Verity Audio: To Nagra or not to Nagra?

Nagra is good stuf , good design and things that spring to mind are very cleansound /precision.
Great for audifile music , but if you want to smash walls down get the levinsons /krells in.

A dealer friend sold both Verity and Nagra. I wasn't very impressed with either, except when I heard them together. This is back a little while so I'm not sure if it was the Fidelio or the Parsifal that I liked paired with the VPA.

I use the Viva Aurora 845 SET amps and Viva pre-amp combo with my Parsifals. Absolute sublime combination. Previously had the Kharma CE speakers which also was a great combination with the Viva's

NOT to Nagra for sure. For me, to be honest, Verity and Nagra are NOT a good match. Especially with PAD cables.

I think the paring is user dependent. I listened to many different amps in my set up before deciding on the Bryston 28B-SSTs to "permanently" drive my VAPO's.

I also think the VAPO's are much more forgiving than a more analytical speaker, which allows for more leeway in amplification decisions. In the end, I found the utter control and explosive dynamics of the 28B-SST's enough to stop me in my tracks on the search for a new amp.

Good Luck and enjoy the journey, jtb

I can't comment on all the choices but I did hear the Ovations and Sarastros driven by the Nagra and the Parsifals by the Berning ZH modified mono blocks at the same audio show. I personally preferred the Berning system but the Nagra was also quite good. Two different systems and an audio show, set-up matters and the room differences contributed no doubt. The Berning system just brought out the capabilities of the Verity better and was just more involving and this was the Parsifal Encores not the Ovation which was driven by Nagra. It was pretty much very good versus magical to my ears. Unfortunately Berning no longer makes the zh270 and the Quadrature mono amps 27K a pair are the only amps he is currently hand crafting although there are others on the horizon. If you get the opportunity you might try to check out this combo to see if it might work for you.

Since the V.A. Ovation could work with good quality low power amplifiers (Nagra VPA) you should give a try with the Nagra power amplifier MPA. This one is a 250 WPC mosfet (no tubes) that you could buy in an integrated version, it sound fantastic with the Ovation. My self i drove it with LAMM M 2.2 with success. This match is as good then with the Nagra. Don't get fool: The Parsifal do need more power to express and with the Lamm you will hear what i call the famous VOICING.......A high powered amp will kick the ass of the woofers and then true more bass.....

I have heard the Verity Audio Parsifal powered by a set of Boulder 850 mono blocks and I think a 1010 pre amp. That combo was really good. They used a Nagra CDP and a VPI HRX with Nagra phono pre as source. The only amp I have heard that did better was Soulution.
But I would love to hear Verity Audio speakers with Symphonic line amps I have a feeling that would be a great match.

I owned the Parsifal Encores a while back (very nice speakers). I believe that Nagra was shown with Verity because they were under the umbrella of the same distributor. While they are a good match, you may want to look at alternatives with more power.
BTW - The VPA's should be much better than the PMA's, and the VPA should be far superior to the Defy 7. I borrowed a Defy 7 many years ago and was not impressed.
Hope this helps.

Consider Shindo Corton Charlemagne 80s. I had them with Parsifals for 2yrs, now with Sarastros. Great match. 70wpc.

Nagra is a great match too, but this is the path I went.

Cheers