[AKSA]

Bill,

The volume control looks fine and will work well.

I will send when I have the badge, no problem.

Thanks for quick reply!

Hugh

[Johnny]

HaHa Kyrill!
You are funny
I must say I enjoy watching at my Naksa "play" through the open cover...

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)

[Johnny]

Hans and I are in the same boat.
I was able to listen to my Naksa for about an hour on Friday night before leaving for the weekend, and my impressions were exactly the same, especially on vocals. I was not concerned, as I fully expected that some running in would be required.
I now have about four additional listening hours logged and the rate of improvement has been remarkable, especially in the second hour or so.

My test rig consists of the NAKSA with Alps attenuator, fed by SB3 on short interconnects, driving Vsonics.

I have been sampling:
Grace Potter and the Nocternals from my home state of Vermont. Grace is a vocal powerhouse, suggesting a combination of Janis Joplin, Tina Turner and Bonnie Raitt.
Jenifer Warnes FBRC. (Like it or not, I’ve been listening to this since its release in 1987. It is a point of reference.)
Emmylou Harris, Cowgirl’s Prayer.
Clinton Fearon, Mi An’ Mi Guitar.
Ernie Watts, jazz quartet, Classic Moods and Reaching Up.

Grace Potter was a disaster in the first hour, but things really settled down by the time I got to Emmylou. I find her version of Runaway Horse is vastly more engaging than JW’s, which is so dry as to be incomprehensible. That Nashville sound and Emmylou’s countrified and emotive delivery really bring life to the lyrics of this song. However, this listening was the first time I truly accessed the lyrics. "Higher Love" is the real toe-tapper on this album.

I think one attribute of the Naksa that is emerging for me is that it delivers more sonic clarity and nuance in the vocal range, providing more emotional cues for the listener. The same applies to the beautifully sparse Clinton Fearon solo recording. This quality extends to instrumental voices as well of course, especially noticeable in cymbals, piano and other timbres that are difficult to get right.

The Ernie Watts recordings were smashing. Like sitting in the front row live in studio. The soundstage has moved well forward of the speakers which have completely disappeared now (no offense Laurie!), yielding an amazing presence in the listening room. Ernie’s sax is rock solid in the soundstage, like a living thing, and his incredibly fast and complex arpeggios are rendered as exquisitely as the vocal tracks mentioned above. Musical excitement is inescapable.

I have since revisited the Grace Potter album, and things are vastly improved. It will be interesting to check in again from time to time during the burn in. If the NAKSA can tame this tiger, as well as deliver on the most delicate material, it is a serious contender indeed.

Congratulations Hugh! 

[AKSA]

Hi John,

Many thanks for posting your first impressions, nicely expressed and very thorough!   

It is certainly emerging that the NAKSA takes typically five hours of playing to give of its best, with slight improvement again over the ensuing ten hours or so.  All mine seem quite nicely run in, I noticed no further changes after about 15 hours.

Your comments about Grace Potter were very heartening.  From the start I strove to build a SS amplifier with low parts count, amp modules fully integrated with stereo power supply, and high reliability which sounded very like a well textured tube amp, yet had a full powered bass delivery, an emotive midrange, and a delicate, highly resolved top end.  You have identified these qualities I believe, and I'm quietly optimistic.

The vocal cues are, to me, where it's at.   I really did want something which communicated emotion.  Just how you measure this is quite beyond me, but the discerning audiophile will know it when he hears it....   

The sound stage depth is an issue of great importance for 'immediacy', that sense of being at the performance.  It is difficult to achieve sound stage depth with the SS technologies, but this is most important to realism, and an acid test.  I must thank Jon Pippard and Russ Bayliss for their help in configuration and auditioning.  Without their huge input these qualities would not have been achieved.    

Once we have a review and a web page completed for the site, I fully expect, and am planning for, strong demand.  I think this is a corker of an amp, a worthy successor to the AKSA and the Lifeforce.   

Thank you John!


Cheers,

Hugh

[Tliner]

Hi John,

Re:- disappearing VSonics.

Your comment that the speakers have "completely disappeared now" is the ultimate complement a speaker designer can bathe in. But rather, it is a result of a "total system", the Naksa and the VSonics that combine to deliver music which dances independtly from the hardware, right in front of you, truely involving the listener. That was the prime aim in developing the system John. Thank you for your comment, it is much appreciated.

Cheers,

Laurie

[AKSA]

Laurie,

I completely agree.  John could pay you no higher compliment, congratulations for a superb speaker!    

Hugh

[Johnny]

Ah! My compliment was too thinly veiled 

Laurie,

I completely agree.  John could pay you no higher compliment, congratulations for a superb speaker!    

Hugh

[AKSA]

Folks,

I have just completed work on the NAKSA 100, a higher power version of the NAKSA 70 with TWO heatsinks and a separate power supply pcb.  I'm VERY happy with the results, too!

The layout is very similar to the LF100 in fact.  The two amps are not the same, however, and serve different tastes, so the LF100 will not be discontinued.  The two amps will share a common power supply pcb, however.

I am now productionising the NAKSA 100, in fact boards are now done, and will have product information on the website very soon.  I'm hoping for a positive review from Ireland in a month or two, but naturally would not want to force the reviewers hand!!   

Thank you for patience,   

Hugh

[Jens]

Folks,

I have just completed work on the NAKSA 100, a higher power version of the NAKSA 70 with TWO heatsinks and a separate power supply pcb.  I'm VERY happy with the results, too!

The layout is very similar to the LF100 in fact.  The two amps are not the same, however, and serve different tastes, so the LF100 will not be discontinued.  The two amps will share a common power supply pcb, however.

I am now productionising the NAKSA 100, in fact boards are now done, and will have product information on the website very soon.  I'm hoping for a positive review from Ireland in a month or two, but naturally would not want to force the reviewers hand!!   

Thank you for patience,   

Hugh

Congratulations, Hugh! 

We shall be looking forward to getting listening impressions on this new amp as well 

I'm certain that it is every bit as good as the NAKSA 70 - which actually says quite a lot! 

I hope I will be able to purchase a few of those some time next year (even though I am about to spend a lot of money on a new house one of these days ... )

Cheers,

Jens

[AKSA]

Jens,

As soon as they are known, I will inform you!

Hang five on that house, Jens, it is my prediction that Europe will again experience a further drop in house prices...  no certainty, of course, but with so many western european countries experiencing both high unemployment and very high national debt, I cannot see how the housing market can stay high forever and must therefore drop to prices people can actually afford to pay.

Cheers,

Hugh

[sureshm]

Hugh,

That is great news. Can't wait to have a listen to it and hopefully purchase one soon

Please post some pictures when you get the chance.

Will you be able to release any pricing details at this stage?

Thanks

[AKSA]

Folks,

I have just now put up the product description and photo for the New AKSA - the NAKSA 70.   And I've even done a logo:





The idea is to build a brand, and do it with elegance and simplicity.

You can access the NAKSA 70 product description directly here:   http://www.aksaonline.com/products/products_NAKSA70.html

I must say the copy was a long process, took about two weeks of constant editing to get it 'right'.

Cheers,

Hugh

[bhobba]

Fantastic Hugh.  And great Logo.  Hope it's not long now until we can get my amp with that Logo up to Mike's place where I will go down and give it a listen with Mike who is very interested in hearing it.

Simply drop me a line with what I owe and we can get on with listening to it, which I am sure will be a very pleasurable experience.

Thanks
Bill

[AKSA]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the post, glad you like the logo, simple is good.....

I will have them by end of next week hopefully, so should be able to get your now complete amp to you within two weeks.  Here's hoping!

Cheers,

Hugh

[gaetan8888]

Folks,

I have just now put up the product description and photo for the New AKSA - the NAKSA 70.   And I've even done a logo:

The idea is to build a brand, and do it with elegance and simplicity.

You can access the NAKSA 70 product description directly here:   http://www.aksaonline.com/products/products_NAKSA70.html

I must say the copy was a long process, took about two weeks of constant editing to get it 'right'.

Cheers,

Hugh

Hello Hugh

Your Naksa product web page and logo are quite a nice work, and very well made and detailed page.

And as I know you and the Naksa, I know it's an honest and true description in your web page, no okus-pokus and no snake-oil, it's not all commercial amps web pages who are so honest.

Bye

Gaetan

[ginger]

Hugh,
The "Kitset Comprises" section toward the end has obviously been cut and pasted from elsewhere and is not correct. One more edit required.
Cheers,
Ian

[AKSA]

Why, thank you Gaetan, very nice of you!!

Ginger, you are 100% right, will fix right away, thanks!

Hugh

[Rom]

Hi Hugh,

The logo is looking good the amp too

Rom

[AKSA]

I've just sold a complete amp (not something I like to do, too time consuming, but unavoidable with certain locals!), and here are two photographs of the interior, so people can see what needs to be done to get a module up and running:









It's not a big job;  getting a NAKSA up and running is quite straightforward.

Cheers,

Hugh

[lonewolfny42]

Nice work Hugh !!!