Jump to content

Rudistor.....impressions?


KenW

Recommended Posts

I'm looking for a balanced SS amp for a second rig and have turned my attention to this line. I've not paid much attention to Rudi's offerings in the past but have been peeking at his website of late. Any users(past or present) of his gear care to give me some thoughts/impressions? Build quality looks good on the surface, but I've been down that road before. It's nice to have the cosmetic appeal, but I'm really concerned about the inner workings and performance. Appreciate any feedback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I wouldn't touch a Rudistor on general principle given that Sovkiller is the North American distributor for them, and I have absolute contempt for that asshole.

What?? When did he assume that role? I hadn't heard about this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's been Rudistor's distributor for a while now.

I don't get to read up on things as much as I did. Really, I get to log in and periodically check the headlines and a few posts. Looks like I'm always on, but the reality is my time actually reading the websites is very small. Guess I'm behind and need to catch up. Really had no idea he was in that position now.

Kevin Gilmore has posted some interesting comments on rudidistor amps. And they arn't what I would call good comments. :P

Biggie.

Did a search but didn't see anything from KG on this. Likely overlooked the comments. What thread were they in and I'll see if I can find it. Thanks for the tip. Should make for some enlightened reading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did a search but didn't see anything from KG on this. Likely overlooked the comments. What thread were they in and I'll see if I can find it. Thanks for the tip. Should make for some enlightened reading.

Head-fi thread in the DIY forum, in the KG's thread about his 6AR8 hybrid amp. From which we learn that Rudistor doesn't understand too much about amp design, and that's putting it a little kindly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm told it's been that way for some time now, and I wasn't exactly surprised given how he's been a Rudistor shill for ages.

http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,933.0.html

Good grief...I posted in that thread! How in hades did I forget about it?!?!? Getting old really STINKS. :(

Head-fi thread in the DIY forum, in the KG's thread about his 6AR8 hybrid amp. From which we learn that Rudistor doesn't understand too much about amp design, and that's putting it a little kindly.

Found it! Since I'm a piss poor DIY'er and have only so-so soldering skills, I don't frequent that board much.....er...at all, so it's clear why I missed it. Yeah, that's it....it's not that I'm approaching AARP age and my original equipment is failing me. I refuse to believe that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From my experience with them at meets, the Rudi amps generally sound more colored than I'd want (upper-midrange emphasis on the RP010 for instance), and the interior pics really leave me scratching my head sometimes, particularly when it come to how he heatsinks output transistors. Also, his amps seem to be "sell the sizzle, not the steak" sort of efforts. Example: the RP010 has massive heatsinks on either side that would be suitable for cooling a dynahi or dynamite, but on the inside there is only one small transistor on either heatsink, which never puts out enough heat to make the heatsink anything beyond room temperature. So not only do you have to pay for and lug around uselessly giant heatsinks, they give the impression that the amp is much more class-A or powerful than it really is.

As much as I'm not a fan of the somewhat Sennheiser-esque coloration of Headroom amps, I'd MUCH rather have one than one of Rudi's blatantly colored, questionably built, questionably-supported products.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned RP5.1 and it was a very good amplifier for HD650. It worked very well with many other headphones also.

There were some quality control issues though. I had some problems with the amp but the customer service was excellent. I shipped the amp back to Italy and got it back in 1,5 weeks fully repaired and some upgrades done also. Rudi also included his interconnect cables (price on Rudistor website was 100EUR back then) to cover my shipping expenses. After the repairs I had no problems with it anymore.

His amps seem slightly overpriced but hey, what doesn't these days.

I don't know much about the construction or components used so no comments about them.

I sold it because I went for a speaker rig but later on came back to headphones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When a guy from Zurich returned a now discontinued amp, which sounded rather bad (I can see why it's discontinued) Rudi refused give him the refund in cash but gave him Rudistor vouchers instead. Useless obviously because he never wanted to buy another Rudistor amp again. Rudi was also very difficult to deal with as he told me. But since he was a nice guy, he waited for half a year or more, and I think eventually got his money back after a lot more bitching. Never went public on headfi although he should have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When a guy from Zurich returned a now discontinued amp, which sounded rather bad (I can see why it's discontinued) Rudi refused give him the refund in cash but gave him Rudistor vouchers instead. Useless obviously because he never wanted to buy another Rudistor amp again. Rudi was also very difficult to deal with as he told me. But since he was a nice guy, he waited for half a year or more, and I think eventually got his money back after a lot more bitching. Never went public on headfi although he should have.

Thanks for the info. Looking like a beta22 is in my future.....I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.