acidtripwow
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2001
- Posts
- 1,959
- Likes
- 13
I recently purchased this amp from Templeboy. It's a great tube amp but does have it's downside. More on that later. I did have it connected with an upgraded power cord(Quail/Tara Labs Reference) and interconnects(Jazz 4/ MIT 330) so this will make a difference also. At first I thought the sound was a lot like the MicroZotl, but after some time I now think it sounds even better. The Zotl was a great warm sounding tube amp which could make some CDs sound very lush. I especially liked the sound of the Zotl when listening to female vocalists like Diana Krall and Patricia Barber. Some may say that the Zotl would be more colored than the RKV. The downside to this of course is that it could not do Rock very well. Everything just seemed kind of syrupy and was not a good presentation for Rock music where you want more attitude. The RKV II is not as lush or warm but still very nice. This may change with some tube rolling. Unlike the Zotl, the RKV II will do Rock music very well. It goes down much lower than the Zotl and can also go much louder. I recently purchased the DVD of Roger Waters in concert and it sounds fantastic through the RKV. Drums and bass are portrayed very well through the RKV. I was using my Beyer 770 closed headphones at the time. This is not to say that it can't handle softer music really well, I just think that it can really sound fantastic with Rock. The RKV is also a much better looking amp than the Zotl. If you've seen the Zotl then you know almost anything will look better.
Now for the downsides I was referring to. This amp suffers from interference. I think this is caused by its open design. Yes, with the glass top and open sides it can be very pretty, but not the greatest design for a tube amp. Yesterday I turned it on and was waiting for it to warm up. I also had the TV on which you could hear through the Beyer 700 headphones I had connected at the time. I forgot when I turned it on that I had the volume turned up on it. This caused a great distortion coming from the headphones and what I was hearing was the football game on ABC. There is also a slight hiss which can become destracting when listening to softer passages in Classical music for example. Also, be sure to have the headphones plugged in at the time you turn on the amp or you will get a sharp click. Actually, this will happen with a lot of amps not just the RKV. Another thing I found out by accident was when I turned off the amp one time and then turned it back on right away there was a low distortion noise that came out of the headphones. Good thing I didn't have them on at the time! Some of the downsides may be fixed with some tweaking. I'll have to look into that.
Overall, this is very good and rich sounding amp. It does bass extremely well and can handle all types of music. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a tube amp.
Now for the downsides I was referring to. This amp suffers from interference. I think this is caused by its open design. Yes, with the glass top and open sides it can be very pretty, but not the greatest design for a tube amp. Yesterday I turned it on and was waiting for it to warm up. I also had the TV on which you could hear through the Beyer 700 headphones I had connected at the time. I forgot when I turned it on that I had the volume turned up on it. This caused a great distortion coming from the headphones and what I was hearing was the football game on ABC. There is also a slight hiss which can become destracting when listening to softer passages in Classical music for example. Also, be sure to have the headphones plugged in at the time you turn on the amp or you will get a sharp click. Actually, this will happen with a lot of amps not just the RKV. Another thing I found out by accident was when I turned off the amp one time and then turned it back on right away there was a low distortion noise that came out of the headphones. Good thing I didn't have them on at the time! Some of the downsides may be fixed with some tweaking. I'll have to look into that.
Overall, this is very good and rich sounding amp. It does bass extremely well and can handle all types of music. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a tube amp.
