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Naksa

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Prof,

I regret to say no, because I never did offer trades on the AKSA any later than 2008 and then only for the Lifeforce. However, it should also be stated that the AKSA55 I sold to you was fully assembled, themselves a refurbished pair of traded modules.

The vote of confidence is very nice, and I appreciate it, but how can you be sure that the NAKSA will fill your needs, where the AKSA did not and evidently caused you (and me!) so much angst on this very forum?

Cheers,

Hugh
 
Prof,

The vote of confidence is very nice, and I appreciate it, but how can you be sure that the NAKSA will fill your needs, where the AKSA did not and evidently caused you (and me!) so much angst on this very forum?

Cheers,

Hugh

hi Hugh,

I've learned my lesson, that it's not easy to evaluate a piece of equipment in isolation but I should mention that now I am satisfied with the sound of my system and clearly the AKSA amp plays its part in this.

It will always be difficult though to guarantee satisfaction when buying something over the internet without hearing it.
 
Prof Smith, I bought the Naksa & am astounded by the sound. This is my memory of it, at least as it has been in residence in a fellow DIYers home for a number of weeks now. He is doing a review of it & is nearly finished. This will probably be of help to you, I expect.

I'm sure you can read the accolades that have been lavished on the Naksa to date in it's short life. It's up to you to judge these responses & the posters. However, this was also available for the Aksa amplifier!
 
Hi Charles,

Nice of you to drop in, welcome to the AKSA forum!

No, this amp is stotally different and weasely distinguished.....

I will email you about it!

Ironically, I've just now come around to our original discussion (forgive me, I'm very slow!), am doing a pcb for it right now, JUST as your email came in. 'Owzat for coincidence? It is very close to our original discussion, in fact, configured for a gain of 1.5 so I can drive it with a tube.... a very different circuit to the NAKSA.

John,

Many thanks, it's not easy advising anyone what to buy - and you really need to get back your NAKSA!!

Prof,

My considered advice would be to await Francis' review on StereoMojo.com. I'm confident this will answer many of your concerns. I would be reluctant to sell you an amp without third party advice, the last experience for both of us was, ahem, difficult.

Cheers,

Hugh
 
Naksa review is on-line & the report is stellar as expected but it's always nice to have confirmation of one's expectations. The Naksa Amplifier | TírNaHiFi.org

I'm a friend of Fran, the reviewer & I lent him the amp for review. He is a great DIYer (posts as woodturnerFran here) - just look at his test equipment - he built 99% of it ranging from turntable, CD transport, DAC, amp & speakers. I heard the amp in his system on the Sachiko horns with modded FE206e drivers but not with the Quad ESL 57 speakers. He tells me this is a synergy made in heaven! I'll be looking for an audition when I pick up the amp.

Some points of reference for those here familiar with the PASS F5 to which he compares it too - I'll let you read the article for the conclusions

BTW, while you're on the site have a look at his review of my Hiface based USB transport MK2 HiFace Mark 2 jkeny mods | TírNaHiFi.org Couldn't resist, Hugh, hope you don't mind
 
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Prof,

I believe we've been down this path before?

VSonics, Onkyo Integra CD player, NAKSA/Maya/LF amps.

You raise good points about the amps...... the NAKSA 70 is better than the LF55, but then, that's withdrawn from sale now, and IFF the NAKSA 100 is superior to the LF100, it too will be either withdrawn from sale or surplus modules sold off a bit cheaper.

Not too much cheaper mind, don't want to give away magnificent amps, even if they have been pipped at the post....

Hugh
 
It will take a special kind of high-end audiophile not to misinterpret the NAKSA 70's musical engagement as "I was wrong about my $5000 amplifier choice".

I just read the naksa review and my understanding of the quote above is that the naksa is a good amp but if youre a really fussy audiophile the $5000 amp wins. Furthermore there are amps costing much more than 5000. Krell, mark levinson these can cost 10 times as much, so can we really honestly compare the naksa to such giants? This is an honest question which deserves an honest answer.

thanks.
 
I just read the naksa review and my understanding of the quote above is that the naksa is a good amp but if youre a really fussy audiophile the $5000 amp wins. Furthermore there are amps costing much more than 5000. Krell, mark levinson these can cost 10 times as much, so can we really honestly compare the naksa to such giants? This is an honest question which deserves an honest answer.

thanks.

As I suspect you can't afford an amp which costs USD5,000 - let alone 10 times as much - "professor", your question is moot. :) I suggest the question you should be asking yourself is "Can I afford a NAKSA 70?" :D

Regards,

Andy
 
Really you should be asking the question on how it compares to amps within your budget. I've always taken the approach that a great DIY amp should be able to compete with commercial amps at least 2 times the full DIY build cost and if it's better than some of the mega buck amps, then that's a bonus.

We usually try and get the best bang for buck and all the Aspen amps I've built have held their own or bettered amps I've heard or owned up to 4 times the price. I'm not interested in the mega buck amps, even though I've heard a few, as they are not within my budget.

Due to the cheaper amp cost it allowed me to spend more on the source, pre, loudspeaker and music. The end result of DIY (amp and loudspeakers) is sonics that I would never have been able to afford. In fact, the Aspen amp is the cheapest component in my main system by a huge margin.
 
As I suspect you can't afford an amp which costs USD5,000 - let alone 10 times as much - "professor", your question is moot. :) I suggest the question you should be asking yourself is "Can I afford a NAKSA 70?" :D

Regards,

Andy

Even if the question is moot and even if i cant afford $5000 the question can still be posed and answered no? I am curious.

all the Aspen amps I've built have held their own or bettered amps I've heard or owned up to 4 times the price

And how do we make precise this notion of being better?
 
Even if the question is moot and even if i cant afford $5000 the question can still be posed and answered no? I am curious. And how do we make precise this notion of being better?

my 2c:

For me it's been an interesting learning experience building different amplifiers and listening to them. I can honestly say that subsequent amplifiers have sounded better. But it's hard to be precise, I don't measure them and don't do double blind tests. I would say for me there are two aspects, the first are the clearly noticeable changes such as stronger more prominent bass or clearer treble that makes instruments more realistic. The other aspect are changes I can't quite put my finger on, I listen to the better amp for awhile and then swap back and simply don't like the sound anymore, it just isn't nice and I can't go back to using the older design.

Before I built these amps all I could do was read the impressions of others and ask questions as you are. You have only one amp so you are in the same boat I was back then. I don't think it would have been possible for me to understand some of the ways that amplifiers sound without building and listening to them. It takes time and money of course and it can get a bit frustrating along the way but so far I'd wager its been worth it.

It means that I'm not sure I can make a precise notion of an amp being better :D
 
Yes I know the history and don't want to go over it again but the point I was trying to make is that you listened, and when it sounded off, you frowned, and when it was singing, you smiled.

That's my notion of being better..... precise it may not be but the ears and my emotions are the only instruments I have to evaluate amps.
 
Yes I know the history and don't want to go over it again but the point I was trying to make is that you listened, and when it sounded off, you frowned, and when it was singing, you smiled.

That's my notion of being better..... precise it may not be but the ears and my emotions are the only instruments I have to evaluate amps.

Absof'inglutely, wabbitz! :D

But those who don't trust their ears, need measurements to tell them what to do. :gasp:

Regards,

Andy
 
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