By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis
Listening through headphones is being a tad egoistic, at least that’s what the guys at Viva Audio think, so they named their new headphone amplifier “Egoista”. The Italian made tube amp, designed around the 845 triodes, was presented during the Munich 2014 show, together with the new USB DAC/CD player “Numerico”. Both pieces were finished in yellow and black lacquer with overall design being somewhere between classic and modern.
Listening with a pair of Audeze LCD3 headphones the combo was particularly airy in the upper frequencies, with typical “liquid” mids and a tremendous sense of flow in Maxim Beitan’s interpretation of Bach’s prelude from the first cello suite. What was missing? Signs of hiss, buzz or other noise, typical of some SET tube headphone amps.
Both pieces will be launched within 2014 while a smaller (meaning more affordable than the 8.000 euro Egoista) amplifier will follow right after.
Wow!