[Roasty]

I just read all about the Rhythm preamp on the company's website. It may well sound great, but as an owner of the ARC Ref 6SE, I won't be going out of my way to audition one based on what I saw there.

• Though not stated explicitly, I surmise the preamp employs single-ended circuitry internally. That's a deal-breaker in a reference component... for me.
• The tube complement is 2 x 12au7. Seriously??
• The "technical" explanation of the superiority of their power supply technology, using a water in a barrel analogy, didn't wash. Apologies for the (bad) pun.
• From what I can tell, the remote only controls volume. The Ref 6SE remote controls practically every function of the preamp.
• The Ref 6SE has a superb display, easily visible from the listening position.
• There is no comparison in the build quality (circuit board or chassis) between the two products. The Ref 6SE wins handily.
• The Rhythm has only one XLR output; the Ref 6SE has two, which is critical in my setup.

Even though this product doesn’t have my name written on it, I'm quite interested to read your impressions of it, if you go ahead with the purchase. Best of luck finding your endgame preamp, wherever that takes you.

Oh you're right. I didn't see anything mentioned about it being fully balanced. let me ask them and I'll share their reply. the current iteration is 1.4 which adds a second xlr output and a few other changes to circuitry/gain stage.

wouldn't mind a REF 6SE myself.. but it's a bit out of my price range and I think might look a bit too big on my rack.

 

[BassicScience]

Oh you're right. I didn't see anything mentioned about it being fully balanced. let me ask them and I'll share their reply. the current iteration is 1.4 which adds a second xlr output and a few other changes to circuitry/gain stage.

wouldn't mind a REF 6SE myself.. but it's a bit out of my price range and I think might look a bit too big on my rack.

Strange then that the website states "The Rhythm 1.3 is our flagship". Nice to know they've added a second XLR output, in any case.

ARC makes/has made smaller, less expensive preamps, as well. But I'm not here to shill products...

 

[Roasty]

Strange then that the website states "The Rhythm 1.3 is our flagship". Nice to know they've added a second XLR output, in any case.

ARC makes/has made smaller, less expensive preamps, as well. But I'm not here to shill products...

they replied and said its single ended circuitry inside.
1.4 is the latest revision. I guess they haven't updated it on their site.

 

[BassicScience]

they replied and said its single ended circuitry inside.
1.4 is the latest revision. I guess they haven't updated it on their site.

I dunno, man, I'm not getting the warm and fuzzies about this company on a few levels. But hey, if all you're risking is the shipping costs......

 

[slazhx]

Hi guys, sorry to be off-topic for such basic questions.

I am about to try a speaker amp with phones for the first time. Such speaker amp will be fed from my headphone amp with pre-amp output. However, for the next step, I might let this headphone amp (w/ pre output) go and keep the speaker amp. At the same time, I will upgrade to the next DAC with a built-in preamp to drive this speaker amp instead.

So the question is what parameter or spec do I need to pay attention to the next DAC for this purpose? Not sure about a volt or level of some output (pre-amp) so it can drive the speaker amp well.

 

[Thenewguy007]

Hi guys, sorry to be off-topic for such basic questions.

I am about to try a speaker amp with phones for the first time. Such speaker amp will be fed from my headphone amp with pre-amp output. However, for the next step, I might let this headphone amp (w/ pre output) go and keep the speaker amp. At the same time, I will upgrade to the next DAC with a built-in preamp to drive this speaker amp instead.

So the question is what parameter or spec do I need to pay attention to the next DAC for this purpose? Not sure about a volt or level of some output (pre-amp) so it can drive the speaker amp well.

As long as the DAC has volume controls it will work.

 

[slazhx]

As long as the DAC has volume controls it will work.

Thank you. I thought there is something else to be concerned.

 

[smodtactical]

Anyone have good success with an el34 tube power amp or integrated with their dynamic headphones.

I'm thinking of cj cav45. Prima luna evo 300 off the speaker taps was amazing.

 

[slazhx]

Anyone have good success with an el34 tube power amp or integrated with their dynamic headphones.

I'm thinking of cj cav45. Prima luna evo 300 off the speaker taps was amazing.

Do you mind sharing your decision for EL34 over 300B? I think it might due to your cans impedance and genre with more rythm?

 

[kid vic]

Definitely not expecting the world from this amp, but I am curious if anyone for sees any problems using this amp to drive headphones directly from the speaker taps. I'd only be getting the basic version without "luxury tubes" or bluetooth. Any opinions welcome

 

[ThanatosVI]

Definitely not expecting the world from this amp, but I am curious if anyone for sees any problems using this amp to drive headphones directly from the speaker taps. I'd only be getting the basic version without "luxury tubes" or bluetooth. Any opinions welcome

Few things come to mind:
It's very cheap, so potentially isn't super silent, since it's unlikely that it has a high quality öow noise power supply.
At the same time it's a 300B amplifier, which has the regular 8W output. With no further details I would assume at 4 Ohm.

This could bring the Dilemma that sensitive headphones have some noise, while insensitive headphones potentially could need more power. I.e. if my assumption of 8W at 4 Ohm is correct, that's roughly 500mW at Susvaras impedance.

The pricing always looks suspicious wheb looking at such chinese products. Especially of the "upgraded tubes" bundle. The tubes alone would cost 500$ and the amplifier + tubes is at 680$

On the other hand, if it works and sounds ok, it's by far the cheapest 300B amp I've ever seen

Edit: If you still try it. They also offer an ultra cheap headphone adapter Box:
https://hifi-exquis.com/headphone-a...qin-speakers-to-headphone-output-adapter.html

 

[kid vic]

Few things come to mind:
It's very cheap, so potentially isn't super silent, since it's unlikely that it has a high quality öow noise power supply.
At the same time it's a 300B amplifier, which has the regular 8W output. With no further details I would assume at 4 Ohm.

This could bring the Dilemma that sensitive headphones have some noise, while insensitive headphones potentially could need more power. I.e. if my assumption of 8W at 4 Ohm is correct, that's roughly 500mW at Susvaras impedance.

The pricing always looks suspicious wheb looking at such chinese products. Especially of the "upgraded tubes" bundle. The tubes alone would cost 500$ and the amplifier + tubes is at 680$

On the other hand, if it works and sounds ok, it's by far the cheapest 300B amp I've ever seen

Edit: If you still try it. They also offer an ultra cheap headphone adapter Box:
https://hifi-exquis.com/headphone-a...qin-speakers-to-headphone-output-adapter.html

I wouldn't driving anything more insensitive than an HD800S or my HE500 and nothing more sensitive than my Focal clear.
I thought it was 8W at 8 ohms but I could ve wrong. I'll definitely check out that adaptor box too though.

 

[JamieMcC]

If looking for a 300B or 2A3 speaker amp that is also superb with headphones take a look at Elekit TU-8900 I have been using one for about 18 months with a Chord Dave front end its excellent with both my Senn hd 800 and Hifiman he6 best I've heard both sound in 9-10 years of owning them.

Stereophile have a recent review which includes use with speakers and headphones.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-74-elekit-tu-8900-kit-amplifier

 

[AussieMick]

If anyone needs a banana plugs to 4 pin XLR cable I’m selling one. Black Dragon, one week old, mint condition. I bought it for a headphone I didn’t end up purchasing.

 

[smodtactical]

Anyone have good success using a tube speaker power amp or tube speaker integrated to amp with their headphones? Also is the fact most speaker amps Run at an 8 ohm impedance a disadvantage compared to some headphone amplifiers that have a selectable impedance for example for a 300 ome headphone