On Saturday morning I received my new RWA AE, I have to say that the level of customer service they are providing is simply outstanding! If you haven't followed I received mine last week but only the right channel was working, Vinnie from RWA sent me a replacement cable hoping it would fix the problem but it didn't, he then send me a new amp which is now working perfectly all of this happened in 7 days and I'm in Europe (!), he also offered to cover all my expenses including custom fees and shipping, I have to say this is one of the most professional customer service I've encountered and I buy a LOT of things online.
I will try to write a mini review but keep in mind that writing good audio reviews is a talent not many have and English is not my first language so please forgive me for the mistakes, also since it's different from Skylab please keep in mind it's only my opinion.
I spent most of my week-end listening to this new toy, I mostly played some music but also watched a few movies. My music setup is simple, it's a PC playing FLAC in foobar or some ALAC through ITunes, I used the USB input on the RWA AE since it appears to be the recommended choice, for movies I played some blurays from my OPPO that goes to my SVS realizer A8 (Sound processor) and then used the optical out to feed the RWA AE DAC.
I listen to a lot of different music but mogwai is as you can tell one of my all time favorite, I was pleased to read that Skylab also used some of their music in his review, I played rock action which is my favorite mogwai album and one I know extremely well. I have to say I was somehow disappointed by the presentation offered by the RWA AE, the complex electronic texture and controlled distortion on "Sine wave" seemed distant, compressed, I wasn't getting this feeling of extension I had with other amp. When playing "take me somewhere nice", a beautiful piece of minimalist post rock, the RWA AE was sounding too analytical and not "organic" enough for my taste, maybe it was the combination of the LCD-2 being a tad dark but the song usually gives me the feeling of being wrapped in a warm blanket of sounds, it wasn't the case, again I thought the sound to be distant, the vocals were detached from the main presentation making it somehow uninvolving.
I decided it was time for something completely different and started playing refused "the shape of punk to come", it's not only a brilliant post-hardcore album it also incorporate ambient elements and some avant-garde jazz breakdown, I could listen to this album again and again and still find new things to like about it, just like wine it gets better with time. I was much more pleased with what the RWA AE was offering to my ears, it managed very well the control chaos, it sounded very dynamic without being fatiguing, at some point while listening to "new noise" I felt it could have a bit more punch but the bass was tight and a great level of details retrieval.
Finally I moved on to Radiohead "Kid A", when it comes to their music a lot of people consider "OK computer" to be their masterpiece, I'm not one of them. I can understand that the beautiful apparent simplicity of "OK computer" can be appealing to many but in my opinion it's no match for the complexity and pure genius behind "Kid A", the sound, the mood and the arrangements makes it a very interesting album to compare amp on. it sounds cold, the drums and beats are very sharp and dry (for the lack of a better word), it reminds me a lot of the sound from producer Steve albini. Again I wasn't impress by the presentation of the RWA AE, this album is one my reference CDs and I never go to a shop or 'meeting' without it so I know it backwards and I thought the Red Wine Audio wasn't doing too good, the overall presentation was good, one could say even great but in my book it's implied an amp this expensive will sound good, I thought it was lacking some punch and the drums/beats were not as accurate as some other top of the line amps I've heard.
I then spent time using it with some movies but I won't be commenting on that here since I guess the interest is limited.
So is it the best my LCD-2 have ever sounded, the short answer is no. Reading again what I wrote above might come as a bit harsh but you need to keep in mind this is an almost $5'000 system, it does sound great but when you have this cash you also have a lot of option to consider and from the top my mind I can come with a few system that I've heard or that I've owned that performed better with my LCD-2 or nearly as good for a lot less money.
In conclusion the RWA AE is not for everyone, the built quality is great, customer service outstanding, it offers a very enjoyable sound, it’s neutral and detailed but lacks some punch and that little something that makes it truly shine.
If you're interested mine will be shortly on the for sales forum, feel free to PM me for details or pricing, I'm now moving on to something else, maybe a liquid fire or maybe the RSA dark star, who knows