R.E. Designs Testimonials

"Magnificent, from the very instant the conductor raised his baton and the first chord of the full orchestra fills Symphony Hall. From the subtlest ambiance of to the thrill of massed strings, the sense of presence was astounding. The R.E. Designs LNPA 150 performed from the initial turn-on. It needed no burn in; this was done prior to shipping by RE Designs. Attention to detail.

"There was absolute clarity in the essential middle and upper frequencies, and the bass sounded coherent from top to bottom of the range. The bass impact was controlled, meaning naturally integrated with no overhang, no undershoot; a perfect wave launch. The suggests a low output impedance and instantaneous current capability. It also does justice to the speaker design, which incorporates time coherent first-order series crossovers in an aperiodic driver design. There was ease to the lower registers, a freedom from subtle bass distortion, which so often calls attention away from the music. The R.E. Designs LNPA 150 created an emotional and intellectually engaging panorama of harmony that one rarely experiences.

"Hallmarks of the R.E. Designs LNPA 150 are cleanliness and clarity, from top to bottom. Not that details rise from a jet-black background, but emerge from the acoustics of the hall as they would if you were there. I attend symphony, I know. The same holds for the small club atmosphere. Clean recordings sound, again, entirely natural. Transients were effortless, yielding lovely mico-dynamics with proper relationship to the harmonic fundamentals. All play within the recording, subtle incidental and instrumental character came through with great ease. The piano was Steinway and the violin a Grunari. The notes originated from the impact of the felted hammer striking piano wire or the sonic of rosined bow and lacquered wood. Each musical line attained proper significance and intelligibility. Instrumental interplay and threads of the compositions transformed the experience from that of critical audiophile to music lover. Performances progress with a balance, an intention of the music, of head and die heart, order, control and feeling. The R.E. Designs LNPA 150 remained relaxed, invisible, and transparent.

"Lateral and depth perspective was distinct, genuinely expansive on concert performances or centered with air on solo vocalists. An effect associated with the best tube amps, absent the usual obfuscation of the genre. Strings were agreeably layered, retaining left to right image placement. In my better recordings, atmosphere, subtle reverberations, trailing edge and decay of notes was distinct and added to involvement. On every recording I auditioned, images were released with accuracy in soundstage and ambient presentation.

"Deep bass extension is excellent and the dynamics are expansive. The exceptional dynamic linearity of speakers is confirmed; the last measure of dynamics is delivered with no awareness of compression or constricted headroom. The R.E. Designs LNPA 150 presents the impact kick drum, tympani and stand-up bass with remarkable air and accuracy compared to the pompous and thick textures that often are mistaken for bass.

"From mid-bass through upper midrange, the R.E. Designs LNPA 150 remained confident, open, and textured. I found the R.E. Designs LNPA 150 mid-bass tight and harmonically accurate, with speed and bloom. Again, there was focus and transient precision, no unnatural timbre. The frequency range so critical to music, the midrange to ultimate treble was engaging and super-clean.
Voices were immediate; the three-dimensional air and clarity created a breathtaking sense of intimacy. There was substance and color that complemented the R.E. Designs LNPA 150 amplifier’s delicate resolution. The natural presence allowed for a deeper experience of the really great musical moments of the best recordings on vinyl.

"The R.E. Designs LNPA 150, like the proverbial "wire-with-gain" will pass along any eccentricities of the front-end components. I tried several preamps and, except for a passive, which had impedance matching problems, I could detect their sonic character. This R.E. Designs LNPA 150 manages to amplify artfully, to resolve great amounts of detail and dynamics effortlessly. It has a comforting sense of directness and control. To fully appreciate this amplifier, the source and front-end as well as speakers should have a natural tonal balance, time coherency and dynamic linearity. Music will flow, with ease, giving no offense or distraction. From soloist, to opera, from jazz to full orchestra, the R.E. Designs LNPA 150 macro- and micro- dynamics unfold with harmonic accuracy, soundstage stability and resolution of individual musical details comprising the whole. It presents music with most natural focused detail, transient speed, and control: it is grain-free; it epitomizes dynamic agility and harmonic accuracy. The R.E. Designs LNPA 150’s balance of virtues is proving satisfying over time.

"The R.E. Designs LNPA 150 is a superbly constructed amplifier where performance matters; it is made a true value by avoiding the expensive packaging and trendy styling of amplifiers with no better performance, but many times the price. By the way, it comes in mono-block packaging which gives one both placement and performance advantages. It is a music lover’s amplifier."

Steve from Cambridge MA.

Dear Dan;

Well, I’m speechless. Now I know that sounds pretty stupid to apply to a letter, but what else would I say, "I’m wordless?" Okay, I’m wordless. I think with these special edition amplifiers that you have scratched a benchmark so high on the wall that it would take many tens of thousands of dollars to exceed. I’ve heard the big Krells and the Mark Levinson amps, and to be sure they’re good, but they cost many thousands more than your amps. I have the big Symphonic Line and didn’t like it; I think their $9500 monoblocks are much better. But, they are not as good as these amps you’ve put together.

The noise floor on your stock amps is incredibly low; with these it’s subterranean. There is absolutely no noise. The music arises out of absolute silence. What is the criterion we all seek? Verisimilitude to a live musical event. Do these amps achieve that? No not quite yet, but they are so much closer than anything else I have ever heard that it is truly unsettling.

When we last spoke I told you I had only a couple of days to listen to the amps but that their imaging was truly amazing me. Imaging is usually a concept I apply to small acoustical groups, or jazz recordings and some popular recordings but not orchestral recordings. Again it must be the silent backdrop that allows them to do it. One of my favorite pieces is Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. The fourth movement is an adagietto to be played "sehr lang sum" or very slowly. It is massed strings and a harp with wonderful contrapuntal exchanges interwoven throughout. But the key here is that it is massed strings. Not with these upgraded amps! I can distinguish the violins from the violas, the violas from the cellos and all from the bass. They are placed appropriately around the stage within a virtual recording venue defined by a dead-on audible cues. I could go on and on how I’ve been overwhelmed by favorite orchestral pieces that I’ve heard dozens of times that have won me over again.

In terms of a classical orchestra, I think the biggest beneficiaries from these modified amps are the strings and woodwinds. Woodwinds sound almost organic in their fullness and with their resonance. The strings just don’t have that sense of a congealed wall of noise that most orchestral recordings seemed, before to offer. With these amps, that monotonous oneness is gone. I cannot begin to explain to you how much pleasure that affords me. These upgrades would have been cheap at triple the price.

You said to me a few months ago when you first told me about these upgrades that it was a 5-10% upgrade. Dan, you’re flat wrong and much too modest. First, I don’t think you can quantify the change numerically. The sense of improvement is far too visceral for that unless you count goose bumps! How can one quantify the emotional impact of hearing the true natural decay of a note when before that decay was interrupted and concealed by a noise floor (albeit low already) of background haze? The regression of an echoed tone into silence that you experience in a concert hall at a live performance with these amps is now capable of duplication. Before there was a sense of it; now it is experienced. Is that a 5-10% upgrade? Since music is an assemblage of those musical clues, tone, and timbres, when that assemblage is presented to you on an entirely different plane of truth, isn’t the improvement more like 100%? It is to me.

Dan, I like what you’ve done here.

Sincerely;
J.L.

Greetings Dan:

I've finally gotten around to writing that note I promised. Before I continue, however, let me thank you for the outstanding follow-up both during the audition and following the purchase of your monoblocks. I don't know many dealers or manufacturers who place three or more phone calls to clients across the first six months of owning a piece of equipment. Without imposing or being invasive you made sure the amps arrived safely; then, you checked in at two weeks for a quick report. And after purchase you checked in again at 6 months. Thanks--it's the kind of service follow-up that a customer appreciates.

I told you that I'd give you a quick impression of the LNPA-150's sound. I have three simple words: right, easy, and musical. From plug-in and initial power-up to the present, the amps simply sound "right." Future customers should not expect a lengthy break-in; there's not one with the LNPA-150s. From a bass that provides a wonderful foundation for all types of music, through a very transparent and open midrange, and into a treble that is both resolving and full of good detail, this amp simply, again, sounds "right." My Spendors have never sung with such a good bass foundation; it is present, tuneful, and easily followed. The amps handle high frequency transients nicely, never being in your face, but sounding natural with excellent resolution. And the midrange--a Spendor attribute--has never sounded better.

Second, the amps are easy. I'm not a headbanger and I don't practice any "air" directing of orchestras with the stereo at full tilt, but these amps have yet to get ruffled. They are in control of signal and speaker and the presentation has a great deal of settled-ness and solidity--not to mention easiness. The amps don't strain or stress; instead, they're relaxed. I'll speculate that the amp's very low noise floor contributes to this steady, solid, and "easy" presentation.

Finally, that overused word "musical" applies to these instruments. My personal measure for this is the timbre and transients of various instruments and voices. Natural--instruments and voices playing in a real venue--is the word that keeps coming to mind. And the heart of these beasts is silicon--transistors. Some amps, perhaps transistors more than tubes, have a hard edge or steeliness to them. Not here--natural timbres with an appropriate attack and decay of transients carries the day.
Dan thanks for a great long-term purchase. I plan to run your monoblocks (LNPA-150) for a long time; furthermore, we'll continue our conversation about an appropriate preamp. This fall I want to try some of your cables, but for now, let's just listen to some music. Feel free to use my reflections in your behalf; I'm no expert, just a very satisfied customer. Talk to you this fall.

Cordially,
N.G.

Dan,

I suppose this letter is way overdue. Our friendship goes back quite a few years now, which is how long I have owned the LNPA 150 Monoblocks. It is a friendship born out of the quality of your equipment and unequalled customer service. Quite a testimony to you, Dan, for doing everything right, but that is your personality and it's an enviable trait to have.

When we first talked, I was quite skeptical about the offer you made to me to return my amps back to stock condition. You said the quality would improve. If you remember, I bought these LNPA 150's from a "high-end, self-proclaimed deity-type reviewer" who wrote for his own publication. He implied how the modified amps were the next best thing to the TV remote and the advent of vinyl. After taking you up on the offer and listening to my amps returned to stock, I could only surmise that this deity-type reviewer must have ears of granite. The slight hardness in the upper midrange was gone, the top end improved, and there was a naturalness and clarity to the music that was not there before. Whole worlds of harmonics appeared. I stopped listening to my system and started listening to music. In other words, it was perfect.

How did you know this would happen? I surmised you to be an audio guru worthy of pedestal treatment until you told me that you "didn't do anything special". Nothing special? "Nothing special." No special parts, no special design, no special ebony blocks, pucks or high-end voodoo. You used off-the-shelf parts and the design theory is right out of text books available to the general public. All of which has made me think... "you are totally wrong!"

You actually have done something special. You designed the LNPA 150's to rigid specifications and held true to proven engineering designs despite conventional "high-end" wisdom (another oxymoron). You resisted the temptation to ruin already proven design theories and produce them under the disguise of "new and improved". You designed and executed this product with the utmost discipline and service it with the care and devotion as if it were one of your offspring. So you see, Dan, you really have done something special.

As for me, I was one of the many high-enders on the upgrade path to extinction until I bought the LNPA 150's and was then contacted by you. I no longer have the need to find something better. I am truly satisfied with my system. It is clear, natural, and real. I can't imagine it getting any better. For as many times that I have visited the hallowed high-end salons, I have always come home to listen to my own system and thinking mine is better. I have listened to my share of both tube and transistor amps and I still haven't heard an amp that will outperform the LNPA 150's.

So thanks Dan for giving me real music in my system and for caring enough about your offspring to find me and show me the way. Now about those lobsters in Nahant... don't they need a home?

Wayne
Monson, MA