[markl]

The agony of waiting for this monster amp to be custom-built by Rudi and delivered across the ocean is finally over.

[size=small]Let the New Toy Strip Tease Ritual begin![/size]

Here we see my faithful assistant inspecting the package:

The box-within-a-box reveals something shiny. What could that be?

"Hic Sunt Leones?"

Rudi sez:
Quote:

Hic Sunt Leones ( hear are the lions) was written on Romans maps to indicate the southern limit of the Empire in Africa. Later the term HSL was used to define the limit of any unknown and unexplored territory. With the RP010-B you will enter into an unexplored music world.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.... There she is!

Check out the big shiny volume knob and dual Low and High gain headphone jacks:

My other faithful assistant inspects the rear:

A closer look reveals one set of beefy RCA inputs (which really give a nice snug fit for my heavy Virtual Dynamics ICs-- me like!) and a pass-through ouput so you can by-pass the amp for speaker listening:

Here we see the IEC receptacle, fuse, and ground switch:

And finally we see the RP010 badge with serial number:

Well, let's open her up and peek at her innards:

Not much too see as all the individual modules are housed in separate boxes to shield them and prevent them from "talking" to one another, so no nasty EMI/RFI pollution can affect the sound.

A couple close-ups:

Oh, and did I happen to mention it comes with a REMOTE VOLUME CONTROL? Heaven-on-a-stick! No more having to get up and manually adjust the knob for each CD. It works via a motor that physically twists the volume knob to adjust level when you press the up or down button.

Finally, for scale, here's a shot of my stack with the Rudistor RPX-33 on top. As you can see, the RP010 is HUGE, and I'd guess weighs close to 30 pounds.

[size=small]Initial Listening Ipressions[/size]
-----------------coming soon!------------------

 

[vilg]

Jesus christ that looks so good! Color me jealous.

Congrats!

 

[Veniogenesis]

Ah ha! Congratulations on the new Rudistor amp.

It's a behemoth! I find the internal shielding and cabling design rather intriguing. Cool stuff!

 

[pearljam5000]

Congrats!it looks like a true monster...and i'm sure it will sound freakin' amazing.

 

[johnsonad]

Congrats!!! What a beauty! I'm looking forward to reading your impressons of it compared to the 33.

 

[laxx]

Hey markl. I have a few question.

What does the ground switch do?

Heh, you can't press the up and down on the remote, it's left and right! Heh, just nitpicking. It's a beautiful amp and Rudi definitely pays alot of attention to details when making it. Can't wait to hear your impressions of how it sounds.

 

[granodemostasa]

oh my... should i even venture to ask how much a thing like this can possibly cost?

 

[ghiberti]

congrats, man

but

why doesn't it have shiny faceplate, why~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[bhd812]

Having a metal engraved/etched piece that says "Hic Sunt Leones" on the top of your product is Panache in it's self..

but if your going to make a bold statement like such back it up on the other parts of the amp like metal engraved/etched plates by the IEC inlet instead of a sticker. something more on the headphone jacks instead of leaving the tighting nuts on the outside making the amp look DIY. these are two of the small details out of a few that "should" be well looked over before anyone puts a metal engraved/etched piece that says "Hic Sunt Leones" on the product...

Rudi does do some fine panache work though..I cant wait to meet him at the national..
and of course congrats on the amp..she does look amazing..

 

[markl]

Quote:

What does the ground switch do?

My understanding is that if you experience a ground loop (i.e. hum), you can flip the switch and it vanishes.


Quote:

should i even venture to ask how much a thing like this can possibly cost?

Because it's 100% custom, it depends greatly on the configuration/features/funtcions you choose. An amp configured like this one will set you back $3200.

 

[Icarium]

Gratz man I do love my Rudistor 010 mark 1 ;p But the look/tweaks from mark 2 must be awesome. It looks like you have some sort of version with no balanced inputs/outputs ?

Can you go into some detail as to how yours differs from stock?

 

[Zuerst]

I noticed the RP010 did not utilize an Alps RK50 as the pot... anyone know why this is?

 

[laxx]

Looks like an Alps RK-27 pot, except they took the sticker off. =T

http://www.diycable.com/main/product...roducts_id=508

 

[Dimitris]

I have never heard of this amp before. I wonder how it stacks up again the NX-33 which I have listened to and really like!

 

[Icarium]

I haven't heard the NX-33 and really many amps in general... but this is Rudistor's top of the line solid state (Top of the line period really except for the ridiculous RP1000).

It sounds quite nice and quite a bit more refined yet full sounding than my old Headroom Home... but at something like 6-7x the cost when comparing both new price-wise I would have hoped that is the case

Definitely adds some extra sound stage though!

Is this the best of the best in solid state? (Discounting ridiculous custom amps)... hopefully after the meet I'll know! I don't doubt that its a contender.

Needless to say given Markl's larger breadth of experience I too am anxious to hear his impressions!