a better all round performer compared to the n.e.w.

anyway once i've paid for my medical bills (i've just had a knee and shin operation on opposite legs ouch!) i'll be ordering the nirvana kit and having it installed and will post my impressions.

john:  the weather has been quite good it was 24 here yesterday, apparently it will be raining today.  we don't get storms as often as sydney do, when i lived there i remember not being able to get to work one day due to flooding of the rail line.

darren:  the n.e.w. p3 is a tube preamp i wasn't planning on replacing it at this stage and i'm sure the gk1 would be a great combination.  i've spent a lot of money on the p3, just last year i had a remote volume kit installed in it.  i was actually thinking about buying a zalytron kit later this year which has raven 1 tweeters and 2 x accuton mid/bass drivers and want to spend my money on this.

regards

rocket

[Rocket]

deleted

[Malcolm Fear]

Hey Rocket
I always find that everything sounds better at night, low light, warm environment. Pizza also seems to help (the carton probably acts as a sound absorber). Better mains supply, less ambient sound? I don't know. But if I am showing off my gear, I try to get all of the above conditions happening.

[wongstein]

Rocket
i had another listen to my amp last night and i find it interesting that i like listening to my system at night in the low light, it always sounds better to me.

Maybe you should think about power conditioning.  I also find that late at night my system sounds better, particularily when I didn't have any power conditioning.  Cleaner, more detailed, darker background and better imagining are clearly heard.  I attribute this to the lessened noise on the AC lines at 2am or 3am.  Fewer vaccum cleaners, TVs, power tools, microwaves etc running at night, and even the fridges and air conditioners in my building probably come on a little less at that time because it's cooler outside.  The conditioners that I use help a lot.

[Tinker]

Maybe you should think about power conditioning.  I also find that late at night my system sounds better, particularily when I didn't have any power conditioning.  Cleaner, more detailed, darker background and better imagining are clearly heard.  I attribute this to the lessened noise on the AC lines at 2am or 3am.  Fewer vaccum cleaners, TVs, power tools, microwaves etc running at night, and even the fridges and air conditioners in my building probably come on a little less at that time because it's cooler outside.  The conditioners that I use help a lot.

Definitely less hash at night, although there is a spot around our way when all the off-peak hot water systems kick in.

The other thing is also the ambient noise profile which varies diurnally, this has psychoacoustic effects. Broad and narrowband masking effects are a whole topic in themselves...

There is also a psychoacoustic effect where auditory perception changes with "degraded visual input." Dimming the lights really does help and there is physiologicaland psychological literature on this.

Perhaps nothing really useful my post here except that I believe all the effects you are talking about are real (I consider psychology to be real - the world is at least partly perception).

As a final note I have often installed those filtered IEC type inlets on my projects. I will do a true AB test in the next month or so when I re-box my 55's, but I agree that this filtering seems to suck a little life out of the amp, but doesn't have such a big effect on preamps - acutally improved noise floor after installation with no loss of dynamics. Might be a current demand thing...