Whest ps.30r

Hi

I use the standard 65dB/ 100ohms on the PS.30RDT SE but have never experimented because it really sounds amazing. One day I might do it but I'm loving every second of this phonostage.

Crystalref...

yes, it's true that the MC REF V is a statement product and as such sales won't be in the same ballpark as something like the new 30RDT Special Edition. But as a bench mark for the company it is superb and can see why it is important to have such a product in the range. Many companies work on the basis that hopefully adding a few 'blackgates' and 'vishay' products will upgrade the sound of their already average product. I am a firm believer of trickle-down as long as the product at the 'summit' is worthy of being there.

As to how good is the MC REF V.... I'm slowly saving up for one!...it's phenomenal.

I now own a PS.30RDT SE and went from the 30RDT. The difference in audio in quite staggering. Why..I am not too sure and to be honest don't really care. The PS.30RDT outperformed the PH7 when I was looking around for a new stage and the 30RDT SE kills the 30RDT DEAD!!! That is not to say the 30RDT is poor in any way...it's a clear winner for the price. The 30RDT SE just is in another territory and was above anything that was in my price range and above.

WD40 works. It leaves no smudges. I've used this 'trick' for years before James told me. A machine shop I used to do business with told me WD40 applied to an anodised surface takes all the finger prints off and leaves it looking really clean. I've used this technique on all my anodised front panels for at least 10 years now.

The parallel resistor one is interesting. I think James talks about noise in a 'micro' view point. Whether you can actually hear it ???, but as an engineer he is aware that paralleling resistors HAS TO add noise. I certainly cannot detect any increase but I suppose as the manufacturer he is probably just covering his ass!

Hi all especially Paperw8

I thought I would follow up on your last posting as to what it all sounds like now the 'dust' and excitment has settled around the Whest PS.30RDT Special Edition.

I think I listen to more vinyl NOW than ever before. The Whest PS.30RDT SE has really opened up a 'door' for me which I didn't even know was closed. It is a very magical phonostage and a lot better than my original thoughts, when comparing it to the PS.30RDT.

The PS.30RDT is a great phonostage and MUCH better and quieter than most out there. A lot of people on audio forums tend to think all phonostages have to hiss and hum - 'par of the course', not with the Whest units. The PS.30RDT was the first I heard that ticked just about every single box for me. It is extremely quiet, musical, detailed with a lovely large soundstage and is very well focused. It sounds and punches way about it's price range and deserves all the medals it has recieved. A great piece of kit and an audio bargain I think.

The PS.30RDT SE on the other hand is a very different kettle of fish. To start with it sounds like you have just spent £5000 on a cartridge and £15000 on a turntable, YES the PS.30RDT SE is far superior in every single way! The soundstage is not just bigger but more realistic with instruments so stable and focused in their positions it borders on scary. You totally forget you are listening to vinyl as each track that goes past is another great performance. The frequency range or is that 'apparent' bandwidth seems wider if that is at all possible. There seems to be lower lows, richer and silkier mids and higher highs. There is a real sense that your turntable setup is free of any compression and I mean ANY compression. Things happen quickly, jump-out, jump-in, go left to right and the speed....WOW!

The dynamic range is also quite staggering, even at low volume levels and I mean low - 1am listening levels, the PS.30RDT SE retains every minuscule detail, the soundstage does not collapse and the lower frequencies are as intact, precise and as focused as they are at higher volumes. The mid-high frequencies are 'see-through' at all volume levels.

Is there any one standout point of the PS.30RDT SE? Yes, I would say every aspect of this phonostage. It takes vinyl to another level. I am now playing and buying LPs that I would never thought I would even touch, why?? because the PS.30RDT SE makes you want to listen to more and more music.

For instance, listening to Judee Sill's first LP. I know this LP really well but through the PS.30RDT SE it sounds like she is in the room. You can hear her playing the guitar as if she were right next to you and her vocals are projected in a manner that sounds so positively 'right'.
John Coltrane on Blue Train - all the instruments have a space, dynamic, life and soul which you can 'feel'. Joe Harriott on Indo Jazz Suite - 'forget about it' in true Donny Brasko meaning. The list goes on and on.

Don't think that the PS.30RDT SE is a big PS.30RDT because it ain't. The PS.30R and PS.30RDT have more in common with each other. The PS.30RDT SE has more in common with the MC REF and you can easily hear that. I loved the PS.30RDT but this new PS.30RDT Special Edition is more than a cut above - it's about 80 cuts above. It's a wonderful piece of equipment that I feel deserves to be heard in every system because if a piece of equipment makes you want to listen to more music, then it has to be something special.

OK...

Paperw8

So I'm about 8 weeks into the Whest PS.30RDT Special Edition.
How do you want it? It is so far ahead of the PS.30RDT it's a bloody joke - excuse my French :)

I had the chance to compare them directly at a fellow audiophiles house who has a PS.30RDT. I took my PS.30RDT Special Edition over and after re-warming my unit up we played it against a fully warmed up, never unplugged RDT.

Fellow has a SME 20/ Graham Phantom/ Orpheus. The RDT and 30RDT Special Edition were both setup for 65dB/ 100ohm.
The Orpheus sounded amazing in this setup.

First off:

Kind of Blue - a classic and much played disc. The RDT plays it with pace and energy and with fantastic vibrancy.
The soundstage is wide and deep and 'sweet' if you can apply that to a soundstage.

The 30RDT Special Edition is, well, quite a few levels up from the RDT. To start with, every instrument as well as the soundstage and air have an extra dimension. The whole bandwidth seems to have weight and this is from top to bottom. Yes it's fast but the pace and timing are staggeringly real. You 'feel' the pace the musicians are playing at and follow the small increases in timing as if they were BIG. The soundstage is rich with 'stuff' (harmonics?). Not just a big playing field but an area where musicians do their stuff in. But the most striking difference is the extra resolution. Yes the PS.30RDT SE resolves SO MUCH MORE and as it was warming up, the distance between the 2 became larger and larger.
John Coltrane was excellent. Hearing him in this system through the Special Edition was like listening to a child's first words. The Special Edition makes everything 'Special'.

Pheobe Snow - First LP. Although I only own 1 of hers I don't own this one but will very soon. The vocals are excellent, real with life and this on the SE. Again the soundstage is big and real, with all the instruments held in a rock solid, 4 dimensional space. The 3 dimensional stuff belongs to the PS.30RDT! :))

We played a lot more LPs of course but it was clear that nothing was going to phase the PS.30RDT Special Edition or able to make the PS.30RDT outperform its big brother.
They are VERY different beasts that share just a few things.

1. The case shape
2. The PS.30RDT tag
3. The company Name

And that is it.

Paperw8, having read some of your posts here I see you are a bit skeptical about peoples claims - and it is good to be, but this one is really a no brainer. Having heard just how much better it is to the PS.30RDT makes me feel I have won the lottery.

No reviews on the REF at all. I spoke to James about it and he said quite interestingly that he did not want the review to get 'lost' in the middle of a world recession. I sort of know what he means. You can't get it reviewed twice by the same magazine. I've heard one in a system and compared it to my older (1 year old) PS.30RDT before upgrading to the Special Edition. The MC REF V is on a very different planet when comparing to the PS.30RDT. In a lot of ways it takes you away from the turntable/arm/cartridge thing and just lets you get on with listening to music but in a 4 dimensional way. It is quite an eye opener. It's neither solid state in sound to tube like. It images so confidently with these strong weighty instruments and vocals.

I'm sold on it and don't need to see a review. What I find interesting is that Whest users are generally not audiophile forum goers - I've noticed that with just a handful of other manufacturers.

(Audiofeil :No review is independent.

Every reviewer has personal likes/dislikes/biases.

Reviews provide tech information and entertainment.

You must listen for yourself; trusting the wordsmiths who write reviews can be a costly adventure.

IMO)

Not just your opinion.....

I now just look at the pretty pictures in the mags and whatever I like the look of I then take a listen. Boy have I lost money along the way with hifi dealers that are more like car dealers, 'highly recommended' gear that sounds like Amstrad. The reviewers are 'paid' by manufacturers so how on earth can you get an unbiased review. Roy Gregory was in the pockets of Nordost and Tom Evans, Paul Messenger - Naim and the list goes on and on.

The best thing to do is just listen with your ears. If you don't trust your own ears then you are going to be 'fooled' or is that 'bent-over' very easily.

Yes, the other problem. Auditioning. I travel quite a fair bit so spend time in the UK, Asia, US and mainland Europe.
I heard the MC REF V in the UK and Germany on 2 very different systems and compared the REF V to whatever was there at the time. I also compared it to the PS.30RDT Special Edition in the UK. There is no doubting the superiority of the MC REF V over the PS.30RDT Special Edition...that was a very easy demonstration which eventually made me think 'now save up'. The PS.30RDT Special Edition I have compared to the ASR B Exc, Audio Research PH7, Boulder 1008, PS.30RDT and my very good friends Manley Steelhead, which is now up for sale!. The Special Edition betters all of these others by leagues. Not a small performance increase but a very easy LARGE one, and in all areas.

The MC REF V does not take the SE 'sound' and performance further but is quite a different thing altogether. It sounds far more like 'anti-hifi', 'anti-electronics' and what you end up with is music, real instruments in a real soundstage...it's weired but totally believeable and makes you want to play MORE and MORE vinyl.

I am a couple of months into my Special Edition and can honestly say with my hand on my weak heart that I've never played so much vinyl in my life! The PS.30RDT Special Edition makes you want to listen to more and more music.

My next thing is trying to find a dealer OR someone that has compared the TW Raven arm to the Audio Origami PU7...know anyone?

Yes, you need to give it a few days,which I also found when I had the 30RDT. About 4-6 days into the Special Edition it settles nicely BUT like many upgrades in my system I have always found that going from the better to worse was MUCH easier to hear than the other way around.

Just spoke to a friend in who has just heard the Special Edition and compared it to the Rhea...he laughed and ordered the Special Edition. He called the Special Edition an audio bargain!

Great stuff. The most important thing is that you end up with something that works for 'you'. Yes the RDT Special Edition IS very different to the RDT and is in a very different league, but it's all about the music after all is said and how it makes you feel.