D i v a    P h i l o s o p h y

The reasons why Diva sounds great

MUSICAL
DIVA designer T S Lim is a musician who will not compromise on musicality. For example, he chooses a Noble volume pot for the preamplifier because it sounds the most musical, even though step-switch volume pots give better clarity.

SIMPLE
This means having the shortest, most direct signal path. It also means minimizing the use of active components. "If one tube is enough, I would not add another," Lim explains.

MINIMALIST
No unnecessary functions: no remote controls, no tone controls, no balance controls, no mute switches, no delayed turn ons... nothing to degrade sound quality.

PURIST
Purity of the power supply has the greatest influence on sound. In the mid- 1980s, Lim developed a special power circuitry, called "ripple remover", to preserve the purity of the original signal.

SYNERGISTIC
All components are carefully tested and selected to ensure that each component works in synergy with all the rest.

NEUTRAL
Diva products are extremely low in coloration. They are neutral and so they mix and match well with other brands:

Diva pre- and power amplifiers match well with other amplifiers; DIVA power amplifiers work wonderfully with a wide range of loudspeakers.

HOLISTIC
The design focuses on the whole. Besides electronics, everything else that affects sound quality is carefully considered:

the dimensions, centre of gravity & material of the chassis; placement of components;

heat dissipation...

  I n s i d e   a   D i v a . . .

You will find some expensive, famous-brand components as well as some inexpensive, lesser-known components. Expensive components are not inserted to impress anybody; nor are "cheap" components used to save costs. All are chosen for one reason only: MUSICALITY!

TUBES
The best available NOS (new old stock) tubes are supplied with Diva Pro Series & M-7 preamps, and Pro Series power amps. EL34 power tubes from Svetlana, excellent sounding & inexpensive. 300B, 2A3 & 211 tubes from KR Enterprise or NOS.

TRANSFORMERS
Diva chooses different transformers to suit the needs of different tubes and amplifier designs. Some are reputed brands from Europe and Japan, others are from private transformer specialists in China, Malaysia and Singapore. T S Lim also designs his own transformers.

CAPACITORS
Preamplifiers use Wima & Ero capacitors in the signal path.

Power amplifiers are direct coupled between amplifier and the phase inverting stage. They use polypropylene capacitors (obscure brand, chosen for good sound) to couple the output tubes, and Ceraftne clectrolytics as filter capacitors.

RESISTORS
~ Metal film resistors with 1 % tolerance within the signal path.
~ 5% Carbon resistors with power rating greater than 2W.

INTERNAL WIRING
OFC (oxygen free copper) cables. Although inexpensive, they are the most musical sounding among over 100 cables tested.

VOLUME CONTROLS
Noble volume controls in active preamps, Tokyo Ko-Onn in the tube buffer passive preamp. Many high-end preamplifiers use step-switch volume controls which offer greater clarity and transparency, but the Noble & Tokyo Ko-Onn controls sound more musical.