LFD mkIII vs Red Wine Audio 30.2

LFD Mark III looks very good , try to get it from a place with 30days MBG. Or.....find someone in your area who owns it.
RWA 30.2 can be ordered with extra inputs and you can switch between them with the flip of the finger. I have heard of one guy who ordered his with 3 ins. Dodd costs $2495 new from Walter or directly from Gary. RWA int. used can be had for around 1K. Another option would be to get RWA and passive preamp like TVC. That passive preamp represents great bang for the buck....and it sounds very, very good. I have ordered mine in four channels configuration for HT & multi-channel audio. There is a great well of info. on AC like tweaks, mods etc. Few other preamps you might want to check out are Blueberry and Mapletree. Both very nice ......I like Berry better...more liquid and more refine IMO. Mapletree on the other hand has its own army of followers with tweaks and mods to get the most out of that great little preamp. One other thing, with RWA int. and seperate preamp you will get more bang for your money and room to expend in the future. If you ever decide to build another system, all you will need is the amp to go with the pre and int. to run the other system. With int. amp your upgrade options are , well...very limited.
At the end it is your money , so take your time , read, ask questions , listen and enjoy the journey.

Mariusz

Hi,
Reviving an old thread here. But I am very curious to know after reading the 6moons review of RWA Sig 30.2 - is that amp so good? I mean it replaced $$$$$ figure amps - and sounded much better. Has anyone got a real life experience comparing the Sig 30.2 to other expensive amps? I too have the Quads...but 21L. Will the power of Sig 30.2 be enough to drive my Quads?

On this forum, I have threads where people did mention that the "top end left something to be desired". Please understand that I don't mean to troll here. Just my curiosity. Honestly, I am pretty happy with my current amp (tweaked NAD C352). But this damn hobby brings you the upgrade itch once in a while. And besides, the LFD was another amp that interests me, after reading the glowing reviews. Your responses are highly appreciated.

Thanks

expect to receive my LFD next week. I too was sceptical about the RWA and its power capabilities. waited close to 5 months for the LFD and decided to go with it instead of something else. Hope i am not disappointed. can always switch it out.

I owned the RWA Sig 30 for six months and then upgraded it to the RWA Sig 30.2, which I owned for six months. I was using them with Avantgarde Meta Primo (107 db efficient) horn loudspeakers. RWA's products were the best sounding solid-state amplifiers I used with my loudspeakers. They have tube like qualities.

"Has anyone got a real life experience comparing the Sig 30.2 to other expensive amps?"

Yes, the sound out of the RWA Sig 30 and Sig 30.2 was better than the BAT 300X (6922 version)integrated, First Watt Aleph J, Pass Aleph 3, Volksamp Aleph 30, and Avantgarde Model 5 in my system. Keep in mind mys system needs very little power. I ultimately sold my RWA Sig 30.2 because good tube amplifers just sound better with my loudspeakers. As much as the RWA Sig 30.2 sounds like tubes, it just can't do the things a very good SET tube amp can do (air and space). I owned the integrated version of the RWA Sig 30.2. Because of the high efficiency of my loudspeakers, the RWA Sig 30.2's volume steps were not fine enough. Often just one click would make the volume go from too soft to too loud. It was annoying as hell. If I had to go back to a solid-state amp I would probably go with the RWA 30.2 non-integrated version.

Panu21,
Thanks for your reply. And congrats on your new amp. I will keep checking this thread for your feedback/thoughts/review - if you are able to separate yourself from your amp for a few minutes :-)
Hope you have a great time with your amp. It will be great if you are able to write a small review about the LFD.

Regards

Thanks for your post Brawny. I don't want to go the tube route right now, as I feel it is too much maintenance. But your post summarizes what I wanted to know about the Sig 30.2. You mention about RWA not doing a job as good as very fine SET. A very fine SET can be damn expensive and may not suite the Quads. So all in all, I get the impression that the Sig 30.2 is a fine amp that you cannot go wrong with - except the increments in volume. Right now I can think of the non-integrated Sig 30.2 with a TVC pre-amp.

Again, I appreciate your response.

Regards,

Hi Panu21,
Any thoughts/reviews about your LFD amp? Hope you are having a great time with it.
Thanks,

have had it about 1 week now and have put a limited amount of hours on it because i have been on vacation a few days.it is certainly the best amp i have had although i have had limited experience in hi end.  have had a musical fidelity x-150, PS Audio gcc-100 and a prima luna dialogue 1. the LFD is head and shoulders above them in soundstageand the best i can explain is that for the first time i can hear every instrument in its own space without any congestion. have also been impressed with vocals especially the detail in backgrounds. it seems to have a certain volume peak where it sounds best and when exceeded starts to lose thatsoundstage and clarity but that level is loud enough for me where it is not an issue.  so far very impressed

Panu21,
What are you trying to do? Tempt me to get the LFD? Just kidding. Good to know that the amp has surpassed your expectations. And don't worry, you have more experience than me in hi-end amps. I am so tempted about this amp, now that that you have supplemented with the reviews that I have already read. I am not really worried about loud - as the music I listen should be heard at moderate level - and I don't have a mansion.
Thanks again for your prompt reply, and congrats on your new acquisition.