Backert Labs’ New Rhumba Extreme preamp ...

[joeinid]

http://backertlabs.com/


New Rhumba Extreme:

• Jupiter Copper output capacitors.
• Our famous auto-bias circuit from the Rhythm 1.1, which no other company offers. Your preamp is perfectly biased for each tube you insert. Automatically.
• IEC inlet by Furutech. Gold-plated.
• Upgraded polypropylene capacitors throughout the power supply.
• One more cool surprise that we’ll tell you more about soon.
• Adds $1,100, bringing the Rhumba 1.1 to $4,095.

http://hometheaterreview.com/backert-labs-rhumba-11-stereo-preamplifier-reviewed/


http://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/backert-labs-rhumba-1-1-linestage/

 

[Shadowfax]

I would love to hear one of these. Bob's work is first class. He lives about a mile from me and has his Shop in the back of his house. He brought my Counterpoint amp to life when I bought it DOA and I spent some time looking at all his customization work and his proprietary circuits which are put together perfectly.

I obviously lost the naming contest and I guess the winning name id OK....I liked mine better

So who here has had a chance to listen to this unit or the original Pre he came out with?

 

[Shadowfax]

Joe, A member I speak to at AK just recently purchased the Rhumba Extreme and is more than happy with it.

Hi Brian, I'm sorry that I haven't been in touch but I've busy playing with my new toy. I picked it up from Bob on 5/17. I was comming
home from a 3 day conference in NY and as I was close I decided to grab it. I spent the next week or so breaking in the 3 pr. of tubes
and voicing the 3 power cords. I really wanted a level playing field, I needn't have bothered because early on it was apparent that this
was not going to be much of a contest. I had off from work 5/26 - 5/30 and spent 5 days listening to both and the Extreme just flat
out smoked the Peach in every aspect and it should as it is 3x as much price wise, but you well know how this hobby goes, it is not
linear when looking at money spent vs improvement gained. I feel that I got more than my money's worth, I have not a shred of "buyers
remorse" over this. I'm using a pair of completely custom Musical Concepts monoblocs which are about 185 - 200w per driving a pair
of revision 1 Aerial 10T's. The amps were specifically designed to drive the Aerials as they are quite power hungry and need a high
current amp to handle the impedance dips. Please see my next post on AA. I'll drop you a line over the weekend.
Happy listening, Wood

 

[William]

I own the Original prototype Rhumba that Backert Labs introduced at the 2015 Capital Audio Fest. this timeframe is while they were having a contest to name the preamp .I think I will send my Rhumba back to them for mods to take it to the next level.

 

[William]

I own plenty of holy grail 12AU7 tubes and the best by far in the Rhumba is the Valvo Hamburg 1958 17mm long plate .

 

[Jack]

William

How far up the mod ladder are you looking to go? I was thinking along the lines of the 1.2.

 

[Jack]

Joe

According to the numbers in the News section of the Backert website the Rhumba Extreme is up to $5500.

 

[William]

Hey Jack, Yes I was thinking along the lines of a 1.2 with Jupiter copper foil caps.

 

[Shadowfax]

I own the Original prototype Rhumba that Backert Labs introduced at the 2015 Capital Audio Fest. this timeframe is while they were having a contest to name the preamp .I think I will send my Rhumba back to them for mods to take it to the next level.

So your the guy who had the winning name. Awesome and congrats on both winning the Pre Amp and coming up with a great name. The name I entered was Pace, which went next after Rhythm, or so I thought.

Bob lives about a mile from me and does some beautiful work. He brought my Counterpoint Amp back to life when I bought it. He tried to talk me into tricking out my VAC Pre but I always thought it would ruin resale value.

 

[William]

William

How far up the mod ladder are you looking to go? I was thinking along the lines of the 1.2.

So your the guy who had the winning name. Awesome and congrats on both winning the Pre Amp and coming up with a great name. The name I entered was Pace, which went next after Rhythm, or so I thought.

Bob lives about a mile from me and does some beautiful work. He brought my Counterpoint Amp back to life when I bought it. He tried to talk me into tricking out my VAC Pre but I always thought it would ruin resale value.

Sorry for the confusion.I did not win the preamp. I bought the prototype Rhumba 1.1 that had yet to be named. this is the exact preamp that Backert Labs introduced at the 2015 Capital Audiofest while the contest was going on to name it. My preamp does not say Rhumba1.1 on it. thanks ,William

 

[joeinid]

William,

Thank you so much for your thoughts and opinion. I love the idea of this preamp and never read a bad word. I plan on demoing one this year. I am looking for a reasonable tube pre to match with my Triodes and Job 250 monos.

Thank you.

 

[William]

William,

Thank you so much for your thoughts and opinion. I love the idea of this preamp and never read a bad word. I plan on demoing one this year. I am looking for a reasonable tube pre to match with my Triodes and Job 250 monos.

Thank you.

Hey Joe, the Rhumba 1.1 is a keeper that plays well with my JOB 250 monos, Odyssey Kismet monos, AudioMirror 45wpc parallel tube SET monos and my new revision VTL ST85 tube amp in both triode and tetrode modes. I have never had any problem whatsoever with the Rhumba. it is very responsive to tube rolling and with the easy access tube cover it is a tube rollers dream

 

[joeinid]

Awesome! Thank you for the additional info. It helps a lot.

Hey Joe, the Rhumba 1.1 is a keeper that plays well with my JOB 250 monos, Odyssey Kismet monos, AudioMirror 45wpc parallel tube SET monos and my new revision VTL ST85 tube amp in both triode and tetrode modes. I have never had any problem whatsoever with the Rhumba. it is very responsive to tube rolling and with the easy access tube cover it is a tube rollers dream