Van Alstine DVA M225 & Backert Labs 1.3

I’ve made some changes over the past months and thought I would share my thoughts.

Van Alstine DVA M225 monoblocks replacing Parasound A21+
Immediately noticed a difference in sound texture. The Parasound sounds “grainy”in comparison to the AVA’s. There is a smoothness without any loss to clarity with AVA. Also noticed greater details in channel separation. Perfect example is Adi Oasis cover of Planet Caravan. There is a finger tapping throughout the song that seems mono on the Parasound, but on the AVA’s, the tapping is different between the channels. The channel separation is noticeable when clinical listening. I am very happy with the purchase.

Backert Labs 1.3 is another recent addition. This preamp has made the biggest impact on improving overall sound and enjoyment. Without going into details of the Backert, I will speak to the synergy of this preamp and the AVA’s. The Backert and AVA’s match very well and provide a large, deep soundstage, oozing with a silky sound. Not syrupy or slow, just smooth and very detailed.

These new components, paired with my Dynaudio Contour 20i, are my end game for a while.

Thanks again for everyone’s feedback during this journey!