Whest MC REF V - my new christmas present

Hi

Yikes!!! $20000!! Is that what it is in the US? It's £9900 in the UK including VAT.

I have the PS.30RDT Special Edition which will find it's way to my second system. I just sold my PS.30RDT to a friend who sold his Manley Steelhead to finance the purchase....love the way audio travels around.

Petng:
Your unit must be older than a 4 months old as the MK3 was taken off the market about 7 months ago. The new MK4 has just come out. The differences are the new discrete input section, with higher operating voltages throughout and the new hand built output cap which is a Whest/ClarityCAP collaboration. I looked at buying a MK3 last year but other stuff (holidays) got in the way.

The inside of each unit is identical and is PACKED with electronics. So you get 2 mono channels each with it's own integrated power supply.

Believe me..it's worth £10000 and most probably worth £15000. I have an Ortofon A90 that cost me £3400 which is about 1/3rd of the MC REF V cost...now that looks expensive in comparison!

Hey all. I think the problem as I see it with world pricing is the crazy exchange rates and the changes it has gone through since year 2008. All products no matter what go through dealers and distributors so the markups and margins are there. The system is the system. Walmart buy toothpaste for $0.50c and sell it on for $1.95...no one ever says anything about that YET these guys make the audio dealers looks like kids playing at making money!

Anyway back to my MC REF V. I listen to the new MK4 version. I had a look inside one of the channels (both are identical). It's very full inside. The main circuit board takes up about 80% of the case width. Then there are 2 gold coloured metal panels and a transformer. The main board has 20 cigarette sized yellow boards lined up like soldiers. They look impressive and in the middle is a whole bunch of transistors, resistors and capacitors. The Whest/Clarity cap is of the polypropylene type and has a Whest logo on. The discrete input module you cannot miss as this is BIG and sits proud at the other end. The build is impressive. The chassis is the same 'type' of chassis as in the PS.30RDT but not identical. The chassis design again is interesting and if any of you have looked at a 30RDT you'll know what I mean. It looks ordinary until you pick it up. It doesn't flex! The whole chassis is CNC machined and then hand welded to strengthen it - check out Stereotimes review of the 30 RDT as he talks about the chassis a bit. Like the 30RDT the MC REF V uses an internal PCB suspension. The way to tell the difference between MK3 and Mk4 is by the red writing on the front panel and the innards.

Petng.

I don't think it is unreasonable at this level to charge $$$$ to strip down your unit, replace a whole load of parts, add a new discrete stage, test it for 72 hours and send it back with a new warranty! Krell, Audio research, Levinson etc would just say - buy the new model! That means taking a hit when you sell it and then taking a bigger hit buying one of there new ones. It's cheaper to do it the other way.

I did contact Whest today to see how things are going - getting there I was told. I won't try to rush them. But 2 good things came from the call: 1. There is a new website coming with loads of info and images AND 2. check this out:

http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=85442.0

Interestingly the guy commented on the supplied mains cable. I would rather choose my own than have the manufacturer put in a $$$ mains cable that I did not like. It's far better for 'us' to experiment with such cables (if we are that way inclinded) than it being force upon us my the manufacturer. At the moment I'm using Kimber PK10 mains which I find well balanced and not too expensive. I like to spend most of the funds on electronics then vinyl (or CD - less so) then coffee, then petrol, then food....then cables, in that order.

Yes I agree with that review. It's organic and music just 'explodes' from nowhere. Explodes is a very good adjective in this case.

I am using the PS.30RDT Special Edition until the MC REF V arrives and although the RDT SE is utterly brilliant it is outclassed by the MC REF V, and it should be as the MC REF V is twice the price. The audio quality is more than twice as good however which makes the MC REF V very very special.

I think the interior images of the MC REF V were from a MK2 which was a different thing altogether. I think the MK2 was 2 boxes with 1 of the boxes being a power supply. The MK3 was the first of the 2 mono channel design which is why you can later on make yours a MK4.