Want superior sound quality for your whole music library? The Nova includes a host of digital & analog inputs & outputs. Connect an iPod® or computer via the USB port. Your MP3s will sound nearly like uncompressed audio —the 24/96 upsampling D/A converter sees to that.
It is not often that new milestones in audio are set: The Nova is one of those rare products that fit well into this elite category of firsts.
Nova is the answer if you’re looking to improve computer-based streaming audio to a "high-end" performance level; or if you just need a new millennium integrated amplifier. The Nova is a world class 80wpc integrated amplifier with enough digital and analog inputs and outputs to satisfy all the new digital devices, plus, it can handle a few of the old dogs like turntables (w/external phono preamp), tuners, etc.. It performs much like a high-end integrated amplifier because that’s what it is.
Whether it’s digital or analog, the Nova will make it sound great! Along with its little brother, the Decco, they’re truly the most versatile integrated amplifiers on the market and engineered for the way you listen today.
Now all the time, effort, and money you’ve spent ripping CDs and downloading music is rewarded with truly incredible sound. Even compressed MP3 files sound almost indistinguishable from the original CD when played through the Nova or Decco. So if you like to rip or download…go for it. We’ll make it sound great.
The Pre-Amp
The pre-amp section employs a 6922 tube with a Class A output stage. This maintains a high level of detail while taming harsh compressed digital music. We couple that with an A/B amplifier in the final stage to achieve a very analog sounding product. The Nova has a USB input for your computer in addition to 2 coax, and 2 optical inputs for other digital sources like Squeezebox®, Apple TV®, Wadia iTransport®, Airport®, Sonos®, and XM or Sirius® tuners. It also has 3 analog inputs for docking stations, CD players, tape decks or phono preamps. If you want to add a subwoofer or outboard amplifier, the Nova features a "Class A" variable preamp-output and a fixed line output. Nova covers all the bases like no other product before it.
Digital to Analog Converter
Digital to Analog converter: Maybe the most unique Nova feature is the onboard ESS 9006 Sabre DAC. It’s a 24/96 upsampling D/A converter, which transforms just about any digital source to the performance of a high-end CD player. The ESS Sabre DAC’s patented jitter reduction circuit re-clocks the digital signal to almost 0 jitter before passing it through a high-resolution 24/96 upsampling processor that’s also capable of 122dB s/n ratio. This is unheard of in any D/A converter until now and out-specs anything from any other DAC on the market. But the DAC chip is only part of the story because the surrounding electronics are extremely important. We employ 11 regulated power supplies for the DAC and transformer-couple each digital input stage so noise associated with ground problems and switching power supplies is eliminated. The USB connection is very unique. It is galvanically isolated from the computer connection. This is very important because significant noise generated by the computer’s switching power supply travels down the USB ground and manifests itself as a major source of jitter. We eliminate it before the DAC sees it..
The bottom line is we know of no D/A converter on the market at any price that will better the Nova ESS D/A converter in bench tests and to our ears. To match the performance of the D/A alone would be much more expensive than the price of the entire Nova. These are lofty claims, but can be backed up by the technical specifications and listening tests. The gauntlet has been dropped…
Use the Nova as a D/A converter in your current system. If you’re thinking about adding a high-end D/A converter to your current system between $3,500-$10,000, you would serve yourself well to audition the Nova first. The Nova features a fixed line out so it can be used as a "remote switchable D/A converter" that can be added to any local or whole-house audio system to handle and improve any digital source. It’s also a great way to add a personal computer or Mac Mini® to your existing system.
Home Theater Bypass
Home Theater Bypass: The 3rd analog input doubles as a "Home Theater Bypass" so you can have the best of Home Theater and 2-channel in the same system. Simply take the left and right "pre out" from your receiver or processor and connect to the "Home Theater" bypass on the Nova. A selector switch on the back panel converts from Aux to HT bypass. In this application your receiver transparently uses the L&R amplifier section of the Nova, leaving the HT receiver amplifier to push only the center and rear speakers. One, this leaves the receiver responsible only for pushing the center and rear speakers, making the receiver much more efficient and less taxed. And two, when you listen to a 2 channel source plugged directly into the Nova, there’s a straight line from the source to the Nova to the speakers…no processing, no running the signal through a forest of circuitry. This leaves little between the music and your ears. If you’re a 2 channel fan, it’s the only way to do a theater right.
For the Headphone User
For the headphone user, the Nova has a "Class A, tube" headphone section that rivals some of the best Headphone amps available today. When the headphones are plugged in, the speakers are muted so you can rock on when quiet is a necessity. Headphones have never sounded better than through the Nova.