Vacuum Tubes Meet Enhanced Classic Design
The Antique Sound Lab Wave AV-25 monoblock is the worthy successor to the highly popular Wave 88. The 88 was a limited edition amplifier designed by Antique Sound Lab a few years ago to generate interest in the company’s tube gear. It succeeded so well that ASL still gets tons of phone calls requesting the Wave. The solution was to improve and update the design as the all-new Wave AV-25.
The Wave delivers all the enviable benefits of monoblock design, from exemplary channel separation to the superiority of a completely separate power supply in each unit. Added to that is the richly romantic sound quality of vacuum tube amplification, which digital gear can occasionally approach but never equal.
In his August / September 2005 review for The Absolute Sound magazine, Barry Willis reports that he was "delighted to find that that AV-25s offered plenty of image depth, instrumental detail, and harmonic richness, without any objectionable shortcomings."
Serious Audiophile Design
Despite the compact size of the AV-25, this is a serious audiophile power amplifier with a classic, time-tested design. Offering true high-end performance at a budget price, the Wave delivers a healthy 25-watts from its push-pull circuitry using a pair of 6L6 output tubes. That’s more than enough power not only for hi-fi listening, but also for a unique approach to home theater amplification.
Heavyweight Power Supply Quashes Noise
The key to the Wave AV-25’s sonic purity is a robust power supply with a generously large transformer that makes this amp a heavyweight in more ways than one. This tube-rectified power plant delivers clean, quiet, and stable AC to the Wave, and that purity is reflected in the low noise floor. The signal-to-noise ratio at full power is an impressive 87 dB with THD at 1 watt of 0.3%. The frequency response at full power is a wide-band 21 Hz to 39 kHz at 1 dB, making the Wave particularly well suited for the latest high-resolution audio sources.
The point-to-point wiring used throughout the Wave indicates the exceptional build quality of Antique Sound Lab components. Few off-the-shelf parts make it into an ASL product like the AV-25. The company manufactures its own audio and power transformers. It also operates its own metal shop, powder-coating facility, and tube electronics assembly/testing group. | 
