Music Reference RM9 and Preamp Experiences

Maybe the Cary SLP-98 could be worth a spin here. With the right combination of 6SN7 tubes the sound could be tailored a bit. Overall the signature is classic Cary with lush mids, but some Tungsols or RCA red base 5692's could even that out a bit.

As I've gone down this path and spent countless hours (and $$$) listening I've slowly come to the conclusion that engineering logic like that exhibited by the likes of Roger Modjeski and Jack Elliano are right.

The idea of if it measures good it sounds good has some merit to it.

Of course we all hear differently and have our preferences so that's why our hobby and the industry that caters to it exists.

BTW - I own an RM-10 and Lightspeed and I have to say this combination is difficult to beat at it's price point and then some.

I've been at Roger's place a couple tines and know he does listen. I think like most his designs have a house sound. I also know he spends a lot of time measuring, specifically for distortion and hum. He is probably one of the few designers who publishes the hum measurements for his amps.

I know one thing, the RM-10 is one quiet amp, more so than my S-30 and Auricle Musicblocs. It is probably the quietest amp I've had in my system since my solid state TRL D-225.

Not only does Roger eschew audio voodoo and pixie dust, he also challenges standard engineering principals of application design and feedback. Anyone who can make a EL84 amp which outputs twice the watts or more than other EL-84's do (writing his own Class AB2 application versus copying/modifying what's generally available in the books), uses 14db of negative feedback (when most advertise "zero" feedback), is dead quiet, and sounds magical to boot must know something about electrical engineering and audio design.