Viva Audio Solista mkIII...coming soon

The new upgrades for Viva Audio Solista (mkIII) coming soon, but before it's arrival let's see what HomeEntertainmentMagazine wrote about the current mkII...

The Light Fantastic

“See me, touch me, hear me!” Those would be the Solista MkII's first words, if it could talk.

The amplifier's flowing lines and voluptuous shape couldn't be from anywhere but Italy. And it is, entirely hand-crafted in Vicenza. The chassis' undulating curves and exquisitely machined knobs show this is no ordinary high-end amplifier. Listen to your favorite tunes and it becomes clear the Solista MkII was designed to preserve, above all else, the essence of the music.

Singers sounded more flesh-and-blood human with the Viva Solista MkII hooked up to my speakers. Frank Sinatra was in the house! This amplifier is almost magical in the way it plays tunes. Music, especially acoustic music, never sounded this natural before; it moved like the real thing. It breathes!

Viva's founder Amedeo Schembri is something of a perfectionist; he's an engineer who flat-out refuses to compromise his designs. For example, instead of using printed circuit boards, the Solista MkII's innards are entirely hand-wired and soldered. Schembri makes the effort because he thinks wired amplifiers sound better than ones with printed circuit boards.

Viva amplifiers' transformers are all designed by Schembri and custom built by a local supplier. Again, that obsessive level of design is rare, even for most of today's high-end vacuum tube electronics manufacturers. Schembri's custom transformers are absolutely crucial to the Solista MkII's sound because the music signal is routed through the transformer.

Off-the-shelf transformers and printed circuit boards would dramatically improve profit margins, but at the cost of sound quality. Schembri is a good listener—he wouldn't build amps any other way.

Before founding Viva in 1996, Schembri designed and built gear for recording studios and concert sound systems. In those days he designed solid-state electronics, but he now works exclusively with vacuum tubes. He knows what solid-state can do, but it can't approach the musicality of tube designs.

You can't miss the Solista MkII's tubes as they stand proud in the chassis' "V" notch; the tubes near the front are unusually large (approximately 6.25 inches high). Upon powering up the amplifier, the front tube quartet lights in spectacular fashion, much brighter than the soft orange glow of smaller power tubes you see in more common tube designs.

The Solista MkII's four smaller rear tubes are literally overshadowed by the power and rectifier tubes' brilliant white light. The all-aluminum chassis helps dissipate some of the tubes' heat. Even so, the amplifier should be placed out of reach of small children.

The rear panel hosts four pairs of stereo RCA inputs, plus a "Direct" that bypasses the volume control and input selector. If you have a turntable you'll need to buy a separate phono preamplifier to play records over the Solista MkII. (Viva offers a matching phono preamp). The integrated amp has a set of stereo RCA outputs, intended for use with a powered subwoofer (or two). A small remote is provided to control volume.

Viva products are built to order. The standard finish is a medium, metallic-grey lacquer, but custom-ordered paint jobs are available. My favorite Vivas are the drop-dead gorgeous two-tone, fiery red and black jobs. Oh so Italian they are, but Viva's creamy white electronics are also stunning.

In use, the Solista MkII is a model of simplicity and unfussy ergonomics: Turn it on, bask in the tubes' glow, select an input (such as CD), adjust the volume and enjoy the music.

The sound is a good deal warmer and richer than my reference Parasound JC-1/JC-2 electronics, but I like it! The Solista MkII's 22 watts per channel sound far more powerful than you'd expect, but the amp didn't have enough gusto to make my Magneplanar 3.6/R speakers sing. They require gobs of power. But the Viva came alive when partnered with my Dynaudio C-1 speakers. I used XLO cabling for the entire system, specifically Signature 3 interconnects and speaker wires.

Great tube components are mystical objects. Maybe it has to do with the way the tubes glow, inflamed with voltages that produce the sound of music. Since most recordings aren't "flat," accuracy isn't the goal, musicality is.

The Solista MkII produced a solidity to the sound of instruments and vocals that transistor gear never quite achieves. I loved what the Solista MkII did for less-than-terrific sounding recordings.

Take Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon's In Paris CD, recorded in November, 1962. It's a monophonic recording and the Solista MkII brought not just the sound, but the music back to life. Every meaty pluck, slide and pull on Dixon's stand up bass's strings energized the beat, and his down-and-dirty vocals added to the excitement. T

he duo's rhythms and toe-tappin' grooves were a total joy. The Solista MkII is a feel good machine.

The Solista MkII makes almost every recording sound better than it really is. Big band jazz, like Mel Lewis/Bob Brookmeyer's Live at the Village Vanguard, 1980 CD absolutely knocked me out. Massed brass and winds are tough to get right—they can sound bright or thin—but the Solista MkII was magnificent here.

Instruments sounded like the real-life counterparts, probably because the Viva supplied the full-bodied dimensionality and presence you'd hear from live instruments.

Nirvana's Nevermind CD revealed new textures and palpable details. Kurt Cobain's vocals floated above the fray, sounding more humanly present than I've ever heard.

Thing is, 22 watts per channel will probably limit the appeal of the Solista MkII for Nirvana fans. Not that the amp won't play reasonably loud with suitable speakers, and my Dynaudio C-1s were definitely in that category. But wham-bam dynamics aren't in the cards.

The Solista MkII looks, feels and sounds like nothing I've heard. It's a tough act to follow.

Read more: http://www.hemagazine.com/Viva_Solista_MkII#ixzz1ZXyDOg7v