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Whest MC REF V - my new christmas present

Well I took the plunge and ordered the new MC REF V version 4.
I had one in my system for about a week and was totally bowled over with just how it plays. Yes it's MUCH better than the RDT Special Edition in every area but what I found is that the 30R and RDT are related sound-wise, whereas the RDT Special Edition is MORE related to the MC REF V.

After having the unit in for a week and experiencing real 'music' I got in contact with James at Whest Audio. He put me on to this - his distributor in Singapore (Modular Audio) has just taken delivery of the MC REF V MK4 and this is what they had to say:

'I am very happy to tell you the MC Ref V sounded awesome even I am at the early stage of run-in. Many customers were dropping jaws how a phonostage could transform our showroom main system. Compare to the RDT, it is certainly a few steps up in terms of sonic qualities. To me, I felt it is
really organic and as near as one could get from the original masters. This is the best phono stage I have heard so far - and in my years of playing, I've heard most of the the best brands out there. Two thumbs up!'

I felt pretty much the same thing. It's more organic and 'real' and seems to just get out of the way. Even with my current setup, the performance upgrade is a huge step up. Far bigger than I thought possible. It has made me realise that I have been upgrading cartridges much sooner than I needed to! I could have stayed with my old Linn Troika and still ended up with a great sound. The MC REF V really brings out the very best of what you have - and more.

It should be with me in about 3 weeks, I can't wait.
dcarol
lewm
13,717 posts
 
The Whest website is singularly uninformative as to what goes into their products, except to intimate that they use bipolar transistors, "high voltage", "high current", and lots of voltage regulators (20 in the case of the Ref V). Also, they use Clarity caps, which are reported by others to be superb metallized film caps. No fancy hyper-expensive teflons or oil caps. Others whom I respect also tell me that bipolars are better sounding for phono amplification than are MOSFETs or JFETs. The RDTse, or whatever it's called, appears to be more useful for high output cartridges, as its gain can be reduced to 40db, whereas the Ref V minimum gain is 53db, aimed at low output MC cartridges.

Dcarol, You say the power supply is "integrated". Does this mean that the PS is on the same mono chassis as the phono circuit it supplies, in the case of the Ref V? Is the same true of the RDT, meaning there is no separated outboard PS chassis? (The photos on the website imply that this is the case, since no PS chassis is shown for either unit.)

Whest gets a lot of favorable comment, and I am interested in learning more.
curio's avatar
curio
305 posts
 
Lewm ..inside the RDT and SE .. and I suspect also the PS30R .. there is a metal plate as a "bulkhead" that separate or divide the transformers area from the phono mother board area.
I'not a great english linquist and I apologize for this .. but I guess you understood what I tried to explain
petng's avatar
petng
0 posts
 
My unit was the only one in Australia, the manufacturer date was Oct 2009.

What was the UK price of the Mk 3.

I still find it hard to believe that they have increased the already expensive price by 67%!!!!
sbrown
148 posts
 
"It's £9900 in the UK including VAT."

That's £8425 w/o VAT which equates to $13230 in the US at current exhange rates. The US distributor is marking this up by 50% over the UK retail price. Nice.
petng's avatar
petng
0 posts
 
As if there isn't enough mark up already !!
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