Nagra HD PREAMP

摘要

Nagra has, with the exception of the now-best-forgotten Pyramid amplifiers [HFN Feb '05], a near-faultless track record. When you consider that the company leapt from professional tape decks to audiophile-grade valve electronics 20 years ago, the transition has been remarkable. With the second of its HD models, the HD PREAMP (joined by the HD DAC), one witnesses the completion of 'Phase One' of Nagra 2.0. Phase Two will consist of further models currently in the planning stages [see interview with CEO Pascal Mauroux, p63]. This signifies a complete break from its predecessors, though some are still in the catalogue, like the VPA hybrid tube amp. A new design team led by a Frenchman - not a Swiss - new circuitry and PSU concepts: the transformation is audible. The legendary obsession with accuracy has been tempered by something typically unknown to the Swiss. It's called 'soul'.