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Re: Impressions of New AVA - 'R' upgrades to Amp, Preamp and DAC.....

Posted by Cut-Throat (A) on November 29, 2003 at 13:38:28

I recently had my three AVA components upgraded to the newest AVA circuits. That is my Transcendence Seven ECR Pre-amp, Fet-Valve 550 EXR amplifier as well as my Transcendence DAC.

I won’t get into the technical details of the upgrade, but will only quote from the AVA Website what was done.

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‘"R" series Transcendence preamplifiers and DAC: All Transcendence preamps (Transcendence Seven SLR and ECR, Transcendence Six SLR, and Transcendence Five SLR) and the Transcendence R-DAC are now shipping with new wide band, low impedance, multi-stage high voltage power supplies with separate regulators for each section of each circuit. Essentially dual mono performance back to the power transformer. The music improvements are just jaw dropping! A true to life rock solid three dimensional image from wall to wall and beyond.’
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All three of these pieces use a hybrid tube configuration that use two 12AT7 tubes. The amplifier has 250 watts per channel, so you have the power, control and bass of Solid State with the sweet sound of tubes. And I do know what tubes sound like as I own a Push-Pull Super amp, 6SN7 Tube Pre-amp, 2A3 SET amplifier and a 45 SET amplifier.

I have been an AVA customer for over 17 years now, and have migrated from AVA modded Hafler Solid State circuits to their latest hybrid tube gear. Each upgrade has been a noticeable improvement and this one is no exception. If you have not heard AVA gear for lately, you have not heard AVA gear. The best performance upgrades I have received have come in the last couple of years!

My equipment was gone over a couple weeks, so trying to compare what the differences were are very difficult, but immediately after hitting the Play button on the CD player, I noticed a huge increase in Bass response with no loss of speed and detail in the upper frequencies. After spending a week with the new gear and running through many of my favorite CD’s I would say that it was not just added Bass response but an added depth and weight to the music in all frequency ranges. The one trademark of AVA gear for me has always been the ‘blackness’ and quietness between passages of music. Absolutely no noise, hiss, hum or extraneous white noise that I have heard with other gear.

Over the course of the last 10 days, I have listened extensively to these new products. I am currently running a pair of vintage 1984 Rauna Tyr II speakers complemented by a Rel Strata III Subwoofer. I also listened to the T7 ECR pre-amp driving my Welborne Labs 2A3 Moondogs into a pair of Klipsch Belles. You do get a certain amount of hiss and hum with 104db speakers and SET amps, so I’m not blaming this on this T7 ECR at all! But the T7 adds to the dynamics and control of horn speakers that can make you jump out of your chair during explosive musical passages!

The reliability of AVA gear is also superb. My AVA modded Hafler tuner and Amplifier are still in daily use in other parts of my home. I have seen many audio companies come and go over the last 20 years and it is nice to know that AVA is still around.

If anyone is considering some very high-end audio gear at a very reasonable price, I would highly recommend that you give these new products a listen. And since they have a 30 return period, you can audition this gear with your speakers in your listening room! Enjoy!

Cut-Throat

• AVA Website   (Open in New Window)

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

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