Whest ps.30r

Crystalref: "I can honestly say that the designer, James Henriott, has kept all the previous atributes of the PS.30RDT and has produced a phono stage that also has that elusive valve-like organic structure but without the noise pitfalls."

I have the PS30 RDT SE at home since 4 days and I can't say more about the difference with my previous PS30 RDT .. the unit is new and needs more break in time to be properly evaluated.
But I can already agree with Crystalref the SE is totally different sounding machine compared to the standard 30RDT .. and more on the valve side than the standard version.
I 'll add more opinions/thoughts when the unit 'll have finished its break in time.

My cent!

Yes, you need to give it a few days,which I also found when I had the 30RDT. About 4-6 days into the Special Edition it settles nicely BUT like many upgrades in my system I have always found that going from the better to worse was MUCH easier to hear than the other way around.

Just spoke to a friend in who has just heard the Special Edition and compared it to the Rhea...he laughed and ordered the Special Edition. He called the Special Edition an audio bargain!

Thank you all for the interesting replies; I have however gone another route. I gave the RDT a listen and though an improvement on the ps.30R still not what I was looking for. I am now using a Conrad Johnson premier 15 series 2 with great success and no regrets. I cannot comment on the Special edition it may well be completely different to the standard RDT but for now and the foreseeable future the system has never sounded better..The musical and emotional connection to the music is extremely satisfying with the CJ. I have lived with the ps.20 the .30 ref and used the RDT briefly so can attest to their well documented virtues. As you move up the line the improvements are gradual but significant. At £4500 the RDT special edition had better be in a different league to the phono stages before it, for that money one would expect it to be nothing less than sublime. Thanks again for all the responses. My search is over.

Great stuff. The most important thing is that you end up with something that works for 'you'. Yes the RDT Special Edition IS very different to the RDT and is in a very different league, but it's all about the music after all is said and how it makes you feel.

10-09-10: Dcarol
The reviewers are 'paid' by manufacturers so how on earth can you get an unbiased review.

in the past, you could get good, critical reviews of audio equipment. today, i find them to be suspect because the reviewers frequently have conflicts of interest that are typically not disclosed to the readers. that is why i look for reviews to provide not only the subjective opinions of the reviewer, but objective data that provides some degree of support for the subjective opinions.

what i need to see with regard to the whest ps.30rdt se is some quantitative data. if the ps.30rdt se is that much better than the ps.30rdt, there must be some data that reflects that improvement. this stuff isn't magic; when mr. henriot designed the special edition there had to be the objectively measurable data that guided him in the design process that allowed him to the end product. granted, the final product was the result of actual listening, but he presumably didn't end up with the special edition by pure luck. so the questions in my mind (that i would like to see answered in reviews) is what is it that the special edition does better? does it have improved RIAA accuracy? it the snr improved? is the channel sepeartion improved? is the frequency response improved? is distortion reduced? is phase accuracy improved?

it's easy to say: just listen and "trust your ears" but from my perspective, there is a lot of equipment out there and i can't possible listen to all of it, or even a lot of it. so i need data to cut down the number of candidates. in the past, you got plenty of data and reviewers who would actually criticize equipment; today you get relatively sparce data and a lot more marketing hype. i suppose the way the high end audio market works today reflects much of the customer base for these products so it is what it is, but it makes it difficult for those of us who don't like to believe that the way this stuff works is all "magic".