Diva II Reviews

August 2008 Adam Smith, Hi-Fi World (UK)

'Looking much neater, to my eyes at least, than its predecessor, the Diva II is based around a rigid one-piece cast aluminium chassis...'
'The bearing is similar to that used on the dearer decks such as the Volvere, and uses a similar clamping system to rigidly couple the LP to the platter.'
'From the first bars of music, it was clear that the Diva was going to be an engaging companion. It is a crisp and dynamic performer with plenty of emotion and presence, and a health dose of rhythmically. In this respect it actually has quite a direct-drive character to it, as it loves a spry beat and hangs onto it with pleasing tenacity. Bass lines were deep and confident, with fine amounts of detail thrown in for good measure.'
'This meant that the bass guitar from the Eagles' Hotel California was vivid, fulsome and highly tuneful, whereas it can sometimes drop into the background a little. In many ways, the Diva II apes its bigger brother, the Volvere Sequel in this respect, as both have highly capable low end abilities - more than those of us who are used to Garrard 301 levels of bass where expecting!'
'The rest of Hotel California was equally accomplished, with the musicians nicely set up within the soundstage. The image pushes well outside the loudspeakers' boundaries but is not as well ordered as bigger brother, the Volvere Sequel, in the centre. That said, it was still not difficult to place instruments within the performance, and the Diva II is more than capable of putting you nicely into the middle of the action. 'Across the top end, the Diva II is an open and inviting performer, with plenty of atmosphere and detail, whilst still managing to maintain an underlying smoothness without ever falling into the trap of being dull.'
CONCLUSION; 'In many ways, the Diva II struck me as sounding like a 'mini-Volvere' and, at a quarter of the price of its bigger brother, but with far more than a quarter of the performance, it deserves a hearty recommendation!'
VERDICT; 'Stylish, superbly built turntable that turns in an emotive and highly musical performance.'
FOR; solid, tuneful bass-fine image depth - smooth, detailed top end - build quality, styling.
AGAINST; nothing at the price