While the Intruder does not cover up grain or poor treble, it sure doesn't add to any. Very smooth, extended and wonderful in the high range. I love the full bodied midrange that neither jumps forward or is recessed. Listening to the good cuts (there are some too canned sounding) on Dwight Yoakam's, Accoustical recording, the guitar and voice come across so natural and immediate.
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THE INTRUDER by RSA. balanced dac/amp. . 1st listening impressions and continuing thoughts. . . - Page 2
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- attilahun
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While the Intruder does not cover up grain or poor treble, it sure doesn't add to any. Very smooth, extended and wonderful in the high range. I love the full bodied midrange that neither jumps forward or is recessed. Listening to the good cuts (there are some too canned sounding) on Dwight Yoakam's, Accoustical recording, the guitar and voice come across so natural and immediate.
Man I haven't listened to that album in years, good stuff. Have to dig out.
Reminds me of some solid Lyle Lovett and his Large Band.
- jamato8
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I have been listening to some live Lyle Lovett as well! Minds that think alike. . lol
Lyle comes across excellent as well.
- jamato8
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Ok, 72 hours of play time and the amp this AM has opened up even more. Sounds like some freedom from constraints desktop with great sound. Very transparent and dynamic. Actually I not sure there are any dynamics left, more would be hard to imagine but right very complete in the sound. Bass as stated earlier is excellent with even a little more tightness to it. To me bass needs to be solid but not so much that it does not trail off. So far this is doing it right, with slight decay on solid bass notes. Also of good note, is the frequencies do not muddy, pure and clean.
Edited by jamato8 - 10/25/12 at 11:26am
Thanks for sharing Jamato8!
It is getting really difficult to wait for Intruder to ship!!!
- Doralikesmath
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Got my Intruder today and honestly, it's a bit disappointed to know that it only supports up to 16bit /48kHz. So it's surely not a competitor to the Solo -db.
--------------
Update:
After a while, I learned that the Intruder cannot be used with DS in foobar2000. It works with WASAPI, though. I guess I will need to find another balanced DAC then. As an amp, it's absolutely better than my RSA Protector in term of sound-stage and bass impact.
Edited by Doralikesmath - 10/25/12 at 1:49pm
Doralikesmath, did you pre-order? or have it for review?
It's bad that it only supports 16/48 but just wonder how you feel about amp side of it.
- Doralikesmath
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I made the pre-order and surprisingly got it just an hour ago.
About the amp section, the first thing I can say is it's really powerful and it has more bass than the Protector, paring with all 3 pair of headphones. The Intruder produces really smooth and warm sound. For first impression, I listened Kitaro's "Matsuri", A. Bocelli's "Vivo Per Lei", paring the Intruder with the HD600s, HE-400s, and Westone 4s.
I cannot hear any difference yet between the single-ended and balanced outs with my HD600, except the volume. I got a decent volume with my beloved HD600s using the balanced out, even at the lowest gain. Probably I need better ears or better headphones, then
However, I really like this combo. Finally I can have some decent bass from my HD600s and I think the Intruder will be my main amp now.
When I paired it with the Hifiman HE-400s (2nd rev. btw), single-line out, the combo is a bit darker than my taste and I like the combo D12+HE400s better.
Finally, I have to admit that I've never heard my Westone 4s sound that good. The Intruder+Westone 4s combo synergy is just awesome. It has the strong bass effect of the Intruder and still maintains the clean mids and highs of the W4s. No hiss at all, of course.

I made the pre-order and surprisingly got it just an hour ago.
About the amp section, the first thing I can say is it's really powerful and it has more bass than the Protector, paring with all 3 pair of headphones. The Intruder produces really smooth and warm sound. For first impression, I listened Kitaro's "Matsuri", A. Bocelli's "Vivo Per Lei", paring the Intruder with the HD600s, HE-400s, and Westone 4s.
I cannot hear any difference yet between the single-ended and balanced outs with my HD600, except the volume. I got a decent volume with my beloved HD600s using the balanced out, even at the lowest gain. Probably I need better ears or better headphones, then
However, I really like this combo. Finally I can have some decent bass from my HD600s and I think the Intruder will be my main amp now.
When I paired it with the Hifiman HE-400s (2nd rev. btw), single-line out, the combo is a bit darker than my taste and I like the combo D12+HE400s better.
Finally, I have to admit that I've never heard my Westone 4s sound that good. The Intruder+Westone 4s combo synergy is just awesome. It has the strong bass effect of the Intruder and still maintains the clean mids and highs of the W4s. No hiss at all, of course.
This is sounding absolutely perfect for my use-case scenario, since I will mostly be listening via my T5p during lunch at work (flights etc, transportable more than portable rig, although it will see some on the go use too). The bass quality on the T5p is absolutely top notch, but quantity is a little lacking - up till now I have been happy enough with a small EQ tweak in the bass region, but it would be nice to not even have to bother with that.
Thanks for sharing Doralikesmath! OMG it is really hard to wait to pair Intruder with my HD650!!! :D
By the way, happy to hear you also get it as pre order. This could mean that I have a chance to receive it soon then! (oh and NZtechfreak as well since we are all in the same boat :D)
- Doralikesmath
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I would suggest you to check your mailbox now, the amp could be inside it already 
- chinjungliu
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OK, I am officially jealous now. I also ordered mine on the 20th. Whereabouts in the world are you? I'm in New Zealand, so expecting to wait a little longer than those in the US...
- attilahun
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I was bummed when my predator stopped working with the ipad.
Would be great if the intruder worked....
- THE INTRUDER by RSA. balanced dac/amp. . 1st listening impressions and continuing thoughts. . .
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