Rhea Noise

Dear amigo Raul,
You unfortunately wrote, "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."

Come on, man. That is way over the top. The argument against this notion is too old even for me to bother to reiterate it. In this day and age, transistors and tubes can both be used to build fabulous gear. For very low voltage input signals, like those emanating from LOMC phono cartridges, a transistor circuit has some advantages in terms of noise. Period.

Lew,
Why criticize a four year-old comment? FWIW, Raul has since heard at least one tube phono/line preamp that rivals his SS one, even to his ears. Today he might agree with you.

Xagwell,
Glad you resolved the noise issues. You say you wouldn't trade your Rhea for anything and we should all be happy with our gear, else why own it? Still, it might be prudent to say you wouldn't trade for anything you've heard.

I've been a powerful and apparently convincing advocate of a particular tonearm for five years. A fair number of people have bought one based partly on that advocacy and it does perform superbly when used to the fullest.

Still, I just A/B'd a new arm in my system which just blew it away. I've never said I wouldn't trade it for anything and now I'm glad I didn't, all I need is the funds. The same could happen with your Rhea, so be careful what you listen to!

Mr. Doug Deacon your point is well taken. We live, we learn, and we grow.......but the following may give you some idea of my propensity or lack there of for change in this hobby:
Pre Amp 12 yrs
Phono 4 yrs
CD 12 yrs although I did add a DAC
Monoblocks 5 yrs
Turntable 12 yrs
Spkr cable 17 yrs
Spkrs 5 yrs
Sub 16 yrs
Power Cond 8 yrs

No audiophilia nervosa here! Glad to see someone enjoying their system and the music, instead of changing gear faster than I change socks. ;-)

Xagwell, I guess the Rhea didn't work out for you.