RITA-880 who's got one? And what do you think?

Sound Dragon

Yawns and sets his couch on fire!
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I know a couple of AK'ers have this fine looking amp and I am really interested in your opinions good or bad. My listening space has gone through a dramatic shift with recent life events and I find that an integrated amp is just more convenient at this time. So with tax return season approaching I am strongly considering upgrading to something more substantial. Perhaps RITA might fit the bill? I am in research mode at the moment so any and all input would really help. Besides this amp probably deserves its own thread, right? Also Ian could you post some pics of the new black faceplate please. My preference is anodized aluminum more in line with the Tube Dac 09 and P-307. Even the chrome looks fresh and different. But with the market trend I can understand the switch to black. Would silver or aluminum be an option now or in a future production run? I am currently in the process of restoring/upgrading a pair of Klipsch forte speakers which are efficient to say the least.Thanks for your forth coming comments.
 
I'll take some tomorrow and post them.

Update, demo left for an audition tour in Lethbridge (AB), should have it back next week and will update the pics for the new faceplate.

Cheers,
Ian
 
My Rita-880 and how I got there

I’m glad you asked. I’ve been meaning to write this for about two months now.

I’ve had a Rita since about August of 2010. I think it is one of the sweetest sounding amps I’ve ever heard let alone owned. Make that sweet with power. In early spring of 2010 I upgraded from a 200-300 wpc transistor amp to a modern Dynaco ST-120 (hand made by the designer of the upgrades). It came with Sovtek KT-88 and made 45-60 watts a side in triode or pentode mode. It sounded great, heads and shoulders above the transistor amp. There were things I could hear in songs I’ve had in heavy rotation for a decade that I had not heard before. For instance, the fingers sliding into place on the guitar in the left channel on “Bridge of Sighs” about 6 seconds into the song, or hearing the high hat start to vibrate in the left channel during Kieth Richard’s right channel guitar intro on “Struggle” on the “Talk is Cheap” album. It was not just like lifting some blanket that had been hanging between me and the music, it was more like waking up and hearing it while wide awake for the first time.

Before I get to Rita-880 I should talk about the signal path. I’ve ripped everything to aiff files on a home made openSolaris zfs Nas box with 14 2TB disks in a quiet Zalman case on the third floor. I use it for work too...
It is connected to a mac mini via gigabit Ethernet to the ground floor media cave. From there optical out to a Grant Fidelity DAC-09 upgraded to a GE tube, yea. The DAC09 also gets input from an entry level Pro-Ject turntable via a TCC phono preamp. This all now feeds into Rita. The speakers are a pair of Martin Logan SL-3’s that I purchased new about 10 years ago. I love them. Period.

Now while the sound of the ST-120 was a huge improvement the bass was still noticeably “looser” than the SS amp at all volumes. I played around with bi-wiring the SL-3‘s so a SS amp could drive the woofers but this was getting a little complicated. Since I was already happy with the DAC09 and Grant Fidelity in general I decided to see what a quad of black treasures (KT-88) could do for me. Wow! That is what they did. They did “Wow!” for me. They tightened up the low frequencies to the point where it was almost indistinguishable from the SS amp. It sounded like the gain was up about 2 db more than before and the sound went from glorious to “Honey I need a few days alone with my stereo could you please leave the house.” glorious. It did not sound “tubey” but it sounded more musically accurate. Nice as it was the amp proved to require more maintenance than I had time to put into it so I looked around and there was Rita-880, available with the Shuguang KT-88z Treasures I liked so much. At purchase I also upgraded the two front end TJ Full Music 6SN7 to cv181-Z Shuguang Black Treasures also. The two stock TJ Full Music 6SL7 tubes remain.


I now have at least 400 hours on the Rita-880 and tubes. The soundstage is realistic enough to still shock me (and others) at times. The bass is powerful and controlled and the high end, through about 40 inches of curved electrostatic panels is something to behold. I was just cranking a Beastie Boys song that finishes with a bowed stand up bass. Room shaking loud with no sign of strain, and the SL-3‘s are not very efficient. Listening to a Kieth Jarrett download from HDTracks now (the Koln Concert) and I can hear every nuance of THAT piano.

It is an eerily transparent and powerful amplifier. If I could figure out a way to switch it to mono I’d buy another and make em mono blocks. The speed of the tubes in this class A configuration and the speed of the electrostatics really shine on songs like “Nardis” on that Patricia Barber album you all must have by now (Cafe Blue), and any other music with wonderfully recorded drums. My current favorites are “Afro Blue” from the Roy Haynes Trio “Love Letters” album and “Question and Answer” from the “The Roy Haynes Trio” album. The first is a drumming tour de force with commanding solos by the bass player and guitarist. The latter is just an incredible example of how to drum and get out of the way of two other instruments having a conversation, all the while driving and molding the tone of the conversation. Just magical.

I’d like to thank Ian and Rachel for increasing the quality of my life. I now spend “at least” the last two hours of every day ensconced in Hi Fi Bliss that I did not have a year ago. Now about those new Psvane 845T mono blocks...
 
Thank You for the review. To be Honest I had all but given up on Acquiring RITA. I figured that if No one responded here, Than maybe she wasn't worth looking into. I know Ian to be a straight shooter by reputation. However it is one thing for the owner of the company to say the amp is special and another to hear it from an actual user. If by looks alone she is on my short list for sure. Now Ian about those pics?
 
My Rita Pics

Nothing fancy. Hard to take a pic of a black amp in a dark room.

GT

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Thanks.....And by the way, Welcome to AK!!! hang around a while. Its a cool place.
I would definitely prefer it in silver though. since all my sources are silver. Though its really about the sound right?
 
Bringing back the dead!

I am starting to feel the need to upgrade and guess what I have my eye on?:scratch2:

However I promised the wife gear will be heading out the door before my next purchase and I suspect the crate arriving at my door may be a bit hard to hide.:smoke:

Dam you Ian for making such a good looking amp. Anyone else get one since I last posted on this thread?
 
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Same case as my Jungson JA88d and all i can say is that no picture will really show how beautifull are those amp. (got mine in silver)
 
there must be some serious synergy between your Jungson and the RBS-1. Just a note, there was a huge break in with the speakers and they would go back and forth. Take the full 400 hours to complete the break in.
 
They already have a good sound comming from the RBS-1, but i know they will open more and more. I will definitly write a review after a long break in.
 
Well..........

Well Grant Fidelity fans! I am joining the Rita 880 club. Should have her next week. I am super excited and plan on taking a few days off and getting some good quality listening time with her. Pairings will be my beloved RBS-1's and Modded Klipsch Fortes, along with my digital sources. I am going to enjoy Her for a bit but Ian, please keep us (me:scratch2:) in the loop regarding the upgrade caps that you are testing for V3? I am interested though admittedly not in a hurry. Thanks to those who responded and I hope to report back at some point with some details for the next traveler who is on this path of discovery.
 
You will definitely enjoy your system my friend. Can't wait to hear your impression. For me i just bought (5mins ago) The RPF-120 MKII Reference Power Conditioner. I gess that will replace well my APC H10
 
cool, I have the original RPF-120 and am about to get another. I really like them and I suspect so will you. I have a soft spot however for the aesthetics of the older series monster power centers with the analog dials on the front.
 
Congrats Sound Dragon, lets hope you don't vanish once you get her. I've asked the 5 or 6 Rita owners that have been in the showroom in the past few weeks (hearing the Pavane Caps) to post about how they enjoy their Ritas , the silence is deafening :) I've even put in bold on our site, share your GF experiences at AK, it seems most of customers, typically about 5 new ones a day don't seem to know we have a forum here !

I'll be posting about the Pavane cap upgrade and will ask the customer who got it done to share his thoughts too, the caps only had about 150 hours on them and they do need 300, but every week we all heard that it was going in the right direction, everyone who heard it has signed up to get their Rita's done.

But don't think about it much for now, just enjoy, yours is V2 and even V1 was as described by one of our past dealers (who has sold just about every tube amp in his 40 year career) as the best tube amp he has ever heard, within minutes he was on the phone to McIntosh rep in Canada telling him he better hear Rita, then he heard the 340, he's a (rock guitar) musician so often leans towards EL34s and he liked the 340 even more. Rod is his name at General Audio and he coined the term, 'you can hook up Rita to chairs and it will still sound great' !

Cheers,
Ian
 
No disappearing act for the Dragon!!!

I aint going no where Mr Grant. You and Rachel are stuck with me. Besides I still have a new DAC to buy:D.
 
Rita upgrade!

Well I think Ian may be getting TIRED of me Hijacking threads whenever RITA is mentioned. I wish I hadn't lost my initially typed out review as I felt it truly reflected my feelings and might of helped others decide to give Rita a try. As it stands, Rita is one of the finest Amps I have ever heard period and would be tough to beat within her price point and perhaps even slightly above. I know those are fighting words but there....I said it. Rita has sent some very respected gear that I own Packing and even has my old reference system currently in Dry Dock. I will hopefully finish re typing my review soon, but I fear it is not as good as the first iteration. I am at the point where I am beginning the evaluation for A Rita Upgrade. I will Either go with the Version 3 upgrade or blaze a trail on my own using perhaps V-Caps or something esoteric.. The truth Is that I am not looking forward to going without my Rita while she would under go the procedure. Well let the research begin.
 
Keep us all posted as we are all eager to hear your finding. I ended up with Rita because I brought my W-30 in for Psvane caps, so I'm quite in favor of Psvane caps:)
 
Well, Rita has been here for close to 2 months now, and it just gets better every time I turn it on. I'm finding it's creating a problem though. Seems I'm inclined to want to upgrade everything else in my system now. Well, not everything. The RBS-1's are a perfect match to Rita, but even my cartridges are getting scrutinized! I suppose that's a good thing....eliminating the weaken link. Hmmm. I am finding the top chassis and face are hard to keep dust free being black, so I'm thinking a custom finish is in order. A zebra wood face in high gloss finish, and a copper coloured top deck may just do the trick to tie it all in to my system.:)
 
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