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Maya Power Amplifier - Signature Edition

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Also nice, but Fiipppe's is just a tad nicer, probably sounds a tad better too. :)
Maybe you should offer a better sounding face plate with your signature on too!
Filipe, it makes your amp absolutely beautiful, call it high-end aesthetics is at the top of the list in high end. Luckily you also have the AKSA sound.
 
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They do have the AKSA sound alright.
But you're right, i love looking at those faceplates when in the room, either playing music or not !
Plus i get the great recurrent question from "non-audio friends" : why there are no buttons if these are amplifiers ??? How do you use them ??

:D:D:D:D
 
Interesting comment that the sound is a bit like the AKSA, Felipe. You hear this clearly?
I found this quite amazing because the actual topology is hugely different to the AKSA; it could be that the subtle sound signature I put in after careful listening comes from the original AKSA, but I really don't know....... it is certainly surprising (and pleasing!) to hear this from you!

I'm listening Nigel Weslake's Suite for Guitar and Orchestra on the new Maya 200 which is going to Singapore on Thursday. I started listening today and it's is very, very delicate on the small orchestral parts, yet is massive when the whole orchestra chimes in, and as you remarked, utterly silent between the notes.......

Ciao,

Hugh
 
Hugh,

Indeed it is quite difficult to express in words what we feel and hear.
Perhaps what i come to know as the AKSA signature, is the way it plays Strings. I found them to be quite melodic and heartfilling , with a sense of impact and differentiality from other instruments. They always show feelings in various music styles. Acoustic guitars, violins, celos...

Of course i also note that in terms of size, space, all is bigger in the Maya (comparing to the AKSA100). And the silence between notes, keep surprising me...
 
Hi,

I have been very busy this weekend, but found the time to assemble the last chassis. I now have all 5 channels finished and playing :)

Here is a quick pic that shows the 2 main channels with the Sonus Faber

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


I must say, from the top of my analysis that i am extremelly happy.

Much has been writen about these amplifiers, and without wanting to be repetitive, i have to say what strikes me obvious with the first few hours of listening.

With all amplifiers i have heard, tested, owned , borrowed.... i normally describe bass, treble , microdynamics , etc with regards to my impression of it. Well this is not the case.
Hugh's amp is not about numbers, or quantity of this and that. It is about music and how it makes you feel.

Almost immediatly upon turn on, you dont start to notice trebles and bass notes, instead, you start noticing violin tones, female mellowing voices or deep cavernous male voices. The feel of engagement is enourmous. One could listen to the amp for hours without fatigue level increasing which is, for me , much to say about an amplifier.
I had friends come over this weekend and all became flabbergasted with the sound. My dad also is a music lover, and has my AKSA100 in his system. I had to litteraly push him out the door last night, as he was GLUED to the couch.:p

Another GREAT aspect of this design is its silence. It is the DIY most quiet amplifier i have seen. There is litterally silence coming from the speakers when turned on and not playing music. Not one buzz. And this lack of background noise (noise floor?) shows in quiet passages when playing.

So i must say KUDOS to Hugh, because these amps make me want to sit in the couch and scroll through my music library. They emphasize cord instruments like no other i have heard (ok, maybe the AKSA100 i have too!).

I should also say (without wanting to be too much of a critic here) that i feel what others have noticed and described as "lesser quantity bass notes".
The amp is not bass shy, but comparing it to others previously tested in my system, it does seem to not go so low. On the other hand, the bass is very good, scaled, proportioned i may say and as such i prefer it to any other.

This may be due to the amp only having about 5h of play, or it may be a characteristic of it. On the other hand, i run my amplifiers through a AV processor which has an equalizer in it. I am able to increase bass notes without too much trouble...and as such this is not a problem for me. I may have to explore this better...and try to make a clearer picture.

These are my first impressions, and i must emphasize that i like them a lot and would not want any other amp playing my speakers.
One note regarding matching speakers, the amps do get HOT when pulling a difficult speaker. For example my centre channel Proac does not even make the amp get warm. On the other hand, the rear Sonus Faber Elipsa Auditor makes the amp go very HOT and make me glad i made a proper ventilated chassis !

Hello, thank you for your assessment on the Maya. I’m new to the AKSA amps. It seems like you have tried many different amplifiers from other manufacturers. Can you list the other amplifiers you’re comparing the Maya to? It is hard for me to draw any conclusion from your assessment without knowing what other amplifiers you have listened to in your system.
 
Hi MGH,

Thank you for your post. Filipe wrote a wonderful, detail review, didn't he? Thank you Filipe, and Merry Xmas to you and your family (and your Dad!).

I have scaled down my business a little as my workload is not so high as it was a few years ago!! I started designing amps in 1994, it's a long journey and still continuing!

The modules are sold for $AUD2200 the pair, including heatsinks, and with two year warranty. Shipping is additional, and this includes the wiring but not the two 300VA with 2 x 45Vac toroids. I do not publish schematics, but in private emails I'm happy to discuss the general ideas.

Thank you for your interest; plenty of stock at present.

Ciao,

Hugh
 
Hello, thank you for your assessment on the Maya. I’m new to the AKSA amps. It seems like you have tried many different amplifiers from other manufacturers. Can you list the other amplifiers you’re comparing the Maya to? It is hard for me to draw any conclusion from your assessment without knowing what other amplifiers you have listened to in your system.

True - a reference is always helpful. :)

My contribution is this:
* some 15? years ago, I took one of my Naim 250s over to Hugh's place, to compare against his amp-of-that-time ... the AKSA 100.

* Hugh's amp demolished my Naim 250 - so I bought 3 kits off him, for my actively tri-amped Maggies ... an AKSA 100N+ ('Nirvana +' = better sounding than the straight AKSA 100) and 2x AKSA 55N+s.

* ~6 years later I upgraded to his then-current amps ... which were better-sounding. Soraya (100w) for the bass and LifeForce 55s for the mids & ribbons.

* about 3 years ago I upgraded the LifeForce 55s to NAKSA 80s ... again, an improvement in SQ.

I will upgrade in due course, when Hugh brings out some better-sounding amps.
NB: The Maya is indeed better-sounding and a 120w Maya may well be a suitable replacement for my Soraya 100w ... but, in my active setup, I don't need any additional power on my mids & ribbons.


Hope this helps.
Andy
 
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I can't comment on the Maya as I've never heard it but have had a long association with Hugh's AKSA and Lifeforce amplifiers. What I find special about these amps is the engagement of the sound and how it makes you feel (I had a heart attack while listening to a Lifeforce in 2007 so it must have stirred up something). I'm sure the Maya would go far beyond what I remember from his products.

Over the years I've tried many commercial amps but none came close to the enjoyment of Hugh's amps. In addition I've tried many DIY amps to try and get a better sound such as LM3875, LM3886, P101, P3A, NX200, NX150, GB150 etc but none did surpass the AKSA or Lifeforce.

Once you are hooked by one of Hugh's amps, other amps don't seem to be as enjoyable. It's odd that all the sound is there in other amps but the presentation of AKSA etc are special. I'm sure most of Hugh's customers are return buyers as they are sucked in by the sound (I was anyway).
 
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Dear MGH,
Here is my experience. i have compared my MAYA200 with a ss rotel amplifier. Rotel sounded muddy in midrange and treble not as smooth as maya. I was thrilled with maya for the reason that instrument sepertation , clarity of each instrument and imaging is outstanding . my speaker is usher audio 2 way . if maya scores 100 then I would rate rotel 50 . now comes the interesting part that I took maya to one of my friend house who had tannoy grf memory speaker and thivanlabs X-845 monoblock tube amplifier . maya sounded almost identical to that tube amplifier. Then it is compared to Dared VP-845 tube amplifier. Here also maya sounded identical . in bass region no difference / treble region no difference / on male/female vocal no difference . only in midrange on some instruments tube sounded little better. So I am a very happy customer of Hugh Dean .i have been following hugh dean posts in diyaudio from 2006. Never heard any aspen amplifiers . but technically he has sound knowledge and this has inspired me to trust his product . I made decision to purchase maya200 . many friends who heard maya all praised the amplifier. Sure you will not regret the purchase . more over hugh is a nice gentleman to deal with .
 
WOW, Andy, Peter and Raj,

Many thanks..... you all do me great credit, and I thank you all sincerely.
Yesterday I installed an audition Maya into a future customer's home here in Melbourne. Lovely guy, an intellectual and very knowledgeable about history, particularly the Orient. He is a fan of the Maya and Aztec histories and was fascinated to see the Maya name plate, featuring a Mayan temple!! (The logo was actually designed by Creative Fingers, a clever graphic designer in India!) He had very good speaker, and we installed a Bluesound Node 2 music server. The sound quality is stunning, and he is very, very happy. I'm hoping in the next couple of days there will be an order, but I have began preparations for a new Maya as I have another customer too.
Raj, I was very pleased to hear that you feel the sound of the Maya is like the best aspects of a single ended tube amp. This was my brief during the R&D and design!! After many years I feel I'm starting to get a handle on the psychoacoustics of audio technology. It's actually quite complicated, as indeed is the ear, the THD is not so important, it's the profile of the harmonics in the THD, which has to be low of course but in a particular order, with even order higher than successive odd orders.

Ciao,

Hugh
 
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Indeed my ears are happy with the sound and not bothered about the THD. due to my work pressure i haven't listened to maya many days. but yesterday a tv service technician visited my house for lcd panel problem ( back light started bleeding some layers of polarised sticker replaced in lcd panel ). he know only branded products . just switched on the maya to show him . he was so impressed with the sound.
 
Hello, thank you for your assessment on the Maya. I’m new to the AKSA amps. It seems like you have tried many different amplifiers from other manufacturers. Can you list the other amplifiers you’re comparing the Maya to? It is hard for me to draw any conclusion from your assessment without knowing what other amplifiers you have listened to in your system.

Well i dont know if i can list them all...and i wont compare each to the Maya but...

I have owned Cyrus (2,3,8), Naim, Rotel, AKSA (nice!), Krell KAV1500, Audiolab(8000) , LifeForce55 (upsie dazy), TAG Mclaren, PrimaLuna Premium

I also heard borrowed amps (not with the Amati's bear in mid, i had Proac's before this) : Copland, Marantz, Yamaha, other Krell (300i?) ...
I also heard the Devialet 200 in my friends system that is solely composed of a Devialet + pair of Amatis just like mine

I also owned several AV amps (no justice and apples to oranges BUT here it goes) : Yamaha Z9, Marantz 7010, Denon A1SR (BEAST and VERY good amps in this one) , Onkyo 898

If you wish to drop in and bring a new amplifier to throw the Maya off its pedestal, by all means DO it... i have 3x Mayas to rock your panties to the moon and back
 
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