[brh]

Hey folks! I just 'took the plunge,' so to speak and ordered a Sig 16 with no stops held back - integrated & hpa. I'm a wee bit afraid that I'm going to catch the RWA bug, and end up a repeat customer, and as such I've been looking over the other products and it's come to my attention that you can get a Cassabria stuck into quite a few of the components. So, I already did this with my Sig 16. Unfortunately, you can't get a balanced output on the Sig 16's headphone stage, so that right there is one notable difference. I assume that's the big difference between the Cassabria upgrade on the Sig 16 and the Cassabria upgrade on the Bellina. But I'm curious if these Cassabria upgrades are 'real' Cassabrias, or if there's more to the actual standalone Cassabria. I see the standalone Cassabria uses an Alps pot which presumably is there for better channel balance. But is there more to the puzzle than this?

[Vinnie R.]

Hi brh,

Welcome to Audiocircle and the RWA forum!

The Cassabria uses our Renaissance Edition tube input stage and has BOTH our single-ended and balanced headphone output stages.

The Signature 16 only has the option for the SE headphone stage - but it will sound identical to the Cassabria's SE output stage.

The Sig 16 uses a motorized Alps Blue Velvet pot (for remote control).  We use the same one in the Cassabria, but without the remote
control option.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

All the best,

Vinnie

[brh]

Thanks, Vinnie! Sometimes things that are other things... aren't quite... it's nice to know that your things that are other things are indeed other things! Looking forward to the Sig 16...
Brian

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Brian,

Things that are other things are indeed the same things  in this case - just in a different box, and with different
other functionality (Sig 16 HPA has the speaker outputs, while the Cassabria has the balanced outputs -- but they
both have equivalent S.E. headphone outputs stages including the tube stage and volume control).

Good things!

 

[brh]

Thanks again!
I do have one more question - the s.e. output on the Sig 16 HPA is only 650mW, and the 5W output is only the balanced output present on the standalone Cassabria and Bellina, correct?

[Vinnie R.]

Thanks again!
I do have one more question - the s.e. output on the Sig 16 HPA is only 650mW, and the 5W output is only the balanced output present on the standalone Cassabria and Bellina, correct?

Hi brh,

Yes, this is correct.

Vinnie