You guys are a bad influence

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montechristo358
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by montechristo358 »

that is indeed a fair point, common sense to the rescue

Since I need to order some more chinese cheapies anyway I think I'l add a 12v to the order and see
Bedroom Rig
PiCorePlayer Squeezebox clone, Allo Boss Dac, NVA AP10H with Stepped Attenuator upgrade and external PSU, Audioquest Nightowl Cans, NVA mini BMU

Office Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DIGI+, NVA SSP Digital, Arcam AV9. NVA SSC, NVA AP10P, NVA LS5, NVA Cubettes, NVA Mini BMU

Kitchen Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DAC+, NVA SSC, NVA P50, Project AMPBox, Sonance Ceiling Speakers

montechristo358
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by montechristo358 »

and up next on the mini review. The Doc recommended cheapy Chinese Linear PSU

I bought this to replace the crappy PSU on the PI i my bedroom system.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hifi-linear- ... 2749.l2649

First up the bad points

The mains cable is frankly a bit crap, although its a 3 Pin its most definitely not a British Standard fused plug. However its an IEC lead so not exactly difficult nor expensive to replace.

The power switch to my mind is backwards, i.e the on position is up and the off position down. Very minor and I suspect fixable with a screwdriver and 5 mins of my time. For now its not worrying me immensly

And thats about it for the bad.

The good

Its got a voltage display. Theres also a downside to this in that its incredibly bright. With all the lights off its easily enough to keep the whole room bathed in a red tinge worthy of Amsterdam drag.

Build quality. Speaking purely from an assembly and casework perspective its the equal of my Long Dog at around 4 times the price,

More importantly what does it do for the sound? I'm not going spout and endless stream of prose, however all the good things I noticed from the other linear PSUs reviewed above were again present. Is it better than the Long Dog and HDPlex? At this point I have no idea as I haven't done any back to back comparisons. For my bedroom headphone rig it certainly does what I'd hoped and I'm not feeling inclined to try an improve on it.

Interestingly running just the PI from this PSU it runs totally cool. Setup so that it powers both the PI and the official PI 7" screen it runs warm.
Bedroom Rig
PiCorePlayer Squeezebox clone, Allo Boss Dac, NVA AP10H with Stepped Attenuator upgrade and external PSU, Audioquest Nightowl Cans, NVA mini BMU

Office Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DIGI+, NVA SSP Digital, Arcam AV9. NVA SSC, NVA AP10P, NVA LS5, NVA Cubettes, NVA Mini BMU

Kitchen Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DAC+, NVA SSC, NVA P50, Project AMPBox, Sonance Ceiling Speakers

montechristo358
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by montechristo358 »

This is the point on the list when your expecting a review of the NVA Phono 2. Dissapointingly due to a million other things going on I've done nothing more than verify it powers on. So that ones going to have to be revisted

Its also about time I put fingers to keyboard and reported on the NVA AP10P. And that I can do.

I bought this as part of my bedroom Headphone rig, so first a bit of background. I still run Squeezebox server for streaming and had Logitech Squeezebox radios. I'm still amazed how big the sound on these is from such a small utility box, and if I were listening over the speakers I probably wouldn't have changed it. However in the interest of not waking up on the sofa at 3 in the morning I decided to move my late night listening to the bed.

That meant headphones so as not to disturb the wife.

I started with my portable Bose QC15 hooked up to the squeezebox radio and quickly decided it was all a bit flat. Knowing the BOSE aren't the most musical headphones (i bought them mainly for their abilities on a plane) I purchased a decent pair of Denon closed back headphones, this helped. However the limitations of the radio used this way soon became evident.

Replacing the front end was an easy choice as I simply dropped a Raspberry PI 3 and official touchscreen into the equation, using a Hifiberry DAC+ and Picoreplayer Squeezebox front end. Powering it all was one of Docs reccomeded chinese linear PSUs.

However an amp was needed. Hence my first chance to try some NVA amplification.

The AP10H would be the obvious place to start but with the paltry difference in price between the H and the P it seemed a no brainer. Doc confirmed that the only differences are the speaker outputs on the P so one was duly ordered.

Day 1 I hooked this up using some Cambridge Audio cables I had lying around and off we go.

I found putting together words about the AP10P actually rather hard as its not what it does but what it doesn't do. The bass increased and became far taughter but I think that's more down to how poor the SB Radio headphone out is than how good the NVA is.

The best way I can see to describe it is open, coherent, unforced. I guess this is why everyone says NVA amps are musical. And I guess thats true, you sort of stop listening to the amp and listen to the music.

I kind of forgot about what its sounded like for quite a while, and then one day I realised it was starting to sound a little flat. A few weeks and couldn't quite decide why but it defiantly felt less enjoyable. It then occurred to me that I'd stolen the interconnects to use in a back to back comparison on my office rig to equalise the variables. Temporarily replacing them with a pair of those freebies that you get with most things.

Since that left me needing additional interconnects I figured why not order some NVA. A set of Super Sound Cords were duly ordered. I've only had them in the system for a day or so but the flatness seems to have gone.

Conclusion the AP10P is more sensitive to interconnects than I had expected.

Downsides?

Well the volume Pot occasionally does not increase both channels equally. I'm not sure if thats an issue or they all do that, but turning the knob down and then up again usually fixes it.

Worth mentioning is kit spacing. I've been chasing intermittent wireless drop outs on the PI for months, sometimes its so bad the music is unlistenable. I'd initially put this down to crappy wifi implementation on the PI3 however in a moment of inspiration remembered why Doc doesn't like racks, I had been sitting the PI on top of the AP10P. Could the non metal casework of the Amp be allowing the amp to interfere with the PI?

Temporary solution stick a box of tissues between them to add an inch or two of seperation to test it. Boom perfect wifi ever since.
Bedroom Rig
PiCorePlayer Squeezebox clone, Allo Boss Dac, NVA AP10H with Stepped Attenuator upgrade and external PSU, Audioquest Nightowl Cans, NVA mini BMU

Office Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DIGI+, NVA SSP Digital, Arcam AV9. NVA SSC, NVA AP10P, NVA LS5, NVA Cubettes, NVA Mini BMU

Kitchen Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DAC+, NVA SSC, NVA P50, Project AMPBox, Sonance Ceiling Speakers

montechristo358
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by montechristo358 »

Not written any reviews for a while and since my supercharged AP10H just arrived (more detail later) it reminded me I never wrote down what I thought of the Mini BMU that arrived back in Feb.

This is going to the be the shortest review in history. its great, buy one. Ah afraid you can't as Paul isn't selling them anymore. bugger.

So whats it do then? more music that's what it does (starting to understand Docs meaning now). Instruments sound so much more natural, timbre is better, decay is most notable for guitar and piano in a way that just wasn't there previously.

If anyone has one they want to part with I'm on the look out for another to go in the office system
Bedroom Rig
PiCorePlayer Squeezebox clone, Allo Boss Dac, NVA AP10H with Stepped Attenuator upgrade and external PSU, Audioquest Nightowl Cans, NVA mini BMU

Office Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DIGI+, NVA SSP Digital, Arcam AV9. NVA SSC, NVA AP10P, NVA LS5, NVA Cubettes, NVA Mini BMU

Kitchen Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DAC+, NVA SSC, NVA P50, Project AMPBox, Sonance Ceiling Speakers

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karatestu
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by karatestu »

What did you do with the doc's drivers ? Have you built a speaker yet ?
DIY FREE ZONE

montechristo358
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by montechristo358 »

still on my list of things to do, had the lurgy for the last week or so, so not got around to anything yet
Bedroom Rig
PiCorePlayer Squeezebox clone, Allo Boss Dac, NVA AP10H with Stepped Attenuator upgrade and external PSU, Audioquest Nightowl Cans, NVA mini BMU

Office Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DIGI+, NVA SSP Digital, Arcam AV9. NVA SSC, NVA AP10P, NVA LS5, NVA Cubettes, NVA Mini BMU

Kitchen Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DAC+, NVA SSC, NVA P50, Project AMPBox, Sonance Ceiling Speakers

montechristo358
Posts: 278
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:35 pm
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by montechristo358 »

having recently swapped out the AP10P for an AP10H with external PSU my next plan was to reuse the AP10P in my office rig.

This was always going to be interesting as I've never tried NVA amplification with speakers only headphones.

The office rig was previously

PI base Squeezebox
Arcam AV9
NVA MK1 SSC
Rotel 970BX Power Amp
NVA LS5
NVA Cubettes

I've always really liked the Rotel so swapping in the AP10P was not something I expected to do a lot.

Holy cow, I've heard and used the expression like removing a veil, like pulling back a curtain. Well this was like knocking down a wall in those terms.

I am truly amazed at the difference
Bedroom Rig
PiCorePlayer Squeezebox clone, Allo Boss Dac, NVA AP10H with Stepped Attenuator upgrade and external PSU, Audioquest Nightowl Cans, NVA mini BMU

Office Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DIGI+, NVA SSP Digital, Arcam AV9. NVA SSC, NVA AP10P, NVA LS5, NVA Cubettes, NVA Mini BMU

Kitchen Rig
PicorepLayer Squezeebox clone with HifiBerry DAC+, NVA SSC, NVA P50, Project AMPBox, Sonance Ceiling Speakers

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karatestu
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Re: You guys are a bad influence

Unread post by karatestu »

I truly am very glad for you :dance:

Never underestimate the power of NVA :guiness;
DIY FREE ZONE

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