New Naksa Amplifier! Quick Initial Impression......

AKSA · « **Reply #300 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 01:03 pm »

Good idea John!

Anyone who clicks on my web page NAKSA review link will be taken straight to Fran's site, and on the right side of the page are the menu options showing all the other products he has reviewed.

You can then read John's HiFace review, which is fascinating, a clever way to retrieve information from a server based music library.

Cheers,

Hugh

Johnny · « **Reply #301 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 05:48 pm »

I signed on. Good stuff!

jkeny · « **Reply #302 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 06:06 pm »

Great Johnny,
I presume you are Oz based?
Even though this forum is in Ireland (if there is such a thing in cyberspace) & is the other side of the world, the reviews are still universal & useful. Those Superlux headphones are giant killers too.

Why not say hello to the natives on the forum - it's only recently established & is very friendly - they would be chuffed to know that folks from Oz are registering

Here's a bit of Irish humour to break the ice - you might have seen it already as it may have originated in Oz

Johnny · « **Reply #303 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 06:29 pm »

Haha

Actually I hail from Boston, the one in Massachusetts, not Co. Cork!
But my "people" came from Galway and Clare.
Cheers,
Jy

jkeny · « **Reply #304 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 06:39 pm »

Just a shot in the dark - the TirnaHifi inmates would still be interested.

BTW, TirnaHiFi is Irish for "Land of HiFi" - just a bit of useless information!

Johnny · « **Reply #305 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 06:49 pm »

Yes, an apt reference to Tir Na Nog

AKSA · « **Reply #306 on:** 14 Sep 2010, 09:58 pm »

John,

I hope we get some forum members - I too might join - for Fran's site.

It seems we all have an Irish connection; my maternal Grandmother was born Protestant Irish in Belfast, but spent almost all her life in England and Australia. We had an Irish lass lived next door, married to a Chinese from Malaysia, they now live in Dublin!

Daughter #2 is rapidly rusting onto New York, while Daughter #1 (the one who gave me insightful instruction recently on how to vote!) looks like she will settle in Singapore. It's a big world, but people really do move about a lot thanks to the modern jetliner, I often muse on what the world will look like in two hundred years! I admit I would really like to live in the US, I found the country utterly fascinating. On the other hand, I really enjoy living in Melbourne in the early 21st century, only yesterday I had a long, informative discussion with a Lebanese who fought Syria during their civil war 1974-1992, now that was interesting.... He clearly knew how to use an AK47!

Oh, and it looks like that head gasket on my Cressida is about to go again - sigh - I guess I can't complain after 30k kms and running it dry of coolant no less than four times. Don't ask..... but recently I bought a used head in good condition, so it ain't all bad.

Cheers,

Hugh

AKSA · « **Reply #307 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 01:29 pm »

I can announce that work is nearly complete on the design of the next NAKSA, the 100W version, but it will likely be quite a bit dearer because of the much more power oriented design.

I would like to thank Rom and Omar for their big contributions, and during prototype assessment, Jon here in Melbourne.

I shall keep the forum informed of these exciting developments. This NAKSA topology is quite extaordinary and I honestly believe will leave quite a mark on modern amplifier design in years to come.

Hugh

Jens · « **Reply #308 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 02:20 pm »

Quote from: AKSA on 19 Sep 2010, 01:29 pm

I can announce that work is nearly complete on the design of the next NAKSA, the 100W version, but it will likely be quite a bit dearer because of the much more power oriented design.

I would like to thank Rom and Omar for their big contributions, and during prototype assessment, Jon here in Melbourne.

I shall keep the forum informed of these exciting developments. This NAKSA topology is quite extaordinary and I honestly believe will leave quite a mark on modern amplifier design in years to come.

Hugh

Hi Hugh,

This is very good news indeed

We shall be awaiting pricing with our breaths held, but I suppose no one thought that the NAKSA 100 would be available at the same price as the NAKSA 70

By the way, what will the actual output of the N100 be into 8 ohms and 4 ohms, respectively?

Cheers,

Jens

AKSA · « **Reply #309 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 10:12 pm »

Hi Jens,

Thanks for the post!

I am expecting 105W exactly into 8R, and 200W into 4R, using a 49V rail, same as the LF and AKSA amps. Measurements are not taken just yet, but these look more than achievable.

The design is scaleable and very stable. The difficulty has been achieving consistent offset control with high output power. This goal is now reached, and the sky is the limit!

Cheers,

Hugh

jkeny · « **Reply #310 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 10:23 pm »

Hugh,
Just a quick report - I was down in Fran's house today, to pick up my much missed Naksa & we listened to it on his Quad 57s - fan bloody tastic

. We were listening to my modified Hiface outputting I2S into a Buffalo Sabre DAC & the sound was palpably realistic with a huge sound stage in both width & depth. There is a well known sweet spot with the Quads but even outside of this the sound was amazing.

I'm delighted to have it back & will begin to appreciate it's qualities all over again - it's like the song "the best part of breakin' up is when you're makin' up" - I think I might fall in love again with this amp.

Great to hear about the 100watt Naksa

AKSA · « **Reply #311 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 10:45 pm »

Thank you John, great post!

It's been a revelation to me that the 57s sounded so good with the NAKSA; I'd tried 'em on the Quad ESL63, and they worked very well, though I did not test them long term; these are a hugely difficult load to pull, the amp equivalent of ploughing concrete, highly capacitive with very dangerous current peaks. Fran is to be commended for his adventurous spirit.....

I think your HiFace mods might do very well, too, with a review. Seems to me a very inexpensive way to to do it. I think digital audio has just moved into the disc brake/auto transmission phase; there is more to come as companies like Logitech move into the market in earnest and chipmakers deliver new and better DACs and analog output stages.

Yes, pleased about the NAKSA 100. I'm awaiting revised pcbs now, will let the forum know when ready. Expected price will be a little over the original LF55 prices posted seven years ago - a lot of amp for the money!

Cheers,

Hugh

bhobba · « **Reply #312 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 01:29 am »

Quote from: AKSA on 19 Sep 2010, 10:45 pm

I think digital audio has just moved into the disc brake/auto transmission phase; there is more to come as companies like Logitech move into the market in earnest and chipmakers deliver new and better DACs and analog output stages.

Hi Hugh and All

Absolutely - computer audio is entering a new phase. Have a listen to the new Tranquility DAC. Even non optimized it was competitive with Mike's reference DAC that went toe to toe with a DCS DAC and to Mikes ears bested it. We are getting into really serious territory here. Listening to some Tom Jones right now through your NAKSA and the WFS DAC 2. Now this is not my favorite DAC because I find it has a slight sibilance control issue and a bit of digital glare as well (only recently noticed the glare bit - before I thought it was a bit dark - must be the transparency of the NAKSA) but through an optimized Mac Mini using Play it has a clarity I have not heard using conventional transports.

Hope you can see you way clear to check out the Tranquility when I send it around for people for people to listen to.

Thanks
Bill

Afterimage · « **Reply #313 on:** 21 Sep 2010, 12:35 am »

I have the Tranquility and I agree it is a special piece, especially at it's price point. The thing I like about Eric and DB labs is they give you tips and advice on how to best optimize everything.

Jens · « **Reply #314 on:** 21 Sep 2010, 10:20 pm »

Quote from: AKSA on 19 Sep 2010, 10:12 pm

Hi Jens,

Thanks for the post!

I am expecting 105W exactly into 8R, and 200W into 4R, using a 49V rail, same as the LF and AKSA amps. Measurements are not taken just yet, but these look more than achievable.

The design is scaleable and very stable. The difficulty has been achieving consistent offset control with high output power. This goal is now reached, and the sky is the limit!

Cheers,

Hugh

Hi Hugh,

Sounds great!

What about size - will that be comparable to the NAKSA 70, or ... ? I seem to remember you talking about a separate PSU board

Cheers,

Jens

AKSA · « **Reply #315 on:** 21 Sep 2010, 10:55 pm »

Jens,

Bigger, yes, monobloc construction, one module per heatsink, separate power supply pcb a la Lifeforce.

I wish I could make it smaller, but then, there would be heat issues with just one heatsink!

Cheers,

Hugh

Jens · « **Reply #316 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 07:40 am »

Quote from: AKSA on 21 Sep 2010, 10:55 pm

Jens,

Bigger, yes, monobloc construction, one module per heatsink, separate power supply pcb a la Lifeforce.

I wish I could make it smaller, but then, there would be heat issues with just one heatsink!

Cheers,

Hugh

Thanks Hugh,

Monoblock, eh? But I guess the PSU is common?

If yes - could the PSU be split into two?

Cheers,

Jens

AKSA · « **Reply #317 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 08:25 am »

Hi Jens,

Yes, I'm going to do two separate psu boards, for this very purpose.

Don't fully agree with it from a packaging POV, but it's clearly what people want, so who am I to disagree?

Hugh

Jens · « **Reply #318 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 08:34 am »

Quote from: AKSA on 22 Sep 2010, 08:25 am

Hi Jens,

Yes, I'm going to do two separate psu boards, for this very purpose.

Don't fully agree with it from a packaging POV, but it's clearly what people want, so who am I to disagree?

Hugh

Always best to give customers what they want

painkiller · « **Reply #319 on:** 26 Sep 2010, 12:15 pm »

I don't know if this is the right thread for this question, but anyway, I calculated the gain of the NAKSA 70 to around 30dB. Is this correct? Do you think the gain of the NAKSA would match the LF55 in a biamping setup?

I'm considering a setup with two sets of USB dacs and amplifiers, running software based digital crossover.

Another question, a bit off topic. Is there an easy way of reducing the input level on the LF55, by incorporating a parallell resistor in the input RC-filter or something like that? I run a WM8741 dac directly into the LF55 amp, no analog stage, no attenuator, which is an IN... SANE configuration. It's really the best I've ever heard. The WM8741 is capable of driving a 1kOhm 1000pF load on itself. But the LF55 gain is a bit too high for 100dB efficient speakers.