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NAKSA100 Listening Impressions

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Dear All,

With the NAKSA70 on the market for quite a while and a fair amount of evidence of this wonderful amp's capabilities at hand (it's at Audiocircle, so go there to view this), I feel that we need at similar thread for the NAKSA100.

I have a personal interest, as I have purchased 4 modules (two stereo sets), but due to my recent move to a new (old) house have not been able to get them going yet ;)

So guys, any impressions - please post them here!

Hugh, could this be made into a "sticky"?

Cheers,

Jens


Great idea, Jens, many thanks!!
Thread now STUCK....... HRD
 
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Jens,

I'd rather not, as many are like yours, still not completed, so figures don't mean much. There are two overseas now running, one Melbourne N100 completed now for a couple of months, and two more locally pending final assembly, so we should have a response soon!

Thanks for the great sticky idea!

Cheers,

Hugh
 
Folks,

Gaetan has suggested this access link to the old Aspen forum on AudioCircle:

The old Aspen forum has now been archived.

Those who want to read a lot of interesting threads about all Aspen products, including listening impressions about the Naksa, Maya and Soraya amps, can go to this link:

Aspen Amplifiers

You can't reply or post to any threads there, but you can read everything you want. And if you have any questions, you post them here in the new Aspen forum.

Hugh, can you do a sticky of this post ?

Merci beaucoup, Gaetan, this is a terrific idea, and gives all those investigating the Aspen product range the chance to access a ten year compendium of wonderful posts!

Cheers,

Hugh


Gaetan
 
Jens,

There is no doubt you'll really enjoy your NAKSA100's. The NAKSA70 is a really excellent amp and the 100 is better still imo. The NAKSA100 is stunning with its massive soundstage and delightful to listen to with its delicate, sweet, warm yet detailed sound.
Perhaps you could try them as a midrange/treble amps.

Regards,

Russell
 
Jens,

There is no doubt you'll really enjoy your NAKSA100's. The NAKSA70 is a really excellent amp and the 100 is better still imo. The NAKSA100 is stunning with its massive soundstage and delightful to listen to with its delicate, sweet, warm yet detailed sound.
Perhaps you could try them as a midrange/treble amps.

Regards,

Russell

Hi Russell,

Thanks for your input! I am thoroughly looking forward to firing up my N100s. I am still tied up with 'house things', but hope I can find some time in a not too distant future :)

Once I get an N100 going I should certainly be able to test it against the N70 that currently drives my treble/mid section, which I am sure will be interesting ;)

Cheers,

Jens
 
Yes, Russell,

Given Jens' combination of amps, it's a tough call to recommend what is used for what!! The NAKSA 100 is better than the AKSA for bass, and, I think, in mids and highs too, so it's tricky. Jens, you'll have to trial it and pick the best, sorry mate, I'm between a rock and a hard place here.....

Hugh
 
Yes, Russell,

Given Jens' combination of amps, it's a tough call to recommend what is used for what!! The NAKSA 100 is better than the AKSA for bass, and, I think, in mids and highs too, so it's tricky. Jens, you'll have to trial it and pick the best, sorry mate, I'm between a rock and a hard place here.....

Hugh
I guess I will just have to try it out. Fortunately, I have both N70s and N100s at hand, and since I have not implemented the N100s for the bass sections yet, I will try and see if I can get time to try one of them in my current setup instead of the N70 currently powering the treble/mid section.

Time is the issue at the moment. In a new home, there are always hundreds of things to do, leaving precious little time to work on things audio :D

One thought though, could N100s be implemented at lower power (i.e. lower voltage trannies) for treble/mid use?

If yes, I guess that heat dissipation would be somewhat less, so that I could move N100 modules to smaller heatsinks?

I'm asking this because all amps will be attached to rear of my speakers. If using N100s instead of N70s for treble/mid, I will need to do something to mitigate the extra space that two N100 modules will take up ...

Cheers,

Jens
 
Time is the issue at the moment. In a new home, there are always hundreds of things to do, leaving precious little time to work on things audio

Just wondering if you’d found time yet Jens? Come on, you know you need to so just think of what you’re missing out on! Besides, audio 'is' a part of the house and a pretty important part at that. :D

I was fortunate to have the chance today to listen to a new NAKSA 100 at Hugh’s place during a short visit. I have heard one of the advanced 100 prototype’s before and remember being mightily impressed at the time by the sound. Well the sonics today were as good as ever but I must admit to being just as pleased by my first look at the fit and finish of the special Aspen case as I was with its performance. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to get this custom case if I was buying one as it’s compact, high quality, looks really good and the internal layout is just so well thought out and neatly executed.

For any that don’t know me, and wonder why I’m not buying one if it’s that good, it’s simply a matter that I invested in a fully built Aspen Soraya (I’m really not much of a DIYer :eek:) some time back that suits my personal tastes down to the ground, particularly since I had Hugh upgrade it to the latest spec. But for anyone that covets a detailed, tube like sound the NAKSA 100 has to be top value for money. I’ll let others review and describe the sound in more detail as I haven’t been able to listen to one in my own system for a proper evaluation, but I can say from today’s impression that the NAKSA 100 lacks absolutely nothing in resolution and sound stage that I can determine and I do believe it sounds even better than the NAKSA 70. :)
 
Thanks Lyn,

Nice of you..... more good coffee today, too!

Here's a picture of the NAKSA 100 viewed from the front, REAL happy with these cases. They are 385Wx320Dx85H, noticeably more compact than 2U.

Hugh
 

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Just wondering if you’d found time yet Jens? Come on, you know you need to so just think of what you’re missing out on! Besides, audio 'is' a part of the house and a pretty important part at that. :D

I was fortunate to have the chance today to listen to a new NAKSA 100 at Hugh’s place during a short visit. I have heard one of the advanced 100 prototype’s before and remember being mightily impressed at the time by the sound. Well the sonics today were as good as ever but I must admit to being just as pleased by my first look at the fit and finish of the special Aspen case as I was with its performance. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to get this custom case if I was buying one as it’s compact, high quality, looks really good and the internal layout is just so well thought out and neatly executed.

For any that don’t know me, and wonder why I’m not buying one if it’s that good, it’s simply a matter that I invested in a fully built Aspen Soraya (I’m really not much of a DIYer :eek:) some time back that suits my personal tastes down to the ground, particularly since I had Hugh upgrade it to the latest spec. But for anyone that covets a detailed, tube like sound the NAKSA 100 has to be top value for money. I’ll let others review and describe the sound in more detail as I haven’t been able to listen to one in my own system for a proper evaluation, but I can say from today’s impression that the NAKSA 100 lacks absolutely nothing in resolution and sound stage that I can determine and I do believe it sounds even better than the NAKSA 70. :)

Hi Lyn,

Unfortunately not. However, we are getting our new, audio-friendly shelving units this Saturday. Once I get those put up, the process of integrating the audio/home cinema system into the room starts for real, and I hope I can start getting the N100s going soon as a part of that ;)

Thanks for the interest! :)

Cheers,

Jens
 
Folks,

Time has come to show 'n tell. Behold, the new NAKSA 100, ready for sale, either as modules, or installed in a case ready to add trafo.

First post shows the front appearance of the amp, with its 385Wx85H front panel. It's very strongly built with 2mm mild steel; you can invert the case and actually stand on it without damaging the enclosure! You can order just the modules, or the assembled amp sans transformer. This approach is taken principally to reduce shipping costs.

Hugh
 

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This second photo shows internals, viewed from the front, with two transformers installed. (I had two handy, you can use one larger trafo without sonic penalty).

This photo taken before I wired up the indicator LEDs and power entry module, you get the idea. It's very compact, well cooled, and the paint job is both tough and elegant.

Hugh

N100prodComplete5S.jpg
 
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well cooled

Forgot to mention that in my post yesterday. Having once had an AVR that run too hot to touch on the top lid, the NAKSA (admittedly on the lid as opposed to the heat sink fins and not 7 channel) was barely warm after the session. Not that the Soraya runs much warmer either. It may be a degree of technical ignorance on my part but I always feel uncomfortable with hot components - I don't like the sense of them cooking away.
 
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