[Jens]

Jens,

Thank you for your kind words, you are indeed fullsome in your praise.    

The day I first heard the NAKSA with Jon Pippard we both felt it was unique, there was a sonic quality immediately evident!  Keep on listening, I believe it does improve with age, just as Ginger and John suggested.

Next stop will be a bigger version, but as it will involved three pcbs, two modules on their own heatsinks and a separate dual supply, it will be quite a bit more expensive, so it will not directly compete.  The idea is to replace both the LF55 and the LF100.

Thank you again, keep the comments rolling!

Hugh

Well, I try to be as precise as possible in my evaluation 

And I agree entirely with Ginger and John - the NAKSA certainly improves with burn-in, and it is a marked difference that I am already experiencing 

Cheers,

Jens

[hybride]

Hi all,

Yesterday the postman delivered a package from Melbourne 14 days after dispatching from Aspen labs.

Here my initial first impression after the first hour listening to my new NAKSA, with the LF100 MKii performance in fresh memory.  I play with Vsonic speakers and as source i use a highly optimized TDA1541NOS DAC with GK1 pre.

From the first minutes on it was clear to me that this amp is more vivid in the upper ends. It also performs a better in the low ends. On the whole spectrum it sounds to me as a more lively presentation, more articulation, like you are closer to the artists. 

On musical performance i am not sure right now. The LF100 MKII seems some more mellow and laid-back to me, which i personally like. That could be a matter of burn-in. The new NAKSA, so now and then, sounds a bit hard to my ears with, for example, loud voices. 

I will continue my review after a period of burnin.

I find it amazing how few components this amp counts while it has a excellent overall performance. 70 Watt's power seems also enough to drive the Vsonics, even on louder volume. That's what i hoped for. There is another striking property with this amp. When starting any song, it keeps you listening without any sign of fatigue.

And Hugh, just a question. In the LF series you used Nichicon Gold's capacitors in the PS area. What brand are these ones used in the NAKSA and whats the story about choosing these?

Hans (from the Netherlands)

[jkeny]

Hi Hans,
I'm not stalking you honest  Firstly give it some burn-in time but I also find an important parameter is to give it about 20 mins playing time (not warm-up time - it has to be playing) & it really sings - possibly bias settling?

[AKSA]

Hi Hans,

Congratulations on getting the NAKSA going!  Glad it came through undamaged, but disappointed that a service touted as taking just five business days actually took 14.  Maybe it's customs?

You are 100% right about the vivid, lively presentation.  It is absolutely true.  I wanted to bring real dynamics to the music, to fully exploit the very low noise of this amp.  The trick was to do this without making it fatigueing, and I'm pleased you picked up on this, Hans, it's obviously very important.

The mellowness of your LF100 reflects running in, which you have yet to experience with the NAKSA.  It will bed down very nicely, change a lot in the first 20 hours or so.  It's a real phenomenon, I think related to cap break in.

The filter caps are interesting.  I looked for ready availability and low ESR and found these blue caps locally.  That was my requirement.  I then did a comparison between them and Nichicon Muse, which made an appreciable difference to the SQ on the LF100.  To my surprise, I found that the filter caps were nowhere near as critical on the NAKSA and the two cap types were indistinguishable.  This was a surprise to me and flies in the face of previous amps I'd done.  I do not know why.

Wait a few days, Hans, you will find the NAKSA beds in very nicely, and will be close to mellow in a couple of days playing.  Then you will be able to assess the real quality of this amp....  I was surprised myself at the difference.

Cheers,

Hugh

[PJR]

Hi Hans

I'm delighted to note that your initial impressions of the NAKSA seem to be so similar to my own favorable initial findings. And you may be confident that it will actually get a little better during the "burn-in" period.

Regards, Peter Roberts

[kyrill]

Dag Hans

He he eindelijk someone in the Netherlands like me : )
Is it possible some day i can listen to you setup?
Kyrill

[AKSA]

Hey Kyrill,

I do hope Hans is willing to give you a listen, I really do!!

Hans?   


Bey,

Hugh

[hybride]

hi Kyrill,

you are welcome anytime.

just give me a sign on email or telephone (0624973888)

Hans

[kyrill]

Ok I contact you

[hybride]

Hi Hans,
I'm not stalking you honest  Firstly give it some burn-in time but I also find an important parameter is to give it about 20 mins playing time (not warm-up time - it has to be playing) & it really sings - possibly bias settling?

Hi John

The bias is set on 80mA. Had no time to burnin yet. Just came back from 2 days sailing.

How does the NAKSA perform with the ESS DAC?

[jkeny]

Hans, I haven't had the time to put all my best bits together  - my modified Hiface into Sabre DAC (AckoDac) into BDT preamplifier (Just finishing this) into Naksa (mine is out with reviewer) into Jordan JX92S DIY speakers (to be enabled).

I have to get back to the Squeezebox Duet at some stage to see how good this can be made to sound!

What are you running into the Naksa - the SDTrans192?

[AKSA]

John,

I have a SB Duet with teflon output caps, it's not bad.....  but I know there is better around now!!

I do not like the reliance on a PC, because I have found the software a little flaky, hard to set up, tricky to find the library sometimes, awkward to connect, long waits for the handset to find the modem, no quick way to access music by alphabet, less than intuitive interface, etc.  But on random mix, nothing beats it.

I have more than 2800 CDs in my library now, recorded using EAC.  I'm interested in the Touch eventually, do you have any suggestions?

Again, thank you for depriving yourself of the NAKSA during the review, it's much appreciated.   

Cheers,

Hugh

[jkeny]

Hugh, I had done a lot of modifications to my Duet before I went a step too far & broke it but it was sounding pretty good. It was not as good as my reference for PC audio - my modified Hiface but I was interested in how close I could get it.

I don't know if you are interested in these mods? I can give you links to posts if you are. A lot of the mods relate to power supply (what else) & cleaner clock signals but one of the things I discovered was that replacing the output stage of the WM DAC with a transformer & some tricks makes for a very nice sounding & hugely improved analogue output.

The Touch is supposedly a great product but again it needs some tweaks to get the best out of it - apparently the screen drags down the sonic performance substantially & needs to be turned off.  This can only be done by getting inside the box which is a difficult task. I have a replacement Duet which i will be getting back to at some stage. Personally, I wouldn't buy the Touch as I would be paying for things that I was going to remove & it's also not easy to work on it.

Hugh, here's the link to the mod posted on SB forum http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=509462&postcount=311 I recommend you try it - you'll be amazed at the clarity. Do you haven any audio output transformers to try?

[AKSA]

Thanks John,

Much appreciated.  I'll have a gander.....  in the meantime, I must stick to amps!

Hugh

[bhobba]

I have a SB Duet with teflon output caps, it's not bad.....  but I know there is better around now!!

There sure is.

I do not like the reliance on a PC, because I have found the software a little flaky, hard to set up, tricky to find the library sometimes, awkward to connect, long waits for the handset to find the modem, no quick way to access music by alphabet, less than intuitive interface, etc.  But on random mix, nothing beats it.

I use J River on a Mac Mini with 192/24 up-sampling via music stored on a USB drive and it works flawlessly.  No network problems or anything like that to foul things up.  The Tranquility DAC guys did a lot of double blind tests verifying audibly USB fed directly from a computer is the best.  J River allows searching by alphabet and IMHO has a very intuitive interface.  I feed my mac mini into my TV and run it from where I sit using a wireless keyboard and it works great.

I have more than 2800 CDs in my library now, recorded using EAC.  I'm interested in the Touch eventually, do you have any suggestions?

I like a mac mini either running J River or I Tunes with Pure Music.  If it is part of a Home Theater set up and you have a big screen to view stuff on then I like J River due to its nicer interface and ability to handle more audio formats such as monkey audio which I use.  However if it is a straight stereo setup then I like Itunes run remotely via an Iphone or Ipod Touch.  That said it is a good deal more expensive than a SB Touch and direct comparisons really need to be done to see exactly what that extra dosh buys in terms of sound quality.  I will say this however.  The Tranquility DAC guys claim their DAC is scary close to the best analogue rigs out there - not $1-2k jobs - it evidently trumps those - but $10k and more rigs.  And it only is available with USB.  This is a bold claim and one of the reasons I am doing everything I can to get one in for the DAC shootout.

Thanks
Bill

[AKSA]

Folks,

I have just completed two NAKSA 70s for local customers.  Neither have the DIY bug, so I built the whole thing (I don't much enjoy the entire build, it's slow and fiddly, but it's done).  Here's the latest, it's playing right now and sounds WONDERFUL!!





I'm off for lunch now, on return I will add the LED 'on' indicator, and am planning a badge for the front panel.

Cheers,


Hugh

[bhobba]

I have just completed two NAKSA 70s for local customers.  Neither have the DIY bug, so I built the whole thing (I don't much enjoy the entire build, it's slow and fiddly, but it's done).  Here's the latest, it's playing right now and sounds WONDERFUL

I think one of them is mine.  Looks great and I am sure from what you say sounds even better.

Thanks
Bill

[AKSA]

Yes, Bill, the first one!

It's all ready, it's even half run in, but I'm waiting on the artwork and delivery of the badges.....  could be some time, couple of weeks.  Would you prefer me to send it to Mike, and then send the badge for simple affixing (it's self adhesive) a couple of weeks later?

Cheers,

Hugh

[bhobba]

Yes, Bill, the first one! It's all ready, it's even half run in, but I'm waiting on the artwork and delivery of the badges.....  could be some time, couple of weeks.  Would you prefer me to send it to Mike, and then send the badge for simple affixing (it's self adhesive) a couple of weeks later?

No - send it as one complete product with badge etc.  Right now Mike is really busy with finishing the ML3 speakers he is working on and a few other things such as the DAC shootout and I will be busy doing DAC comparisons so getting it a bit later is fine - as long as it is only a couple of weeks - if it is months then yes - but I gather it wont be that long.  Unfortunately the Tranquility DAC I will be comparing the WFS to does not have a remote volume control so I won't be able to use your amp for that.  I have purchased a little Redgum amp for that and to be fair in the comparison will use the same amp for both.

One question that has occurred to me is I may have to get a volume control.  I am very partial to LDR volume controls but they are passive.  Here is one I am looking at:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/p&s_optopot_e.html

Do you think it would be OK with this amp or maybe something like a Burson Buffer is required?

I am however mindful of the fact you have forked out money for this and will be only too happy to pay for it now if you drop me a PM about it.

Thanks
Bill

[kyrill]

hmm
I must advice potential buyers NOT to miss the GOLDEN opportunity to refuse the IRON PRISON ( the default casing) and to make a wonderful sounding spruce wooden enclosure.  Don't despair that ugly gremlins like RFI or EMI will have too much of an impact*. This is not so. Think of the wonderful sounding tube amps which are open, FREE and in the naked.

You WILL BE PLEASANTLY surprised and wonder why you didin't follow this trend 10 years ago

*except when living near a broadcasting TV or radio station and i wouldn't do it for sensitive preamps. We can ask Hugh how the NAKSA sounds on the workbench ( played in of course without its metal jacket)