[Roasty]

I'm not sure if it's the cable breaking in or our brains adapting, but the LR was my preferred cable with the Phi TC. I would switch between it and the stock pretty frequently and always preferred the warmth it brought over the stock cable.

That's good news to me man. Roughly how long before that warmth kicked in?

 

[ra990]

That's good news to me man. Roughly how long before that warmth kicked in?

Not sure. My cable was previously used, so already broken in.

 

[attmci]

That's good news to me man. Roughly how long before that warmth kicked in?

There are 2 rules for guaranteed success in life. Rule #1: dont tell people everything you know...

Shall we follow your rule?

 

[GU1DO]

There are 2 rules for guaranteed success in life. Rule #1: dont tell people everything you know...

Shall we follow your rule?

 

[Roasty]

I need to change my sig..

 

[simorag]

After several months of home auditioning, listening sessions at shops and fellow audiophiles homes, I finally selected the amp for my AB-1266 and loudspeakers

It is the Riviera Labs AIC-10, a hybrid integrated amplifier operating in pure class A with zero global feedback, using an ECC82 tube in the preamp section.
It is very conservatively rated at 10W (according to a few reviews I read it should be capable of 30W at <1% distortion). It has headphones out plugs in the front and loudspeaker taps on the rear, and three RCA inlets. Its very compact form factor and relatively understated appearance (actually it exudes high-end craftmanship in the flesh, much more than what pictures show) hide 15kg of goodness, mostly due to the CNC machined frame and hand made transformer.

II fell in love with this amp when I had it at home for a couple of days in the summer, but could not justify the investment on a new item (its most current incarnation lists for an intimidating 15k ), and used ones seemed unlikely to find, so I kept searching for alternatives.

The memory of its weighty, full tonality, detail retrieval and harmonics richness haunted me over the following auditions of the other amps, so when recently the chance came of getting an used one in as-new conditions at a (very relatively) decent price I could not resist, and I decided to pull the trigger.

I have received it a week ago and I am still in the experimentation stage with tube rolling (the AIC-10 is surprisingly sensitive to the 'character' of the ECC82/12AU7 tube chosen), but I am very happy with my purchase.

To my ears, the AIC-10 combines the best virtues of the tube and SS amps I tried. It has the earthy tone, midrange density, harmonics euphoria, treble liquidity I found in very good tube amps, yet the grunt, bass control, transparency and soundstage extension of very powerful solid state speaker amplifiers.
I am currently pairing it with a vintage (1957) Mullard CV491 NOS tube, which provides a emotional touch to the midrange and makes vocals especially sound palpably real and fleshy.

To put it perspective, below you find a table with the ratings I have given to the amplifiers I tried over the last months. The light grey columns are where I listened in a setup nearly identical to mine, but only for a few hours, while the dark grey ones are shops / friends homes auditioning where the upstream chain to the amp / AB-1266 was different from mine (hence not very reliable). White columns relate to extensive listening at home. 10 does not mean 'perfect', but 'best' among the amplifiers listed.
Of course, this ranking is very much specific to my system, subjective sound and musical genres preferences, YMMV.

I plan to write a full review of this amplifier in the next weeks as I come to know it better, and once the honeymoon stage is over.

Currently listening to this, close to getting tears to my eyes

 

[ray-dude]

Outstanding write up, thank you! I haven’t had a chance to hear the TCs direct from DAVE, but I am very pleasantly surprised that DAVE direct stacked up so well (also pleasantly surprised that the Riviera does so well on the transparency side)

Any feedback on using it with speakers?

 

[cj3209]

After several months of home auditioning, listening sessions at shops and fellow audiophiles homes, I finally selected the amp for my AB-1266 and loudspeakers

It is the Riviera Labs AIC-10, a hybrid integrated amplifier operating in pure class A with zero global feedback, using an ECC82 tube in the preamp section.
It is very conservatively rated at 10W (according to a few reviews I read it should be capable of 30W at <1% distortion). It has headphones out plugs in the front and loudspeaker taps on the rear, and three RCA inlets. Its very compact form factor and relatively understated appearance (actually it exudes high-end craftmanship in the flesh, much more than what pictures show) hide 15kg of goodness, mostly due to the CNC machined frame and hand made transformer.




II fell in love with this amp when I had it at home for a couple of days in the summer, but could not justify the investment on a new item (its most current incarnation lists for an intimidating 15k ), and used ones seemed unlikely to find, so I kept searching for alternatives.

The memory of its weighty, full tonality, detail retrieval and harmonics richness haunted me over the following auditions of the other amps, so when recently the chance came of getting an used one in as-new conditions at a (very relatively) decent price I could not resist, and I decided to pull the trigger.

I have received it a week ago and I am still in the experimentation stage with tube rolling (the AIC-10 is surprisingly sensitive to the 'character' of the ECC82/12AU7 tube chosen), but I am very happy with my purchase.



To my ears, the AIC-10 combines the best virtues of the tube and SS amps I tried. It has the earthy tone, midrange density, harmonics euphoria, treble liquidity I found in very good tube amps, yet the grunt, bass control, transparency and soundstage extension of very powerful solid state speaker amplifiers.
I am currently pairing it with a vintage (1957) Mullard CV491 NOS tube, which provides a emotional touch to the midrange and makes vocals especially sound palpably real and fleshy.

To put it perspective, below you find a table with the ratings I have given to the amplifiers I tried over the last months. The light grey columns are where I listened in a setup nearly identical to mine, but only for a few hours, while the dark grey ones are shops / friends homes auditioning where the upstream chain to the amp / AB-1266 was different from mine (hence not very reliable). White columns relate to extensive listening at home. 10 does not mean 'perfect', but 'best' among the amplifiers listed.
Of course, this ranking is very much specific to my system, subjective sound and musical genres preferences, YMMV.



I plan to write a full review of this amplifier in the next weeks as I come to know it better, and once the honeymoon stage is over.

Currently listening to this, close to getting tears to my eyes

Forgive my noobness on this subject but it looks like you are using the headphone out of an integrated amp, correct? If so, my understanding is that while the headphone outs are connected to the speaker outs, the manufacturer may add resistors, etc. to allow better headphone usage, ie., the headphone outs tend to be an afterthought for many companies. Have you tried connecting directly to the speaker outs of this amp? I'm guessing that that would sound even better.

Amp looks very nice, btw.

 

[tholt]

@simorag gorgeous amp. Congrats

 

[attmci]

I need to change my sig..

Way too late. LOL

 

[simorag]

Outstanding write up, thank you! I haven’t had a chance to hear the TCs direct from DAVE, but I am very pleasantly surprised that DAVE direct stacked up so well (also pleasantly surprised that the Riviera does so well on the transparency side)

Any feedback on using it with speakers?

Yeah, DAVE (mandatorily with M Scaler) revealed as tougher to beat compared with what I thought in the beginning of my 'ultimate' amp quest.

When I had the Formula S / Powerman - a very good match for the AB-1266, indeed - I was switching from DAVE direct to the amp depending on music types, and most often for large scale symphonic works where the added value from the amp compensated the - slight, yet audible - loss of transparency, finesse and holographic imaging.

It seems that for my sensitivity, tastes, listening levels and music preferences (mostly acoustic) the TC out of the DAVE already reach most of their potential.

Slightly colored amps like the Enyo or - to a less extent - the AIC-10 / Mullard add that amount of thickness and midrange euphony that make me feel more connected with, or engaged by, the musical message and the musicians delivering it. More goosebumps = more fun

A for speakers, I have a pair of Spendor LS3/5A at the moment, which I was willing to upgrade to larger and way more sensitive ones. Actually, the AIC-10 surprised me there, as it revealed itself as able to drive these low sensitivity tiny miracle boxes much better than I thought, and just fine for my present needs (30 sqm room, low-ish loudness levels due to wife / neighbors constraints).
My speaker upgrade can wait more, as my wallet recovers

Forgive my noobness on this subject but it looks like you are using the headphone out of an integrated amp, correct? If so, my understanding is that while the headphone outs are connected to the speaker outs, the manufacturer may add resistors, etc. to allow better headphone usage, ie., the headphone outs tend to be an afterthought for many companies. Have you tried connecting directly to the speaker outs of this amp? I'm guessing that that would sound even better.

The AIC-10 is designed primarily as a headphone amp, to which the loudspeaker output is added for versatility. The signal path is very similar among the two outputs, with a variable attenuation depending on the use (low sensitivity hp, high sensitivity hp, speakers).
I tried running the AB-1266 directly from the speaker taps, and the sound becomes slightly larger and more dynamic, yet possibly a tiny bit less smooth / refined.
I know people preferring the Susvara out of the AIC-10 speaker taps, though.

@simorag gorgeous amp. Congrats

Thanks

 

[astrostar59]

Great write up and thanks for sharing with everyone. I have thoroughly enjoyed your journey, and mirror some of your needs and goals getting to your destination setup. I think you have made a good choice. I notice you rate the 600i pretty highly in your table, especially on soundstage and transparency, bass extension and macro dynamics. I agree with that.

Having heard quite a few DACs v the Aries Cerat DAC, I can point to a solid and full flavour from my DAC, and a different sonic flavour to other DACs. In other words, IMO the chain in any system is a sum of the parts, and each one has to compliment. Based on your assessment of the Riviera I don't think it would match as well with my DAC front end.

I also think, again IMO, that tubes somewhere in the chain are good, at this level. Not that SS right through isn't good or can't ever work, but tubes do something special, especially with the smaller signals at the source or the input stage an amplifier.

 

[Roasty]

Placed an order for a moon audio silver dragon. 10ft length came up to usd550 and then additional 20 buck discount for overseas purchase.

I've had good experience with the silver dragon with my shure 846 and senn 650, and the black dragon for the senn 660s.

The only review for their abyss cable on their website says a lot of good things. For the price, figured I'd give it a try..

 

[cj3209]

Placed an order for a moon audio silver dragon. 10ft length came up to usd550 and then additional 20 buck discount for overseas purchase.

I've had good experience with the silver dragon with my shure 846 and senn 650, and the black dragon for the senn 660s.

The only review for their abyss cable on their website says a lot of good things. For the price, figured I'd give it a try..

Thought I read that a good copper cable was the preferred material rather than silver for the 1266s but I would be interested in your review.

In fact, I ordered a Forza Audioworks Noir Hybrid HPC cable myself to try out. I can't stand how the 'regular' 1266 cables get all tangled up - although they sound good. At $2K, the Superconductor cable isn't a real option for me unless I get to try it out or at substantial discount in the used market.

 

[Roasty]

Thought I read that a good copper cable was the preferred material rather than silver for the 1266s but I would be interested in your review.

In fact, I ordered a Forza Audioworks Noir Hybrid HPC myself to try out. I can't stand how the 'regular' 1266 cables get all tangled up - although they sound good.

That's what I read too.
I'm still breaking in the Danacable. But so far, am still preferring the stock abyss cable.. Just that little bit more of air, upper end sparkle, and low end thump from the stock cable. It's really a good cable. Maybe just lacking a little in the mids. Would be nice if there was a bit more heft and weight in the mids.