WHY SO SPECIAL? NVA P50SA/M600 Amplifier Review

[@lint8391]

The "direct sales only" business model helps a lot in NVA gear being great value for money when new. No dealer nor distributer mark-ups adding to the price that we have to pay as customers. I have a lot of respect for small enthusiast type audio equipment companies that sell direct only on a cost-plus pricing basis. Avondale are another example of this, and I suspect you'd like their products a lot too. BTW the NVA phono amplifiers are excellent. Good enough to win the phono amplifier bake-off that I attended.

[@jos5067]

Yes, indeed, but here in mainland Europe it’s a huge (!) disadvantage, because of Brexit.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. They are great value if you can get them 👍

[@jos5067]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 I wish I could import their devices, but then we need a repair company here too. I known one. In mine opinion: they just need one good selling point over here and that will boost sales, I think. Although, the UK market is probably big enough for them.

[@thepuma2012]

@@jos5067 why, you can still buy them if you want, i dont see the problem

[@rjy8960]

@@jos5067 Brexit - the gift that keeps giving.

[@cesarjlisboa7586]

One more honest, and detailed review. Congratulations Tarun! Great Job!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you kindly 😊👍

[@marksatterthwaite227]

Have been using NVA amplification for a good while. I echo the sentiments on the video. Can't think of any reason to want to change. The sound is smooth, detailed, 'musical' & works well with a variety of quality equipment in my listening room. S/q for the price make them one of our top British manufacturers. Good kit.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing 👍

[@wa2368]

​@@abritishaudiophile7314 No remote, no tone controls? No sale! Tell NVA they need to gather more aptitude and be able to make their stuff sound good with the above mentioned. This purism crap, i.e., a cover up for a lack of aptitude doesn't fly.

[@fusionfan6883]

@@wa2368What a crass, insulting and unnecessarily aggressive comment. Guess what, not everyone wants bells and whistles, and I for one am happy with NVA’s design philosophy and sonic bang for the buck.

[@baggs9445]

I worked at a hifi store in Australia in the 90's selling NVA kit, we mated them to Audio Note speakers. My favorite pairing was the AP30 and the Type J speakers. The NVA amps really thrive with valve amp friendly (easy relatively flat impedance, greater than 90db efficiency).

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thx 😊

[@joestarkie5597]

Concise and clear delivery Tarun. Well done.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@hennievangalen3789]

This is a rather refreshing and thorough presentation, enjoyed it very much! Subscribed.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Much appreciated 😊👍

[@attrktmarketing4582]

Yay! A big win for the little guys. Wonderful!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching 👍

[@nishalp1747]

Thank you. Always glad to hear your impression of these products.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@markcarrington8565]

Hey Tarun, I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that this is an amp stack that ticks all my boxes. Total clarity of purpose with great components, from the finest Polish transformers to those ludicrously high spec attenuators. With my front end almost sorted (just an Ekos to go) and the Elites on the end, they will be a must for audition if the time comes to look beyond my Musical Fidelity amp. You can show me what they can do with a Denafrips DAC if you like 😉

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thanks Mark. That sounds like a good plan 👍

[@paulwg2112]

Outstanding review for an apparent outstanding product. I really appreciate the design aspects of clean and minimal aesthetics. Perhaps if they blacked out their logo that would be an update in understatement.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊👍

[@paulhansen7455]

Yet another brilliant review Tarun. You ask about reviewing other products -how about the new Tannoy Autograph 12? Many thanks.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@paulhansen7455 thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@TheRealWindlePoons]

Thanks, Tarun. As ever, an excellent and informative review. On passive preamps. I have built them with exotic pots, ladder attenuators with posh resistors and "magnetic" preamps. My current favourite is the "magnetic" variety which uses audio auto-transformers. These can be wired to give a little gain if required but the big advantage is that as you turn the volume down, the output impedance drops which is the opposite of a pot or attenuator network which is just usually just introducing series resistance. This makes the magnetic type much less fussy over interconnect cables in my experience. The big negative is the price of the transformers which will typically be that of a valve output transformer, for a quality item of course. I made the move to monoblocks about 25 years ago and every time I have tried a stereo unit since then it has felt like a step backwards and I return to monoblocks. Also, a generous un-stressed power supply always has sonic rewards to my ears. Your description of the NVA sound is exactly what I would expect from their design. Thanks again.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your experiences 😊👍

[@tacofortgens3471]

Now that is great value!

[@roccobruno8027]

I will definitely keep the NVA Mono Amps on my short list.

[@datdudeinred]

Wow this is probably the greatest amps for driving my diy multiway speaker's mid & tweets. Those bliesma beryllium dome mid & tweeter gonna love this thing. Sweet 👏.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Cool 😎

[@mattmarceau8156]

I’m glad you did this follow up, it was good to see what’s possible at the top of their range. This is definitely up there on my list for attainable amps. LFD has some interesting pieces. I’ve heard that they sell separates in the UK, whereas I’ve only seen their integrated amps in the states. Maybe there’s a Kinki Studio Emei review to be had ;)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. A Kinki Studio review is in the wings 😉

[@davidbennett3098]

A good time to compare with the Exposure 3510 pre/mono's

[@enjoyunreality]

Or 5010 series

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I hope to do that 😊

[@QuenyaTube]

I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the Exposure 3510 monoblocks. I know you already plan to review them, but man, you first announced that close to a year ago. 😅 Would also love for you to review the Holo Audio May DAC.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I did request them but they were struggling to fulfil back orders and weren’t particularly interested in a review at the time 😊

[@speedwolf5212]

Great review on some really interesting amplifiers. I see they have 2 integrated models- any chance you might review one of those?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. Watch this space 😊

[@josefbuckland]

I too have a good collection and NVA gear it’s perfect for day to day work bench stuff in the shed. An overlooked brand in my opinion but here we are. But it certainly is not going to enter my primary Hi-fi listening room but it is 10/10 for simplicity which is always a winner.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊

[@garrymartin77]

Hi Tarun I bought the NVA silver preamp some time ago and owing to operations etc which I proved to the person who owns the company could not return it within the 30;day trial period. I had found out that it was causing noise in my system once the volume control was increased to over halfway.There was no credible answer from the owner to the problems I was encountering other than to take it to Peterborough for his engineer Mark to look at it. Mark opened the unit up and proceeded to slate the other engineer Thomas for shoddy soldering stating there was at least one dry joint. I took the unit home and tried it - no difference. I then travelled back to Peterborough ( from Birmingham) again for a disconnected cable to be blamed and a test of the unit through two £10 class d power amps from a 30 year old cd player and a pair of very old speakers . The unit worked fine what was I complaining about? I took the unit back home and followed the instructions of taking my system apart several times ,running power cables and interconnects separately ,doing this that and the other.By this timeI realised that the owner was just taking the piss and would do anything but tell me what the problem was because of this forthcoming review by yourself. He had got Mark to blame Thomas in order to divert me away from the real problem . I then went to a qualified practicing electric engineer who I had used in the past and trusted completely . Within 45 seconds of the phone call he had diagnosed the fault and had me perform a simple test to check it . I travelled a considerable distance to see this man who straight away took the top off the unit, said there was nothing wrong with the soldering and pointed to the resistor on the attenuator as being the cause of the problem. The preamp was providing my icon audio special edition 845 monoblocks with an impedance load they did not like hence the audible noise after half way on the volume control.He set up an oscilloscope and checked the impedance levels at each increment so I could see what was happening . £500 later ,two trips to Peterborough and a week of my life wasted because of the owner of this company and I have a product I can use. The owner did offer me £350 for the unit which was 6/7/ months old and cost £800. My gripe is not the product but the owner who is prepared to take the piss out of his customers rather than taint the viability of this product which obviously has compatibility issues.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Sorry, to learn about your poor experience.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

This is great to have a review of this combination. I think the NVAs are the opposite design-wise of the Sugden a21. Given the similar price - at least I hope they are still similarly priced - it would be interesting to hear which of the two you'd prefer and why.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. As you say two very different sonic signatures. The A21 has a much warmer tone and more dynamic presentation to the NVA that are all about timing and natural tone 😊

[@hamidrezahabibi8111]

I own a SUGDEN A21SE Signature and it’s a gem 💎 of the British Sound culture that I personally truly admire.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thank you for this. I guess when you choose to use capacitors for signal coupling, timing becomes a lesser priority.

[@richcarless7740]

I'm very pleased to hear the bigger brother performs as well as I'd hoped. I thought it might be worth mentioning that choice of interconects and speaker cables require careful consideration and NVA recommend you use their cables exclusively.

[@jedi-mic]

They sound very similar to the manufacture DNM, what I believe is a lot more money.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Good points. I did try their own cables which preformed well 😊

[@paultaylor2388]

NVA do indeed insist on their own cables. Glad to see it was tested with those cables. I would be interested to hear if they were the best though.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@paultaylor2388 they were good but bettered by the Wireworld Equnox 8 and Eclipse 8 cables I used 😊

[@titntin5178]

Manufacturer insists you use their partnering equipment shocker! 😊 I think most of them try that line, but its rarely supported by evidence! I think some earlier Naim equipment had weird non standard output impedences and capacutences that meant there was genuinely a reason for using their cable, or something like terrelium q which was designed for this. But in general, theres no issue experimenting to find your best match - even with modern Naim equipment which presents far more standard measurements these days.

[@jazztheglass6139]

It's always good when you do a video, I like the straight talking with technical expertise

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you kindly 👍

[@Simon_Hawkshaw]

Very tempting products at a cost that is a very reasonable price for what you get. Thank you as always, Sir, for your time, efforts, and great review of this wonderful equipment. I shall be researching these monoblocks in earnest and adding them to my list.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Simon 😊👍

[@writemeanovel]

Well done Tarun ! I appreciate your ability to separate compare contrast and analyze differences in sound quality and type between so very many choices. It's quite helpful to watch your reviews and listen to how you separate and categorize audio components. Much appreciated!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you kindly 😊👍

[@writemeanovel]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Wow sleep much? Night owl!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@writemeanovel I know. I am up at some ridiculous hours 🥱😂

[@DalKangh]

Thanks for the great review. It’s a shame you never got to review any Croft Acoustics equipment before Glenn passed away. His theory was similar in that if it wasn’t needed it wasn’t in the amplifier.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I agree. I still would like to get my hands on one 😊

[@DalKangh]

I don’t which part of the country you’re based but i have a pair of his mono blocks which i could loan you for a couple of weeks. I’m in the Midlands. Let me know and perhaps we can work something out in the future

[@riccitone]

Wonderful coverage of excellent performance per dollar here, very much appreciated! Good to know the amps would pair well with pre’s that supply some gain and are clear in delivery. Even with a high standard dac/pre. Sideways question here…did you try the monos with a sub as well? If so, how would you connect them? Down the line, would also love to get your impression of the newer Orchard audio Starkrimson offerings 🙏🏼

[@bhupendraparekh6225]

NVA sounds really good, their integrated is supposed to be top notch as well. Some good boutique brands in the UK. Thanks Tarun. Oh LFD next please.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@alexseaford4029]

I like the fact that you were brave enough to offer an indication of the relative performance of the NVA against one or two products which you no longer have with you. I understand why it would be unwise to go into too much depth but I think some reviewers can be rather pedantic about this point which I find a little tiresome. Thanks for your review of this slightly lesser known and interesting kit.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I have equipment that I use as common points of reference so I can make general comments referring back to those. However m in order to make detailed comparisons I would need both pieces here at the same time 😊👍

[@zefrog7482]

Nice, was looking forward to this review.🙂

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Cool 😎

[@maxsmelvin]

Tarun, I had to let you know that I went to see Devon Ojas at the Lisson Gallery off Edgware Road in London. They are playing analogue masters from the Blue Note archive on tape through his made and/or designed 300b SET mono blocks, multi cell horn, two 15" mid bass woofers, horn loaded ribbon tweeter and single 21" woofer giant box. It recalibrated everything I thought I knew about hifi. Wasn't hifi at all, more like seeing Oppenheimer projected straight from the 70mm film at the BFI imax theatre. It was a hyperreal purely aesthetic and emotional experience and made modern hifi sound tiny and mechanical by comparison. I can't recommend it enough. They are there Tuesday - Saturday until the 26th August. The place was packed with cultured and fashionable under-30s too. Basically everything about it was counter to the modern hifi industry and community...and in my view exclusively the better for it. But mainly go for the sound - the devil's deal being that you can't unhear it....

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing 😊

[@Z-u-m-a]

Solid review as always. Interesting products.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

THANKS 🙏TARUN … no question of the day🤷‍♂️ NAP With your sharing you’re proving that this is the best time to be an audiophile 🤗😁💚💚💚

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@anonimushbosh]

Nearly bought a pair of PS Audio monoblocks recently and was staggered at the dearth of information & reviews about monoblocks generally. I'm fascinated why so many reviewers routinely prioritise integrated amps over power amps & monoblocks, especially at price ranges where money won't be such a decisive factor.

[@jos5067]

Simple: Most people prefer integrated amplifier’s, instead of more separated devices and cables. So there is a small public for pre and power amps.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

There does seem to be a trend towards integrated amplifiers and convenience. Pre/mono combinations take up a lot of real estate 😊

[@anonimushbosh]

@@jos5067 But why though? Reviewers (en masse) heavily influence buying trends and often whenever separates are discussed they're usually said to be noticeably superior. At the very least it surely warrants occasional discussion re the various pros & cons.

[@anonimushbosh]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Lol, see my reply to the other comment. Keep up the great work!

[@jos5067]

@@anonimushbosh I think my answer and Tarun’s answer are quite clear in my opinion. Not to mention the Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF). If I had a separate man cave with enough room AND more money…

[@alanspeed4860]

Hi Tarun, out of interest were you using NVA interconnects and speaker cable particularly the Statement interconnect and the LS7 speaker cable, as I have found that it is particularly beneficial when doing so.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I used the supplied NVA LS5 cables and Wireworld cables 😊

[@alanspeed4860]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 ok, I just think that the LS7 and the TIS may bring the bass up a bit which you felt was marginally lacking.

[@lekmannen9990]

Great work as always 👍

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@adsph]

Well done. I’m drawn to the simplistic details here. High quality.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@brown-eyedman4040]

Thank you, Tarun. Interesting product, made in the UK and the fact that it's a close-run thing with your Exposures is high praise indeed. Saw your brief cable review at ABA Club. I always enjoy cable reviews. The polemics they touch off are always amusing. And CD transports is a subject of interest for me.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Gerald 👍

[@hamidrezahabibi8111]

This was a great follow up on NVA. I belong to the British Sound club. There are hidden treasures in this sound culture and as an Anglophile audiophile I truly admire NVA and the British gems 💎 like SUGDEN and MOORAMPS… and British Acoustics which I truly like to see a TARUN review. 🇬🇧

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Hamid 👍

[@KITFLETCH1]

Excellent. Love the chasing down on bass.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@timothymoorman7437]

Very thorough and capable review, as usual, for unusually great sounding gear from a lesser known (for me) component builder and wizard. Really satisfying to find yet another audio company dedicated to the pursuit of excellent sound without the stratospheric prices often attached (after Musical Fidelity's bargain not long ago). Many thanks for the enlightenment.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. Much appreciated 🙂 👍

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Thanks for the video

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching 😊

[@perrypaulissen8016]

Hi Tarun, thanks for another nice review and information. It makes me wonder what the Audiolab 8300 mb monoblocks could do with the Audiolab 6000A play in pre mode.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. That would be interesting to try 😊

[@fedrichorlandineumann3062]

I have this configuration with kef reference 1 ...❤

[@gg0297]

Great review, Sir! Would like to see your take on the Soncoz SGP1 Power Amplifier.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@Nina_20xx]

Great review. Thank you. Very interesting company. Can‘t wait for your update on the Exposure 3510 Integrated. And of course your opinion on the 3510 pre/power combo.

[@QuenyaTube]

He has already reviewed the 3510 integrated amp.

[@Nina_20xx]

@@QuenyaTube I know. And Tarun will bring an update. See his comment in his review video. ;]

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I hope to get the 3510 pre monos in but Exposure have been focused on fulfilling back orders rather than getting samples to review 😊

[@logendraraom.sugumaran7474]

Hey Tharun, Love your reviews. Would love if you could do a review of the Wharfedale Lintons😊

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@ranelime]

Thank you Tarun! Added to my shortlist! Hope you will have the chance to review NVA's integrated amplifier with 70 wpc at a lower price.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@MichaelAlanNYC]

Great video, NVA is really an interesting brand. *If* you had a pair of high-efficiency speakers you liked, exploring some smaller Tube amplifiers could be interesting, but I'm less interested in hearing about monster tube amplifiers. I wish Bel Canto would give you an EX amplifier to review, I think that would be really interesting

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@lint8391]

The first time I met Richard Dunn was at a power amplifier bake-off in South London. I took my Coincident Frankenstein prototype 300b SET. Richard brought an NVA A80. The host of the bake-off had a Bel Canto amp.

[@stimpy1226]

If you want to review something special in an amplifier, may I suggest the Line Magnetic 845 IA Premium integrated. This will knock you out of your shoes and socks. At 30 W per channel Class A it can handle Maggie 20.7's with style and grace even at higher volumes. This is what I call an amplifier. I've been around for over 62 years as an audio enthusiast and I've heard many amplifiers in the past. This one is soo special.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for the suggestion 😊

[@kiers2320]

You are good at this, thank you kindly.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. Much appreciated 👍

[@EnriqSandoval]

T., you rocked this review!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you my friend 😊👍

[@peter-mathijslinsen8219]

I love the look of the amps, especially the monoblocks. Supersexy.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Cool 😎

[@markphilpot8734]

My keys are transparency, full range abilities and high definition. Dynamics are also in there. I haven’t known any company that did everything equally well, but when you find those that do what you are happy with, that’s your ticket. With revealing equipment, all the flaws of any other gear will shine and ruin your experience. There is no free lunch in audio. There will be compromise even in the high end. The key is finding balance and that is sometimes hard. If you want easy street, stay away from high end audio. Frustration is what you will find. This NVA equipment entices me, but it’s construction concerns me from a service perspective. Without ease of access, repair or restoration are a concern. Perhaps I misinterpreted what you said Tarun. Even new equipment is not immune to needing service should that day arise. This will come up even with the level of components used. What might NVA have to say of that? Great review and fun to find revealing components at this price point. Like what I see and I hope this company succeeds.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thanks Mark. Wise words. NVA do offer service their equipment but I bet it won’t be straightforward to I glue the tops if you go elsewhere 😊👍

[@gt4viking789]

Great review Tarun as always, and lone behold not needing to buy anything anymore still really hugely enjoy hearing about new gear. Mad old hobby this really yet most enjoyable 😊, Best Peter

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Peter 😊👍

[@borschec4164]

Hi Tarun, could you please comment on using the monoblocks with other preamps? I wonder how much of the sound quality comes from the passive preamp, and also how much they benefit from the higher gain of an active preamplification. Thanks and keep up the good work! 😉

[@ianlock4552]

I agree, this would be very interesting. It would potentially overcome the issue of no gain in the preamp and no remote control. You have your existing preamp in your stack - have you tried running these power amps with that? Also I have an existing preamp I do not want to change and am in the market for a power amp - it would be good to know if these play nice with other preamps and retain the positive sound benefits of the stack.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I tried two active preamps but the synergy wasn’t right 😊

[@ianlock4552]

Thanks Tarun@@abritishaudiophile7314 - I will keep looking

[@ColocasiaCorm]

If only they weren’t dynamically polite. That’s a kiss of death for me

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

If they had better dynamics, they would be my new reference 😊

[@ben23a31]

Perhaps IMO, the thinking behind them is that their target market at this price point is that a musical sub like a REL T9 (or two) would mitigate the lack of lower bass frequency thus letting the amps do what they do best. Some of the best bookies are void of deep bass (40hz and below) to begin with.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing 😊

[@larsv6144]

If you look at speaker cable connectors on the M600, you will have a problem connecting a REL over high level connection. You probably have to wind bare wire of the REL Speakon cable around the NVA loudspeaker cables. Not sure if that works well, it’s far from ideal.

[@shanestephenson8423]

Fascinating review Tarun, I would agree with you given the attributes that you speak of these amplifiers look very special, indeed. Although the somewhat minimalistic approach here may deter some, we purists Audiophiles love these kinds of electronics. I must look out for these and be sure to have a listen.🙂🎧👏

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Shane 👍

[@kjbiz]

Great to hear how these are of rel value. Wondered how they would match with the ATC SCM19 speakers. Thanks for the review as always, great to always hear your perspective. Cheers

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. The SCM19s do like a lot of power 😊

[@simontemplar3312]

Hi Tarun Enjoy your reviews, which I find informative, and generally for equipment that I would consider purchasing. There was a Canor integrated playing at this year's North West Audio Show, which to my ears sounded rather nice. Reading up, there are limited reviews of Canor equipment, but it is a company with some interesting products. May be worth considering for a review? Cheers

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Simon. I approached Canor some time ago but they politely declined to send me something to review 😊

[@jos5067]

I still prefer the Accuphase E280 because of the lack of a remote control, plastic, not so good looking and last but not least: quite difficult to import here in The Netherlands, because of Brexit. A review of the Copland CSA100, the Leben 600CX, and especially (!) the Sugden 50a amps would be nice. Thanks for this great review as always.

[@rog86]

Copland CSA 100, don't bother. I heard it and was totally unimpressed. It had a loud hum through sensitive speakers, and the tone was very mediocre. The sugden a21se beat it by a country mile, even though the sugden had a dirty grain to it.

[@jos5067]

@@rog86 Hi, according to a few well respected HiFi-magazines, the Copland amps are very fine products, however I don’t prefer amps with a DAC module inside.

[@rog86]

@@jos5067 yep, thats why i wanted to hear it. I genuinely expected it to be the amp for me. So lucky i didnt buy it blind. Its made me realsie to take reviews with large pinches of salt. It really sounded nothing special. I wouldnt jave guessed it cost over £800 in sound quality terms, maybe even less. In fact, my old rega brio r probably sounds better.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@hannahrose76]

Hi Tarun, have you done a critique of the smaller m300 NVA monoblocks?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I haven’t 😊

[@richardmorton8792]

Thankyou for following up on my request to review NVA equipment. How would the Mono Blocks 600 and pre amp go with Magnaplanar speakers.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I would need to try them 😊

[@mohitjain568]

Something you didn't cover is the possibility (or not) of mixing and matching the pre and power components to see if you can plug that missing slam whilst keeping the upsides?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I kept hat out of the review. It was long enough already. I did try other preamps but nothing sounded as clean as the NVA P50SA. That is partly due to synergy and partly due to the quality of the preamp 😊

[@garrymartin77]

Thank you for your response Tarun. I can understand you giving such a positive review for the NVA amps as obviously in the right set up they are a very good product for the asking price. .You were and still are probably unaware of the character of the gentleman running the company. It is nice to think that a small British company is producing goods that we can be proud of at a very reasonable cost . However there was nothing positive about my dealings with the owner who obviously does not give a hoot about his customers. There are always good and bad relations between customer and seller - fact of life. Unfortunately this man has no real wish to help anyone but himself. I could go on and on and show you what happened. I am lucky to have a friend who helped me in this matter, even if it did cost £500 to convert his preamp into something I could I could use. His amps are great in his set ups . The unfortunate thing about this is that you have given his products such a good review without knowing the other side of the owner and customer backup response.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Sorry, to learn about your negative experience.

[@olanzipMK2]

You should spread your bad exp on the forums - as much as possible!!!

[@johnratcliffe6438]

Tarun, I don't know if you still have the NVA components with you, but I own a pair of NVA Cube 1 speakers. If you'd like to try them with the NVA system so you can enjoy the full NVA experience, then I am happy to drop them off to you.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That is very kind John. NVA have suggested their speakers to review. No plans as yet 😊

[@johnratcliffe6438]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 The Cube 1s were made by Richard Dunn, the founder. As I say, you are welcome to them. I am not using them currently, so you can keep them for as long as you need. They do complete the NVA experience. Do let me know.

[@user-ex2pe6gl2f]

Thanks Tarun, great review. I'd never heard of this company before your previous review. Even though it sounds as if they're wonderful they're probably not for me though as I love the weight and richness of my Arcam SA30. It has always surprised me that over the years you've said several times that your little Pro-Acs haven't been bettered by similarly priced new bookshelf speakers when my experience is that speakers today are so superior to those from 20 odd years ago.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@allanlee8275]

Can you arrange a review for NVA INT400SA? I am also wondering if I can use active preamp with NVA power amp to have better performance?

[@lint8391]

If you have a digital source I'd strongly recommend you trying an NVA P50SA or P90SA with an NVA power amp - in order to maximise sound quality for the amount spent. There are certain phono amps that don't work well with passive pre-amplifiers. But even in that case, the NVA phono amps are bake-off winners and relatively affordable (especially if you can find one 2nd hand) and they work very well with the NVA passive pre-amps.

[@allanlee8275]

May I know what is P90SA?@@lint8391

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I did try a couple of active preamps with the M600s. The synergy wasn’t right 😊

[@allanlee8275]

Thanks @@abritishaudiophile7314

[@hirdeshirde]

Great review.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@paulbanbery3238]

Hello Tarun. Your reviews are excellent. Best in the business I'd say and I have bought (and been happy with) a number of your outstanding rated products. What I am a little surprised about with this review is that you say their top of the range stuff is a step up from their entry level. I would have thought their top of the range would have knocked spots off their entry level. I can't help feeling that you seemed less impressed with this combo than you expected to be,.Especially as all the comparatives were only ever highly recommended.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Paul. Much appreciated. The P50/S80 missed out on an Outstanding award due to a lack of bass control with many price appropriate speakers. They are exceptional in other regards. This was not an issue with the P50SA/M600. Hence, the higher rating. Ideally, I wish they delivered a little more bass punch but control is excellent. Still, worthy of an outstanding 👍

[@paulbanbery3238]

Thanks very much for your reply Tarun.

[@TheDjcarlos67]

Excellent lent review Tarun. I was surprised that you didn’t compare them to the similarly priced Sugden amps… “on paper” they appear to be comparable. These NVA’s look super cool too… 😎tempting. As for review suggestions… I’d appreciate a review of some classic equipment. Quad 34/405-2, Audio Innovations 200 valve amp, Quad ESL or other ribbon speakers or similar equipment ✌️

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@tremot7143]

I'd love to hear how these pair with the Quad Revela 1s. Shame I can't easily audition them to compare to my Sugden mono amplifiers. The shipping costs and import duties are just too much in the EU.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That would be an interesting comparison 👍

[@adrianconti5718]

Another great review, I would love you to compare you older Proac/Exsposure combo to their current offerings! Is older equipment being second hand slightly cheaper better value than what’s new!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That would be great to do but ProAc declined to send me their new speakers to review 😊

[@doctor9934]

Great review as always Tarun. I was particularly interested in your comments about the spatial 'isolation' of individual sound components and how this is really the mark of something extra special timing wise. I also hanker after his quality but in as small a footprint as practicable. The best I've found to date (within budget) is the Etude power amp from Chord electronics. I wonder if you've auditioned this? I'd love to hear your comments if you get a chance to....

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I have only heard the Etude at shows. Chord are a bit shy in sending me stuff to review 🙂

[@titntin5178]

Thanks for the review, always an excellent watch. Did you try the power amps in isolation? I have an Altair G1, currently feeding a Naim nap250dr power amp, but Id love to try and see how this would work with the m600 monos instead. I have a back issue that means remote volume control is not just nice, its a necessity or I cant play music 😊 It would be facinating to understand how much of the sonic character remains without the preamp in the equation and I hope you could comment on this.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I tried the Altair G1.1 directly into the M600 monoblocks. The quality of sound through the digital preamp section of the G1.1 drops down enough to not do the M600s justice. Even though it is a decent digital volume control. The Altair G1.1 sounded a lot better bypassing it’s digital volume control and using the NVA P50SA preamp 😊

[@fletchermunson6225]

Excellent job.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thanks Jim 👍

[@markbradbury5266]

Tarun, Nad M23 review sometime would be awesome please 🙏

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@carolineleonard8214]

I heard the Angel pre and 6 power at the Bristol show. I was extremely impressed. Also had the chance to chat with the designer and his wife, lovely people. So much so that I'm on the verge of home audition the Angel products. I'm now super curious about these, especially at Outstanding. An email is in the offing methinks.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Cool. Please let me know how you get on 👍

[@stephenjudge7531]

Had some similar NVA gear many years ago. Minimalist, open sounding but, like these, lacked bass control and slam. I don’t know if much has changed but one thing they really did not like was a capacitive load. Could be cables, or speakers. My Quad 57s were a definite no no.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing. They are designed to work with low capacitive cables 😊

[@glennwassermann6972]

I positively love your work. That's all I'll say.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Th am you Glenn. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@dunkelheit843]

Solid review as usual, I liked it. But what happened to that REL Subwoofer you had?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

It sounded a little slow in comparison to the NVAs 😊

[@SuperBicycleRepairMan]

Wonder how they might suit a pair of Martin Logans, with their powered woofer. (not that I own a pair!)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That would be interesting 😊

[@piotrrzeczycki5257]

Dear Tarun, thank you for this review. With reference to your question, please look at two Polish companies: Fezz Audio and Pylon Audio, it would be great to hear what you think about these producers. How about Italian brands like Chario, for example? Kind regards, Piotr

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I appreciate the suggestions 😊

[@SmallChurch]

Thanks, Tarun, for yet another interesting, informative and objective review. Your level of consistency across all your reviews is to be highly commended, indeed. Re; possible upcoming reviews - I'd be interested in how you'd find the Roksan Caspian pre/power & also the more expensive, top-of-the-range, Roksan Blak components - all made in the UK - but in up-to-date reviews terms, practically non-existent. Other components I'd really be interested in seeing how you'd fare are, in no particular order ... - the Heaven 11 Billie MK.II amplifier; the Luxman AX-50 II (pure Class A) Integrated amplifier; (possibly versus?) the Luxman 505 UX II (Class A/B) Integrated; the Naim Nait 50 + Naim Nait 5SI integr. amps; the Galion TS120SE tube amplifier; Zu Audio DW 6 Floorstanders; Zu Audio DWX [w/ the Supreme Upgrade] large book-shelf spkrs.; Revival Audio Atalante 3 Bookshelf spkrs. & their larger 'sibling' the Atalante 5 bookshelf spkrs. All the very best to you & your family, as always! cheers from Japan, G.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you kindly. I appreciate the suggestions 😊👍

[@johnmcdevitt9797]

Nobody does the black stack box thing as well as the U.K. it is so visually alluring to me especially that green on black color scheme that Naim does! The only amplifier I have personally experienced so far that has that alluring dark style of mystery and the sound that reflects the look is the Dark Star Headphone Amp by Ray Samuels, I still want this amp but I digress. I would like to know what your thoughts are on the new version Musical Fidelity A1 Hi-Fi Class A Integrated Amplifier.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I hope to get the A1 in soon 😊

[@mbankes11]

Hi Tarun, my friends and I love your reviews here in the US. Your review of the Denafrips Pontus resulted in a purchase of said DAC and thank you it sounds amazing with my Topp LA90s running as 2 monoblocks and single Vidar 2 to name a few. I may have missed it in the review, but are these class D amps? Thanks for all you do! Mark

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Mark. Very much appreciated. They are class AB amps 😊👍

[@mr.wibble]

Did you get chance to try these NVA's with Dali Minuet SE's? I ask as I think you did use those speakers in a previous review of the NVA's smaller brother. A comparison between the two, suing these same speakers would be good to know.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@mr.wibble the Dali Menuet SEs will sound great with these. Although, some of NVA’s smaller amps would be sufficient 😊

[@user-oe1jk2ro4o]

Are you planning to review the exposure 5010 monoblocks and preamp in the near future?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

It hope to get to them at some point 👍

[@Graps19]

Hi Tarun, Time to get back to some entry level products. You gave my Cambridge AXR 100 request a thumbs up?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I decided to review the CXA61 😊

[@Graps19]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Yes viewed your review However the CXA61 is 50% more expensive than the AXR100 and not entry level Cambridge. Would love to hear your opinion of the AXR100 and suggested speakers.

[@yurisvekachuk8970]

Hi Tarun, could be interesting to test Colin Wonfor amps, the Secas.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@vtkz]

As always solid and well produced video. What i dont undertsand is, why all these Amps dont have an Sub Output incl Dsp. All Speakers benefite from well integrated Subwoofer(s) (with DSP Correction). When you want to have an way better acourate Lowend with Subs you still have an big problem with the integration when you use this ,classic, Stereo Amps. For me would it be a no go to buy such products. No Musiciality of an Amplifier in the world beats an setup with subwoofer and dsp adjustment & correction (time alignement etc) … for me

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing 😊

[@lint8391]

I have EV Patrican 800's in my main system. I've not felt the need to add a sub-woofer nor DSP to my main system. 😀 Although I do understand where you're coming from as so many modern speakers have pathetically sized woofers.

[@vtkz]

@@lint8391 I made a conscious decision to use compact speakers + subwoofer from a certain brand with their own software. Made no sense (for me) to spend money on floorstanders because the lowend is in my opinion miles ahead with subwoofer and a great DSP setup + you waste less space in the front. Yes, its more complicated, you need a Microphone, software etc, but for my usages Near/Midfield listening ~2,10m away its pin point acurate and you cant spot the sub because its perfectly integrated. The thing is, its not because i want party SPL or massive impacts, its for room mode compensation. I placed it in the corner exactly near the wall where youve the least problems to correct the roommodes with the software. The lowend is not ruler flat of course but with the crossover of 80Hz ive not many room modes and the sub gooes down to 18Hz so a perfect fullrange system

[@prothor]

Great review 🌈

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@writemeanovel]

Thanks!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you kindly. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@infn]

The answer is to have both pre/power stacks and switch between them as the mood dictates. 😀🍻

[@davidreece1642]

Hi Tarun, great review as always. I recently bought the Exposure 3510 integrated, I wondered how the base definition compared (a difficult question without A-B listening). Have a listen to the Arendal 1723 THX (50 kg each) speakers or the less weighty S version (30kg each), I think you will be impressed.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

From memory the 3510 integrated has more bass weight but the M600 has better definition 😊

[@davidreece1642]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Perhaps a 100W/ch @ 8 ohms might give the NVAs that extra base dynamic to match the 3510.

[@geoffreydebrito7934]

As of late, musicality and synergy are my watchwords. IMHO, at the intersection of price/performance, NVA, LFD and Lavardin sit at the top of the heap. I can only dream of a comparative review. Sadly, none of the above designs come with a remote, which is of some importance for me. Sob ;-)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing 😊

[@rasardo1]

Toroidy = Fezz Audio (you should try those amps, 100% made in Poland, because for the price they're unbeatable)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I appreciate the suggestion 😊

[@schlidenglickstein3633]

Hi Tarun, I would like to see your review of a PURIFI EIGENTAKT amp...

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@ML-rm3vk]

Thank you sir great content music on.cheers

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍