Holfi Battriaa better than Levinson No 25 S ??


Wow. Just hooked a Battriaa on my Levinson system. The Holfi seems MUCH more transparent, creating a far wider sound stage. Very articulate. This makes my 25S sound as if a towel has been hung over my Avalon speakers ...

Please comment.
piet
Hi, I just came across this old thread. I have a Holfi Battriaa Signatur Edition my self and like you I must say that it is amazing. The Danish company has unattended to most of the Hifi world created one of the best phono pre's ever. I have tested mine against Tom Evans Micro Groove, Trigon Advance, Trigon Vanguard and orthe phono stages in the same price range. But the Battriaa always played clearly in a league of its own. That is even audible to someone who is not a very trained listener. We are talking huge differences. But I am still a little astonished that the Battriaa is significant better than such a high end product like the ML No. 25. But that makes me think that I made the right choices six years ago when I chose Holfi Battriaa.

Unfortunately Holfi has stopped producing the Battriaa. But I hope they some day will rethink this decision, because it is a fantastic product.

Best regards

Ole
Hahahahahahaha.... typical, when the word Holfi is mentioned, everything goes quiet. I have been happily using Holfi Amps for 15 years now, nothing else comes close. Very beautifully honest equipment.
Cheers,
Eisubius
How nice that more hifi people get to listen to music thru Holfi.
I'v used Holfi as set up since 1991 and everytime i try something else i get disapointed and go back to Holfi.
Why, in two words: Total Cilence. It has such a laid back, calm performance that you can listen 24-7 without ever get fatigued.
I'm happy to tell you that Holfi makes Battria again. Two versions, Battriia ref. and Battriia 2 i own the latter and i'm mad with myself that i didn't go fore the reference, not a big pricediff. I use a Ortofon Rohman wich is 0,25mV low output MC.
Do you know what the NB stands fore, like in Holfi Pre NB 1
( No Bullshit). Good philosophy when it comes to amplification if you ask me.
Good luck
Blackblade6
Hi Blackblade :)

The Pre NB1 is a dream, someday. I use the pre nb2/ power nb2 now with built in phono stage. Peter and I are friends, so I get lots of explanation from him, he's a simple nice fellow but very smart :)

Holfi turntable, Matilda is very nice too. I use 3 different Lencos ..... musical and dynamic. I also prefer vintage MMs :) So my nice MC phonostage is wasted.

I actually have some collection of other good hifi, but I am selling them all off, cos I never listem to them if I compare to the Holfi.

Their Multiplayer is interesting too.

Which part of the world are you from? Is holfi doing well there?

Cheers
Eisubius
IMO; It would not be difficult to find a SS phono stage which betters the 25S. I always thought that it sucked the life out of the music, and that was after persevering with it for several years and the dealer telling me it would get better with more hours.
I traded mine for a ClearAudio Balanced Reference Phono.
Dear Scousepasty: I admire ML products especially amplifiers where ML is really good on design.

About preamps it still have good designs but not on the same amplifier level design.
Where I can say ML is at lower level design is on phono stages, this audio link IMHO always was/were ML weak side including 25S.

Obviously that a ML dealer has to support it.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
Hi Eisubius,
I'm about 120km frome P.Holsteins Holfi factory i Denmark, ( I'm from Sweden) and i to know Peter, as you say a very nice guy.
I have Pre NB 1.5.1 Power NB 250 and Batriia 2 as well as Xaurus CD and finally Holfi Sonair speakers.
So its a full setup. What i could upgrade are the poweramp to the batterydriven unit and a Batriia ref. Maybe some fine day :)
Where are you situated.
best regards
Ice
Hi Blackblade,

I'm in Malaysia.
We are one of their earliest markets in Asia.

I had a few opportunities to own a Xandra but I simply find the sound unnatural, like pieces put together but dis-jointed. Some of the cheaper models sound nicer, but I use a nice Denon DCD1650, a CD player made in Japan only for the Jap market :)

I design and build speakers and so use my own. The funny thing is that I completed my 4 way floorstanders just 2 months before the first pair of Sonairs arrived here. Very similar sound, but mine is cheaper, hahahahahaha! Weighs 115kgs per unit.

The multiplayer is better than the Xandra in my opinion.

Whats your opinion on the Pre NB1 vs Pre NB 1.5.1?

Whats your opinion on the Power NB1 vs Power 250?

Would be nice to hear from you.

Cheers!
Hi Atlasiris,
I agree that the mp-player is better.
When it comes to Pre NB1 and 1.5.1 i can say with no hesitation that 1.5.1 is waay better than Pre NB1.
Why so, simply because it is better in every aspect, and of course Peter Holstein has developed the NB1-concept in the 1.5.1 and made a lots of improvements. More natural sounding, bigger sounding ( in the right sence). I think one of the major improvements over Pre NB1 is spelled digital attenuators, you dont have to rely on an resistor equipped goldplated attenuator, wich is very good but not totally free frome noise. The digital one in 1.5.1 is completely noisless.

When it comes to Power NB1 ws NB250 it is not as big diferens but of course the noise floor is even lower so you have that extra calm that battery power is known for.

By the way i'm reading more and more articles about battery powered riias that are using current gain stages (transistors) Something Peter H started develop over ten years ago and the current Holfi Batriia is just this.
So i cant help myself again this riia is soo goood. :)

good luck with your search fore musical Nirvana....