Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 600.2 Hi-End Integrated Amplifier - Black

Musical Fidelity: Nu Vista 600.2 Integrated Amplifier

Following the success of the award-winning Nu-Vista 800.2, it's time for the arrival of the "smaller" Nu-Vista 600.2. The Nu-Vista 600.2 is more of a complete reworking of the previous version than an update, and Simon Quarry, Musical Fidelity's Chief of Design, is confident he has created an amplifier with enormous power but with a transparent and well-defined sound.

Overview

Compared to the Nu-Vista 600, the new Nu-Vista 600.2 fully integrates the iconic design of the glorious TITAN power amplifier, including the locally decoupled output stage. The PCB layout has been drastically reworked and improved. The electronic components have all been updated, including the volume control itself, which in this series adopts the same version as the Nu-Vista 800.2. Very importantly, the PSU has also been significantly improved.

The Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 600.2 is one of the few strictly analog amplifiers on the market, completely discrete, with dual mono circuitry, dual oversized toroidal transformers with multi-array power supply and the best filtering capability. And above all, the wonderful class A tube preamp section, made up of the famous nuvistors, a prerogative now unique to Musical Fidelity.

The construction is massive and elegantly frames the front display with the VU-meters, giving the product a feeling of luxury.

Musical Fidelity is convinced that only a true analog amplifier, without digital streaming or WiFi on board, can achieve the highest levels of high fidelity.

Technique

The Nu-Vista 600.2 is a much more significant upgrade than its predecessor, the Nu-Vista 800 to 800.2.

The smallest changes are improvements at the component level. The old input switching IC has been replaced by relays for better separation and dynamics, and only the highest quality polypropylene capacitors are used in the signal path. A necessary evolution was also the change of volume control, now the same as the 800.2, laser-cut for a precise gain step of +/- 0.5dB.

The layout of the final power stages, the preamplifier and the nuvistor circuit have also been significantly improved. The preamplification circuit has been removed from the rear panel PCB and has been placed on the top of the unit, fully shielded to reduce noise and distortion.

The Nu-Vista circuit – now the same as the Nu-Vista PRE / Nu-Vista PAS / Nu-Vista PAM – features 6S51N nuvistors with discrete class A amplifier buffer and is also located on the new PCB on the top. The preamplification section, the nuvistors and the input circuits are now fully dual mono with separate left/right power supplies and are linear, never switching types.

The new layout has saved space. This has also allowed us to integrate two balanced XLR inputs for the best connection to the Nu-Vista Vinyl and Nu-Vista DAC. A balanced XLR output has also been added and all line outputs are now separately buffered.

In the power stages, each transistor (4 per channel) is now paired with a high-current power capacitor, giving them immediate access to the energy reserve. This results in improved transient response and unparalleled speed and precision in response.

Mechanical Construction

The mechanical construction of the Nu-Vista 600.2 is uncompromising, rigid and solid in the typical Musical Fidelity tradition. The front and side panels are milled from extruded aluminum profiles and are extremely massive. The Nu-Vista 600.2 is virtually immune to the effects of environmental vibrations. The same can be said for electromagnetic immunity. The robust aluminum chassis acts as a Faraday cage, protecting what's inside from external electromagnetic fields and, likewise, the rest of your HiFi system from the electromagnetic fields generated by the Nu-Vista 600.2.

Highlights

NEW front panel with centrally integrated display

NEW 2xXLR inputs, 1xXLR pre-out

NEW buffer stage - same as 800.2 - taken from PRE/PAS/PAM

NEW power amplifier stages, on the same PAS/PAM design

NEW power transistors, power capacitors and separate buffer stages

NEW power 300W/4 ohms, 160W/8 ohms

NEW pre-amp circuits and inputs now fully dual mono

NEW laser-cut volume control with +/- 0.5dB gain steps

NEW relay input switching circuitry for improved separation and dynamics

NEW improved dual mono power supply stages

2x balanced XLR inputs

4x RCA inputs

2x RCA outputs (fixed and variable)

1x balanced XLR output (variable)

Color display with VU-Meter, input selection and volume, dimmable

Nu-Vista aluminum remote control

Technical Specifications

Power: 160W into 8 ohms, 300W into 4 ohms, 500W peak into 2 ohms

Current: 50 Amps peak/peak

Damping Factor: 100

Output Devices: 2 pairs of transistors per channel

Gain: Preamp 4.3x (12.6dB) at maximum volume, power stage 34x (31dB)

THD+N: < 0.005% typical, 20Hz to 20kHz

SNR: > 107dB 'A' weighted

Input impedance: 100k Ohm

Frequency response: +0, –0.1dB, 10Hz to 30kHz

Inputs: 4 x RCA, 2 x XLR balanced

Outputs: 2 x RCA (fixed/variable), 1 x XLR (variable)

Speaker connectors: Accepts max 4mm tips/banana plugs

Power supply: 230VAC, 50Hz

Power consumption: <0.5W in standby mode; 75W on with no load; 600 Watt max

Dimensions (WxHxD): 483x187x510mm

Weight: 36kg