The signal-path casing proved to be rather more empty than stuffed to the brim, with its four Mosfets mounted out of sight beneath rectangular holes which paralleled the top-mounted heat sinks ensconced transformer style in side-to-side boxes.

Over 100dB speakers, the 10Y is such a notoriously microphonic valve, just blowing on it nets audible noise. Sasa's spring suspensions with top/bottom excursion limiters for secure mounting and dismounting of the tubes combat this behaviour mechanically. Even so it still took Dan thirty-eight (38!) specimens to cherry-pick a quad of 10Y that played it acceptably quiet. Anyone who prematurely contemplates proud ownership of 10Y-fitted valve gear whilst running ultra-efficient speakers must be prepared for high maintenance tube coddling. One also wants a matching preamp whose attenuator affords plenty of useful range. Sadly Dan's Tara, a 10Y-based custom preamp he previously commissioned from Sasa, allows him maximally three clicks before things get too loud with the Sava. Despite charging unapologetically serious coin, our Serbian designer rather miscalculated there. In this context, it renders Dan's significant investment in the Tara nearly useless.

With my assortment of 85-93dB speakers and two preamps (Nagra Jazz and Esoteric C-03) which can be run in zero-gain mode, I'd be well outside any noise-critical fussy range. Meanwhile 38 paper watts—my Pass Labs' XA-30.8 uses a total of 40 Mosfets for a rated 30wpc—promised to be well sufficient for my own needs.

The two Sava chassis exchange voltages via five umbilicals of the 4, 5, 6 and 8-pin variety. Inputs are on RCA and XLR, outputs on a single pair of 5-way terminals per channel. The power mains switch sits on the left cheek of the power supply.

Wired up with Sasa's custom harness, each of the leads aligned with two bar spacers for error-free connections, this is how things looked prior to adding the power cord and signal cables.

Here's another topside gander at the spring-suspended 10Y tube sockets Sasa first crafted for Dan's two Tara preamps.

Installed, the Sava integrated showed itself to be of decidedly non-standard dimensions and unusually deep to well exceed normal rack shelves.


My first sonic sampling would run the Chiara super monitor from Germany's Kaiser Acoustics, a 2-way monitor with rear-firing ABR, top ScanSpeak Illuminator and Mundorf AMT drivers and Mundorf and Duelund filter parts in a Panzerholz enclosure with integral stand.