[pcyeh]

RKV is said to be a great tube amp, and I was curious if RKV is at the same league as Max? Does anyone have the experience of comparing these two amps? Which one sounds better with HD600?

 

[kelly]

I did some explicit AB comparisons between the Max and RKV.

Here are some some major differences I found:

RKV:
Bigger soundstage
Smoother overall sound
More authority
More realistic vocals/fluidity
Stronger bass (perhaps slightly too strong)
More textured details throughout, including bass
Better control with HD600
retail: $1300YS, $890US shipped from Meier
Impedancer (useful for low impedance headphones): $180US shipped

Max:
Stepped attenuator option (nice)
Blacker blacks - much quieter overall backgrounds
Better definition of 3d boundaries (possibly due to the above)
Much better transient speed and speed of attack
Crossfeed feature, brightness filter
$1599US + shipping, $1877US + shipping with stepped attenuator

My personal preference is the RKV. I'd expect opinions to be pretty split since neither is clearly better than the other across the board. If they were the same price, I'd take the RKV. With the price differences noted, the decision for me would be even easier. But no one with a Max seems to be complaining. They're both very nice.

 

[dparrish]

Okay, here is the Max point of view:

IMO, the reason to prefer the RKV over the Max boils down to several things:

1. If you prefer the huge soundstaging that the RKV brings (not necessarily better/more realistic, but HUGE).

2. If you prefer a more laid back sound, go with the RKV.

3. If you prefer thick and heavy bass, the RKV has got it.

In the short time that I've heard the RKV and the Max, I DID like the RKV ( I own the Max and auditioned Kelly's RKV), but I preferred the Max.

I hear the Max as being overall a more transparent, quieter, faster, and more realistic/truthful amp. I hear the Max to be more truthful/revealing of timbre as well (what Kelly refers to as texture). The ability of the Max to resolve the acoustics of a hall or recording venue is, IMO, nothing short of stunning. The Max has plenty of bass which is not as thick (and therefore more realistic to my ears) as the RKV's. In fact, the RKV is the ONLY amp I've heard to date which has MORE bass than the Max when driving HD600s. Soundstaging in the RKV is more involving than with the Max without the crossfeed engaged. However, with the crossfeed on, the Max's soundstaging opens up quite a bit and is much more interesting to listen to in many cases (than without crossfeed), although still not as huge as with the RKV.

Neither amp is going to offer the final word in high frequency reproduction (you'd have to go with an electrostatic setup for this, but these have other disadvantages, such as bass reproduction), but between the two, the Max gets the nod in this department.

In the final analysis, the RKV has a tube sound to it, which some prefer for the warmer sound and bigger sound stage. The Max is a more revealing and honest amp (IMO), which would be the better choice if you're looking for better faithfulness in reproducing a recording.

Ideally, it would be great to have BOTH amps, but if I could choose only one, it would be the Max

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Hmmmmm.... both. What a good idea.