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A weird thing happened to my Red Wine Audio 30.2..

I love my RWA signature 30.2 amp and in my system it works perfectly. In fact I like it so much that I thought I would take it to my local high-end store and show it off, since I was sure it would impress. However, when I hooked it up in the store it just did not bring the sound I am used to hearing from it. My friends who run the store justifiably shrugged it off and proceeded to swap three different, comparably priced amps, in to the same system, and one after another they wiped the floor with my pride and joy Red Wine Audio signature 30.2. The fundamental difference was in the much greater dynamics of these other amps to my 30.2. Is it possible that in moving it around or placing it in my very cold car for the drive over something might have happened to it? I'm basically wondering if others have had inconsistent results with their red wine amps. I am so confused and feel quite embarassed for having talked it up so much. My confidence in my amp is quite shaken.
128x128jamiek
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
How long was the drive, and how cold was it. How did you pack it up for the drive (original box, placed in trunk, on passanger seat?) I have heard of caps needing to acclimate to room temperature (coming in from the cold) before you should power them on, not to mention getting the best sound.
cyclonicman
693 posts
 
Invite your friends back to your palce to hear your rig! Maybe he can bring some of his equipment to you.
glory's avatar
glory
1,614 posts
 
Jam,

You are killing us with your silence.

Answer the JAM questions.
markwatkiss
508 posts
 
Chin up old boy as the British say.I owned a Red Wine 30.2 it was an awesome amp in my system,bested both a Cary V12 and a Bryston 4BSST.For additional reassurance read the 6moons review,it's a world class amp.
jamiek's avatar
jamiek OP
43 posts
 
The speakers I have in my system are Focal Profile 918s. I can't be sure but I would guess that they are not hugely unlike the Triangles that were in my friends store and that we hooked up to my amp. I was sure to do the test on speakers that were efficient enough to work with my amp, and as it turns out the Triangles had a very similar impedance to my Focals. While I am pretty sure my Focals are more to my liking than the Triangles, I can't attribute the outcome of the test to this discrepancy. I typically use an arcam cd36 or a project turntable as a source. In the store we used an esoteric cd player (I don't recall the model, but it was current). Also I use Cardas Golden Reference interconnects and Acoustic Zen Hollograph speaker cables in my system, as well as Shunyata power cables and a Shunyata Hydra for my cd player. Finally, the drive over was about 15 min and since I live in Canada and park outside my car was really cold, about -5 or -10 for most of the ride.

While there were many variables I could associate with what happened, we did our best to interchange many cables as well as sources and in total I ran the unit for nearly two hours in the store, all of which which did help to level the playing field a little. I should note that while the Signature 30.2 did produce a much better sound over the two hours period, it was still disappointing. When I first hooked it up it sounded worse than I care to talk about. I was truly stunned.

Anyway, with my tail between my legs I returned home and hooked it back up to my system and, bingo, it was great sounding again. I really do like my amp, but I can't explain what happened during the test at the store. The outcome led one store employee to refer to my Red Wine as an amp "for kids". Exactly what that means, I don't know, but, well, ya.

In the end I am siding with the positive comments left by you all since I know what my amp can do when things align and it's damn great sound.
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