good amp for Equation audio RP 21's?

[canadaguy]

what are ya'll using to drive your rp 21's?

 

[jamato8]

The 21's are great and I enjoy them but I would stay away from an amp that is known to be a bit bright, high frequency detailed or very bassy as I find the 21's will accentuate this trait.

 

[canadaguy]

thanks

I just joined here to explore the scene a little, ordered the MS1's, the cheap little dot amp, and an oppo 970, received the dvd player but no amp or headset, so i read some more, bought the Equations and now have them but no amp and still no MS1's neither

I'm trying to keep the spending limit to 150 since I already have another amp and set of headphones on the way so I was hoping someone with the rp 21's might suggest something that works well, I suspect however that I won't be satisfied unless I pull the trigger on an Ibasso D1 or Move which is more than I wanna spend, but hey, what can you do

someone mentioned that I'd need to spend alot to better the dac in the oppo so maybe I don't need a dac/combo after all

then again the oppo has outputs for optical and digital coaxial and the Ibasso comes with those cables, does optical and/or digital coxial sound better than stereo RCA?

I wish had 3k to kill so I could just grab one of those balanced packages from
headphone.com and proper sacd player and be done with all this budget gear, but maybe this will give me an appreciation of the better gear down the road
thanks in advance

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadaguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks I just joined here to explore the scene a little, ordered the MS1's, the cheap little dot amp, and an oppo 970, received the dvd player but no amp or headset, so i read some more, bought the Equations and now have them but no amp and still no MS1's neither I'm trying to keep the spending limit to 150 since I already have another amp and set of headphones on the way so I was hoping someone with the rp 21's might suggest something that works well, I suspect however that I won't be satisfied unless I pull the trigger on an Ibasso D1 or Move which is more than I wanna spend, but hey, what can you do someone mentioned that I'd need to spend alot to better the dac in the oppo so maybe I don't need a dac/combo after all then again the oppo has outputs for optical and digital coaxial and the Ibasso comes with those cables, does optical and/or digital coxial sound better than stereo RCA? I wish had 3k to kill so I could just grab one of those balanced packages from headphone.com and proper sacd player and be done with all this budget gear, but maybe this will give me an appreciation of the better gear down the road thanks in advance I purchased the little

1. Sorry about your walle. . . get a second job.

2. You are talking about portable vs home units. There is a bit of difference and expectations. It depends upon what your end goal is. Good portable or good home.

3. It is an endless pursuit for some. . . appreciation is often short lived as with any drug. . .

4. Output for digital is different from RCA outs. Digital out will require the dac but the RCA will require an amp, if I am understanding you.

5. Back to #1. . .

 

[canadaguy]

btw I bought the equation's because I love bass and someone here mentioned they were a great budget buy for bass

 

[Chipp]

I'll be watching this thread closely, just purchased some RP-21's myself.

 

[richierich]

And I'll be watching closely because I might be buying these next since I'm a basshead.

 

[mrarroyo]

The RP21 are fairly easy to drive (32 ohms). I assume you want an amp for home use and not a portable one. Correct?

If for home use at $150 there are three options that come to mind.

1. Used Musical Fidelity X-Can V2. This go from $140 to $190 delivered. If you get this I would do two things, first get a pair of Russian 6H23-EB valves and a 1.5 amp wallwart model Jameco P/N 167151 from www.jameco.com The two valves and the wallwart will set you back $50 but will improve the sound of the amp significantly.

2. Used Millet Hybrid, go from $150 (to $250 if new)

3. Used Little Dot Micro Tube at about $150 used

Best of luck.

 

[canadaguy]

yes, home use

thanks

 

[kamal007]

im using a lunchbox II and couldnt be happier. another choice is ps audio gcha but theyre expensive

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamal007 /img/forum/go_quote.gif im using a lunchbox II and couldnt be happier. another choice is ps audio gcha but theyre expensive

How is the bass with the 21's and the LB II? It would seem that the tubes and the 21's should be a nice match. I bet it is a lot of fun to listen to. I would assume very musical.

 

[bebanovich]

The synergy between the Lunchbox II and the RP21 is unbelievable! The amp helps smooth out the troublesome high end and really gets the bass thumping without being the least bit sloppy. There is more, including Skylab's impressions, in the general LBII thread. Start on page 3.

 

[canadaguy]

ok, thanks for the micro-tube suggestion, that's what I'm gonna get

I originally considered the project headbox II, people here said it was crap, then I realized the better home amps were out of my reach, started looking at portables, and now have this great suggestion for a budget home amp, I was gonna go Corda move or Ibasso D1

I like the price, the looks, the beefy power supply and full size connections of the micro tube

I saw some packing photos and it looks packed very nicely,

I'm guessing it's gonna give me sound quality at least equal to that of the better portables

thank you

 

[jamato8]

I have the Micro Tube and find that if you leave the power supply on all the time, not the amp because it has a tube, the unit sounds better. Also you will need the typical few hundred hours of burn-in.

 

[mrarroyo]

OP, I believe that jamato8 may be selling his Little Dot Micro Tube.

Send him a PM.