Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 600.2

Nu-Vista 600.2 - Overview

After the huge success of the acclaimed and multi award winning Nu-Vista 800.2, it is time to announce the new Nu-Vista 600.2. The Nu-Vista 600.2 is a much bigger update and rework than previously our Nu-Vista 800.2. Simon Quarry, our Chief of Design, has again done a fabulous job to fine tune the amplifier for sweet sound, but huge power and transparency.

Compared to the old Nu-Vista 600, the updated 600.2 now features the full TITAN power amp design including locally decoupled output stage. PCB layout has been drastically reworked and improved. Electrical components have been updated, the 600.2 now uses the same laser trimmed volume control like the 800.2 and the PSU-section has been greatly improved.

The Nu-Vista 600.2 is our latest love letter to strictly analog, discrete, dual mono amplifiers using big oversized toroidal transformers with multi array power supplies and the finest filtering of pre- and power section. And on top, the beautiful Class-A tube stage consisting of highly famed, and by now almost extinct, nuvistor tubes. The massive mechanics, stunning casework and display with VU-meters don’t only get you the best sound/performance but also the haptical feel of true LUXURY.

We believe that only a true analog amplifier with NO DIGITAL or even WiFi streaming on board can reach the maximum of fidelity, which the concerned music lover is expecting of a Musical Fidelity product. We feel responsible for our name.

Technical Talk

The Nu-Vista 600.2 is a much bigger update than our previous Nu-Vista 800 to 800.2 reissue.

Smaller changes include component level improvements. The old input switching IC has been changed to relays for better separation and dynamics and only highest quality polypropylene capacitors are used throughout the signal path. A much requested, more significant change is that the 600.2 now also uses our laser trimmed volume control for +/- 0.5dB gain error even at lower levels.

The power amp, preamp and nuvistor stage layout has been significantly revised and improved. Preamp circuits have been removed from the back panel PCB and are now built on a self-screening tray at the top of the unit for less noise and distortion, protected from noisy PA and heavy current power supplies.

The Nu-Vista stage – now the same as in our PRE/PAS/PAM – features 6S51N nuvistors in a discrete class A amplifier buffer and is also located on the new top layer PCB. The preamplifier, nuvistor and input circuits are now fully dual mono with separate left/right power supplies.

Continuing our pursuit for clean and proper power solutions – as we have recently shown with our new Balanced Power Conditioner range and the separate power supply units of the Nu-Vista PRE/PAS/PAM – the Nu-Vista 600.2 now features “NO SWITCH-MODE PSU AT ALL” during operation. A SMPSU is only used in standby mode and for the amplifier this ensures best supply noise performance. Improved digital supplies contribute to better supply rail noise figures.

The new layout comes with big performance gains and saves a lot of space. We can now support two balanced XLR inputs to cater for both Nu-Vista Vinyl and DAC. A balanced XLR preamp output has also been added and all line outputs are now separately buffered, resulting in no interference between devices connected to any of the preamp outputs.

The TITAN heritage

Certainly, one of the biggest changes is that we have now fully incorporated our famed TITAN design in the Nu-Vista 600.2, bringing it up-to-par with its bigger 800.2 sibling and the esteemed PRE/PAS/PAM range.

Giving each output device (transistor) a corresponding high current bulk supply capacitor allows more immediate access to stored energy, with much lower impedance path to flow through. This results in better transient response and coincidently provides a degree of improved ripple filtering at higher currents in conjunction with the supply capacitors situated elsewhere. The main supply capacitors are situated right on the rectifiers, also decreasing supply impedance and helping to keep rectification and hum noise away from the high gain PA circuit.

The 600.2 PCB layout has been optimized for lower power, roughly half that of the 800.2, now featuring a sleeker, more refined and subtle “V4” look – with 4 output transistors per channel. The 800.2 features a much bulkier design with 10 output transistors per channel, giving it similar appearance to a “V10” engine.

Heroic Build Quality

The Nu-Vista 600.2‘s mechanical construction is uncompromisingly rigid and solid in typical Musical Fidelity tradition. Front panel and side panels are milled from extruded aluminium profiles and are extremely massive. The Nu-Vista 600.2 is basically immune against the effects of vibration from the environment. The same can be said about electro magnetic immunity. The massive aluminium case acts as a Faraday cage. It protects the internals against outer electromagnetic fields, and in the same way, the rest of your HiFi gear against electromagnetic fields generated by the Nu-Vista 600.2.

The new Nu-Vista 600.2 is a continued labour of love for Musical Fidelity. Our passion for Nuvistor tubes didn‘t stop. Everyone at Musical Fidelity hopes that you derive as much pleasure listening to the Nu-Vista 600.2 as we had creating it.

NU-VISTA by Musical Fidelity

Antony Michaelson, the founder of Musical Fidelity and professional musician, always dreamt of making an audio system that sounds like tube and class A amps. Warm and musical, but it also allows the real-life dynamic reproduction of music, especially of big orchestras.

The NU-VISTA by Musical Fidelity range is a magic combo of power and finesse. It represents all of Musical Fidelity‘s technology in making the best, sweetest-sounding amps in the world in a cost-no-object, no-compromise solution. The Nu-Vista 600.2 represents the very best in today‘s amplification.

As we know power is not everything. There is a place for high and lower powered amps, it all depends on the context: the room, the speakers, the source material.

With correct circuit board design and careful layout, just like the 800.2, the Nu-Vista 600.2’s technical performances are astonishing. They measure and sound like a dream. The 600.2 feels calm and smooth, and never loses control of its striking dynamic range and a natural, effortless transient response. It projects lifelike images between the speakers, recreating the tangible and captivating presence of bombastic live music, big orchestras and smaller, intimate jazz performances alike.

Nu-Vista 600.2 In Brief

A work of audio art using our incredible Nu-Vista circuitry

NEW Redesigned front panel with new display

NEW 2x XLR inputs, 1x XLR pre-output

NEW Nu-Vista buffer stage - same as on 800.2 - taken from PRE/PAS/PAM

NEW Power amp based on same circuitry design as in PAS/PAM

NEW Power Amplifiers bulk supply capacitance and local output device decoupling now separated

NEW 300W/4 ohms, 160W/8 ohms

NEW Preamplifier circuits and inputs now fully dual mono

NEW Laser trimmed volume control +/- 0.5dB gain error even at lower levels

NEW Input switching IC changed for relays for better separation and dynamics

NEW Dual mono power supplies improved for better performance

NEW Bulk capacitance and rectifiers on separate PCB for reduced noise

2x balanced XLR inputs

4x RCA inputs

2x RCA outputs (fixed & variable)

1x balanced XLR output (variable)

Colour display with optional VU-Meters and clear selected input and volume display

Dimmable display

Nu-Vista Remote Control “Front panel in your hand”

Nuvistor Tubes

Nuvistor tubes were invented in the 1950s to solve the many shortcomings of conventional tubes. Unlike them, Nuvistor tubes offer very high reliability, low microphony, low noise, consistency from batch to batch, small size, relatively low power consumption and great technical performance.

One famous application was in the Ampex MR-70, a costly studio tape recorder whose entire electronics section was based on nuvistors. Another limited application of this very small tube was in studio-grade microphones from that era, the AKG/Norelco C12a, which employed the 7586, being a good example.

It was also later found in the famed Neumann U 47 studio microphone. This microphone was highly regarded by artists all over the world, and was used by many top recording artists such as Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, and so on. Remarkably, you can currently see a U47 microphone, with its stand, cables and power supply on eBay for $10.999 „Buy-it-now“.

Unfortunately just as uses for Nuvistor tubes were being explored, the transistor was invented and it was ‘game over’ for Nuvistors. There the matter rested until about fifteen years ago, when Musical Fidelity created the first of its ground-breaking Nu-Vista series. These legendary, limited-edition products sold out in a matter of months. Today, fifteen years later, they command very high secondhand prices because of their beautiful sound, build quality, and longevity.