[Litlgi74]

I know what you mean. Super company with a friendly staff. And the product is amazing. Can listen for hours with zero fatigue. I might purchase them anyway for the convenience alone... hate having to switch cables

I'd like to respectfully and apologetically retract the statements I made yesterday.

I'm hesitant to say which sounds better...

In my AB testing yesterday... I made an error in my setup. I was using my original (old) SR1a cable to compare the new TI-1b and the older SR1a interface box... Apparently this is a big no-no! I'll let @Aleksandar R. explain the scientific and mathematical differences between the cables... But in my case... The older SR1A cable was causing an imbalance as well as some sonic abnormalities when plugged into the new Tl-1B box.

After following Alex's direction.. I used the cable that came with the Tl-1B to compare the two interface boxes.

But without compensation... The TI-1b is considerably brighter sounding vs the original interface. Adding the compensators tones down the TI-1b's.. But from memory... The TI-1b It's still slightly brighter than the original interface without compensators.

the old adapter box could never be mistaken for the VM-1a.

After more A/B testing this morning... It is true... There is no way one could confuse the TL-1B or VM-1a with the older interface box. I did my best to volume match the separate inputs (Open baffle compensation XLR vs from Lumin vs unaltered XLR from RME ADI2) into my Moon amplifier.

Now for the Awesome!!!

The SR1a with the old interface box now sounds DULL when compared to the Tl-1B. It's hard to believe the SR1a could ever sound dull... But it does. The Tl-1B is wonderful upgrade / improvement to the already impressive SR1a. I still think the Tl-1B sounds slightly brighter... But with that... comes gobs and gobs of detail/resolution... Not just in the treble... But across the entire frequency range. Wow! IT'S AWESOME!

Word of caution... The detail retrieval of SR1a is better than any headphone I've heard... Including the new Stax SR-X9000. I had a chance to quickly AB the two headsets before I left for work this morning... And it's no contest. *Perhaps a better comparison will be made after the Stax come back from Mitch at Accurate sound.

For example... Check out this track by Tracy Chapman...
https://songwhip.com/tracy-chapman/across-the-lines

At 1:08 and 2:33... With the old interface... Everything sounds fine before hearing it the Tl-1B. The new box is VERY, VERY revealing. At those time stamps... Clipping/distortion can be heard. I'm not going to pretend I can't hear it with the old interface... Because I now can. But it was the Tl-1B that brought it to my attention.

Some, including myself would consider the SR1a, with Accurate Sound filters an example of sonic exceptionalism... But now with the added option of the Tl-1B and the VM-1a... Alex, Danny and the awesome ingenuity behind Raal Requisite... The SR1a is now a masterpiece in audio reproduction.

Now for the STAR-8 cable!

 

[Lokust]

I'd like to respectfully and apologetically retract this statements I made yesterday.



In my AB testing yesterday... I made an error in my setup. I was using my original (old) SR1a cable to compare the new TI-1b and the older SR1a interface box... Apparently this is a big no-no! I'll let @Aleksandar R. explain the scientific and mathematical differences between the cables... But in my case... The older SR1A cable was causing an imbalance as well as some sonic abnormalities when plugged into the new Tl-1B box.

After following Alex's direction.. I used the cable that came with the Tl-1B to compare the two interface boxes.





After more A/B testing this morning... It is true... There is no way one could confuse the TL-1B or VM-1a with the older interface box. I did my best to volume match the separate inputs (Open baffle compensation XLR vs from Lumin vs unaltered XLR from RME ADI2) into my Moon amplifier.

Now for the Awesome!!!

The SR1a with the old interface box now sounds DULL when compared to the Tl-1B. It's hard to believe the SR1a could ever sound dull... But it does. The Tl-1B is wonderful upgrade / improvement to the already impressive SR1a. I still think the Tl-1B sounds slightly brighter... But with that... comes gobs and gobs of detail/resolution... Not just in the treble... But across the entire frequency range. Wow! IT'S AWESOME!

Word of caution... The detail retrieval of SR1a is better than any headphone I've heard... Including the new Stax SR-X9000. I had a chance to quickly AB the two headsets before I left for work this morning... And it's no contest. *Perhaps a better comparison will be made after the Stax come back from Mitch at Accurate sound.

For example... Check out this track by Tracy Chapman...
https://songwhip.com/tracy-chapman/across-the-lines

At 1:08 and 2:33... With the old interface... Everything sounds fine before hearing it the Tl-1B. The new box is VERY, VERY revealing. At those time stamps... Clipping/distortion can be heard. I'm not going to pretend I can't hear it with the old interface... Because I now can. But it was the Tl-1B that brought it to my attention.

Some, including myself would consider the SR1a, with Accurate Sound filters an example of sonic exceptionalism... But now with the added option of the Tl-1B and the VM-1a... Alex, Danny and the awesome ingenuity behind Raal Requisite... The SR1a is now a masterpiece in audio reproduction.

Now for the STAR-8 cable!

Wow, what a surprising turn-of-events The SR1a is already so fun and addictive… hard to believe that it could get much better. Am definitely going to have to give the new TI-1B a try… luckily, I think you can actually audition the ”unit” first. For me it has the added benefit of relieving me from having to switch the floor speakers and headphones every evening. Thanks for the really ”revealing” input.

 

[jlbrach]

I'd like to respectfully and apologetically retract the statements I made yesterday.



In my AB testing yesterday... I made an error in my setup. I was using my original (old) SR1a cable to compare the new TI-1b and the older SR1a interface box... Apparently this is a big no-no! I'll let @Aleksandar R. explain the scientific and mathematical differences between the cables... But in my case... The older SR1A cable was causing an imbalance as well as some sonic abnormalities when plugged into the new Tl-1B box.

After following Alex's direction.. I used the cable that came with the Tl-1B to compare the two interface boxes.





After more A/B testing this morning... It is true... There is no way one could confuse the TL-1B or VM-1a with the older interface box. I did my best to volume match the separate inputs (Open baffle compensation XLR vs from Lumin vs unaltered XLR from RME ADI2) into my Moon amplifier.

Now for the Awesome!!!

The SR1a with the old interface box now sounds DULL when compared to the Tl-1B. It's hard to believe the SR1a could ever sound dull... But it does. The Tl-1B is wonderful upgrade / improvement to the already impressive SR1a. I still think the Tl-1B sounds slightly brighter... But with that... comes gobs and gobs of detail/resolution... Not just in the treble... But across the entire frequency range. Wow! IT'S AWESOME!

Word of caution... The detail retrieval of SR1a is better than any headphone I've heard... Including the new Stax SR-X9000. I had a chance to quickly AB the two headsets before I left for work this morning... And it's no contest. *Perhaps a better comparison will be made after the Stax come back from Mitch at Accurate sound.

For example... Check out this track by Tracy Chapman...
https://songwhip.com/tracy-chapman/across-the-lines

At 1:08 and 2:33... With the old interface... Everything sounds fine before hearing it the Tl-1B. The new box is VERY, VERY revealing. At those time stamps... Clipping/distortion can be heard. I'm not going to pretend I can't hear it with the old interface... Because I now can. But it was the Tl-1B that brought it to my attention.

Some, including myself would consider the SR1a, with Accurate Sound filters an example of sonic exceptionalism... But now with the added option of the Tl-1B and the VM-1a... Alex, Danny and the awesome ingenuity behind Raal Requisite... The SR1a is now a masterpiece in audio reproduction.

Now for the STAR-8 cable!

the sr1a and CA are so revealing that sometimes I dont recognize songs I have heard 100 times, the music is presented so differently the soundstage so different..the imaging so precise....you hear everything so clearly in its own space that sometimes I ended up focusing on one instrument and lose track of the song overall..it is wild...

 

[ardbeg1975]

Arrived late to this show. Heard the SR1a at Axpona this past weekend (as did my nine year old who accompanied me). He said he liked the Raal the best of what he’d heard that day which included Susvara, X9000, Bravura, and Aperio. Who am I to judge as his hearing is leagues better than mine. So, days later, here I am with a SR1a + TI-1b plugged into my 300B head amp. Very impressed.

 

[Litlgi74]

Arrived late to this show. Heard the SR1a at Axpona this past weekend (as did my nine year old who accompanied me). He said he liked the Raal the best of what he’d heard that day which included Susvara, X9000, Bravura, and Aperio. Who am I to judge as his hearing is leagues better than mine. So, days later, here I am with a SR1a + TI-1b plugged into my 300B head amp. Very impressed.

What did you get him? An Audeze Maxwell?

I took my 16-year-old Canjam NYC... He spent most of the time at the Audeze Booth playing the Xbox with the Maxwell on his head.

 

[ardbeg1975]

What did you get him? An Audeze Maxwell?

I took my 16-year-old Canjam NYC... He spent most of the time at the Audeze Booth playing the Xbox with the Maxwell on his head.

No, he gets to use my Radiance on ocassion.

 

[ardbeg1975]

Arrived late to this show. Heard the SR1a at Axpona this past weekend (as did my nine year old who accompanied me). He said he liked the Raal the best of what he’d heard that day which included Susvara, X9000, Bravura, and Aperio. Who am I to judge as his hearing is leagues better than mine. So, days later, here I am with a SR1a + TI-1b plugged into my 300B head amp. Very impressed.

So, looked at Raal’s 2023 price sheet pdf on their website. What is a TI-1c? Is that old or new for 2023? Based on the very brief description that it is optimal for low power 300B amps, should I consider it versus my existing TI-1b as my integrated tube amp can drive more watts via the speaker taps?

 

[Kiats]

So, looked at Raal’s 2023 price sheet pdf on their website. What is a TI-1c? Is that old or new for 2023? Based on the very brief description that it is optimal for low power 300B amps, should I consider it versus my existing TI-1b as my integrated tube amp can drive more watts via the speaker taps?

interesting. Seems new. It is not even featured in the web pages as yet. it's for SE output.

 

[ardbeg1975]

interesting. Seems new. It is not even featured in the web pages as yet. it's for SE output.

I read it more as 4 and 8 ohm output for SET tube designs with taps into the T1-1c rather than the SE headphone output port.

 

[Kiats]

I read it more as 4 and 8 ohm output for SET tube designs with taps into the T1-1c rather than the SE headphone output port.

Perhaps @Aleksandar R. can cast more light on this.

 

[KaiSc]

So, looked at Raal’s 2023 price sheet pdf on their website. What is a TI-1c?

First time seeing it mentioned, thanx.

From the description, 4 and 8 Ohm, it’s clear:
Ti-1c is built to get the best out of low power speaker amps of all kind, e.g. small tube amps like the mentioned 300B SE type.

Speakers typically have 4-8 Ohm impedance, so their dedicated amps are optimized to deliver max. power on these only.
An alternative to Ti-1a/b that covers 16 and 32 Ohm, optimized for most headphones-only-amps.

Ti-1c offers a whole world of new amp options then, great!

 

[Kiats]

Quick check @Aleksandar R. : does the HSA-1b still come with the adapter cable for hard to drive planers to use the ribbon HP output? It is not quite clear on the RAAL Requisite website.

Thanks!

 

[Aleksandar R.]

So, looked at Raal’s 2023 price sheet pdf on their website. What is a TI-1c? Is that old or new for 2023? Based on the very brief description that it is optimal for low power 300B amps, should I consider it versus my existing TI-1b as my integrated tube amp can drive more watts via the speaker taps?

Yes, the TI-1c is new for 2023.

Instead of 32/16 ohms, it loads the amp with 8 or 4 Ohms.

For example, if you have, say, 10W w 5% THD at 8 Ohms, it doesn't mean you will have 5W w 5% THD at 16 Ohms (unless it has the 16 ohms dedicated output).
They usually don't have feedback to keep things firmly in check and distortion may rise or fall, the result is not guaranteed, as it depends on idle current and anode voltage choice that designer had made.

Also, the output transformer for all tube amps, not just SETs, has the primary inductance that is designed to couple their primary impedance above certain low frequency. That is how the low-end -3dB point is defined.
For example, if a SET amp transformer makes 3k at the primary (the anode load) for 8 ohms at the secondary, it will make 6k if you plug in 16 ohms to the same secondary, but the primary inductance remains fixed so the transformer will "couple" the bass one octave higher, so the bass gets leaner.
If you plug in 32 Ohms at the same secondary, you will move the -3dB point two octaves higher...

So, in order to correctly load the small power tube amps, SET or PP, we had to come up with 8/4 ohms TI box.

If the amp has a designated 16 Ohms output, then TI-1b is doing the job, you don't need the C version.

 

[Aleksandar R.]

Quick check @Aleksandar R. : does the HSA-1b still come with the adapter cable for hard to drive planers to use the ribbon HP output? It is not quite clear on the RAAL Requisite website.

Thanks!

We've ran out of HSAs but you can find them at SAEQ, the original manufacturer.
Those are SAEQ products now.
https://saeq-audio.com/

 

[Kiats]

We've ran out of HSAs but you can find them at SAEQ.

No rush. I assume new stock will eventually be available?