[Don Maico]

I wonder if anyone can advise me on these products. I remember years ago listening to a system comprising NVA and , I think, LS35a speakers( cant remember which T/T) and was most impressed. I found very dealers who sold the stuff and gave up but I now see its made a bit of a comeback in Ebay of all places. Anyway I am kind of interested but as they obviously dont offer any kind of demos, I'm having to gather other people's opinions in various forums .One thing i picked up is that the manufacturer heavily recommends the use of his own cables and i am wondering why?What so special about them? Apparently they need to be low capacitance( whatever that means - sorry but I am not technical) and preferably solid core.His speaker cable consists of 7 solid core strands which kind of confused me as i thought solid core meant just one thick strand as in mains cable. Anyway could anyone  advise me please. Thanks
One thing - I did email the manufacturer but he was rather economical with is advice saying that I could try it and if I wasnt happy I could get a full refund. Not much of a feedback really

[alphinmike]

Hi - The NVA that I know are a small UK company.The NVA bit stands for Nene Valley Audio I believe.They have been around for quite a while and used to be known as Tresham Audio.Tresham made several pre/power amps using Mosfets which was quite unusual at the time - early '80's.Later this passed over to Tannoy who carried on making the Tresham products.I myself owned a DR3 pre/power combination at this time.I had the amps for about 10 years until the power amp expired with a very loud bang on switch on.
Recently I came across them again on E bay - run by the same guy-Richard Dunn.My DR3 was quite good before it went bang but as the ether was quiet at the time on Tresham the amp went to that big home in the sky - the municipal rubbish tip!
You would have to take their products on approval to find out more.I think it is very hard for small Hi-Fi companies in the UK to get onto the dealer network and of course any brand that is dealer based is likely to be expensive!I think NVA  are making their remarks about speaker cable because over here Naim Audio are big players and their cable is High Capacitance and this will upset some amps and could be the reason that mine blew up - I was using Naim cables!(Bloody Naim dealers)!There is plenty of low cap.cable about on the market - mine are made by a small UK company called Chevin Audio and they would fit the bill - nice price too!

[Don Maico]

Hi
Yes he has had a lot of trouble with dealers in the past and frankly has little time for then today.Still he has found his niche.
The cable I currently use are Lin k20 which are very similar to a pair of Naim ones I had before ie thick multistrand so i am guessing they are not right.
TBh I am also wondering whether hia m aps would go ok with my single driver TBI Majestic Diamonds and BK electronics sub,
Thanks for the reply btw

[Rocket]

Hi,

I remember demoing a NVA amplifier well over a decade ago here in Australia.  It was a great sounding integrated amplifier.  Sorry I don't know anything further about the company.

Do you have a website link for them?  I'd be interested in having a look at their products.

Regards

Rod

[lonewolfny42]

Links....

Here......and.....here......

[Don Maico]

Manyy thanks I wonder if they'll work ok with a pair of TBI Majestic Diamoinds and an active sub?

[alphinmike]

Hi Don - Firstly let me say that Richard Dunne's products have always been well received here in the UK. I don't know if you are familiar with the way things are  in the UK but I would say it is Hi-Fi press influenced to quite a large degree and in my experience this can distort things! I am not familiar with your system but would guess that successfully intergrating your speakers with your subs would be at least as difficult as choosing amps. From what I have read single drive unit speakers are easy to drive but they are rare over here and it is only out and out DIY folks that run them here.Assuming that your main speakers are easy to drive types (unlike LS35A'S which are difficult to drive) you should have plenty of reasonably priced amps to choice from,both solid state and tube.I myself used two stereo Behringer A500's in an active bi-amped system which work very well.Maybe some of the USA guys would come in who run full range speakers? I would think  the NVA amps would probably work ok - as Richard Dunne says you can always return if not satisfied!

[Don Maico]

Hi alphinmike
Yes  I agree with your hifi press comment . I tend to ignore them now.Also Richard has had problems with dealerships who havent given him a fair crack of the whip from what i gather and he now seels on ebay making items to order but more as a hobby than anything else.
My speakers are designed to go with a sub , in fact TBI themselves manufacture one.They are also 8 ohm nominally but at 87db are not very sensitive Here is a link:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/tbi2/diamond.html
The sub I use is different - a BK electrics one, and my amp is an Audiolab 8000a.
No I simply saw the NVA in Ebay and it caught my attention. I wondered how well it would work in my system
From memory the Ls35a are very insensitive ie 84 db or something, but @ 11ohms or so impedance they wouldnt draw so much currant would they? Ive seen them driven effectively by an old NAD 3020
Thanks

[alphinmike]

Hi Don - I used to have a pair of inefficient speakers -AE2's and they worked well at high volumes but were poor at lower volumes. Speakers today seem to be generally more efficient.Talking of amps have you seen the new integrated from Burson Audio ( P1-100).Fab spec.top notch components and very reasonable price - My kind of amp! Reviewed on the TNT site.

[Don Maico]

You mean this one  http://www.bursonaudio.com/Burson_PI-100.htm? no I hadnt but i like the look of the site and what they sell. Products made by competent enthusiasts are always welcome in my view. Like a custom built house one gets the feeling the spec is going to be of a higher order. Do they export to the uK ? Oz/£ conversion puts it at about £450 which is very reasonable. Its also a high currant device isnt it? What do you think of the buffer they do?I have to confess I had never heard of such components. Would they make much difference?
another thing their Uk distributors http://homepage.ntlworld.com/p.bearder1/Audiomods/prices.html seem to only fit modules

[alphinmike]

Hi again - I have to say I don't know much about the use of buffers - the first one I ever heard of was from Musical Fidelity - I have heard their products at shows but never been too impressed.Some of the modding people say that the internal components used in their products are rather ordinary!I liked the look of that amp as described on the TNT site.Nick Whetstone is a UK based reviewer and very experienced with diy stuff and I respect his opinions.The power supply side of that amp is massive and amps that feature power supplies like that usually have telephone number price tags,don't they?This company also make their own very highly specified voltage regs as you see on their site.I had some Paul Hynes series regs put in my CDP and they made a big difference to the sound quality.So all in all a very promising looking amp - To get hold of one I guess you just order over the net to OZ - I would feel far more confident than doing a Hong Kong order!

[Don Maico]

Yes its always a risk though regarding warranty etc.I hope their product get sold in the uk one day but the market seems very conservative here