Naiu Laboratory GmbH Ella MKIII amplifier by Terry London

I received several emails from dedicated readers asking me if I had ever heard of the Naiu Labs Ella MKIII amplifier, which is manufactured in Erlangen, Germany, because it was supposed to be a very special and astounding amplifier in its circuit topology and performance. This piqued my interest, and I started to research the Ella MKIII amplifier and the history of Naiu Laboratory.

The design for the Ella MKIII amplifier, which retails for $14,000, was first patented with 71 claims in 1995 by Mircea Naiu, hence the company’s name. The goals of Mr. Naiu’s design were: 1) Combine the sonic benefits of Class A amplification with the high efficiency of Class D. 2) To ensure that almost no alteration and only minimal phase shifts between input signals and output signals in the audible range and far above it (200kHz) occur by providing a very high-power bandwidth of at least 1 MHz. 3) An amplifier that would operate extremely fast to avoid an alteration of the high-frequency music components. Hence, a very short signal rise time had to be accomplished.

The aim is to unify the advantages of pure class A topology (purity of tonality/timbres, spatial dimensions both in individual image density and a sense of air around each instrument) with the efficiency, ability to generate high power, and bass control and extension of class D technology. It took years of fundamental research and experimentation until this aim was accomplished, which started in 1995 with the first generation of Mr. Naiu’s unique amplifier circuit topology and has led to the Ella MKIII amplifier thirty years later. Since the Ella MKIII amplifier’s topology does not fit into any established matrix, such as class A / AB / D/ push-pull/ SET/ multi-linear, they named it class N as an abbreviation of class Naiu. The Ella MKIII amplifier is not a class D design. It’s a linear class amplifier with a novel circuit design and an impulse-driven tracking power supply similar to those used in class D amplifiers. The power supply capacity is 4 kW. The power transistors are MOSFETS, one for each signal wave side. The Ella MKIII delivers 400 watts per channel into 4 ohms and 800 watts per channel into 2 ohms. In other words, this amplifier will be able to drive virtually any speaker on the market with ease. Some other technical specifications that are exemplary are a small bandwidth of over 1 MHz, a high damping factor of over 800, and low distortion (THD+n) of less than 0.0056%.

The Ella MKIII amplifier shipped to me for review was the black version; it also comes in silver. The chassis is built out of thick aluminum and shows why German engineering and construction are so highly regarded. The dimensions of the amplifier are Width: 17.23 inches, Depth: 8.46 inches, and Height: 4.33 inches. The Ella MKIII weighs 44 pounds. On the front of the amplifier is a large on/off button dead center, and underneath are three small LEDs that indicate status, protection mode, and a protection reset button. Finally, there is an engraved Ella design badge in the lower half of the faceplate. Around back are one pair of very high-quality speaker wire terminals, one pair of RCA (single-ended) inputs, and one pair of XLR (balanced) inputs, along with the IEC power connector.

It turned out that the US importer of the Naiu Labs Ella MKIII amplifier was Power-Holdings, Inc., owned by Arthur Power. A few years back, Arthur and I had collaborated on a Stereo Times review on the Musician Audio two-way monitor, the Knight one, which is another line that his company imports into the States. He made it very easy to set up this review on the Ella MKIII, which you will shortly be reading the details regarding why I was and still am astonished by this amplifier’s performance.

I want to present a short prologue before I describe the mesmerizing performance of the Ella MKIII amplifier. There is no “BEST” regarding any stereo component. Many fine pieces offer great musical pleasure to the listener. Also, personal taste, system synergy, and the all-important room acoustics lead to the evaluation of any specific piece of gear. In the context of my system, the Ella MKIII amplifier has turned out to be the most engaging, alluring, and captivating of any amplifier I have ever had in my reference system. Historically, I have had some of the most highly regarded solid-state and tube-based amplifiers, either through ownership or for reviewing in the last forty years. Yet, I found that Naiu Labs Ella MKIII amplifier to create such a qualitative shift in my pleasure and attachment to the music that the experience was astounding to a seasoned audiophile/music lover like me. The Ella MKIII amplifier is being driven by the superlative AricAudio custom fully balanced, tube rectified, 5751 single tube design with a 12AU7 tube buffer (review forthcoming). However, when I put the Ella MKIII into my smaller system with the excellent SPL Elector solid-state preamplifier, passing the source signal to it, it still brought the sonic magic with it.  I use three primary sonic modalities to evaluate a component’s performance: tonality, 2 Spatiality 3, and dynamics. Let’s use these categories to analyze the Naiu Labs Ella MKIII amplifier’s performance.

Tonality:
The Ella MKIII amplifier offered gorgeous tonality and a vividness of color only rivaled, in my experience, by SET 2A3/300B/211-based amplifiers. I used a visual analogy a while back in an older review. That analogy was, think of a world-class watercolor painting, and then imagine a world-class oil-based painting. My experience/taste is that the oil-based painting has much richer hues and more density in the different colors than the water-based paint renditions of the same colors. Also, how three-dimensional and resolved the individual images are, and they are much more realistic with the oil-based painting. The Ella MKIII amplifier “paints” music with the most pristine and beautiful timbres/tonality of the individual instruments that I have ever experienced in my system. Think of the melodic beauty of a SET tube amplifier with the ability to drop 800 watts into a 2 ohm load, instead of single-digit watts into an 8 ohm load. The top-end frequencies of this amplifier are exquisitely detailed, but sweet/natural and never harsh, unless it’s on the recording.

Spatiality:
My reference system already had the fantastic ability to create a cavernous soundstage, both in height/width/depth. It also had great precision at placing the individual players on the soundstage, with the distance between them filled with a sense of air/space, along with excellent image palpability. With the Ella MKIII amplifier inserted into the system, the qualities mentioned above improved by about another 20%. I attribute this improvement to the Ella MKIII amplifier’s remarkable level of transparency/clarity, which made it even easier to hear all the micro-details and subtle ambient cues that increase the sense of spatiality in the soundstage. I have recently been using the term soundstage/sound-place as a way of describing how well a system gives you the illusion of the acoustic space the music was recorded in. Because of the Ella MKIII amplifier’s see-through crystalline clarity, the venue(s) of each recording were much more apparent and realistic.

Dynamics:
The Ella MKIII amplifier offers striking transient speed, which gives the amplifier the ability to reach dynamic crescendos effortlessly, along with great accuracy at delivering the PRAT (pace/rhythm/timing), so a sense of “aliveness” is delivered to the listener. Therefore, the amplifier superlatively delivers macro-dynamics. Finally, because of the Ella MKIII amplifier’s unique power supply and high damping factor, it produces deep, taut, tonality-accurate bass frequencies.

I hope that this review will bring attention to music lovers here in the US that an amplifier, the Naiu Labs Ella MKIII, that has been thirty years in the making, would be a piece you would want to hear in your system if you are shopping in the 10K to 20K price bracket. As I stated in the review, there is no “BEST” but many great options on the market. However, because of the Naiu Labs Ella MKIII amplifiers’ special virtues regarding tonality/color, crystalline clarity/micro-details, and spatial qualities commonly only found in tube based designs, unlimited power and dynamics, and an overall sense of effortless liquidity, I can state it’s the most beautiful and engaging amplifier I have had in my system in the last forty years. Regardless of the genre of music played, the Ella MKIII amplifier did justice to the felt meaning that the musicians were trying to convey to the listener. All visitors who have come over to hear the amplifier in the system, after the music stops, have said, “beautiful or enchanting” to try to describe their experience of the music through the Ella MKIII amplifier. Yes, I bought the review piece. How could I not!

Specifications:
Price-$14,000
Dimensions: Width 17.23 inches / Depth 8.46 inches / Height 4.33 inches
Weight: 44 pounds
Output power: 2 X 400 watts into 8 ohms, 2 X 800 watts into 2 ohms
Distortion: 0.0056%
Damping Factor: >800

US importer: Power Holdings, Inc.

Website: naiu-laboratory.de

TJ’s Associated Equipment
Reimyo DAP-999EX Toku DAC
Pro-Ject reference CD transport & LTA power supply
Wadia 22 transport
Amplification:
Coda 5.5 amplifier
SPL Elector preamplifier
Plinius SA-50 amplifier
Threshold 550e amplifier
AricAudio Custom 5751 balanced preamplifier
Loudspeakers:
Rosso Fiorentino Arno 40
NSMT System Two
Musician Audio Knight One
Accessories:
Jena Labs Symphony XLR ICs
Jena Labs Reference AES/EBU digital cable
Vermouth Audio Reference speaker cable
Vermouth Audio Black Pearl MKIII XLR ICs
Krolo Design reference rack & footers
Puritan Audio power conditioner & grounding system
Audio Archon power cords