Aavik I-880 Integrated

[Thieliste]

This thread to discuss about the new Uber integrated from Aavik the I-880.
200W class A.
Pics taken by me at the 2022 Munich show.

 

[Thieliste]

If someone has heard it a dealer's it would be nice to have a report.

 

[Thieliste]

 

[Gr8AV]

If someone has heard it a dealer's it would be nice to have a report.

I heard it at my dealer. Ordered it. Hope It will arrive very soon.

 

[CKKeung]

I heard it at my dealer. Ordered it. Hope It will arrive very soon.

Hi Gr8AV,
Please share more with us your audition experience.
Many thanks!

 

[Gr8AV]

Hi Gr8AV,
Please share more with us your audition experience.
Many thanks!

It should speek for itself that I ordered it after the demo. I can say that it had an absolutte black background. Everything came out with lot of live and it seemed to do it with no efforth at all. Of course there were a lot of Ansuz cables behind it. Lucily I already uses some Ansuz produkts myself.

 

[Thieliste]

It should speek for itself that I ordered it after the demo. I can say that it had an absolutte black background. Everything came out with lot of live and it seemed to do it with no efforth at all. Of course there were a lot of Ansuz cables behind it. Lucily I already uses some Ansuz produkts myself.

What speakers are you driving and at this price point do you think this integrated can rival with separates close to 100k and the advantage of a one box solution with less cabling ?

 

[Gr8AV]

What speakers are you driving and at this price point do you think this integrated can rival with separates close to 100k and the advantage of a one box solution with less cabling ?

Hi Thieliste
My speakers Are Osborn Grand Monument Reference (Focal elements). If it can rival separates is hard to say. I replace McIntosh 1.25 monoblocks with it. Also replaced power cables to Ansuz D-tc supremes and Ansuz Mainz8 D-tc3 power distributor. Used Synergistic powercell and cables up til now.

 

[Thieliste]

Hi Thieliste
My speakers Are Osborn Grand Monument Reference (Focal elements). If it can rival separates is hard to say. I replace McIntosh 1.25 monoblocks with it. Also replaced power cables to Ansuz D-tc supremes and Ansuz Mainz8 D-tc3 power distributor. Used Synergistic powercell and cables up til now.

Welcome to WBF, keep us posted when your receive your beast.

 

[EiK]

There is a rumour that Gr8AV have received the I-880.

I was with him when we visited Audio Group Denmark, and saw his I-880 on the bench ready to be shipped.

On that trip we heard it in the best room playing with Børresen X-6, 01 SS, M1 and 05 SS.
It sounded terrific with speed and a tubelike sound, with all the details of the recording projected. The background was black, and the sound so alive that it gave me goosebumps. I have heard the latest Gryphon Apex/Commander, also with 200 watt class A, and I think I-880 is a good contender.

 

[CKKeung]

View attachment 102817

It seems that multiple switching psu are employed instead of linear psu.
The multiple Tesla Coils are to get rid of the noise from the switching pau modules

 

[EiK]

Yes, that is correct. It has a much more effective powersupply. It draws much more power and it is much more effective than the traditional transformer and delivery is also faster. It is also smaler and weights almost "nothing". They claim the damping factor is 12.000, so it can drive the most difficult speaker cones.

 

[Gr8AV]

There is a rumour that Gr8AV have received the I-880.

I was with him when we visited Audio Group Denmark, and saw his I-880 on the bench ready to be shipped.

On that trip we heard it in the best room playing with Børresen X-6, 01 SS, M1 and 05 SS.
It sounded terrific with speed and a tubelike sound, with all the details of the recording projected. The background was black, and the sound so alive that it gave me goosebumps. I have heard the latest Gryphon Apex/Commander, also with 200 watt class A, and I think I-880 is a good contender.

Hello EIK and thanks a lot for last, when we visited Audio Group Denmark

The rumour is true. I played on it for nearly a week now. Sorry for not reporting sooner. I have had a few hi-fi frends coming to listen I think that all of them liked what they heard.
As they said in Denmark it needs maybe about 200 hours of playng in. I also put in new Ansuz D2 rca cables to feed it from my dCS Rossini player. I must say that it sounded quite good imidiatly. But has just played better and better for each day.
It is hard to describe sound, but is have never been even close here to what I hear now. There is no background noise at all. Lots of controll in bass region and everything else comes out really nice.
So far I am very satisfied with my investment. I Even know there is possible for even better sound. I have no svartz or other darkz than the ones that came with the I 880. Maybe also better cables can lift the sound.

 

[Thieliste]

Hello EIK and thanks a lot for last, when we visited Audio Group Denmark

The rumour is true. I played on it for nearly a week now. Sorry for not reporting sooner. I have had a few hi-fi frends coming to listen I think that all of them liked what they heard.
As they said in Denmark it needs maybe about 200 hours of playng in. I also put in new Ansuz D2 rca cables to feed it from my dCS Rossini player. I must say that it sounded quite good imidiatly. But has just played better and better for each day.
It is hard to describe sound, but is have never been even close here to what I hear now. There is no background noise at all. Lots of controll in bass region and everything else comes out really nice.
So far I am very satisfied with my investment. I Even know there is possible for even better sound. I have no svartz or other darkz than the ones that came with the I 880. Maybe also better cables can lift the sound.

How does your speakers breath at low volume driven by the I-880 and are voices very engaging at higher volume ?

 

[steve59]

forgive me for my ignorance. Where’s the power transformer? I would expect a 200 wpc amp to have a small tesla motor under the hood. I thoroughly enjoy listening to Aavic at axpona, but know nothing about their tech.

 

[Afveep]

forgive me for my ignorance. Where’s the power transformer? I would expect a 200 wpc amp to have a small tesla motor under the hood. I thoroughly enjoy listening to Aavic at axpona, but know nothing about their tech.

The Aavik 880 amplifier does not have a traditional brute force linear power supply instead using four of their 500W power factor corrected resonant mode power supplies. "The 500w power supplies combined with the extremely large power banks mean that the amplifier can deliver peak currents in excess of 80A...", Aavik also describes: The "significant reduction in the power requirements of the amplifier allowed Aavik to design the capacitors as smaller units and place them locally, so that essentially each of the eight pairs of output transistors has its own capacitor bank right next to it. This means that the current does not have to flow through long wire harnesses and long circuit boards. The current is always directly at the output transistor, which means a shorter signal path and therefore less noise. In addition, this innovative Aavik design also means that the 880 amplifiers do not get as hot as conventional Class A amplifiers, resulting in higher efficiency.". The I-880, like the other Aavik amplifiers, use unique, innovative design principles and doesn't follow traditional design paths.
Tom (Disclosure- Aavik dealer XtremeFidelity)

 

[steve59]

You sir are more of a gearhead than I am. I think I like the blue better than the red/orange display and if this sounds like the units I hear at Axpona our OP should be very happy.

 

[Afveep]

Hi Gr8AV,
Do you have any new impressions or comparisons you’d like to share now that you’ve been listening for a few weeks?

 

[Gr8AV]

Hi Gr8AV,
Do you have any new impressions or comparisons you’d like to share now that you’ve been listening for a few weeks?

Hi Afveep

Still very satisfied with the sound of the system here. As one friend that is not into hi-fi said, it was just like the Piano was in the room. I also think that everything sounds very natural. The separation of instruments and voices really is amasing. Still absolutt black background so that everthing else comes out really clear and enjoyable to listen to.
I have also used it to see a few films, and the soundtracks are like nothing I heard before

 

[Birdwatcher]

Please tell us more about the Aavik after one year.
last weekend I listen to a big Aavik(SD+I-880)/Borresen M3/Ansuz system in a demo and it was absolute fantastic, so effortless, fast, dynamic, controlled and present, a real new experience of listening.

Maybe any other owner of the big integrated amp here?