[rustneversleeps]

First, let me introduce myself. I am a long time AC reader and first time poster.

I didn't learned about AVA until in the mid 80's, before that I was a young pup listening to a Japanese system while pursuing a career in electronics. After I found out there was something called "high end audio", I started going to different stereo shops to admire the equipment with the "professionally built look", but with the unreachable price tag.

I called AVA and requested for their catalog, (I still have the copies from 1990 to 1996), but I was skeptical about the equipment that were built in someone's basement, and the price range was from $650 and up at the time, and was still a bit too high for me.

I finally settled with a Adcom, Nakamichi system, not too expensive, good build quality. As far as the sound, I wasn't sure, since I didn't have anything else to compare with.

Nine years later, while I was putting together my second system, I decided to call AVA, took the risk, and purchase a 13 year old preamp. During the listening test, I found that this little preamp really made my previously thought "high end" equipment sounded dull.

So that's my story, everytime I read the Audio Basic, I think about all the better equipment  that I could have had.

 

[plaf26]

For me it goes back to about 1980.  My favorite FM station was broadcasting in Dolby B.  Dynaco had once claimed to offer a Dolby module for my FM-5 kit, but by then Dyna as we knew and loved it was out of business.  The store where I had bought it said try Jensen's Stereo Shop (which is what AVA was before it was AVA).   I can still remember driving all over the commercial area of Burnsville, Minn. (such as it was) looking for a little store with a big sign !  Frank told me he could do things to my FM-5 that would outplay the original with or without Dolby.  It's still my main system's FM source.  That was several pre-amp/amp upgrades ago with a few Longhorn Grados thrown in.  My latest and greatest are the small box T8, the OmegaStar 200EX in the ST-150 chassis and the OmegaStar DAC.  Mmm-mm-mm! Thanks, Frank!   P.S.:  I still have pretty much all the catalogues and Audio Basics newsletters going back to '80.

[guest1632]

Hi All, Well, I have never had the chance to hear any of the gear. My first exposure to AVA gear was in the early .80's from a store in thee Los Angeles area. He told me a guy had invented a circuit that made amps sound better than any other amp out there at the time. I still haven't had a chance to hear any of the AVA gear. Whether it is the best gear out there, I can not say. But to Frank's credit, I know he has the admiration of a lot of people in the business. I hope we have many years to come with outstanding gear from AVA.

Regards to all,
Ray

[rustneversleeps]

I am still wondering how did Frank get his business while he was at the Jensen Stereo Shop in the 70's. I had never heard of this shop from anywhere, and I lived in the Twin Cities at the time. Could it be from word of mouth, one neighbor past on to another neighbor?

I am not sure if Franks gear is the best out there, I've never heard the best gear, or is there any? But Frank would explain how the circuits work, and that means a lot to the people with electronics background.
 

[TomW16]

I came to know AVA equipment almost by accident.  I have long known that the best bang for the buck is DIY (do it yourself) when you know what your are doing.  When an AVA amp came on the used market, I compared my time and inexperience to build an amp kit vs. an AVA amp that had solid engineering and a great reputation and decided to purchase the AVA amp.  It was a decision that I do not regret and would gladly do again.  Since the amp purchase, I have also picked up a used AVA DAC, which again sounds great.

There is so much marketing in the high-end audio business that it is a comfort to know that there are people like Frank VanAlstine who not only have a solid grasp of the engineering principles that can make wonderful sounding equipment but they will also take the time to explain why it sounds better.  (e.g.  better ground isolation, power supplies, matched components per channel, etc.).  Another factor that I find beneficial for AVA equipment is that they can be upgraded as improvements are made so that you can stay as current as you wish with the technology.

I don't think that there is any better equipment for people like me who have champagne tastes but are on a beer budget.  Keep up the great work Frank and the AVA team.

All the best.

Tom

[plaf26]

rustneversleep:  You can read some of the story in Volume 2, number 7 (July, 1983) of Audio Basics.  Just go to www.AVA.com, click on Resources then Audio Basics on the drop-down menu.

[avahifi]

Whoops!  www.ava.com takes you to a wine growing association web site.  Please try www.avahifi.com instead.

Thanks for the kind comments and good memories.

Frank Van Alstine

P.S.  I am finally at long last getting a start on a long overdue web site update, there is new preamp info posted there nowl

[daveshel]

In the early 80's I went to work selling stereos for a company that had stores in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pa. We mainly sold the mid- to low-fi Japanese stuff, but even our better stuff didn't compare to the Dynaco SCA-80 I had built as a kid. Through the grapevine I learned that Dynaco had gone out of business but that I could still get kits from Stereo Cost Cutters. I got a BiFet PAT-5 and a Stereo 410 then, and they blew away anything I had ever heard. Around that time I heard about this guy in Minnesota who could make a Dynaco sound even better. At the time the upgrades were out of my reach. A few years ago my interest in hi-fi was reignited, and I learned that AVA was still around. I sent Frank a broken Stereo 120 and he sent me back an OmegaStar 170EX. I was awestruck. Next I did a PAT-5 rebuild, which sounds great but I was getting more interested in tubes. I got an Ultimate-70 and was taken by the sweetness. While I was saving up for PAS3 upgrade, I lucked out on a great deal in an auction for a Super PAS 3 with the black face plate. So I have a solid state rig for the entertainment center and a tube rig in the front room, more of a critical listening area. I'm very happy with all. Now to spruce up my sources. I hate that I missed the longhorn.

[rustneversleeps]

The July, 1983 issue of the Audio Basic tells a little story of the Jensen Stereo Shop in the 70's.

From what I remember in the 70's, as a young lad growing up in the darkest age of audio, the Twin Cities audio sence was dominated by the equipment sold by Shaak Electronics, Team Electronics, and Audio King. Teenagers were impressed by the Japanese made silver front panel receivers (actually they looked kind of nice comparing to what came later), the American classic audio equipment were wiped off the audio map. I'm saying it now, but I didn't know at better at the time. I didn't even hear about Dynaco until much later.

Then the "high end" emerged, Counterpoint, Conrad Johnson, and the likes. I think I saw AVA in the yellow pages while looking up high end shops in the Twin Cities area, then called for a catalog, but didn't make any purchase until after making a few more expensive mistakes. 

[EclecticSeeker]

It was something over 28 years ago, and I was interested in upgrading from the receivers that I had recently been using and getting back into separates.  (I started in “hi-fi” with Dyna kits I built myself.)  I had ordered an Ampzilla amplifier, and needed a preamp.  I was looking at all the options I could find in the Twin Cities area, and found Jensen’s Stereo Shop in the phone book.  I gave the number a call, and remember that I was a bit uncertain about buying equipment built in someone’s basement.  Frank has always been a great salesman as well as engineer, though, and I wound up trying out a Van Alstine-modified PAT 5.  I couldn't help but be mightily impressed by the sound quality.  Its only sonic competition (that I could find) was an Audio Research tube unit at five times the price.  I’ll never forget Frank’s pointing out to me that this was really a “no-brainer” choice. 

I’ve been a happy AVA owner and supporter ever since, and am pleased to send an occasional customer Frank’s way.  I always enjoy comparing what AVA offers to the competition.  It may be a little… unkind to other owners (or dealers) sometimes, but it’s always fun to show up gear that costs many hundreds of dollars more.   I hope Frank will be turning out great equipment for many years to come! 

[rustneversleeps]

So is it fair to say that majority of AVA's customers started out as Dynaco owners, or have background in Dynaco kit building? I didn't even hear about Dynaco then, or not to mention knowing where to get one, dispite it's popularity. That tells you how much I knew about audio then.

One issue of Franks Audio Basic, he mentioned that an Audio King salesman let him compared an Adcom preamp with one of Franks preamp, and Franks blew away the Adcom, I thought," of course he said that, what else do you expect him to say?"

Years later, I bought an Adcom GFP-565 (?) for $650 US dollars in Germany, it was a Stereophile class "C" at the time. I thought it was cool since Stereophile endorsed it. Then years later, (more than 13 years to  be exact), I compared the Adcom with Franks PAS 4i, and there's no comparison, the Stereophile endorsed class "C" Adcom sounded like it was in a tin can. So the Audio Basic was true, but it took a while to convince me.