Any comments on Nagra amp/preamps

Nagra belongs to the new school of tube design; that is, fast and transparent with little "warmth" in the mid range. But it still maintains the spaciousness and 3 dimensionality like all tube equipment. Another plus is that the mid and low bass is superb even compared with SS gears. For most tube lover, Nagra can sound very transistor like and may choose words such as bland or colorless. I would even call it the Cello or Mark Levinson in the tube world; that is, very water-like with almost no flavor. I've been using Nagra PL-P/VPA with B&W N801 for nearly 2 months and the 89dB rated speakers were driven beautifully even during the loudest Mahler passages. For those who believe McIntosh MC275 was the best amp ever built, Nagra is not for them.

My day for posting, I guess. I had a 2-week home demo of the Nagra PL-P/VPAs. I absolutely want to love the Nagras because I think they are really great looking. The PL-P jewel like instrument grade appearance says "Swiss" design and manufacturing quality. The electrical design seems to be offering some very promising ideas and the internal implementation is outstanding, as others have commented. J-Skull's HiFi Nagra review s extolled SOTA sonic virtues on both the PL-P and the VPA. I guess I don't have J-Skull's evaluation system or golden ears. I didn't care for the Nagra's sound as compared to the Aesthetix I/O and my Audio Note amps. The Nagra combination is way to cool and not as musical as I would like in my system. Is that a matter of taste? Sure, that's why home demos are the only real test and final tool for decision-making. Clearly, Rdr4b is very happy on how the Nagras produce musical experiences for him in his system. He made a good choice. My opinion, and others, should be meaningless for your own musical decisions making. Certainly, no one can imply that the Nagras are anything less but outstanding audio design/manufacturing quality and very reliable gear. The rest is only personal taste. Good luck!

Gerrym's point is well taken. My VPA goes very well with my Amati Homage. Together the sound is simply enchanting. Amati's 92dB sensitivity helps quite a bit since I didn't quite like the VPA and B&W N801 sound although the B801 is rated at 91dB. PL-P/VPA is definitely on the lean side when it comes to mid-band lushness (or warmth) that is rare in live music. All Nagras are by all means fairly neutral.

By the way, tubes make a huge difference. Do not judge Nagra PL-P and VPA based on the crappy in-house Chinese and Yugoslavia tubes. Replace them with Cetron 845 or, if you can afford and are lucky to find them, the RCA 845s then you will get the first class sound. Also replace the PL-P 12AX7/12AT7 with Telefunken, Mullard or Bugle Boys and you will never consider the PL-P thin.