[Aleksandar R.]

Nothing will happen to HSA. You can short it's output and it wouldn't care.

But, we use different pinout, so our adapter serves to reverse the channels and invert the polarity on the R channel...

Our adapter cable reverses the pinout, as needed, but maybe your cable is standard pinout, in which case you don't need that.

Since is the amp wouldn't care what you do, try all combinations until channels are correct and you have good bass and centered vocals.

 

[lsantista]

tks! I did, it worked on first try (red ring on the ribbon output), sounds great!!
Edit: had to leave in a rush, but will report with opinions on the cable/setup when I have a better grip with the Raal in my system

 

[KaiSc]

The Schiit Jotunheim R doesn’t sounds the same as other drive solutions.
No wonder, it has a different Baffle Compensation EQ!
The deviation isn’t much, 2 dB from top to bottom, but enough for a different impression.

Here’s a comparison to the original Raal Amp-Ribbon Interface.
The measurement was done acoustically, by mic, from the SR1a, so represents what really happens.

Partly Jotunheim R’s extra warmth comes handy, but in direct comparison the Schiit can sound a little less detailed, until one get’s used to the other tonality.

Would be interesting to see all the other’s drive options’ measurements too.

 

[Roasty]

thank you, @Aleksandar R.! perfect fit and finish!

to those wondering, it wasn't cheap and shipping from Serbia made up 1/3rd of the total cost. but am very happy I decided to go for it. I think it matches the rest of the amp very well, the honeycomb mesh matches the sr1b grille, and it'll protect my NOS tubes from the kids.

 

[yyzSB]

That cage looks great. It would be great if this was available on the web site to order. I moved my VM-1a again last night to an inconvenient spot try and keep the tubes from being destroyed by my excitable son. He likes to hang with in my office. I am shocked the VM-1a survived December intact.

 

[Rdoc]

As mentioned previously, the SR1A's have supplanted the speaker system which I previously owned including Magico, Magnepan, and Sonus Faber. An audiophile friend of mine came over for a visit. He had previously listened to my system with speakers and thought it to be magnificent. He does not own headphones. I asked him if he wanted to listen to the RAAL's. He listened to a couple of songs and commented "Why would you need or even want speakers if you have these headphones?"

This is another testament to just how great the RAAL headphones are! I Fully expect these to be with me until I have to go to the old folks' home! And even then, I should be able to take them with me there.

A superlative job by Alex and Danny!

 

[Jon L]

The Schiit Jotunheim R doesn’t sounds the same as other drive solutions.
No wonder, it has a different Baffle Compensation EQ!
The deviation isn’t much, 2 dB from top to bottom, but enough for a different impression.

Here’s a comparison to the original Raal Amp-Ribbon Interface.
The measurement was done acoustically, by mic, from the SR1a, so represents what really happens.

Partly Jotunheim R’s extra warmth comes handy, but in direct comparison the Schiit can sound a little less detailed, until one get’s used to the other tonality.

Good work actually measuring the two BSC solutions.
Personally, I long ago felt Jot R's BSC was doing disservice to the overall fidelity and have been using Equalizer APO to apply BSC instead, and through experimentation, the curve ended up being a bit less aggressive to yield the perfect balance to my ears. Throw in some good headphone cables, and the result can be something else!

 

[jlbrach]

As mentioned previously, the SR1A's have supplanted the speaker system which I previously owned including Magico, Magnepan, and Sonus Faber. An audiophile friend of mine came over for a visit. He had previously listened to my system with speakers and thought it to be magnificent. He does not own headphones. I asked him if he wanted to listen to the RAAL's. He listened to a couple of songs and commented "Why would you need or even want speakers if you have these headphones?"

This is another testament to just how great the RAAL headphones are! I Fully expect these to be with me until I have to go to the old folks' home! And even then, I should be able to take them with me there.

A superlative job by Alex and Danny!

I agree and think both the sr1a and CA version are truly special...currently I own the hsa-1b which I value for its versatility...it does quite nicely with planars as well as the sr1a and CA,what keeps me from buying the tube amp is cost and the lack of versatility...since it can only drive the ribbons I think its resale value will be negligible going forward...I also wish it had both balanced and SE inputs because my dac does both and I am already using the balanced out...I do hear wonderful things about it however sonically

 

[foefoe]

is it the lighting or is VM1a's front panel no longer black? And I wish it were. It looks more stylish when the whole amp is embedded in that charcoal black

 

[Roasty]

is it the lighting or is VM1a's front panel no longer black? And I wish it were. It looks more stylish when the whole amp is embedded in that charcoal black

Yea it is more of an anthracite grey front than black. I would have preferred it black too, to match the rest of my components. oh well..

 

[KaiSc]

I agree and think both the sr1a and CA version are truly special...currently I own the hsa-1b which I value for its versatility...it does quite nicely with planars as well as the sr1a and CA,what keeps me from buying the tube amp is cost and the lack of versatility...since it can only drive the ribbons I think its resale value will be negligible going forward...I also wish it had both balanced and SE inputs because my dac does both and I am already using the balanced out...I do hear wonderful things about it however sonically

You can connect balanced outs to single ended inputs and vice versa, using the correct adapter cables.

Balanced XLR output -> single ended RCA input, two connection schemes exist, depending on the output construction:
• For transformer- and servo-symetric balanced outs XLRf plug’s pin 3 is grounded.
• For those not like above XLRf plug‘s pin 3 is left open / not connected.
• For impedance balanced outputs XLRf plug’s pin 3 doesn’t matter, so can be connected or not.

The type should be mentioned in the DAC’s / preamp’s manual.


Single ended RCA output -> balanced XLR input (your case) it’s the same for all types of inputs:
XLRm plug pin 3 is grounded.
Readily available RCA - XLRm cables are always wired like this.

 

[foefoe]

Yea it is more of an anthracite grey front than black. I would have preferred it black too, to match the rest of my components. oh well..

That grey simply sucks : < I know it is the sound the matters the most but aesthetics are important too and the amp is being sold as black (it’s that black/red combo that used to make Raal’s retro-futuro design so appealing, I mean to me at least)

 

[paradoxper]

They are much different.

What comes in the package with the TI is the SC2 headphone cable. That's the standard cable, Copper coaxial with low inductance, very low crosstalk, made only in 5ft9" for 0.23 Ohms resistance.
Matches to everything we make, Solid-State HSA amp, old RI interface and transformer based outputs (TI and VM-1a amp). Doesn't work well on JotunheimR.
If bought separately, from October the 1st, the price for it will be $195.00

STAR-8 is a Pure Silver cable, Star-octo topology, ultra-low inductance, ultra-low crosstalk.
Available in two lengths, 6ft (0.23 Ohms) and 10ft (0.41 Ohms).
6ft length matches superbly to everything. The price for it will be $1100.00.
10ft. is more suited to VM and HSA, as the 0.41 Ohms, eats up more power with the TI and makes 50/25 Ohms at it's input instead of 32/16. The price for it will be $1500.00.

Could you elaborate a bit more on the technicalities of cable construction difference of 728 vs any of the STAR.

 

[Aleksandar R.]

Could you elaborate a bit more on the technicalities of cable construction difference of 728 vs any of the STAR.

Sure! The point is that with all "Star" topologies the magnetic centers of positive and negative conductor groups coincide in the center of the bundle, the consequence being very low inductance, resistance to crosstalk and noise pickup.
If the spiral around the central core is tight, the cable won't mechanically resonate with attraction and repulsion between the conductors, considering unusually high current we're passing through it.

STAR-8 and STAR-6 (Kapton golden colour)

STAR-8 size

 

[Roasty]

Out of curiosity, am considering the ca1a.
For those of you who have both the ca1a and sr1a/b, do you guys find yourselves reaching for the sr1a/b more often?