AVI Pre Amp Upgrade - Breaking the cycle of swapping manufacturers instead of working with what I already have!

As promised Brent, my thoughts on the audio upgrades recieved to my AVI pre amp. First a bit of context. I've followed Fidelity Audio in the background for around a decade, but have always been seduced by the attending of a hifi store and returning home with my audio swag the same day. Consequently, I know I've burned through way more money than neceessary looking for increase is quality. In reality, some may have worked but most where probably just changes to the sound..i.e different and maybe not neccessarily an upgrade!

I was aware of the advised in period, but the intial plug in was disaapointing, ( as my Wiim Ultra had done a firmware upgrade and applied a bass boost EQ) and the bass was ridiculous and changing the speaker position didnt help! Once I realised this was the issue and turned it off, I knew instantly the upgrade was possibly the best audio decision I had made!

First thing that I noticed was that the projection of the soundstage was further from the speakers towards me at my listening position. This was without any additional volume and also inclduded a sideways projection of perhaps an extra foot to the outsides of the speakers. Next was channel separation on individual instrument tracks froms each speaker. They were clearer, better projected and more easier to follow as a whole or indivdually. The ability to listen at lower levels and still be able to notice the dynamic changes between parts of the music was also enhanced. Vocal phrasing was more clearer and and the clarity of the singing or spoken word in really quite passages was tremendous. This was something I've only experienced on high end headphones to the same degree. Also of particular note, was backing vocals in tracks. These were now more clearer and it was now possible to discern whether these were the actual main artist performing them, or other band or backing members. Several life long familiar tracks have even now revealed different gender singers or extra vocal backing tracks that must have been lost in the mix on other systems I have had. I have always enjoyed the AVI and believed it to be very good. It was known as a very clean pre amp design and commanded a fair outlay in its day, but I'm amazed at how many " extras " in tracks the upgrade is now showing me

Rim shots and drum runs on music now have a much greater impact ( similar to what I have observed after upgrading to a better power amp )

Kick drums thumped from the soundstage. On tracks where the drum kits were centre stage during the recording, this was now portrayed in the soundstage and imaging as if the drum kit was between my two speakers! I have always been of the opinion that soundstage image gains were the result of the quality source and speakers, not fully realising that pre amps seriously play a part in highlighting these spatial cues!

I was ready to write a review after around 3 weeks of near constant use and leaving on to aide burn in, but all of the qualities mentioned have increased again in the last month or so.

To sum up, this is by far the most cost effective sound quality upgrade I have encountered in over 30 years of hifi listening and upgrading. I have dropped an extra £1500 plus on upgrades from lesser manufacturers to Bryston upgrades for example and havent had the same actual quality increase. The sound character of the AVI pre amp equipment remains recognisable, only it has improved in every single area . I would wager that but provided you start with a capable piece of audio gear and decide to upgrade the internal components, this character will be retained and improved on greatly.

Thank you very much Fidelity Audio. This is 100 per cent the best decision I have made and I'm already looking at downsizing all the equipment and systemsI have and planning my next audio upgrades without a trip to dealer showrooms . Christ I've wasted a fortune over the years, no more!

Graeme N | Durham | November 2024