[alcyst]

This isn't an audio question, or maybe it is, educate me.

The Rudistor Coriolan 2, BHSE and RS A-10 appeal to equally restricted market segments (and may not even exist). But two get loads of (respectful) attention, and the third hardly gets mentioned (& triggers a flame war).

I can see that RS and Headamp's price range goes lower than Rudistor's (U$3xx vs EUR599 - U$860 equiv.) and the RS and Headamp brand would be better known. Though often in hi-fi (and other products) manufacturers have a sweet spot and don't do well outside that sweet spot. None of the 3 is a Head-Fi sponsor; Headamp and RS made it to Canjam.

Is attendance at Canjam or a wide product range the decider, is there something I am missing?

 

[seacard]

The latter (i.e. you're missing something) . . . but head-fi unfortunately may not be the best place to discuss it (I'm not sure how long this thread will last here anyway). I'll limit my contribution to saying that Justin's (Headamp's) products are extremely well-designed, very well-built, and the customer service is overall pretty good. I'm not sure if the other two manufacturers have all three of those characteristics.

 

[alcyst]

"head-fi unfortunately may not be the best place to discuss it", uh, wha ?

I omitted the Woo Audio (they do attend Canjam), and do have a planned product. & lots of mentions. Maybe it is just Rudistor. What did he do?

 

[minimus]

Reading a variety of threads, I think Rudistor amps have a variety of very vocal proponents who will shout down his amps "haters". People with thick wallets and a long-standing presence on Head-Fi don't seem to own his amps. On the other hand, experienced Head-Fi'ers who have been around for a long time and have invested a lot in this hobby have very positive and vocal impressions of the Blue Hawaii. My inference is that it is a better amp than the higher priced amps offered by Rudistor or Ray Samuels, not that the latter two brands are inadequately marketing their products. And, unfortunately, I find that anyone who voices a negative review or opinion of a Rudistor product in general gets shouted down by the fan boys. One of whom tends to be borderline abusive, writes in tortured English, and now posts as a member of the trade as a salesperson of Rudistor and Ultrasone products. (He was abusive long before he admitted financial ties to Rudistor). Who wants to write a bad review of a Rudistor amp if he or she will become the subject of a flame war?

 

[atothex]

People who know electrostatic amps endorse the Headamp and Woo. They don't endorse the RSA or Rudi. Make sense?

 

[jp11801]

BHSE for Omega MK1 or 2 and the Woo for a well rounded amp that sounds good with all stats for my money.

 

[wavoman]

Woo makes it to all the NY and NJ meets, and was a major financial sponsor of the last NJ meet.

Rudistor was at CanJam 08 in Florida.

If you are buying an amp for an electrostatic, as obviously you are, consider all the possibilites -- if the HP is a Stax (like the 007 in your profile), don't neglect Stax amps (a used 717 can be really a great bargain -- and is great with the 007 -- at least my 007a with the Spritzer mod is).

You would be wise to listen to them all. Each manufacturer will tell you the next show he will be at -- optimize your travel (you don't show your location in your profile) and listen.

Customer service from all four should be superb -- I have personal experience with 3 of them (Woo, RSA, Headamp), and enough people here give the thumbs up to working with Rudistor.

Investigate SQ, price, customer service ... ignore the fan boys and the bashers.

 

[AtomikPi]

From the standpoint of technology and current swing, the BHSE and WES (in its newest iteration - not the version at Canjam) are both excellent and equivalent in 1500 p-p according to Spritzer at least.

Also, as already mentioned many well known and well endowed in gear members own and have endorsed the BHSE making it the de fact "wire with gain" electrostat amplifier. I see no reason to buy the Rudistor over it.

 

[mrarroyo]

... writes in tortured English ... QUOTE]

That may or may not be the case, but do you now become the abuser by you bringing the issue to the forefront?

Just some food for though.

 

[minimus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimus /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... writes in tortured English ... QUOTE] That may or may not be the case, but do you now become the abuser by you bringing the issue to the forefront? Just some food for though.

The term "tortured English" was added only as an identifier, not as a put down. Maybe it was unnecessary, since most people who follow threads about Ultrasone or Rudistor probably know who I was referring to in my post. At least in the past he tended to start flame wars with anyone who disagreed with him, making a lot of those threads borderline useless.

 

[Rossini]

Where does one go for a reasonably definitive and unbiased view of Rudistor then (especially the NX03)?

 

[mrarroyo]

Rossini, there are a few members who own the unit, perhaps one is close to you and you could go over and listen to it. I had the Sistema NX-02 which was made specifically for Ultrasone's PROline 750 and 2500. I had it when I owned the PROline 2500 and it was an excellent match, however the amp also drove the Denon D2000/5000 beautifully. It is my understanding that the NX-03 is capable of driving more headphones since it was not built specifically to meet the needs of the Ultrasone cans. Good luck.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossini /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where does one go for a reasonably definitive and unbiased view of Rudistor then (especially the NX03)?

The one chap I know of who owned the Cariolan on HF had it almost destroy his headphones because of the design being badly put together (A pair of ruined Omega 2 or HE90 is NOT good and it sounded **** into the bargain despite everything. That was IIRC, Earwicker that happened to.

If you want unbiased views of Rudistor on Head-Fi, I would estimate you won't get any. You'll either get Sovkiller telling you that they're the best amps since God sliced the first loaf or you'll get people who've owned them and aren't on the payroll telling you that there is, somewhere, always, a horrible flaw with them.


To be clear, because I do not want to be referenced out of context. My post above refers to all I've seen posted by a multitude of other users in the past. I have' never owned a Rudistor amp persionally and cannot offer personal individual opion on one. (But I'd never buy one because of the initial clause).



*the above post is riddled with typos*

I hate tiny netbook keyboards.

 

[mrarroyo]

... or you'll get people who've owned them and aren't on the payroll telling you that there is, somewhere, always, a horrible flaw with them ...

Well, am not in their payroll and I was very happy w/ the way my Sistema NX-02 performed. Rossini, I still think you are the only one who can make the call. Like in anything else the best would be for you to listen to the amp, spending so much money w/o first listening to it may not prove to be the best move. Good luck.

 

[sunneebear]

I have a NX-03 bought unheard unseen from a fellow head-fier. From my observations before buying this amp is that Rudi's designs are very simple and way over priced. Like the Grado RA-1. With this in mind I still bought the amp because of financial reasons. I also know that there are many people who are very happy with Rudi's amps. This would be the most expensive headphone amp I own. Financially I have chosen the wrong hobby but hey.

So coming from a person who didn't think much of Rudistors I have to say my enjoyment of music has gone to a higher level. This is the best that I have heard any of my headphones perform. Rudi's design of the NX-03 is very simplistic, almost minimalistic. At €599 retail, that's about $850, You are paying for the sound and in my opinion it's very good. The chassis is very well built but the parts inside maybe worth $30-$50. It's still cheaper than Lehmann, Stello, Graham Slee and other amps in that class.

As a audiophile, the NX-03 in my opinion is a great sounding amp. Flaws, nothing that effects sound. It is fully enclosed so it gets a little warmer than I like. For the number of part, it could be made half the size similar to the Lehmann or Heed. These flaws are just my take on design. I don't know what "horrible flaws" Duggeh is referring to.