Avondale Audio Reviews 

Having dealt with Les on a few occasion over the last few years I was looking forward to my visit to Avondales new premises nr Hebden Bridge .
What a truly idyllic setting it is this coupled with the warm welcome I received from both Les and Gavin made for a very enjoyable visit . The purpose of my visit was to upgrade my S100 with the new SE 230 boards . Having installed NCC 220 boards a couple of years ago I was more than happy with the result and made a decision it was definitely my endgame amplifier . That is until I started reading about the new boards and “ upgradeitus “ got the better of me . Without doubt it is the best decision I have made in over 40 years of box swapping and upgrading various components .
Having let the boards settle for a few days I can only report the sound from my system is truly superb and streets ahead of anything I have previously experienced. The sound from NCC 220s was excellent but these new boards have taken my listening experience to a whole new level . Everything is just more musical with the slam, bass and overall dynamics way beyond my expectations . Vocals are more realistic with low level detail unsurpassed . Make no mistake I believe these boards will compete with the very best I can only dream what the SE 400 s sound like .
Another real winner Les , for me without doubt your best yet , good luck and best wishes for the future .

Les sent me a new minicamp 6, ive just completed building a nap110 amp with this in, sounds way better than it did, fast delivery and one hell of a product.

This was only one of many modules i have had from les
and they all live up to expectations

Keep up the good work Les

I have known Les for many years and I have been a very happy customer, professional and always out to help with advice.I have lived with Les’s mono amps for many years now and enjoyed the musical pleasure they have given me, clear natural crisp involving sound ,amazing deep soundstage with pace and drive .
Les puts a lot of effort into his work with a passion on circuit board design with clinical perfection and the outcome is amazing sound quality.
I am looking forward to upgrading.
See you soon. Nigel

I've been interested in these crossovers since I learned of their existence a couple of years ago. Recently I decided to "take the plunge" and purchase a pair. I spoke to Les at Avondale who was extremely helpful and generous with his knowledge and time.

My system: Rega Saturn R Cd Player - Naim Nac 72 (with RSL cards) - RSL ZapCap power supply - Naim NAP 250 - Naim SBL. A pretty reasonable system.

I received the crossovers a few days ago and "wow"! If I had known the effect they would have I would have purchased them years ago. I heard the difference in seconds.

The overall sound signature of the speakers doesn't change but everything just seems to snap into focus.

It's hard to describe. I'm hearing things that I knew were there but never really heard before if that makes any sense. There is more detail, more clarity, more separation. The music just feels cohesive, solid and, most importantly, not tiring or harsh to listen to.

This is not a small change. If you are using Naim SBL's you should hear these before you spend thousands on new amplifiers, cables, etc.

My Avondale experience started a few years ago when Simon Hamnett called in with a set of new grilles for my Linn Isobariks, as the originals had crumbled to pieces. Before leaving, he wanted me to hear something ‘special’ and returned a couple of minutes later with a NAP 250 and a smile. My first thought was that I already had one, so what could be different? Simon explained about Les and his astonishing work with the NCC 200 boards and I was soon left speechless when the old Briks started to take on a whole new dimension. Simon told me the difference would be ‘night and day’ and he was right on the money.

I contacted Les almost immediately and It wasn’t long before he arrived with a pair of NCC 200 olive 135’s, which gave astonishing clarity, bass and separation. I heard instruments in pieces never distinguishable previously and my love for music was rekindled in an instant. The upgrade was also enhanced by the TPR4 module in the HiCap, which added greater depth and smoothness. My pre-amp is a Naim 202.

Les is currently fitting the NCC 300 modules to the 135’s and has lent me a pair of 180’s fitted with the same kit in the meantime. These take the sound to another level altogether and anyone who says that Briks are ‘old hat’ coloured and harsh need to hear these driven properly. I would mention that the units in the Isobariks were original and somewhat tired, so I asked Simon to replace those with new Scanspeak 2008 Ferro Fluid tweeters and matched pair Falcon B110 mid-range drivers.

Upon arriving back home, the first disc I played was Diana Krall live in Paris and you would think she is in the room. The introduction to the original Tubular Bells has a bassline not heard before and the overall soundstage is immense. It’s all there, even a low volume.

I cannot speak highly enough about Les, his work and professionalism and if you’re looking to transform an old Naim system at a fraction of the cost of new replacements, then look no further than Avondale. Trust me, you will be blown away.

Just fitted this drop in module to my Olive XPS. The ease of doing this is testimony to the thought put in to the design and the care and advice offered by Les. Note he demonstrated the procedure on Avondale FB page to follow. As for the sound, straight off it was like having a totally new CD collection. Detracts nothing from the Naim sound, but adds greater separation, clarity, crisper treble and deeper richer bass. So much more detail that I am hearing things in tracks I have never heard before. A great piece of engineering and a significant upgrade. Should have done it sooner.

I have a Hi-Cap/62/160 chrome-bumper range running into a pair of nearfield 15ohm LS3/5a's. During C-19 time-out I recapped the lot with like-for-like tants and reservoir caps, setting bias to factory spec and checking offset. All was in order, and after a short period of settling in, the sound was of a magnitude better. Shortly thereafter I purchased a second user Hi-Cap which had had the Avondale TPR4 regulator installed. Subbing this for my stock 'cap was a revelation. Greater texture, separation, bass tunefulness, transient speed, top-end air and even a sense of spatial depth. The lower noise-floor was now revealing the nuance and subtlety that the pre was capable of. Don't let this fool you into thinking that this is all "boom and tish" hi-fi stuff, it isn't. The Naim note is not affected and the overall presentation is one of unforced musicality devoid of fatigue. So impressed was I that I ordered a new TPR4 module from Avondale and installed it into my stock 'cap. I then opened up the '62 and undertook some easy to achieve re-routing of the 24 volt power supply lines coming into the pre such that one 'cap independently feeds the left and right gain stages whilst the other 'cap feeds the left and right input buffers. I'm a single source line-only user so obviously the phono boards had been previously removed and everything was simplified to that effect.

Six months ago I had never held a soldering iron. I spent some time lurking on a well respected 'fishy forum to teach myself the "how-to's" and I'm now enjoying a system which has a grace and solidity that I had previously thought impossible.

There are few things in the world of Naim separates that constitute a bargain, but the TPR4 module is an exception. Easy to fit, the aural benefits are immediate and obvious and I recommend this product without hesitation.

As a happy customer of Avondale Audio for a number of years (ncc200 ncc220 and now ncc300) I can only say "Les is a genius" when it comes to making Naim beating products at a fraction of the price

Long may he do so

Following my Hicap upgrade last year asked Les for recommendations for an amp upgrade to drive my new TAD speakers, my pre is a standards 102 so the a 180 was suggested with Qudos cards, as I live in NZ finding a donor not easy. But with a little help and advice Simon Hamnett managed to source one for me but it needed recapping so minicaps suggested by Les which changed a simple drop in mod to pretty well a full rebuild for Simon
The amp arrived via Simon yesterday and it’s been playing pretty much since then, the change from my 140 is stunning everything sounds bigger, the bass is as I’ve never heard, stripped back vocals are so moving it’s scary and classical pieces are three dimensional guess my description of sound stage.
No if you want to re-life your older Naim gear and improve the SQ for a reasonable cost I can highly recommend Les’s changes, keep up the design work in these days of disposable consumer goods we need high quality solutions rather than marketing hype.
Finally thanks to Simon and Mark Sears the VP12 has never sounded so good

I have a pair of Naim Chrome Bumper series Hi-caps. One for a 32.5, the other a Prefix. The entire system had been serviced by a Naim authorized center about 8 years ago. As my LP12 turntable improved I began to think my electronics were not keeping up. If Naim made a DR kit for my equipment I would have gone that route, but they don’t. Enter Avondale Audio. Even Naim devotees praised their regulator boards so I put a TPR4 board in one Hi-cap. After two hours of listening I ordered another TPR4. A very worthwhile investment. I can better appreciate my up to date LP12 and the improved clarity makes the PRAT more evident.

Les has recently upgraded a 250 amp for me, his advice was if its not an improvement bring it back, I'm sure Les gives this advice to all his customers and I doubt if anyone has ever taken anything back, most will be like me and packing the rest of their system ready for transport down for Les to work his magic, The workmanship is of the highest standards and the sound oh the sound, short pause while I out another record on.. see you soon Les, enjoy the move back into Gods own county
Ian

I have recently had my NAP250 upgraded by Hamnett’s vintage audio, using the NCC300’s and NCM1 power supply. All I can say is that Les is a genius, everything sounds so good! This is one of the best upgrades ever, thank you.

Based on my experience with Les and his products, I would recommend Avondale Audio to anyone. I had purchased a second-hand set of his outstanding 821 preamplifier boards to replace the stock 321s in my Naim NAC72. The difference was immediate and significant. Unfortunately one of them developed minor issue. The boards were over 15 years old and pre-owned, after all. Les stands by his products and repaired the board to wonderful effect, and they sound as beautiful as ever. I am very happy to have exchanged a few mails on related topics and appreciate the knowledge shared as well. Avondale Audio is a unique and valuable part of our British HiFi community.

I modified my old Naim Nap180 with NCC220 Qudos boards and my HiCap with the TPR4 regulator both supplied by Avondale, the quality of the build in both is excellent but of course it's what it sounds like that's important and on that count it's a 10 out of 10! The HiCap modification is quite easy to do if you are a bit handy with a soldering iron and the sound difference that it made is huge (I still don't understand why a power supply makes so much difference - but it does). Installing the NCC220 boards is even easier as it's essentially plug and play although the connectors in my amp were smaller than the ones on the Avondale boards but a quick e-mail and equally quick reply from Les at Avondale suggested an easy solution. So what about the sound? well safe to say I am absolutely delighted with the improvement, more separation, greater clarity and hearing things things in my favourite recordings that I have not heard before even with my aging ears. A really worthwhile upgrade.

Bought a complete one box ncc300 stereo amplifier in a chromebumper nap250 case from Avondale via Simon Hamnett, so far excellent service and the amplifier is settling in very nicely and is very musical.

I recently upgraded my Naim Nap 180 with a pair of Qudos boards. The improvement in sound quality across the board is amazing. Instruments have a resonance I've never heard before, vocals come across with emotion, you can hear harmony and backing vocals distinctly, drums are transformed they truly come alive .... I could go on. I am listening to lots of different kinds of music I would skate over before because now I can hear what the musicians had in mind. Next step: the minicap 6's !!! Thank you Les, we are lucky to have you.

Les is a gentleman and hifi genius. I’ve had the pleasure in knowing Les for years and using his custom made monoblocs and revelation speakers. These are outstanding products made with great craftsmanship and technical ability. Les has the ability to eek out great music through his high quality products. He’s also very nice man to deal with! Ailesh

I received my NAP250-2 Classic amp box this morning, delivered by Simon Hamnett, lovely chap. Inside the box was an Avondale NCC300 Quattro custom fitted amp by the maestro himself, Les Wolstenholme. I've had very good experiences with Avondale products and was not disappointed with the results of my custom made amp, in fact I was left completely stunned in just how good it is. Now I liked the sound of the NAP250-2, it does has some mixed reviews and is not everybody's cup of tea, the NCC300 Quattro blew it away. The clarity is superb, bass is tighter and the headroom is immense, the amp just grips the speakers and controls them perfectly. I have spent the day playing my music, tapping my feet with the biggest grin on my face, this amp needs to be heard by everyone. I can't thank you enough Les, best Christmas present I've ever had and probably the last amp I'll ever purchase, if you have some time on you're hands I would like two more! All the best and have a lovely Christmas, Kind regards, Andy.

My first Avondale Audio products were a NAIM AUDIO 42.5 pre amplifier with Avondale Audio pre amp boards + a pre-amp power supply, followed by a S100 dual mono power amp, all of which resulted in quite astonishing hikes in performance.

I currently have a NAIM AUDIO modified NAC102 pre amplifier, with Avondale Audio's latest 821AR pre amp boards & further modifications to enable the use of a 6 channel Avondale Audio power supply, which has taken my increasingly Avondale Audio based system into a whole new league of performance.

I also have the Avondale Audio crossover for the NAIM SBL - Separate Box Loudspeaker - which has resulted in an absolutely incredible improvement in speaker performance.

I intend to eventually replace the S100 dual mono power amplifier with a pair of M180 - NCC300 mono block power amplifiers.

Avondale Audio products are truly superlative, in every conceivable regard - build quality & performance levels of every item purchased, over a 15 year period, have been of the very highest order possible. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Avondale Audio to anyone for whom music is an integral part of their lives.

Excellent products and service. I’ve built 2 power amplifiers based on Les’s modules and then upgraded them with the new Qudos amplifiers. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Avondale.