Rothwell Rialto phono stage ?

[Teo]

Found a couple of positive reviews but it seems that there are not very well known by most ...Did anybody heard one of them ?

 

[Al ears]

Yes I have heard it and it is a cracking little device. Not much to look at, granted, but it's thesound that it produces that matters.

A good buy if you can find one. Are you in the UK?

 

[DIB]

I recently had a Rothwell Rialto on a weeks home demo, along with a Graham Slee Reflex M phono amp.

Both extremely good amps, but the Graham Slee with upgraded PSU came in at over £300 more than the Rialto, and to my ears was no better.

Rothwell Audio do a cheaper model, the Simplex. This is MM only, and I checked with Rothwell and they confirmed that it is identical to the Rialto minus the MC stage.

As good as both the Rothwell and Graham Slee amps were, I thought that my internal Creek phonoboard held its own, and so I would also suggest that you consider the Creek OBH-15 Mk2 as an alternative option. Retails for approx the same price as the Rothwell Simplex.

Around this price range it is highly competitive, and I think there is tremendous choice of phono amps.

.

 

[Teo]

Thank you for your answer ,Al ears , I live in Romania .

I want to upgrade my 640P wich is doing a good job , after all ,for the money I paid for , but I'd like a jump in sound quality for not too much money. I need LOMC for my Benz ,but I'd like to have MM capability too . Other contender would be the iFi IPhono (better price , flexibility of settings ). The Graham Slee Era V is MM only , and the Heed Quasar MM (even better priced ) supose both a good SUT to use my Benz and I don't afford one. Sadly , I can't listen none of these :wall:

 

[DIB]

Thank you for your answer ,Al ears , I live in Romania .

I want to upgrade my 640P wich is doing a good job , after all ,for the money I paid for , but I'd like a jump in sound quality for not too much money. I need LOMC for my Benz ,but I'd like to have MM capability too . Other contender would be the iFi IPhono (better price , flexibility of settings ). The Graham Slee Era V is MM only , and the Heed Quasar MM (even better priced ) supose both a good SUT to use my Benz and I don't afford one. Sadly , I can't listen none of these :wall:

Graham Slee do a home loan scheme, that's what I did, and all it cost me was the P & P both ways.

I realise you are in Romania, but go on the Graham Slee website and check out if you could organise something similar for your country.

.

 

[Teo]

I recently had a Rothwell Rialto on a weeks home demo, along with a Graham Slee Reflex M phono amp.

Both extremely good amps, but the Graham Slee with upgraded PSU came in at over £300 more than the Rialto, and to my ears was no better.

Rothwell Audio do a cheaper model, the Simplex. This is MM only, and I checked with Rothwell and they confirmed that it is identical to the Rialto minus the MC stage.

As good as both the Rothwell and Graham Slee amps were, I thought that my internal Creek phonoboard held its own, and so I would also suggest that you consider the Creek OBH-15 Mk2 as an alternative option. Retails for approx the same price as the Rothwell Simplex.

Around this price range it is highly competitive, and I think there is tremendous choice of phono amps.

.

Thank you, DIB !

Just now I saw your answer , very useful ! So the Creek OBH 15 is as good as the Rothwell ? But does it do MC ?

 

[ifor]

You can listen to any of the Slee phono stages if you join the Slee owners club forum, as DIB did. Have a look and if you join just hunt out the link for the European Loaner Scheme.

 

[DIB]

Thank you, DIB !

Just now I saw your answer , very useful ! So the Creek OBH 15 is as good as the Rothwell ? But does it do MC ?

Yes it does both MM & MC.

http://www.creekaudio.com/phono-pre-amplifiers/obh-15mk2/

I suggested the Creek OBH-15 Mk2 as I felt that my Creek Sequel 40 MM phonoboard was comparable to both the Rothwell & Graham Slee to MY ears, and that model will in all likelihood exhibit similar traits, and is at a similar budget level.

.

 

[Teo]

OBH 15 added on the list 🙂 , and also found a Lehmann Audio Black Cube on ebay new (, not the statement ,not the SE) in the same price as the Rothwell Simplex and OBH 15

 

[Al ears]

Good. Have fun. Out of that lot I'd still recommend the Rialto with your Benz. 🙂

 

[Teo]

🙂 Mmmm' I'll let you know .... 🙂

 

[DIB]

Good. Have fun. Out of that lot I'd still recommend the Rialto with your Benz. 🙂

Certainly if I did not already have the Creek phonoboard, the Rothwell Rialto or Simplex would be right at the top of my list.

.

 

[Al ears]

Forget the Rialto and anything else.

There is a Tom Evans Microgroove Plus going on eBay for £369 buy-it-now.

Get this Teo as it will decimate the others for sound quality. 😉

 

[Teo]

Forget the Rialto and anything else.

There is a Tom Evans Microgroove Plus going on eBay for £369 buy-it-now.

Get this Teo as it will decimate the others for sound quality. 😉

Thank you for the tip !

The seller states it is set at 0.2mV input and can take 0.15-0.4 mV input and my Benz gives 0.5 mV ,so 2.5 x over the nominal input . I'm wondering if this couldn't give some clipping distorsions ? :?

 

[Teo]

Curious about how much my amp/speakers would show an obvious difference against the 640P and would become a limiting factor ? Probably nobody could say until I'll listen >)

 

[Al ears]

Forget the Rialto and anything else.

There is a Tom Evans Microgroove Plus going on eBay for £369 buy-it-now.

Get this Teo as it will decimate the others for sound quality. 😉

Thank you for the tip !

The seller states it is set at 0.2mV input and can take 0.15-0.4 mV input and my Benz gives 0.5 mV ,so 2.5 x over the nominal input . I'm wondering if this couldn't give some clipping distorsions ? :?

You could always email Tom Evans to find out .

Here:- http://www.audiodesign.co.uk/

 

[Teo]

The seller doesn't agree to post the Microgroove to me so ,problem solved ! 🙂

 

[Teo]

Curious about how much my amp/speakers would show an obvious difference against the 640P and would become a limiting factor ? Probably nobody could say until I'll listen >)

NOW I KNOW !

After upgrading my speakers ( new Epos Elan 10 in the stable :cheers: ) there is a clear difference in sound quality between the CD section and the vinyl one (wich sounds clearly less transparent and airy and more congested especially on crowded musical passages ,with less detail and clarity and more shrillness in the upper registres ).This wasn't evident at all with the previous speakers (M5).

Because I am using the same integrated it's clear that the trouble is in the vinyl section and I suspect that the phono stage doesn't stands up to the level of transparency of the amp/speakers combo.

So , beig shure that I have a sistem that will show the differences between the 640P and the next Phono stage ,I'll go back searching ...

Al ears , you made me curious about Tom Evans Microgroove Plus ...just it is MC only and set usually at 0.2 mV I know they can change this at the factory , but this adds a lot of hassle :?

 

[Al ears]

Curious about how much my amp/speakers would show an obvious difference against the 640P and would become a limiting factor ? Probably nobody could say until I'll listen >)

NOW I KNOW !

After upgrading my speakers ( new Epos Elan 10 in the stable :cheers: ) there is a clear difference in sound quality between the CD section and the vinyl one (wich sounds clearly less transparent and airy and more congested especially on crowded musical passages ,with less detail and clarity and more shrillness in the upper registres ).This wasn't evident at all with the previous speakers (M5).

Because I am using the same integrated it's clear that the trouble is in the vinyl section and I suspect that the phono stage doesn't stands up to the level of transparency of the amp/speakers combo.

So , beig shure that I have a sistem that will show the differences between the 640P and the next Phono stage ,I'll go back searching ...

Al ears , you made me curious about Tom Evans Microgroove Plus ...just it is MC only and set usually at 0.2 mV I know they can change this at the factory , but this adds a lot of hassle :?

FYI,

The MicroGroove+ and many of Evans' stable of phono horses are built to suit either low output MC or high output MC/MM/Decca specifications, the 'X' version in MC form provides 5 values of cartridge loading per channel to support a wide range of MC cartridges. A word to the wise, the less costly "MicroGroove" (sans appellation) phono sections are built to particular cartridges.

Although it has to be set in the 'Plus' version you will find most Moving Magnet or Lo-output moving coils were in a very similar output range so this should not really limit your choice of cartridges (except for the fact you will hae to opt for one type or the other) .