Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 Integrated Amp – First Look

All Image Credit: Musical Fidelity

Time moves on and so does the availability of components. So with the discontinuation of various parts for the original flagship 800, the 800.2 is the latest updated version of the Musical Fidelity Flagship Nu-Vista Integrated Amplifier. According to Musical Fidelity “Never before in the history of hi-fi have Nuvistor tubes been coupled with state-of-the-art SMD technology and sophisticated modern design techniques. The Nu-Vista 800.2’s technical performance is astonishing.”

Keeping true to the Nu-Vista 800 original design this latest flagship design benefits from a number of refinements and technological advancements to create an improved experience in both sound and aesthetics.

This flagships signature sound is a result of the four 6S51N nuvistor valves in its pre-amplifier stage that drives the two separate mono power amplifier stages, each capable of 330W into 8Ω, 500W into 4Ω and 1000W peak into 2Ω loads. The design of these power amplifiers follows on from the TITAN amplifier that also used high-current bulk supply capacitors to support each of the 5 pairs of silicon output devices by Sanken Electric (STD03N & STD03P) that can provide an output voltage of 52VRMS and output current of 120A (peak-to-peak).

Other improvements include; updates to the power supply circuits, control and electronic on/off circuitry, new transformers having lower standing flux, so they are less sensitive to mains DC offset noise, a new front panel, a dimmable OLED VU display with 8 illumination options and IR remote.

Construction is as formidable and solid as before, with the front and side panels milled from extruded aluminum, contributing to a chassis that acts as a Faraday cage, protecting the internal circuitry from stray RFI fields. Weighing in at over 90 lbs this sturdy structure also means that the chassis is resistant to most mechanical vibrations and airborne interference.

Connectivity includes; four unbalanced RCA stereo inputs and one balanced XLR stereo input, (no phono). Also available are the fixed and variable unbalanced RCA analogue outputs alongside the bi-wirable speaker binding posts.