Tuberoller
Divorced an Orpheus to keep his wife.
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2001
- Posts
- 4,941
- Likes
- 15
I figured I would add my thoughts about the RKV to Kelly's thread.I was only able to keep it a week, which is longer than I had been promised,so total listening time was about 15 hours.This unit was burned in and is the latest version.I never got a chance to install it into an analog system but did listen with a variety of digital sources.My impressions won't be worthy of a full review because I was not able to give this amp a full review.I took pics but Imagestation is acting goofy tonight.If I can get them to load I will add them to this post later.Most of the pics are with the Orpheus, the two Wheatfield HA2 and Cary SLI-80 amps that I compared the RKV to.
I'll start by saying I really think the RKV is the most beautiful headamp I have seen.I have had many,many amps and have posted pics of most of them.It is nice to look at and fits in with all the other gear in my room.My wife even commented on how nice it looked as we listened to it in our garden.A+ for looks.
I wanted to give this amp a chance to shine within an established system before I started swapping stuff around.I first connected it directly to the Marantz SA-14 to establish my baseline sonic impressions.I also used the HD600 with a Equinox cable.I know this system well and any changes to it will be obvious.I listened to this combo for about 10 hours over three days.
This amp does indeed have great bass.I think it is a different kind of bass than a solid state amp and therefore it sounds more natural.It is not deep,pounding bass but that sweet bass that seems as though it could go on forever.this aspect of the RKV made it difficult to listen critically because I found myself getting up to find old favorites to play through it to see how it treated the bass on certain tracks.I was never disappointed.The RKV has the best tube amp style bass I have heard so far.The midrange and soundstage spaciousness are fantastic as well.Instrument placement is accurate(as headphones can get) and vocals come from the outside of my head.I don't like the way this amp smudges some falsetto style vocals and recordings that have inherent sybilant problems.Where a slight sybilant is tolerable on some amps, the RKV takes it and smears it across the midrange.This got so bad on the Luther Vandross "Never Too Much" SACD I had to turn it off.This has never been a problem on any other amp.This "smearing" of certain voices was also evident on the Sade "Diamond Life" CD.Sade's voice sounded fine but the backround singer's voices sounded slightly distorted.This problem was pretty consistent but was only distracting on that one occasion.On voices such as Nina Simone's and India Arie's this amp shines brightest.I loved it with Roberta Flack's voice as well.The RKV does suffer from a upper treble range shortage or roll-off in the form of less than great high frequency extension.This is not a trait that is inherent with tubed amps as some may assume.i do not like tubed amps that don't at least offer an attempt to extend to the upper frequencies and the RKV makes no real attempt.It is not the worst high frequency performance I have heard but it is not great either.The RKV just kills Joe Sample's piano on the "Sample This"CD.The cymbals on the Shuggie Otis "Inspiration Information" disc are almost missing.I don't like it when I listen to music and I know something is missing that I have previously heard.I switched to another amp(Headroom Max) just to make sure all was well,it was.The RKV just suffers from a lack of high frequency extension.I decided to stick to less challenging music and found this amp to like stuff like modern R&B and some Digitally mastered Jazz instumentals and vocals.Joe Williams' voice was given a nice spot on the stage and was unaltered.Sinatra sounds as good as he ever has and Barry White would proud to hear himself from the RKV.Smokey Robinson would be highly offended.
A+ for bass
B- for vocals
A for soundstage and instrument placement
C- for upper frequency detail and extension
and a special "extra credit"grade from Tuberoller
B for "tubieness"
I really did like the RKV and think it is a good amp,not a great one.It does some things well and some not so.I wish there were tubes available to roll through this amp.I'm sure I could fix some of the problems(not the high frequency) and make it sound much better,but no tubes are to be found.This amp as priced at $1300.00 does not represent an outstanding bargain or even a good value.If you can find one used or if Dr Meier's deal is a lot cheaper than retail I would give it a listen.
Edit: I did get to listen to a wider variety of phones(all the Grados,the AKG 501, both the Philips) but the RKV seemed to like the Senns best.Some of the Grados were downright painful,most likely due to an impedance mismatch but the RS1 sounded really sweet and would be a good match for the RKV as well.
I'll start by saying I really think the RKV is the most beautiful headamp I have seen.I have had many,many amps and have posted pics of most of them.It is nice to look at and fits in with all the other gear in my room.My wife even commented on how nice it looked as we listened to it in our garden.A+ for looks.
I wanted to give this amp a chance to shine within an established system before I started swapping stuff around.I first connected it directly to the Marantz SA-14 to establish my baseline sonic impressions.I also used the HD600 with a Equinox cable.I know this system well and any changes to it will be obvious.I listened to this combo for about 10 hours over three days.
This amp does indeed have great bass.I think it is a different kind of bass than a solid state amp and therefore it sounds more natural.It is not deep,pounding bass but that sweet bass that seems as though it could go on forever.this aspect of the RKV made it difficult to listen critically because I found myself getting up to find old favorites to play through it to see how it treated the bass on certain tracks.I was never disappointed.The RKV has the best tube amp style bass I have heard so far.The midrange and soundstage spaciousness are fantastic as well.Instrument placement is accurate(as headphones can get) and vocals come from the outside of my head.I don't like the way this amp smudges some falsetto style vocals and recordings that have inherent sybilant problems.Where a slight sybilant is tolerable on some amps, the RKV takes it and smears it across the midrange.This got so bad on the Luther Vandross "Never Too Much" SACD I had to turn it off.This has never been a problem on any other amp.This "smearing" of certain voices was also evident on the Sade "Diamond Life" CD.Sade's voice sounded fine but the backround singer's voices sounded slightly distorted.This problem was pretty consistent but was only distracting on that one occasion.On voices such as Nina Simone's and India Arie's this amp shines brightest.I loved it with Roberta Flack's voice as well.The RKV does suffer from a upper treble range shortage or roll-off in the form of less than great high frequency extension.This is not a trait that is inherent with tubed amps as some may assume.i do not like tubed amps that don't at least offer an attempt to extend to the upper frequencies and the RKV makes no real attempt.It is not the worst high frequency performance I have heard but it is not great either.The RKV just kills Joe Sample's piano on the "Sample This"CD.The cymbals on the Shuggie Otis "Inspiration Information" disc are almost missing.I don't like it when I listen to music and I know something is missing that I have previously heard.I switched to another amp(Headroom Max) just to make sure all was well,it was.The RKV just suffers from a lack of high frequency extension.I decided to stick to less challenging music and found this amp to like stuff like modern R&B and some Digitally mastered Jazz instumentals and vocals.Joe Williams' voice was given a nice spot on the stage and was unaltered.Sinatra sounds as good as he ever has and Barry White would proud to hear himself from the RKV.Smokey Robinson would be highly offended.
A+ for bass
B- for vocals
A for soundstage and instrument placement
C- for upper frequency detail and extension
and a special "extra credit"grade from Tuberoller
B for "tubieness"
I really did like the RKV and think it is a good amp,not a great one.It does some things well and some not so.I wish there were tubes available to roll through this amp.I'm sure I could fix some of the problems(not the high frequency) and make it sound much better,but no tubes are to be found.This amp as priced at $1300.00 does not represent an outstanding bargain or even a good value.If you can find one used or if Dr Meier's deal is a lot cheaper than retail I would give it a listen.
Edit: I did get to listen to a wider variety of phones(all the Grados,the AKG 501, both the Philips) but the RKV seemed to like the Senns best.Some of the Grados were downright painful,most likely due to an impedance mismatch but the RS1 sounded really sweet and would be a good match for the RKV as well.
