John Darko
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: An arm injury has put my typing arm out of action for the next few weeks. This means I am forced to copy/paste press releases instead of re-writing them to strip out the marketing fluff.
Musical Fidelity’s Nu-Vista 600.2 is an all-analogue (no streaming, no DAC), dual mono amplifier offering 160wpc into 8 Ohms and 300wpc into 4 Ohms. It is even 2 Ohm stable. On the bulky chassis’s back panel, we note five sets of single-ended RCA inputs, two sets of balanced XLR inputs plus pre-amplifier outputs in single-ended RCA and balanced XLR formats. On the front panel, a VU meter display.
The 600.2 was announced yesterday with a letter from company owner Heinz Lichtenegger and then a second letter from Lichtenegger co-signed by Chief of Design, Simon Quarry. Why don’t they make it clear that the 600.2 is a hybrid design with a Class A 6S51N tube-infused buffer stage? Heck, why don’t they tell us more plainly that this is an integrated amplifier?
Therefore, the real meat is in Musical Fidelity’s 20 Design Philosophies.
Price? €8990. Your choice of silver or black.
“Dear Music lovers,
After the huge success of the acclaimed and multi-awarded Nu-Vista 800.2, Musical Fidelity is proud to announce the new Nu-Vista 600.2. Please note, the Nu-Vista 600.2 is identical in design and value of the components to the Nu-Vista 800.2, but lesser power for smaller rooms and speakers. Simon Quarry, Chief of Design, has again done a fabulous job to fine tune the amplifier for sweet sound, but huge power and transparency. For sure designed with maximum attention to the Musical Fidelity design rules.
The Nu-Vista 600.2:
• strictly analog
• discrete
• dual mono
• massive mechanics
• toroidal transformers
• multi array power supply
• filtering of pre- and power section
And on top, the beautiful Class-A tube stage consisting of highly famed, and by now almost extinct, Nuvistor tubes. We believe that only a true analog amplifier with NO DIGITAL or even WiFi streaming on board can reach the maximum of fidelity, which the concerned music lover is expecting of a Musical Fidelity product. We feel responsible for our name: Musical Fidelity The design goal of the Nu-Vista 600 is musicality, which means the fidelity of reproduction of the sound of true natural instruments and the true power of a symphony orchestra. On top, the Nu-Vista 600.2 has the same mechanically massive, and luxuriously beautiful expensive case work like the rest of the Nu-Vista range. We are convinced that customers who spend a lot of money want to have not only the best sound/performance, but also the haptical feel of true LUXURY.
Kind regards,
Heinz Lichtenegger”
“After the huge success of the acclaimed and multi-award winning Nu-Vista 800.2, it is time to announce the new Nu-Vista 600.2.
The Nu-Vista 600.2 is a much bigger update and rework than previously our Nu-Vista 800.2. Simon Quarry, our Chief of Design, has again done a fabulous job to fine-tune the amplifier for sweet sound, but huge power and transparency.
Compared to the old Nu-Vista 600, the updated 600.2 now features the full TITAN power amp design including locally decoupled output stage. PCB layout has been drastically reworked and improved. Electrical components have been updated, the 600.2 now uses the same laser-trimmed volume control like the 800.2 and the PSU-section has been greatly improved.
The Nu-Vista 600.2 is our latest love letter to strictly analog, discrete, dual mono amplifiers using big oversized toroidal transformers with multi array power supplies and the finest filtering of pre- and power section. And on top, the beautiful Class-A tube stage consisting of highly famed, and by now almost extinct, nuvistor tubes. The massive mechanics, stunning casework and display with VU- meters don’t only get you the best sound/ performance but also the haptical feel of true LUXURY.
We believe that only a true analog amplifier with NO DIGITAL or even WiFi streaming on board can reach the maximum of fidelity, which the concerned music lover is expecting of a Musical Fidelity product. We feel responsible for our name.”
“Technical Talk
The Nu-Vista 600.2 is a much bigger update than our previous Nu-Vista 800 to 800.2 reissue.
Smaller changes include component level improvements. The old input switching IC has been changed to relays for better separation and dynamics and only highest quality polypropylene capacitors are used throughout the signal path. A much requested, more significant change is that the 600.2 now also uses our laser trimmed volume control for +/- 0.5dB gain error even at lower levels.
The power amp, preamp and nuvistor stage layout has been significantly revised and improved. Preamp circuits have been removed from the back panel PCB and are now built on a self-screening tray at the top of the unit for less noise and distortion, protected from noisy PA and heavy current power supplies.
The Nu-Vista stage – now the same as in our PRE/PAS/PAM – features 6S51N nuvistors in a discrete class A amplifier buffer and is also located on the new top layer PCB.
The preamplifier, nuvistor and input circuits are now fully dual mono with separate left/right power supplies.
Continuing our pursuit for clean and proper power solutions – as we have recently shown with our new Balanced Power Conditioner range and the separate power supply units of the Nu-Vista PRE/PAS/PAM – the Nu-Vista 600.2 now features “NO SWITCH-MODE PSU AT ALL” during operation. A SMPSU is only used in standby mode and for the amplifier this ensures best supply noise performance. Improved digital supplies contribute to better supply rail noise figures.
The new layout comes with big performance gains and saves a lot of space. We can now support two balanced XLR inputs to cater for both Nu-Vista Vinyl and DAC. A balanced XLR preamp output has also been added and all line outputs are now separately buffered, resulting in no interference between devices connected to any of the preamp outputs.”
“The TITAN heritage
Certainly, one of the biggest changes is that we have now fully incorporated our famed TITAN design in the Nu-Vista 600.2, bringing it up-to-par with its bigger 800.2 sibling and the esteemed PRE/PAS/PAM range.
Giving each output device (transistor) a corresponding high current bulk supply capacitor allows more immediate access to stored energy, with much lower impedance path to flow through. This results in better transient response and coincidently provides a degree of improved ripple filtering at higher currents in conjunction with the supply capacitors situated elsewhere.
The main supply capacitors are situated right on the rectifiers, also decreasing supply impedance and helping to keep rectification and hum noise away from the high gain PA circuit.
The 600.2 PCB layout has been optimized for lower power, roughly half that of the 800.2, now featuring a sleeker, more refined and subtle “V4” look – with 4 output transistors per channel. The 800.2 features a much bulkier design with 10 output transistors per channel, giving it similar appearance to a “V10” engine.
Heroic Build Quality
The Nu-Vista 600.2‘s mechanical construction is uncompromisingly rigid and solid in typical Musical Fidelity tradition. Front panel and side panels are milled from extruded aluminium profiles and are extremely massive. The Nu-Vista 600.2 is basically immune against the effects of vibration from the environment. The same can be said about electro-magnetic immunity. The massive aluminium case acts as a Faraday cage. It protects the internals against outer electromagnetic fields, and in the same way, the rest of your HiFi gear against electromagnetic fields generated by the Nu-Vista 600.2.
The new Nu-Vista 600.2 is a continued labour of love for Musical Fidelity. Our passion for Nuvistor tubes didn‘t stop. Everyone at Musical Fidelity hopes that you derive as much pleasure listening to the Nu-Vista 600.2 as we had creating it.”
“Nu-Vista 600.2 In Brief
Amplifier
• A work of audio art using our incredible Nu-Vista circuitry
• NEW Redesigned front panel with new display
• NEW 2x XLR inputs, 1x XLR pre-output
• NEW Nu-Vista buffer stage – same as on 800.2 – taken from PRE/PAS/PAM
• NEW Power amp based on same circuitry design as in PAS/PAM
• NEW Power Amplifiers bulk supply capacitance and local output device decoupling now separated
• NEW 300W/4 ohms, 160W/8 ohms
• NEW Preamplifier circuits and inputs now fully dual mono
• NEW Laser trimmed volume control +/- 0.5dB gain error even at lower levels
• NEW Input switching IC changed for relays for better separation and dynamics
• NEW Dual mono power supplies improved for better performance
• NEW Bulk capacitance and rectifiers on separate PCB for reduced noise
In & Output
• 2x balanced XLR inputs
• 4x RCA inputs
• 2x RCA outputs (fixed & variable)
• 1x balanced XLR output (variable)
Features
• Colour display with optional VU-Meters and clear selected input and volume display
• Dimmable display
• Nu-Vista Remote Control “Front panel in your hand” “
Further information: Musical Fidelity
