Update
> Linesarossa W1 and W3
Info:
linearossa by rudistor pacific
I received a loaner of the “Linearossa” W1 and W3 from Sovkiller. He’s the US Distributor for Rudistor…and these amps are Rudistor amps. I will review them here separately, but they share a common website, and of course the same designer and loan source.
W1
The W1 is very small and light. It has a small plastic housing, and uses a single AAA battery. Mini-jack input on the back, headphone mini-jack output on the front, along with slide-wheel volume control, and a switch with picture of a light bulb which indicated the on position – cute, but I’d have preferred an actual LED.
Build Quality: B: Best I can say is functional. It looks cheap, and it’s plastic – very different from it’s big brother W3. However, don’t judge a book by its cover…. No hiss I could detect even at the highest volume levels. Only the very slightest of turn-on tick. And what do you expect for $90?
Treble: A-: generally very good performance here, in that it is basically transparent and grain free, with good (if not great) detail. Definitely smooth sounding, and very clean, which is especially important, and rare, at this price point. I was pretty impressed – it provided great detail with no fatigue. Nice.
Midrange: A: Mids were very nice. Vocals rendered cleanly and without coloration. Highly transparent. Perhaps just slightly lush. Definitely very musical. No really identifiable colorations – just surprising strong performance from the little guy. Vocals and guitars were very well served.
Bass: A-: Tuneful, punchy bass, with excellent definition and articulation. No real complaints here either. Not bloated or exaggerated – but pretty much spot on. Not the last word in either depth or definition – but not colored.
Neutrality: A: While perhaps just a little mellow, the W1 is not colored that I can tell. Impressively so, in fact. Different recordings sounded – guess what – different! That’s always good – there was zero homogenizing effect here.
Soundstaging: A-: Maybe the one less than fully impressive trait. Was good but not great. Depth was better than width.
Transparency: A: Here again, very good performance not just where size and cost are factored in but even in absolute terms – this is a nicely transparent amp.
Compared to the smaller and prettier iBasso T3, the W1 is a much better amp – more transparent, and offering a higher level of overall performance. And it’s cheaper! I was actually really impressed. It doesn’t look like much – but it sounds great! Highly recommended.
W3
The W3 is both a DAC and a headphone amp. It has the most ins and outs of any device like it I have seen – coax, optical, and USB -- as well as an analog input, and the headphone output. There is a 2-position gain switch. As I have done throughout this process, my review was based on just the headphone amp from the line in, but I did briefly test the DAC, and found it to offer excellent sound as well.
Build Quality: A: Nice looking, sturdy metal case. Nice too big or small – basically in between. Not glitzy but very solid. It did have a very noticeable turn on “tick”, and also a strange power-off “thump” – but nothing that would cause any damage.
Treble: A: Very clean, and with good detail. Compared to the iQube, it lacks a little top end air and extension, and just a little forward in the mid-treble, but in general very good performance. Detail was excellent.
Midrange: A: Mids were very good, although just a little reticent. But they were very transparent, and the overall midband was very open sounding. Both the acoustic guitar and vocals from Holly Cole and Jesse Cook’s duo cover of Sting’s “Fragile” were very natural sounding.
Bass: A: Deep, tight, and well controlled. Compared to my reference amps, it lacked just a little bit of weight in absolute terms. But the paunchiness of The Hush Sounds’s “Medicine Man” was still delivered in full measure.
Neutrality: A: Not quite as neutral as the very best, but performance in line with its price class. Nothing stands out as a coloration, but there are a few little deviations from truly neutral. There were a few things I could hear when listening to Theater of Tragedy’s “Forever” that I have captured above – like a mid-treble that sticks out a little relative to the mids and the high treble. Still, excellent performance overall.
Soundstaging: A-: Like it’s little brother, this was the trait I thought was least impressive – vocals were very slightly flatter than is ideal, and the soundstage depth was a little less than the best. Width was excellent.
Transparency: A: Excellent performance in this regard – not a hint of grain or opaqueness - this is a transparent amp.
I feel a little bad about judging the W3 just as an amp using its analog input – but that is what my methodology has been for this entire review. The W3 has an excellent DAC with not just USB, but BOTH Coax and toslink inputs. That makes it a very special product. I would not buy it if I did not plan to use the DAC – I think there are better values in that use case – but as a AMP/DAC combo, where you want more than just USB, the W3 is an outstanding value.
Conclusions (3-4-10)
OK, so now it’s now 50 amps! Here is my view on how the amps stacked up. Note that the sum of the "Grades" I give does not always tell the whole story in how I rank them, since the whole is sometimes greater or lesser than the sum of the parts, and I am often forced to split hairs here, since the list has gotten so long. Also please note that even if these amps include a DAC, that DAC performance was NOT a factor in these rankings AT ALL. Also, for clarification, this ranking is based on sound quality ONLY, and does not take things like size or battery life into account.
1. Triad Audio Lisa III @ $600.00; Power supply is $350 additional
2. Qables iQube @ $605.00
2. RSA Mustang P-51 (review
here) @ $375.00
2. Larocco Audio Pocket Reference II mk 2 (availability unknown - PLEASE read entire review)
3. Headamp Pico @ $349.00
3. Meier Audio 2MOVE (and the older MOVE) (3MOVE @ $270.00)
3. iBasso Audio D4 Mamba @ $219 (Review
Here )
4. RSA SR71 @ $395.00 (original SR71, not the SR71A)
4. RSA The Predator @ $475.00
5. RSA The Hornet “M” @ $370.00
5. Decware Zenhead @ $295.00
6. Xenos 1HA-EPC (discontinued)
7. RSA Tomahawk @ $295.00
7. Meier Audio XXS / Headsix @ $166.00/187.00
8. TTVJ Portable Millet Hybrid @ $459.00
8. iBasso D3 Python $219.00 (review
here)
9. Xin Reference @ $279.99
9. Meier Audio Porta Corda III (discontinued)
9. Xin SuperMicro IV (current version auditioned 1/22/08) @ $199.99
10. ALO Double Mini3 (review
here) @ $235.00
10. Headamp AE-2 @ $349.00
10. Graham Slee Voyager @ $233.00 + S&H from UK
10. Linearossa W3 @ $299 (review
11. iBasso D2 Boa $165.00 (review
here)
11. Go-Vibe 7
11. Mini3 (Price depends on build) built @ $125.00
12. Leckerton Audio UHA-3 @ $189.00
12. iBasso T3 @ $119.00 (Review
here)
13. Portaphile V2^2 @ $275.00
13. Linearossa W1 (review
14. mSeed Spirit (discontinued)
14. Mini-Box E @ $229.00
15. Storm 3 (NOT B3) (review
here)
15. Storm Little-2 (review
here)
15. Storm B4
16. Visely HEA-4 @ $149.00 (Review
here
16. iBasso P-1 (discontinued)
17. Visely HEA- 1 @ $135.00
18. Microshar uAmp107 @ $135.00
18. Practical Devices XM4 @ $135.00
18. C&C XO @ $209.00
19 Music Max LT1 $99 (Review
here)
19. iBasso T2 (T4@ $109.00)
20. NuForce $99 (review
here)
20. Go-Vibe 6 (discontinued)
21. Xtra X-1 Pro @ $104.00
22. Xenos 0HA-REP (discontinued)
22. iBasso T1 (discontinued)
23. Xtra X-1 (discontinued)
24. C&C Box V2
25. Storm B3
25. Little Dot Micro+ (discontinued)
As always, this is JUST MY OPINION, but I hope it has been helpful.
