mrarroyo
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Posts
- 19,073
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- 43
Nice review Rob!
If after reading this review you're interested in buying one, mine will be on the for sale forum soon, it's simply not what I was looking for/expecting, I won't hijack skylab excellent review so PM me if you want details/pricing
Having received the RWA AE earlier today, I wanted to share a few impressions on the DAC/AMP combo.
1. Build quality - no complaints here. Feels solid, and understated in a classy way. External power supply gets quite warm during charging. OK, one albeit small issue - since this unit has a tube, it would have been a nice touch to not have to use a screwdriver to gain access to the innards.
2. Features - I understand a key selling proposition is the synergy between the DAC and amp sections. However, I wish it also featured a set of balanced analog inputs. Most of us in a position to purchase such a product already have DACs of which we may be rather fond (I know I am, of my Wyred DAC-2).
3. Included in the package - everything one may need, down to the RCA to BNC adapter for the digital coax in.
4. Headphone cable. Not so sure about this one. Granted, it can't be bad, it's an ALO after all, but to these ears my Q Audio sounds quite a bit more musical. Funny enough, that's the first thing I compared; the headphone cables.
5. Sound. OK, so it's not burned in, but I believe the choice of standard issue tube is not one that will bring the most out of this amp. This is a close-to-4k item; tack another $100 to the price and ship it with a better tube out the door. Right off the bat I noticed a bloat around the lower mids (or upper bass) that's not existent in my WA22. No matter, I already have a NOS Mullard in transit so I'll burn the RWA AE in for the time being.
Bottom line (for now). Judgment cannot be reasonably passed this early, but I see tremendous potential; to what degree a new tube will do it justice remains to be heard. I'll report back.
I don't understand, yesterday you contacted me by PM because you were interested in buying mine and 12 hours later you received yours and you're posting first impression, I'm confused