Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800
Discontinued replaced by Nu-Vista 800.2
Super Integrated. The Nu-Vista 800 super integrated encompasses the design philosophy from several different eras
State of the art tube circuit design
State of the art semi-conductor design
State of the art SMD design
CAD/CAM technology
Software programming. Never before have nuvistor tubes been combined with SMD technology and CAD/CAM design. The result is extraordinary sonic and technical performance. The dual monobloc power amps are a development from their legendary Titan amplifier.
The Titan received reviews said that it was one of the best amps ever made. The power amp stages of the Nu-Vista 800 develop, and improve, from that incredible starting point. What Musical Fidelity have created with the NuVista 800 is an amplifier capable of performing at the very highest levels possible for electronics.
Technical performance NuVista 800
The Nu-Vista 800’s technical performance is a little short of shattering.
Distortion at 1 kHz is about 0.002%. At 10 kHz about 0.003% and at 20 kHz about 0.004%. These are extraordinary figures which prove the outstanding performance and implementation of the total circuit design integrity of the Nu-Vista 800. Power is a comfortable 300 wpc with about 200 amps peak to peak current available. This amplifier is monster muscle man wearing an extremely sharp Italian suit, fine hand made shoes and the most delicate of accessories.
Sound quality Nu-Vista 800 sound quality is extraordinary. It has the warmth and delicacy of a triode tube amplifier but the power and heft to drive any loudspeaker easily, to any level you could ever want. Overall the sound is sweet and clear but with no grain or harshness. Dynamics, as you would expect, are delivered with incredible speed and precision. Low end is deep, extended and fast. High frequency transients are delivered with no harshness or edge. This amplifier appears to be spherical perfection…perfect whichever way you look at it.
NuVista 800 – Design and Build
Fifteen years ago, Musical Fidelity were the first company in the world to use nuvistor tubes for their high-end NuVista series.
The original Nu-Vista series (Nu-Vista pre amp, Nu-Vista M3 integrated, Nu-Vista 300 power amp and Nu-Vista 3D CD player) created a sensation when they were launched in 1999. They gave an almost perfect balance between state of the art transistor and tube design.
Because there were only limited tube bases available in 1999, the Nu-Vista series were all made in limited editions. Their reputation is legendary and, to this day, used Nu-Vista series products for very high prices.
Background on Nuvistors
Nuvistor tubes were designed in the late 1950s. Their design process took into account all the criticisms and weaknesses of the standard glass tubes that had gone before. As a result, nuvistor tubes offered:
Unprecedented reliability
Compact size
Very low microphony
State of the art technical performance
Total consistency between manufacturing batches
Indeed, nuvistors were the ultimate, high performance, triode tube. Unfortunately for them, transistors were just coming of age as nuvistors became available.
A bright new dawn
For at least three years after the launch of the original Nu-Vista series, Antony Michaelson tried to get more tube bases. Nuvistor tubes were plentiful but bases were impossible to obtain. After a time, he stopped searching.
As many of you know, Antony Michaelson is persistent. About eighteen months ago, he started thinking about Nu-Vistas again. This time, things were different. Via the internet, he was able to locate what are probably the last nuvistor bases on this planet Earth. Antony was thrilled. He purchased all that could be found.
This made it possible for Musical Fidelity to realise their dream of manufacturing more nuvistor-based products, including the new mega super integrated, the NuVista 800.
This time, they would be able to combine their state of the art Nu-Vista technology with their state of the art Surface Mount Design PCB techniques, and the new designs would benefit from the freedom of layout that they offer.
General description
The Nu-Vista 800’s front end is positioned on the same PCB as the input circuitry. This keeps all PCB tracks as short as possible, and ensures that this highly sensitive function is at right angles to any stray hyseresis field from the transformers, ensuring superlative sonic performance.
The nuvistor stage itself combines nuvistor tubes with our exclusive Surface Mount Design and technology systems. This allows them to perform at a level never seen before.
The power amp stage is derived from their monster Titan amp, regarded by many as one of the best amplifiers ever made. However, they have made subtle improvements to the circuit, squeezing even more performance from what was already a legendary circuit design.
The overall configuration is dual mono, with a separate 1.5 kV, super silent drive mains transformer per channel.
The result -maximum performance from every part of the circuit- clearly shows just how much of a labour of love and passion for the NuVista 800 was for Musical Fidelity.
Technical performance
The NuVista 800 delivers a comfortable 300 wpc. It is capable of truly massive current swings: about 200 Amps peak to peak. In a word, vast. Distortion at 1kHz is vanishingly low at 0.002%. At 10 kHz, it is about 0.003% and at 20 kHZ 0.004%. These are extraordinary figures. More astonishingly is the distortion into 4 Ohms (1kHz) is its exactly the same is into 8 Ohms.
NuVista 800 has very low noise and excellent stereo separation.
Because of its huge peak current capability, it can drive any speaker with any cable, without breaking a sweat.
NuVista 800 combines the beauty, delicacy and poise of state of the art tube and semiconductor design blended with massive power and current.
Nu-Vista 800 – Specifications
Amplifier
Power output: 330 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms
THD (+ noise): 107dB ‘A’ – weighted
Frequency Response: +0, –0.1dB, 10Hz to 30 kHz
Line Level Inputs
4x Line Level RCA / Phono
1x Line Level XLR Balanced
Line Level Outputs
1 pair line level RCA connectors, constant level LINE outputs
1 pair line level RCA connectors, PREAMP outputs for e.g. biamping
Speaker Level Outputs
2 pairs 4mm banana plug/binding posts
Power Requirements
115/230VAC 50/60Hz (factory pre-set)
Power Consumption
130W on and idle (blue LED lit)
900 Watts maximum
General
Dimensions – WxHxD (mm): 483 x 187* x 510
*212mm on included optional pointed feet
Weight (unpacked / packed): 39 kg/ 47 kg
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