The Nova USB is your grandfather's integrated amplifier with a few twists—a high-quality internal USB D/A converter feeding (in class-A) a tubed line stage, which then hands off to an 80Wpc class-A/B power amplifier—all in one stylish cabinet at a fairly amazing price.
The Nova has eight inputs: five digital (one USB, two coaxial S/PDIF, two optical TosLink), and three line-level analog, the third of which is a home-theater pass-through. Before I move…
Denon Electronics (USA) LLC, 100 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2041. Tel: (201) 762-6500. Fax: (201) 762-6670. Web: www.usa.denon.com.
Peachtree Audio, Signal Path International, Bellevue, WA. Tel: (704) 391-9337. Web: signalpathint.com.
Unsurprisingly for such an insecure lot, we audiophiles can't help filtering our joys through the perceptions of others: Will our wives tolerate the looks of those speakers, or the tangle of wires behind them? Do our children risk being burned or electrocuted by our creepy-looking amplifiers? Why don't our younger friends share our passions? Why are there so many ugly people in this neighborhood?
The bad thing—or…
\That "everything" includes the aforementioned liabilities, very high product cost (because of the massive output transformers and high-voltage B+ storage capacitors required), and gut-busting weight in high-powered versions.
Then there's the terrible emotional price one must…
Wrong, of course.
Adcom appears to be having the same problem with their $299.95 GFA-535 amp. Credibility.
Now if this amplifier were imported from England and sold for $599.95, then maybe it would be taken seriously. And highly praised, no doubt.
For the baby Adcom…
Okay, here you are: You're a Real World music lover trying to sling together a Real World hi-fi rig. You gotcha budget-king NAD/Rotel/JVC/Pioneer CD player, your SOTA Comet/Sumiko Blue Point analog rig, and your cool-man NHT/PSB/Definitive Technology entry-level speakers. Hell, you've even gone out and bought a few pairs of Kimber PBJ interconnects to hook it all up. This ain't no dog and pony show—you want that High-End High, not just some cheap'n'cheerful, low-rez rig to stick in the rumpus room so the…
Description: Two-channel, solid-state amplifier. Output power: 60W into 8 ohms (17.8dBW). Input sensitivity: 970mV RMS. Input impedance: 100k ohms. Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, –0.25dB. S/N ratio: 110dB. Power consumption: 300W.
Dimensions: 3" H by 17" W by 11.25" D. Weight: 19.5 lbs.
Price: $299.95 (1987); $350 (1993); no longer available (2009). Approximate number of dealers: 320.
Manufacturer: Adcom, East Brunswick, NJ 08816 (1987); Adcom, LLC, PO Box 2668, Sedona, AZ 86339. Tel: (602) 773-1909. Fax: (928) 239-9378. Web: www.adcom.com (2009).
As with all the Real World gear I review, I listened to both amps in my Real World system, which is affordable, and my He-Man rig, which is not. The He-Man rig tells me exactly what the gear under review is doing, while the Real World system tells me how much of that info is transportable to a system that's more like the one the gear is likely to be mated with.
My Real World system featured, at one time or another: Sumiko Project One turntable and Oyster cartridge (reviews comin' up); JVC XL-Z1050 CD player; Rotel RCD-955AX CD player; NAD 502 CD player (…