Raal Requisite SR-1A

Definitely count me in if there is a loaner for these. Currently trying to get a demo for the upcoming Arizona meet on March 23rd.

 

In response to comments about the linearity of the treble on the SR1A's, Alex has designed a prototype adapter box with a variable "treble dampening switch" that goes between approximately 0 to -3 db by disconnecting 0 to 4 resistors. The original idea was to introduce 2 decibels of treble attenuation by physically disconnecting a bank of resistors, but this approach seems to be much more elegant.

Danny has promised to send me a modified adapter box for evaluation, and I will update here with impressions once it gets here. It does seem pretty straightforward to evaluate as a treble cut of 0-3 db starting from around 1.5khz.



Original post from Alex:

 

@Zhanming057 has anyone confirmed a single Schiit Vidar will drive the Raal SR-1A competently?

 

I haven't heard the combo but a friend of mine is using the Vidar with the SR1a's and enjoys the setup. Power-wise there's no issues, the Vidar gets 100 watts at 8 ohms which is just about enough for them.

 

Thanks. I have been considering a second set of phones to complement my HD800S and have narrowed down to either the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC or the SR1a's. No rush and it might be wise to wait a few months until any production changes to the phones or interface box are complete. I'm really intrigued by the SR1a's.

 

Speaking as an Abyss Phi owner and someone who has demoed the TC's, I would absolutely go with the Raals if you don't have a problem with the power requirements. The HD800s takes power quite well, and I wouldn't hesitate on driving both out of a good speaker amp.

The treble switches may or may not make it into a real product, and it'll be a couple months at minimum before Raal can set up manufacutring. Production wise the phones and the box are finalized, but they are still waiting on some materials for the final version of the accessories (better banana plugs, stranded wire for the headphone cable, etc. ).

 

They're all here! Impressions to follow...

 

Just curious, of those 3 phones, which one is the most comfortable?

 

On my head (I would say mid-large but not gigantic) the SR1a is the most secure but slightly constricting (pressure in front of/above ears) for long periods. The K1000 doesn't have this problem for me, but the headband creates a bit of a pressure point and I feel like sudden movements might cause them to fall off my head.

Overall, for shorter sessions I would say SR1a > Mysphere > K1000, and for long sessions it's the other way around. All three are pretty comfortable, though.

 

Hands,

Jexby will be listening to my personal pair in the near future and you can borrow my pair and measure / play with them so you have an idea of what we're dealing with, just like you did with my Focal Clear. This will be much easier since we're essentially local to one another.

I just need to get them back in the same shape you received them in (obviously) which shouldn't be an issue for you.

The Pelican case will come in handy during shipping. It's just the handling of them that I'm worried about...

Thank you Zhanming057 for posting your impressions and helping to get the word out on these incredible cans.

I find it funny that some folks are completely turned off by the fact that you need a speaker amplifier to power these but they're willing to spend over $3,000 on headphone specific amp which is not nearly as versatile as a speaker amp. You can power almost any headphone with a speaker amp and an adapter cable.

This last point still blows me away.

But, to each their own... I totally get it.

 

In fairness, a 100wpc amp does come with weight, size, and (sometimes) heat issues. The headphone amp is usually a lot lighter and smaller. And you need a really good speaker amp to drive something like the Utopia's without noise issues.

Thanks for sharing your pair - if anything gets damaged because of a review trip, I am absolutely certain that R-r will fix/replace whatever is broken for free. If anyone is in the Northeast, I might be able to meet up in person in the next week or two. I mostly want to hold on to them while I still have the K1000's on hand.

@Hands Looking forward to your impressions!

I don't have that much extra to say about these, so here's a picture

 

Noise would be the main issue by far. Unless it has incredibly good SNR & THD numbers, you would hear some serious noise through any semi-sensitive headphones.
I talked to someone who was using a Pass XA30.8 as an amp to drive his planar headphones & he said the noise was very noticeable.
My tests with a few various power amps came to the same conclusions, massive noise on every headphones. Only exception were the ones with astronomical good noise numbers.

 

On the 1266 phi most of the amps I've tried don't have a noise issue. It's even better on the Susvara and those are the two cans that I would absolutely recommend for speaker amp pairings.

That said, the 100w+ amps that I've tried are a bit more noisy. If it's a 300b/845/2a3 speaker amp I wouldn't hesitate on using it with just about any headphone, and Viva and Woo basically run taps and XLR jacks on the same line. The high power solid state stuff I would at least test myself, although I don't expect modern solid state offerings to present a severe noise problem.

I quite enjoy the X150.8 and the INT40 with both the Susvara and 1266 phi - this is straight out the taps, no need for an impedance matching box as both cans won't blow up from the amount of power that the amps can realistically load on before protection kicks in.

 

The Raal Ribbon is the real deal...

Faster & more realistic than Stax009.

Larger than AbyssPhi.

More lively than Susvara.

Only weakness is the quick bass trait like an HD8000.

Just use a bit of EQ if your a bass head.

Sonic image is larger & taller than all others I just mentioned, but image distance is amp dependant and closer than Susvara.
Between the Susvara & Stax009 in image distance , but opening the angle greater than 30degree increase that, and width.

None of the other headphones are in the same league as the Raal.

Susvara only comes close with speaker amp, but noticable softer.

Stax009 a bit faster (than Susvara) but a bit smaller & less natural sound (exaggerated detailing may have been the 009 response to the amp, a Carbon which is the best amp for it IMHO.
An analogy would be like turning up the contrast on a TV a bit more, so the layering of detailing is brought up closer. My own personal impulse response shows this lack of bottom dip wich relates to the image depth.) Yet this ONLY noticable next to the Raal & Susvara.
Regardless of that aspect, it was still a noticable step down in performance compared to the Raal.

Abyss Phi (again, only in comparison to all above mentioned) seemes like a sloppy bass and a slight notch down from all above mentioned.

The HD800 is below Susvara and Stax only because of the less & airy bass & diffuse trebles but still in that league.

If you get a Raal, a speaker amp WILL DO WELL on all the above mentioned headphones.
Other headphones may encounter hiss

Bottom line, if you like the Raal presentation, nothing to date will best this.
The resolve is unpresidented.

I am only posting this for those that want the bottom line.
I personally compared in a private setting, all cans mentioned.

Edit:
It is also good to put in perspective that any of the headphones mentioned are far above anything else out and so could still be considered a preference according to the user system synergy.
That being said, IMHO the RAAL Ribbon is the best, with unheard of level of resolve in beating out the others so noticably.
The real question is what is the best amps match for the money.

EDIT**
After getting over the initial honeymoon phase there will be owners who will desire the bass impact of a planar, or even a stax over this headphone due to the open bass.
This headphone needs a new foam pad option for bass impact, or wait another 1.5yrs for a next model.

If they were smart, they would make a slide on foam pad option in future.
It would solved the low region bass impact difference that all the others have over it.
Consider the Raal to be like an HD800 type on when it comes to its bass. Its great but not all bass gets to your ear.

 

Spoke with Raal on the phone yesterday. Possibly making the trek out to give them a listen in Ventura on a day off. Bit out of the way and would probably need to get out of the area before traffic hits. Would love to compare with my HE-6.

 

Do you mean Requisite? Raal is the Serbia one and would be quite a trek

Looking forward to your impressions!

 

Lol yup, RAAL-requisite in Ventura and not RAAL in Serbia!

 

Visited Raal in Ventura today and talked a bit with Danny. Raal was definitely nice, and a treat to hear on the Bryston and also comparing with my HE-6 on the same Bryston. Will write some small impressions later.

They are constantly selling out of their production runs but are about to be able to scale up production and produce a lot more each run. Raal is up for dealers once they get stable stock and I would love to bring it in the store especially since we have a ton of amps to drive them.

Liked it so much, I swung by the Schiitr and picked up a Vidar.

 

FYI they are a lot better on two Vidars. The extra headroom makes a pretty big difference

Any pictures from the meet? Did you try those on Danny's KT88 monoblocks or just the Bryston?