I've got one /un-used. Send me your address I 'l mail it to you .
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Avondale SE200 Announcement on FB
- Thread starter Richard Lines
- Start date
OzBrit Audio
pfm Member
Still not bad compared with here in Oz.
Of course I don't know where you live etc but if you have all that kit it must be decent sized house.
House prices dropping here too. First property price drop in 30 years
Mike Hanson
Trying to understand...
I'm in Canada, and it definitely varies across the country. I was in Toronto, which is very expensive, and moved to London (Ontario, Canada) a few years back. It's cheaper here, but as I said, has also inflated since I moved.
I think the only places that are still cheap are places that I couldn't stand to live. I'm definitely not a country boy, and even a city of 400K residents feels too small for my taste. Toronto (at 4M) is a much better fit for me.
laverda
pfm Member
If Les can fit them in the existing case and the PSU is good then absolutely yes. From the on line images of the Exposure 4DR not sure it will fit.
Thank you laverda,
I think they would fit, but the Exposure power supply DC output after the caps is +/-59V.
Is this too much for the SE230?
Matt
James Evans
Bedroom Bodger
Personally I think I'd keep the 4DR as is, it's a pretty sought after amp in its own right. I think if I was wanting to investigate Les's amps I'd probably put a wanted ad out for an existing NCC200 or 220 build and then see about getting the SE230 boards swapped into that
laverda
pfm Member
Yes 59v is to high..SE230 runs off +-50v
skyebridge
Registered User
I have now been listening to a Nap-250 rebuilt by Avondale last summer with a service + installed SE Boards, new Regulators and the Soft-start module.
Previously in 2021 I was able to run a couple of Nap-250s with Avondale NCC-220 Boards and Regulators, for about six months before they were shipped to a friend in Canada. I quite fell for those amps, which reminded me of the fluidity and speed of the wonderful Nap-160 of blessed memory (PS. I have a rebuilt pair in my office, but did not make direct comparisons).
My pre-amp is a Nac-282 (circa 2015) and the PS is a specially-built Avondale one.
My speakers are 3-way Ruark Solstice.
I did not manage to get the current set-up into action until November 2022.
Since then I have regularly listened to my system with quiet amazement at how the Avondale Nap-250 performs with the SE Boards etc. It has a fleetness similar to the NCC-220s. But also a far larger sound-stage. With the SE Boards (and a superb PS), the music steps right into the room. This does NOT mean the amps are 'heavy or 'loud'. Indeed what strikes me is their completeness = everything sounds authoritatively 'in the right place'. There is speed on complex voices or instruments, with no hint of sibilance. There is a halo of 'overtones' at the high end (which unquestionably builds that sound-stage). There is disciplined mid-range and bass, with no sense of 'gap' anywhere. Instruments come across with exactness, and always in the right place.
The 'quality mark' of these new Avondale Boards - deployed with a good enough pre-amp and PS - is like hailing a London taxi and finding that it's a Rolls Royce.
As some Members will know from other Posts, in recent years I have moved towards using Chord amplifiers over Naim amplifiers (I've run 135s, 160s, 250s, 140s). Sometime later this year I will swap the Nap-250 for a pair of factory-rebuilt Chord-612 mono-amps. But as I hope this Post makes clear, I'm having so much pleasure listening to what Les has done with the SE Boards that there is no present urge to do that!
My conclusion and recommendation for anyone embarking in the direction of outstanding audio equipment, or who wants to upgrade, is to audition the latest Avondale amplifiers as probably the best value-for-money equipment on the UK market today.
Skyebridge
Previously in 2021 I was able to run a couple of Nap-250s with Avondale NCC-220 Boards and Regulators, for about six months before they were shipped to a friend in Canada. I quite fell for those amps, which reminded me of the fluidity and speed of the wonderful Nap-160 of blessed memory (PS. I have a rebuilt pair in my office, but did not make direct comparisons).
My pre-amp is a Nac-282 (circa 2015) and the PS is a specially-built Avondale one.
My speakers are 3-way Ruark Solstice.
I did not manage to get the current set-up into action until November 2022.
Since then I have regularly listened to my system with quiet amazement at how the Avondale Nap-250 performs with the SE Boards etc. It has a fleetness similar to the NCC-220s. But also a far larger sound-stage. With the SE Boards (and a superb PS), the music steps right into the room. This does NOT mean the amps are 'heavy or 'loud'. Indeed what strikes me is their completeness = everything sounds authoritatively 'in the right place'. There is speed on complex voices or instruments, with no hint of sibilance. There is a halo of 'overtones' at the high end (which unquestionably builds that sound-stage). There is disciplined mid-range and bass, with no sense of 'gap' anywhere. Instruments come across with exactness, and always in the right place.
The 'quality mark' of these new Avondale Boards - deployed with a good enough pre-amp and PS - is like hailing a London taxi and finding that it's a Rolls Royce.
As some Members will know from other Posts, in recent years I have moved towards using Chord amplifiers over Naim amplifiers (I've run 135s, 160s, 250s, 140s). Sometime later this year I will swap the Nap-250 for a pair of factory-rebuilt Chord-612 mono-amps. But as I hope this Post makes clear, I'm having so much pleasure listening to what Les has done with the SE Boards that there is no present urge to do that!
My conclusion and recommendation for anyone embarking in the direction of outstanding audio equipment, or who wants to upgrade, is to audition the latest Avondale amplifiers as probably the best value-for-money equipment on the UK market today.
Skyebridge
Richard Lines
pfm Member
It's why I'm working towards getting all 10 SE boards into working amplifiers to drive the Isobariks.............
Regards
Richard
laverda
pfm Member
Interesting thread this is turning into as people come to realise just how good the SE range of Avondale modules are.
I feel I have been very privileged over at least 25 years to have been entrusted by Les for an honest appraisal of his designs at a sonic 'in home' level. Meaning I am a trusted ear and able to portray feedback with meaningful criticism good and bad.
Cut to the chase, I have in the past few months been the proud owner of 4 SE230 amps running in my main active system and everyday I am astonished as to just how good they are, beating everything I have heard before and by some margin. The music just floods/fills the space in front of you from an inky black back ground as if like magic, indeed I call this AAM - Avondale Audio Magic. The low level retrieval is amazing making my track selection which I have heard a hundred times before sound like a new revised recording. It is the strangest thing. But and its a big but, the best thing is the astounding musicality portrayed and life like presentation. In short fluidity and musical timing are exemplary every note in the right place at the right time.
So are these SE230s keepers,... no their not ...there's the small matter of the SE400, more on these at a later date.
I feel I have been very privileged over at least 25 years to have been entrusted by Les for an honest appraisal of his designs at a sonic 'in home' level. Meaning I am a trusted ear and able to portray feedback with meaningful criticism good and bad.
Cut to the chase, I have in the past few months been the proud owner of 4 SE230 amps running in my main active system and everyday I am astonished as to just how good they are, beating everything I have heard before and by some margin. The music just floods/fills the space in front of you from an inky black back ground as if like magic, indeed I call this AAM - Avondale Audio Magic. The low level retrieval is amazing making my track selection which I have heard a hundred times before sound like a new revised recording. It is the strangest thing. But and its a big but, the best thing is the astounding musicality portrayed and life like presentation. In short fluidity and musical timing are exemplary every note in the right place at the right time.
So are these SE230s keepers,... no their not ...there's the small matter of the SE400, more on these at a later date.
skyebridge
Registered User
You are privileged, Laverda!
I agree with everything in your Post (above this one).
However - and bear in mind I'm using just ONE Nap-250 with the SE Boards - I would repeat that the most amazing thing for me is how the music 'Steps into the room'. It does feel that you are seated in an auditorium and the musicians are playing for you.
Great - even slightly scary great (in a good way)!
I can say that my Chord 612 Monos also do that, and with a combination of detail and precision that leaves (e.g.) a pair of fully-refurbished Naim Nap-135s far behind in the rear-view mirror. But that's two amps versus one, and I'm honestly not sure which would win the Oscar in a comparison test.
Bearing in mind also that Ruark Solstice are very large and comparatively more demanding 3-way speakers, I feel certain that the Avondale SE modifications are a fantastic achievement for Les and his colleagues.
Skyebridge
I agree with everything in your Post (above this one).
However - and bear in mind I'm using just ONE Nap-250 with the SE Boards - I would repeat that the most amazing thing for me is how the music 'Steps into the room'. It does feel that you are seated in an auditorium and the musicians are playing for you.
Great - even slightly scary great (in a good way)!
I can say that my Chord 612 Monos also do that, and with a combination of detail and precision that leaves (e.g.) a pair of fully-refurbished Naim Nap-135s far behind in the rear-view mirror. But that's two amps versus one, and I'm honestly not sure which would win the Oscar in a comparison test.
Bearing in mind also that Ruark Solstice are very large and comparatively more demanding 3-way speakers, I feel certain that the Avondale SE modifications are a fantastic achievement for Les and his colleagues.
Skyebridge
Interesting thread this is turning into as people come to realise just how good the SE range of Avondale modules are.
I feel I have been very privileged over at least 25 years to have been entrusted by Les for an honest appraisal of his designs at a sonic 'in home' level. Meaning I am a trusted ear and able to portray feedback with meaningful criticism good and bad.
Cut to the chase, I have in the past few months been the proud owner of 4 SE230 amps running in my main active system and everyday I am astonished as to just how good they are, beating everything I have heard before and by some margin. The music just floods/fills the space in front of you from an inky black back ground as if like magic, indeed I call this AAM - Avondale Audio Magic. The low level retrieval is amazing making my track selection which I have heard a hundred times before sound like a new revised recording. It is the strangest thing. But and its a big but, the best thing is the astounding musicality portrayed and life like presentation. In short fluidity and musical timing are exemplary every note in the right place at the right time.
So are these SE230s keepers,... no their not ...there's the small matter of the SE400, more on these at a later date.
Totally agree with your description of the sound Laverda, despite the fact that I only have SE200's in a NAP140 (with NAC62 and HiCap).
To use another analogy - it's like throwing open the shutters and letting the music flood into the room.
Before I used to listen to the sound, now I just listen to the music.
That NAIM sound is maybe detailed, fast and punchy, but cold and dry, and dare I say it - tiring.
The Avondale is just so warm, fluid, and uncannily realistic. Repeat: uncannily realistic. Can't emphasise that aspect enough.
It really is far far superior to the original NAPA boards. And that's just the basic SE200 in a 140!
Also, to get the most out of them if you are using a HiCap, you need to upgrade the regulators.
I plumped for the WH Dragon Newt's over the Avondale TRP4's because I think the DN's have a lower noise floor, but maybe there's nothing between them.
Even without Avondale boards, the DN is a very big improvement over the stock Naim regulators and very good VFM in their own right.
I was originally going to get a pair of NCC220's but decided to bight the bullet and just get the SE200's despite the 50% higher price.
Never regretted that decision. I feel like I now have a proper grown up system.
Please forgive my Naim-related ignorance.
"Also, to get the most out of them if you are using a HiCap, you need to upgrade the regulators.
I plumped for the WH Dragon Newt's over the Avondale TRP4's because I think the DN's have a lower noise floor, but maybe there's nothing between them.
Even without Avondale boards, the DN is a very big improvement over the stock Naim regulators and very good VFM in their own right."
Is this discussion of HiCaps and regulators related to the power-amp (NAP140) or the Pre-amp (NAC62) ?
"Also, to get the most out of them if you are using a HiCap, you need to upgrade the regulators.
I plumped for the WH Dragon Newt's over the Avondale TRP4's because I think the DN's have a lower noise floor, but maybe there's nothing between them.
Even without Avondale boards, the DN is a very big improvement over the stock Naim regulators and very good VFM in their own right."
Is this discussion of HiCaps and regulators related to the power-amp (NAP140) or the Pre-amp (NAC62) ?
Mike Hanson
Trying to understand...
Naim pre-amps require a power supply. Some Naim power amps can supply a basic supply to a pre-amp, but it's generally better if you use a better (and separate) supply. That's what a Hi-Cap is. It provides a more regulated power supply to the pre-amp, but Naim's standard Hi-Cap isn't very good (even though it's very expensive). You can replace the Hi-Cap's regulator boards with various other offerings from 3rd-parties like Avondale.
paularmstrong
Active Member
I'm loving my se200 sound. First amp I've successfully pieced together. Sourced from Graham, thank you so much.
Thank you - I thought that was the case, but was confused by the stated need to upgrade the HiCap to improve the power-amplifier when using the SE boards. But he was actually talking about upgrading other parts (the pre-amp) of the overall system.
Apologies Bugbear, shouldn't have taken it for granted that everybody would au fait about the role of the HiCap. Mike Hanson's description is spot on. Nothing is ever simple in the World of Naim.
