New Ray Samuels Phono Stage/ Nighthawk

tomjtx · « **on:** 15 Mar 2010, 10:34 pm »

I heard the Nighthawk on Sat. and ordered one.
This thing is a giant killer!
Battery powered (8 hours per day for a week on 1 charge) dual mono, front rotary controls for gain and capacitance for each channel.
Punchy, dynamic , tubelike, great SS, bass, mids, highs.

I can't wait to get mine.
I have a SFP-1 Signature and the I think I prefer the Nighthawk.
The kicker?
Entry price is 650.00.

Go to head-fi.org to check out some reviews.

I'll post more when I get mine.

Mariusz · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 Mar 2010, 10:45 pm »

Very interesting.....
Got link for more info?

Mariusz

Gopher · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 12:22 am »

I was at the New York head-fi meet this past Saturday and Ray was nice enough to send me home with his own personal unit to play with.

This little thing is rocking my world! I'd resolved to sell my Koetsu Rosewood Signature because it just didn't do it for me in my rig when using my Minimax phonostage (which I still love). but I threw the Nighthawk in the mix and am now stumped as to what to do.

I don't know if its got the refinement of my EEMM, I'll have to switch back and forth some, but its definitely got the dynamics, extension and transparency to make listening fun with I cart I found disinteresting. Its also super adjustable which is a plus.

I suspect this phonostage will be a big success for RSA.

tomjtx · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 01:10 am »

Go to the MOT section on head-fi.org to see the info and intro price.

shaizada · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 08:05 am »

I've been playing with it for about 4 days now. It is changing sound signature too much to comment on it right now. Out of the box it has been absolutely fantastic and I am switching between it and my Einstein. Damn thing is neck to neck in extracting all the details and amplifying them through.

Presentation is very different and I REALLY REALLY love that change in presentation. Transients are spot on but never harsh. Just very liquid, hitting your ears with wave after wave of sound. Color me completely impressed and taken aback with the size, price and quality of sound I am hearing.

I got the all silver version:

And the money shot....Serial # 001

tomjtx · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 10:23 am »

Thanks for the pics. I'm getting the all silver too.

Ray is one brilliant designer. I still can't get over how great the Shadow is.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 05:50 pm »

Brilliant idea from Ray Samuels...and a fair price point, too.

Dual mono is so incredibly beneficial to phono performance....and solid state and battery power is as quiet as you can dial up 40db or so gain

(again, seriously important for phono)

I don't for a moment doubt this one IS a true giant killer. Enjoy it folks.

If that dude can keep that price point, he's gonna' wipe out a lot of competitors with it.

John

(EDIT: holee cow, did I see that it handles low output MC's, too? More brilliance!!)

shaizada · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 07:07 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 16 Mar 2010, 05:50 pm

Brilliant idea from Ray Samuels...and a fair price point, too.

Dual mono is so incredibly beneficial to phono performance....and solid state and battery power is as quiet as you can dial up 40db or so gain (again, seriously important for phono)

I don't for a moment doubt this one IS a true giant killer. Enjoy it folks.

If that dude can keep that price point, he's gonna' wipe out a lot of competitors with it.

John

(EDIT: holee cow, did I see that it handles low output MC's, too? More brilliance!!)

It easily handles low output MC. More than enough gain. I have an Ortofon Kontrapunkt B loaded onto one JMW 12.5 armwand and Clearaudio Accurate on the second JMW 12.5 armwand. It is an absolute joy to switch between the two with the tactile feel of knobs on the Nighthawk. Though, it's not too much trouble putting on two loading plugs into the Einstein (470 ohms if left open for the Clearaudio, 150 ohms loading plugs for the Kontrapunkt B).

Kontrapunkt B is 0.47mV and the Accurate is 0.6mV. I barely need to go a quarter turn on the preamp and it is already quite loud.

Actually, if anything, I need to send the B52 preamp section to Ray and have him decrease the gain a bit on the preamp. I would like the volume control to sit around 11pm for the current loudness level rather than 9pm on the dial.

Before I forget, only the intro price is $650. Regular price is $750.

tomjtx · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 07:10 pm »

It ran my low output MC with no problem. Didn't even need to max the gain.
You can adjust the loading on the fly to really dial in things as well.

The intro price is still good for now. I just don't think anyone would regret having this and once the intro is over it would be easy to sell and break even. However I can't imagine selling something that sounds this good.

shaizada · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 07:23 pm »

The way this phono stage sounds, I will NEVER sell it. No need as it is so small, portable, works anywhere in the world and gives you phenomenal sound quality.

Can easily take it to friends houses and give it a run in their systems. Always fun to compare the performance/value of a phono stage and see how it mates with different equipment. Thats much harder to do with most other phono's as we don't want to ever move them around per se.

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 08:50 pm »

Just bought one myself. Should have it in a couple of days.

Mariusz · « **Reply #11 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 09:38 pm »

Been looking for nice, battery powered phonostage for a while now.

Does anyone knows if Ray Samuels does in home auditions?

Would love to give it a test drive!!!!!

Cheers
Mariusz

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #12 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 09:55 pm »

There is a 30 day trial period, but you do have to buy the unit. At $683.00 it was a no-brainer!!

tomjtx · « **Reply #13 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 10:05 pm »

Ray is pretty safe with 30 days. I can't imagine anyone not liking it.

BTW isn't it 650.00+18.00 shipping=668.00

He tacks on an extra 20.04 for PayPal
688.04.

With PP he sends it out immediately, which was worth it to me.

Mariusz · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 10:08 pm »

Seem like I need to unload some gear first.

Thanks
Mariusz

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #15 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 11:44 pm »

Can this be used as a step-up and plug into an existing MM phono stage?

shaizada · « **Reply #16 on:** 16 Mar 2010, 11:57 pm »

No...this will replace your existing phono stage.

A step up only ups the gain for your MM phono to perform the RIAA eq.
You can't perform the RIAA eq with one phono and then re-perform the RIAA EQ with the second phono.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #17 on:** 17 Mar 2010, 06:25 am »

Quote from: Mariusz on 15 Mar 2010, 10:45 pm

Very interesting.....
Got link for more info?

Mariusz

Links....

http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/f-117

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f38/ultimate-mc-mm-phono-stage-f-117-nighthawk-459221/#post6210431

tomjtx · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 Mar 2010, 05:01 pm »

The Nighthawk has landed.
I paid Mon. got it Wed. at 11:00am.

That IS like a jet fighter

Sonny · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 Mar 2010, 05:05 pm »

Any "Nude" pictures of the F-117?