@david_ten , will try to reach out and discuss with them.
@atmasphere , I wanted to make sure that it was not really a generic issue. Backert Labs do mention that all their preamps are single ended, with XLR out. I don't think, for that matter, that my Parasound A21 is fully balanced. But when it is connected to the preamp via XLR, it sounds amazing.
@1markr ,You have a beautiful setup. I see that that you even have tube power amps. Did you compare the Coincident Line stage with Backert? Good to know that you don't have issues with the Rhumba. Wonder why not many folks are using it. Does your Coincident amp have XLR in? Did you get a chance to compare the Backer Lab connected to the amp via XLR Vs RCA?
@hifiman5 ,Thank You for the reference.
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@1markr ,
You are welcome. Good to know that you liked the Rhumba so much, as to not return it.
@soix ,
You are more than welcome to add to this thread. While I blame Ralph for getting me to start looking into tubes, I want to "wet my feet" first. The MP3 may be really good, but is currently out of my price range and also comfort (no. of tubes) range. Don Sach's SP14 looks good, but not on my list. Thank You for sharing.
I have decided to reach out to Backert Labs with my specific questions. But one point on their site that concerns me is - "
A side-effect of using a single gain stage is that our models invert phase.". The link to that page is missing.
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@jwpstayman , thanks for pointing that. But I managed to talk to Andy at Backert Labs and he answered all my questions. Looks like the new Rhumbas do not do phase inversion issue, since a transformer that they use inside does it (not sure if I put it the right way, as Andy explained).
I am impressed how much time Andy took to answer my specific questions related to hum, phase inversions, tube life, volume control, etc. Andy also told mentioned about a very good upgrade path for existing users. Besides the Parasound JC2 and Jeff Rowland Capri S2, I think I will seriously consider the Rhumba as a preamp upgrade. Frankly this is probably my number one preference for now. |
@sbank ,Thank You for the reference. It does help to know this detail because reviewers have a different expectations than designers.
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@axo0oxa , Yes, I spoke to Andy about the polarity and he did mention that it was correct polarity with the new models. But he did not mention anything about the "true balanced" design for XLR. In fact, if you go to the following page, it mentions "
The Rhumba has 9dB of gain (we can adjust this to suit your specific system) and is single-ended". http://backertlabs.com/press-release/ So, I am not sure the difference between "Balanced" Vs "true Balanced" that Ralph often refers to. I am hoping that the Rhumba is much more transparent than my TVC. I am assuming that, it being active, it would naturally sound more dynamic. I do not have a turntable, so phono stage does not matter. But Andy mention that they are coming up with a phono stage later. HT pass through - again it is of no use to me. I would rather have that converted to another XLR IN, if they do it. Thank You for sharing your positive experiences with this preamp. I found the following instragram message from Backert Labs that is interesting: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg7qbLqBEii/ |
@bdp24 ,Thank You for letting me know about EAR. I will research a bit and find more information. Yes, who does not know Tim de Paravicino. I do have a few Water Lily SACDs.
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Thank You @audiothesis and @philipwu
@philipwu ,
Do you have the Rhythm 1.1 or the 1.2? Like hifiman5, I would like to hear about the differences between your Rhythm and the Rhumba that you previously owned. Now was that Rhumba 1.1 or 1.2? |
Folks,
One question - when I think about tubes and the demos at audio shows it was always some vocals or smokey jazz or classical. But I do occasionally listen (and I am not bashful about it) to Michael Jackson, George Michael, etc - so pop from 80s/90s. My kids do sometimes come into the room and listen to the current pop like Justin Beiber, Uncle Kracker, etc. How does this kind of music sound with tubes? With my TVC, it sounds pretty transparent and clean. Does tubes make this kind of music sound "slow and syrupy"? Will I have to keep switching between the tube preamp and the TVC to get best of both worlds? Mind you - I listen to female/male vocals, classic rock, jazz and classical 80-85% of the time. |
@1markr ,I was not talking about the Backert. I was talking about "tube preamps" in general. I would not like to loose the pace and clarity of my system. Warmth - no issues - I was told that ProAcs are meant for that.
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I have now lived with the Backert Labs Rhumba 1.3 for about 4 months and thought I would give my feedback on this preamp. First I should acknowledge that this is a preamp that has ALL the traits of my TVC (sold off), AND adds dynamics that I only found out after adding this preamp to my system. My ProAcs sounds the "full range" that they are.
My biggest worry was the loss of transparency if I went active. On first listen thought that I had lost transparency, only to immediately realize that the transparency is still there, but I was not used to the extended low end that this premp produced in my system. The highs are also more airy than the TVC. Contrary to what I feared, this preamp adds "life" to discs that have excellent dynamic range. I say this because the CDs that are a "loudness mess" sounded fine with the TVC, but the well recorded CDs (example Hobo, Sara K) did not sound as impressive as they do with the Rhumba. I can say this NOW, because I have now experienced how these CDs should sound like. I have a feeling that a TVC would sound great with a tube amp and a super sensitive loudspeaker. In my system, it sounded very good, but nothing close to the magic that the Rhumba 1.3 is doing.With the Rhumba 1.3, I am enjoying my music collection as if I purchased them all new again. At my listening position I can actually "feel" the bass that it produces with my ProAc D48. This never happened with the TVC. But again, I should not blame the TVC for that. If anything I have to blame myself, because I was always worried to take the volume past 18 (of the 24 positions) on the TVC, fearing that it would not sound good. My gripe about this preamp is that CDs that have messed up recording (dynamics) are played as-is, without making them sound good. Example is John Mayer Continuum CD. It sounds pretty loud at 9'O clock position and it does not sound as impressive. I always thought of tubes as "thick syrupy" sound. Fortunately this is not true. Some "brittle" sounding CDs still sound bright in the treble range.This preamp comes with the new issue of Mullard tubes. They sound pretty good. But Thanks to @almarg. I have replaced them with Gold Lion tubes for the added midrange magic and extended dynamics at both end of the sound spectrum. Vocals sound so real with these tubes. Of course, with the new preamp, I had to reposition my loudspeakers for the best possible sound. Thought I never missed remote control for the past 9 years that I used the TVC,
I love the remote volume control. The remote has only 2 buttons, but the weight is substantial. The tube replacement cover is pretty neat. I used to keep it open while listening to the system, for the first month. But I was told that this premp has the appropriate design to vent out heat and I need not keep the cover open.All in all, I am super happy ( as if you cannot make that out from above) with this preamp. Sorry, if it sounds as if I was advertising this preamp - but no, I am not. I am thrilled with what it has brought in my system and listening experience. Thanks to Ralph, Almarg and my dealer who pushed me to get a tube preamp. And thank you to all the Rhumba users who provided me with their feedback. |
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@rdoc,Good to know. What are your source and loudspeakers?The Rhumba throws a huge soundstage in my system.
The Rhumba acts as a measurement tool for me. If I am able to listen to CDs at 10 o'Clock position, it tells me the recording on the CD is not dynamically compressed. If it gets loud by 9 o'clock position, then the recording sucks.
I am absolutely thrilled by this preamp.
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@maguiar102,
I have never had tubes in my system. Last year was the first time I went with tubes. The Rhumba runs the tubes gently. So the tube life is pretty good. I believe it is a few years. And replacing tubes is not that difficult. I used to think that tubes have thin glass. That changed when I replaced the Mullards in the Rhumba with a pair of Gold Lions. This is a very musical preamp and I hope you get to try one in your system. If it does not work, you can always return it. Which I doubt you will.
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Bringing this thread to life to find out from current Backert Rhumba users on what is the volume position on the dial that they generally use for listening?
My story is that I used to use it 90% of the time between 9 and 9:30 position and it sounded fine. Very rare SACD recordings used to allow me to bump it to 10 or even 11 o'clock position. But recently came across this thread on Oppo UDP-205 that I use as my DAC. Apparently, setting the volume control setting to "variable" you can go down to 70 (from a max 100 = Fixed), without loosing the resolution. I experimented with the setting and I have set it to 90 now. With this I am able to get anywhere between 12 and 1 o'clock position comfortably. Some SACDs might allow me to go to 2 o'clock position - is my guess.The best part is that, this gives the music more texture and I can hear better nuances. The system sound more natural now and what I used to think as "fine" before, now sounds more strident. Bob in that thread discusses how we do not lose resolution by lowering the output level to a certain point.
TBH, I never used to like the idea of a DAC with "variable" volume control. Suddenly I am ALL for "variable" volume control in a DAC, as long as we do not lose resolution. If at all, with all the "loudness war", we only stand to gain more resolution (not in the recording, but output of playback). Have you all experienced this? I am thrilled to say the least.
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My bad, the level I have set on “variable” output is 80 and not 90.
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