Anyone hear the Van Alstine CA1 Control Amplifier or NP1 amp demoed?

Yes, It's a great amplifier but I had to go down a different route.

Can you explain why you went down a different route, in a comparative sense what the CA-1 did or didn't do for you?

to newtozu:

In case my message failed, and re: the Musical Fidelity A1...

I can appreciate preferences.  Looked at that one too and may revisit someday. I had a M2si which I tried and couldn't stand. Loose bass, grainy upper mids, not smooth at all and lacked depth.  Probably OK for some Rock but not for alot of what I listened to.  Prefer smooth, musical but still transparent. Will try the CA-1.  For the prices, not expecting a $10K+ experience but don't need to at my listening levels.  Also looked at similarly priced tube gear, the new Galion amp but then I'd need a suitable pre, pehaps a couple of others such as the Iota VX40.  The CA-1 seemed to stand out and I picked up at a used price I couldn't say no too.  See what happens.

I get this today and will put it in my system the next day or 2.  If anything, I kind of wish it had pre outs. I could live with two rca inputs for source plus a pre out would make hooking up a sub for fill'in simpler.  Ideally, it would have a truly balanced XLR, an RCA pre out  or perhaps a subout with adjustable cutoff as subs are popular today versus when VA first started.  The XLR would add to the cost though. Still, that be my personal design desires. 

I could live without a phono stage myself but alot of people are into vinyl.  As long as the SQ is there, mission accomplished.

I've had the CA1 for a couple of months and believe it is a great all-around performer for its price. I found it to be sensitive to speaker type, impedance, etc. I is a nice balance between my 5 watt class A tube and Vera Audio P150/600 Purfi-based class D amps. Transparent with reasonable sound stage and power. I have not tried the phono stage. I currently listen to it via Audio Note AN-K SPe speakers.