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

Those amps have been sitting for years.

:scratch2: This statement has me scratching my head as well. Why would new production amps be sitting for years before purchase? What am I missing?

cubdog
 
:scratch2: This statement has me scratching my head as well. Why would new production amps be sitting for years before purchase? What am I missing?

cubdog

I think Rachel explained it pretty well. Along with Ian`s illness and most wanted the upgraded caps, the older version took a back seat.
 
Has anyone tried the RITA with high efficiency speakers, such as Tektons? How did it work out for you? I have the ability to try the RITA with some Tekton Lores but wanted to get some feedback first.
 
that's funny you should bring that up because I originally shipped my RITA to someone who uses those Lore-S speakers and I was hoping I'd hear them play together. In the end the Tekton owner showed no interest in unboxing RITA and it never happened. He had the Tekton's on a 2.5wpc amp (burning 270watts at the wall) that left me with the impression that more watts could kick them in gear. That speaker [unmodified] sounds awesome. On a scale from under powering to bullying, I suspect RITA would be close to bullying the Tektons. I'd imagine you'd get a wonderfully gripping sound.
 
Has anyone tried the RITA with high efficiency speakers, such as Tektons? How did it work out for you? I have the ability to try the RITA with some Tekton Lores but wanted to get some feedback first.

Looking at the power the RITA puts out, the match should be ideal.
 
Stewbombs, I've used my Rita with my Shengya V518's (92db into 8 ohms) with good success. They sounded very nice and were able to handle Rita with no issues. The Lore-S is rated at 94db so the results should be very similar. You'd just need a little less volume to achieve comparable listening levels to my V518's.
 
2496, did you sell your RITA? Sounds like an interesting story with the Tekton owner.

I run the RITA with 87db speakers and it does a fine job powering them, but I'm interested to see how it does with something more efficient.

On a separate note, how long do you all wait for the RITA to warm up before playing music?
 
Hi all - I was hoping to get a troubleshooting suggestion. Last night, while playing a record, the volume on the right channel randomly dipped down very low for about five seconds before returning to normal. I checked everything, which appeared fine and then restarted the record. The dip in volume on the right channel occurred again around the same portion of the first track. I switched over and played a track through my cd player and everything was normal. Has anyone ever experienced this? Is it my amp or my record player or something else? Thanks!
 
Hi all - I was hoping to get a troubleshooting suggestion. Last night, while playing a record, the volume on the right channel randomly dipped down very low for about five seconds before returning to normal. I checked everything, which appeared fine and then restarted the record. The dip in volume on the right channel occurred again around the same portion of the first track. I switched over and played a track through my cd player and everything was normal. Has anyone ever experienced this? Is it my amp or my record player or something else? Thanks!

The same thing happened twice in the same location on the record. There could be a fault in the pressing, the tracking could be off, misaligned cartridge. I would start with those.
 
Thanks RH. I fiddled with the RCA cables and they appear to be the culprit. Any recommendations for decent RCA cables that won't break the bank? Thanks again!
 
long time no post for me

In August I was delivering my CJ equipment to Bob in Churchville/Southampton for upgrades and the first thing I saw when I walked into his shop was a giant black RITA! I pointed at it like that scene from body snatchers (or any movie where a zombie spots his next meal). I told him 2 of my 4 bias points are getting a 0v reading, and now that I tried swapping a KT88 above a good bias point with one seated over a bad point [and then swapped them back] I'm getting 3rd 0v reading. He told me that the RITA he just fixed had a 1watt resistor at each of those 4 points, and these resistors were in-cased in shrink tubing so they looked like short wires. I took a picture of one of these resistors if anyone needs to see it.

Weeks later when I show up with my own RITA, Bob flips it on it's side, removes the bottom, and w/o plugging in anything he was able to confirm that 3 of the 4 resistors were wide open. Last night was the first time I got to hear RITA in almost 2 months, and it's just in time for the cool weather. Bob replaced the 1watt resistors with 5watt ones. I wouldn't surprised if running RITA under a coffee table led to an arch in the stock tubes -- this time I'm using longer speaker cables so she can be off center where there's room to ventilate.

So this is what I was treated to last night:
-Temperatures in the 60s with low street noise
-Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z tubes I got off ebay
-Vapor Audio Stiff Breeze (volume between 30 and 35)
-6ft bluejean XLRs connecting DAC to RITA
-10ft clearday audio dbl shotguns connecting RITA to Vapor
-The amazing Dirac Live digital room correction software

Instant gratification. So now I have to break in these tubes and I suppose the real test is how things hold up into next year.

I don't have any strong RCA recommendations for Stew, but I do think everyone should own a couple pairs of copper bluejeans because [for the price of electricity] they cut them to your exact length and they serve as a good benchmark when someone brings by higher end cables. If I were looking I'd be curious to try a used pair of Cardas cables -- their old digital cable is the best I've ever heard so maybe they make good analog ones as well.

It's funny that RH67 should bring up clearday. I also have a 7ft pair of these dbl shotguns if anyone wants to make an offer.
 
The entire Dave's Cables lineup (now ZenWaveAudio) are considered to be exellent value for the $
http://www.zenwaveaudio.com/?page_id=1941
Cables start at the .5 meter length and you can go up from there.Allhis cables have 30 day full money back guarantee, so no real risk.
Youcan read more aoubt all of them in his cable tour thread over at AC:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=118081.0
There is also this thread where he sells off some of his emo products at substantial discounts, still includes the 30 day money back deal
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=128753.0

If you don't want to get into spending that much $$, many people have ben very happy with the Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 interconnect.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

No affilitation with either of the above companies, just have read a lot regarding Dave's cables and hve used the LC-1 for a while myslef.

Hope that helps a bit
 
KT88 amps are the in thing at the NY Audio Show. My setup with RITA easily bested most of those rooms. What a treat to look at all this audio porn and then come home to what [may as well been] the hottest girl in the club. In one room they said their 80wpc KT88 Macintosh amp was on since Wednesday.

I did notice that more vinyl was spinning this year.

RH67 -- your post from 3mo ago turned out to be exactly my issue. Impressed insight given that you don't own a RITA.
 
After replacing the stock Psvane tubes, my RITA has been sounding better than ever. Great to hear yours is rockin' too, 2496.

I recently saw a RITA for sale on Audiogon. The owner is selling because of the amp's weight. Is that any of you? Although the weight of the amp impressed me and was a selling point, I do agree it is a pain to move around.

I wonder what RITA fetches on the used market...
 
In audio I've always been about getting the biggest+heaviest unit I could afford without any consideration for "over kill" and it inevitably becomes the new baseline from which I would never want to fall below. I'm assuming RITA's 45watts are class A right? I'm loving every bit of this amp's reach so I can pretty much say I'll never know the pleasures of owning a circa 50lbs tube amp. Nor will I know the convenience and clean decor of having a tube amp sit in a pocket without lot's of ventilation.

I only changed my KT88s -- did you change all your tubes?
What should we do with the stock KT88s? Bob said they tested perfectly fine but I don't know if it's moral to sell them on the used market. I know I wouldn't risk trying them again.
 
I have saved my strong testing Soveteks as back ups to back ups. Make sure to remember which socket they came from. BTW, can anyone recommend me a tech in the Tri state area? I am willing to drive for a good tech. I live in queens New York.
 
Bob Backert (zip 18966) is a tube specialist that already worked on two RITA's.

A friend of mine goes to Paul at EBC Electronics (zip 08835) to service is Mac tube amps. Shaving an hour off your drive is attractive, but I would go to Bob because he's affordable and already has a head start on these units.

I'm told my resister issue is a trivial fix for any service operation, but each year I'm a little more skeptic than the year prior. 3 years ago I took an Adcom GFA-555 to Electronic Workbench in Hackensack and that was a waste of time and money.

PM me for direct phone numbers on these guys
 
You have a PM sir! There is nothing wrong with My RITA, However i plan on bringing her back on rotation and to be honest am contemplating whether to put her up for sale. My place in New York is small and my listening space is a fraction of what it once was. The Rita and RBS-1 combo is the sweetest sounding system I have ever owned and I am loath to part with the set up, but it just isn't working out in the space I now have. I would have the RITA checked out though anyway just for my own peace of mind and see while she is gone if I can live with out her.
 
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