Rhea Noise

Dear Xagwell: The all tube Phonopreamps were not designed for low output MC cartridges. As a fact, this technology is not the right one for use in Phono stages.

If you really care about the quality music sound reproduction through analog technology you must to go for and SS active gain Phonopreamp, it is the best choice and is the best choice not only because the reduced noise/distortions and high gain but because only the SS technology can give you an accurate ( +,- 0.05 db from 20 Hz to 20 kHz ) inverse RIAA eq. that is the the most important characteristic on any Phonopreamp and as a fact that inverse RIAA eq. is the reason why we need those high gain active Phonopreamps.

The problem of noise that every all tube Phonopreamp has it has nothing to do with the type of the tubes or the quality of them or good/bad design, the problem is that the tube technology is totally inadequated for use it on Phonopreamps, that's all.

Don't change the tubes on your Phonopreamp, it does not work ( don't loose more time and money ): you have to change your Phonopreamp!!!!!!!!!

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Marakanetz the point I wanted to make is that the Rhea is a VERY GOOD phono stage, the problem with it, is that compared to the very best, it is a LITTLE noisy. Most of what the Rhea does, it does very well. The issue of the noise was what prevented me from buying it. It sounds very good, it's just too noisy for me, and appearantly some others too.

Rauliruegas, I'm curious... If vacuum tube phono amps are so inferior for the reproduction of vinyl sourced music than why is it that vacuum tubes were used in most of the finest recordings and mastering processes of all time? Just one modern day example might be the Analogue Productions 45RPM Fantasy jazz series. I have yet to hear a plausible explanation for why tubes stir my emotions greater than transistors. I’m really surprised that with that stream of logic you don’t prefer digital. Truly, I do not mean to insult you, please don’t take it that way but, I just don’t understand and I don’t agree. Happy Listening!

Dear R f: +++++ " I have yet to hear a plausible explanation for why tubes stir my emotions greater than transistors. " +++++

This " explanation " is almost imposible to have, there is too many issues about: first depends on your live music experience and if this live music is your " reference ", second, your trainy ears in live music againts reproduced music, third, music priorities, fourth, how good SS design you heard it and how well those SS audio devices make good synergy, fifth, how much time do you take to desequalized your " tube " ears and to equalize on SS " ears ".

The fact that many people ( like you ) likes the heavy distorted and colored tube sound does not means that is the right way to go.
You can travel from NY to Madrid: " swiming ", but this does not means that it is the best way to go!!!!!!!!!

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

The issue here comes down to how much one is sensitive to tube rush. What Xagwell is trying to describe to us sounds like the normal tube rush associated with the Rhea. Since the gain stages are all tube, it is normal to expect some extra tube rush as the gain is increased. Whether or not this is the "ideal" way to apply gain (vs. JFETs) is not really the issue here. There is no question that the Rhea performs extremely well.

Anyone auditioning the Rhea, or any other tube phonostage, is going to have to answer the quesion, how much tube rush does it take to bother you? I came from stages like the EAR 834P which had far more noticeable tube rush than the Rhea. I have used a .25mV denon with the Rhea at a gain setting of about 62dB and still I have to get very close to my speakers to hear any tube rush and it is certainly not audible when the stylus drops. I have swapped out the stock tubes.

Maybe this is semantics, but I don't think of tube rush as noise. If you're hearing more than what I have described then I would tend to think that you are either more sensitive to rush or there is perhaps something amiss with the unit you're listening to.