Tower of Power

[Sandman]

Tower of Power

More vintage NVA...

[MarkWoody]

Saw these yesterday on the way to work. Look nice - how old are they Doc? First incarnation of Statement amps presumably?

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I wrote a reply probably forgot to press the submit button again They would be about 1992, there is a story about it. I will tell it tomorrow, off to bed now.

[zebbo]

Argh, you know how to whet our appetite !

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Looooooooong story

Once upon a time in Melbourne, Oz, there was a mad Malaysian Hi-Fi Shop owner and hi-fi importer called Surya Morthy. He imported UK made Audio Note and a couple of other things. He bought some samples of NVA from me and came back singing its praises but telling me I had to fit a Ceramic Pot (volume control). I fitted and they were better so used them. We did a deal to avoid Oz import duty by supplying the amps in kits (we did kits at the time) and I would go out for the whole month of December and build them. When I arrived I found he had been telling his staff and customers that he owned the designs because he told me about the pot and he was employing me to come from England. Well I put him straight (mildly) and built some amps. I was staying at his house and at dinner after about a week and he was telling his wife the plans he had for his NVA, I couldn't believe it and got cross and told him that NVA was my company and he owned no part of it. The following day he told me to leave and go in a hotel until my flight back and I built no more amps. Well I had a nice couple of weeks in Melbourne as I had got to know a couple of his customers and played some Grade Cricket for Melbourne Uni Club and did the tourist bit. This was my fav https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffing_Billy_Railway

Well got home in time for Christmas only to be told in late January that he had built those kits into huge polished wooden boxes and was charging thousands for them and selling them to his dealer friends in Malaysia and Singapore and had made attempts to get the circuit copied. OK so it was solicitors letters and eventually a trip to Malaysia and Singapore to warn the dealers off that they were doing something illegal in selling product with NVA on it that I wasn't making. They agreed but convinced me to make my own Statement products as that is what Surya was calling his large wooden boxes. What you see here in this NVA pile for sale is the 1st power amp attempt of which 10 were made, at most, along with the standard pre of the time. Everyone (export far east) said that they sound fab but could I bling them up, so that is what led to the Chrome chassis Statement products of the early 90's, designed entirely for export to the far east but a few sold in the UK. Surya Morthy - Absolute High End was the name of his company, (I should have realised from that ) went bust owing Audio Note a fortune and disappeared.

End of long shaggy dog story. Suffice to say they are very good amps and a bargain for someone, especially if the stack goes for less than £500, I would say they are worth it even for £1000. I will support them and repair if ever needed.

[Fretless]

Good story Doc.

If you say they are good then they must be really good !!!

Bargain for someone .....

[selby]

Great story. Out of interest how do they compare technically to say modern A80's?

For the money and if still supported they sound like a great deal for someone.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Why, what does technical matter to you.

Very similar sounding, but more ballsy (probably) it is nearly 25 years since I last heard them

[selby]

Just the geek in me interested, wasn't sure if they had a different power supply configuration or what made them 'statement' quality. Don't worry just me interested in the nuts and bolts, I was one of those kids that had to dismantle everything and put it back together. Think that continued when I became an apprentice locksmith after leaving school and then into computers.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Interesting as we have the on going Colin Wonfor saga. This goes to show that Geoff Merrigan is FAR from unique. In my story two companies are mentioned and in both cases the companies involved either did play the same tricks or wanted to. It is the norm as opposed to the unusual. Peoples work and ideas taken advantage of by slurping greedy marketing men, the industry is full of them, in fact it is difficult to find a company not based on this crap.